The Lion Library is buzzing with activities and everyone is welcome.
Book Week @ The Lion Library 2019
August 17th – 23rd was CBCA’s Book Week and we couldn’t think of a better reason to celebrate! We had an amazing week in the library with competitions, quizzes, kahoots, live music, an author visit and the annual CBCA Youth Forum. The theme of Book Week this year was “Reading is my Secret Power”. Students joined a ‘Make your own Superhero Mask’ competition and 2 lucky students won a delicious chocolate prize for their amazing creations. Lots of students also entered a competition to identify the names of 10 pictured superheroes in our “Do you know your Superheroes?” quiz. Three lucky students who identified them correctly won movie tickets and some sweet treats! We currently have a Reading Competition in full swing where students log how many books they have read until the end of the month for a chance to win a Harry Hartog Bookshop voucher and a signed copy of one of Will Kostakis’s books. It’s been a great week of promoting reading and literacy and connecting with our fabulous students. We can’t wait for next year’s Book Week celebrations!
Will Kostakis Author Visit 2019
We were thrilled to have Australian young-adult author Will Kostakis visit our school during Book Week this year. For those of you who were there for Will’s Author Talk, I’m sure you’d agree that it was an inspiring wild ride of emotions. Our sides were aching from all the laughing! Will had the whole audience completely captivated and he offered some really sage advice on growing up, the importance of making mistakes and of working towards your dreams. Will’s advice: “You’re not the best version of yourself yet!” He inspired us all to keep improving and to make the most out of every opportunity in life.
Will then followed up his Author Talk by running two Creative Writing Workshops with one year 12 class and one year 7 class. The teachers and students were raving about how much the students learnt from Will’s workshop, particularly his practical tips to help improve their writing.
Thanks to everyone in the school who supported this important event to support literacy outcomes for our students!
CBCA Youth Forum 2019
The annual Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Youth Forum has been a staple of the Killara calendar for many years, and this year Killara High School was the host school. We were joined in the library by many students from surrounding schools, along with our own students from Killara High School.
This year, 2 students from Killara and 2 students from another local school blew us away with their insights and complex discussions about the CBCA shortlisted books for adult readers. Our moderator, Tamara Rodgers from the Premier’s Reading Challenge, guided them through all of the texts. Wendy Fitzgerald from the NSW branch of the CBCA and Rob Thomson from the Australian Library and Information Association also joined us. All three special guests were suitably impressed by the robust conversations and debates. Students from other local schools joined our audience and were keen contributors to the discussions.
Congratulations to Anna and David from Year 9 who impressed us all with their contributions on the panel. Thank you to everyone who supported us in the organisation and delivery of this successful literary event. 2019
Lunchtime Activities 2019
We have been keeping students busy and uncovering their hidden talents with some fun lunchtime activities in the library this term. Students helped us create a wall of beautiful crepe paper poppies to commemorate ANZAC Day. They also worked together to complete an amazing 4D Harry Potter puzzle along with some Harry Potter themed colouring in pages. Some of our Chess Club students have been competing against one another on Monday lunchtimes; some brave teachers have been getting in on the action, testing their Chess skills against the students. Also, our fabulous Knitting Club has managed to knit enough squares to create a blanket, which Mrs Khoo is busily sewing together so the blanket can be donated to the charity, Wrap with Love.
Senior Research Lessons 2019
It hasn’t all been fun and games in the library…some of our Year 11 classes have been attending specialist research lessons with our Teacher Librarians to help set them on the path to success with their up-coming research assessments. The teachers and students have gotten a lot out of these lessons and have found the library’s online research resources to be very helpful. Students, parents and staff can access research resources by going to the Lion Library website via the Killara BYOD Learning Hub: http://www.killarabyod.com.au/research.html
Technology Library Team 2019
Our newly appointed Technology Library Team, made up of a number of highly talented and motivated Killara students, recently went on a specialist excursion to the Microsoft store in the city as a part of their induction. The students learned the ins and outs of customer service and how to best use technology for education all from the Microsoft professionals at the store. There was also some time to get into some gaming! Mr Harper, Ms Chami and the TLT said they all had a great day “geeking out” at the Microsoft Store! We can’t wait to see how this knowledge is used to support our students, and create amazing experiences at Killara.
