2017 Book Week

Book Week Action at MSB

As students move through their secondary years of schooling, regular reading is important in the ongoing development of language skills, which are vital in meeting the reading and writing demands of their studies. Students at Mount St Benedict College (MSB) are encouraged to read widely and regularly and have access to a wealth of resources in the library, known as the Information Resource Centre (IRC).

This was particularly evident during Book Week and National Literacy and Numeracy Week with visits from an acclaimed (ex-student) author and poet and a number of competitions and celebrations.

The College was thrilled to welcome ex-Bennies student and bestselling author of adolescent fiction, Jaclyn Moriarty, who shared with the girls her love of reading and writing for Book Week. Her love of writing began when her father commissioned stories from his young children - $1.50 for a filled exercise book! No wonder then that three out of the six Moriarty children are best-selling authors – Jaclyn and her two sisters Nicola and Liane (author of Big Little Lies, also made into a TV series this year).

The engaging author Mark Tredinnick, the winner of the Montreal Poetry Prize (2011) and the Cardiff Poetry Prize (2012), also visited the College to teach students about the origins and possibilities of haiku, a poetry form which he argues, should be ‘slender, tender and lonely’. Mark’s haikus inspired many of the girls to create their own to enter into the College’s ‘Haiku and You’ competition, using the theme of stewardship, one of the College’s values.

Throughout Book Week, students entered competitions and tested their knowledge of popular fiction both in the IRC and in homerooms. Year 7 Wide Reading classes participated in a 'Bennies Book Tasting', giving students an opportunity to 'taste' something new in their reading. The reading area was set up to resemble a restaurant where each table represented a genre; students were able to take some time to read and take notes on some new and interesting books.

Student reading was celebrated at the annual College Book Week luncheon. With over 90 girls in attendance, College principal, Mrs Pearson presented readers with their book prizes and certificates to:

• Principal's Reading Challenge recipients
• Best Borrowers of 2017 for each year group
• Peer Reading/Maths Program Tutors from Year 9 and their reading partners from Year 7
• Winners of the 'Escape to Everywhere' competitions
• Bennies Book Club students
• “Celebrity IRC Status” – completion of the Principal’s Reading Challenge along with a special challenge to read across genres amounting to sixty-five books in total