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Happy 100th Birthday!

Mrs Riding My Blog ,

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What a wondercrump, whoopsey-splunkers week we had at Tenambit public school as we celebrated what would have been Roald Dahl’s 100th birthday. Many classes have been reading his magical books including The BFG, The Enormous Crocodile, The Witches and Fantastic Mr Fox.

Students in stages 2 & 3 explored the library in search of interesting facts about Dahl. They discovered that his parents were Norwegian but he was born in Landaff, Wales in 1916. Many were amazed to learn of his exploits as a pilot and spy during World War 11. Also of interest was that he was named after the famous Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. We also learned that although he loved chocolate he didn’t like chocolate ice cream or chocolate cake.

Those who had recently read Boy: Tales of Childhood  also shared many funny and fascinating tales from Dahl’s early life. Among these was the tragic story of how his father at age 14, fell off the roof while fixing tiles and broke his forearm. Poor treatment from a doctor who thought his shoulder dislocated later led to his arm being amputated.

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Students also celebrated at the end of term disco by wearing yellow, Dahl’s favourite colour.

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I reread a number of Roald Dahl favourites leading up to this special week. Among all the gobblefunk and gloriumptious, frothbuggling language there are some amazing words of wisdom. One of my favourite quotes is found in The Twits.

“If you have good thoughts it will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”

…and who could forget the ending of the Minpins?

“Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”

Do you have a favourite Roald Dahl book or quote? I’d love to hear about it.

Australia! Story Country

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Australia! Story Country. What a fabulous theme!

“If you want to get to know a person listen to their stories, if you want to get to know a nation listen to its people’s stories.” – M. Howie

Australia has a rich history of storytelling which extends back thousands of years to our first Australian storytellers, the Aboriginal people whose oral storytelling tradition was vital for maintaining culture and identity, for passing on life lessons and the lessons of the land.  The first Europeans brought with them stories from their culture and history, which over time has been shaped and continues to evolve into what has become our national identity. Our stories reflect who we are.

The shortlisted books this year epitomise the theme perfectly. They tell the stories of ordinary Australians who are remembered for extraordinary reasons.  I was enthralled as I read about the real-life adventure of 9 year old Lennie Gwyther who rode his horse Ginger Mick from his hometown of Leongatha in Victoria to Sydney for the opening of the Harbour Bridge in 1932. I can’t imagine there would be too many parents these days who would give their blessings to their child’s wish for such an adventure.  Lennie the Legend: Solo to Sydney by Pony by Stephanie Owen Reeder was the worthy winner of this year’s Eve Pownall award. I also learned more of the service and sacrifice of men and women from vastly different cultures who served Australia in World War 1 in Ancestry: Stories of Multicultural Anzacs by Robyn Siers and Carlie Walker. Historian Clare Wright’s We are Rebels was also a fascinating read bringing to light the role of women on the goldfields and the part they played in the Eureka rebellion.  Peter Gouldthorpe’s The White Mouse: The story of Nancy Wake, provided another fascinating biography of this amazing woman and her involvement in the French resistance during the German invasion of France during World War 11.

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A brief look at previous winners highlights the very important role of books and libraries. Well researched and beautifully crafted books breathe life into our history, ensuring it is accessible and interesting and therefore less likely to be forgotten. Look for these titles on our library shelves.

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Write Now!

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I recently attended the presentation of awards for the Maitland City Library’s annual Write Now! competition. The event began with an opening address by the Mayor of Maitland, Councillor Peter Blackmore who spoke of the importance of libraries and their dedicated staff in fostering a love of books and literature in our students. He acknowledged the role that reading plays in becoming an accomplished author. To be a writer you must first be a reader. Renowned local author Barry Maitland also praised students for their efforts, commenting on the high standard of this year’s entries.

Eight students from across our region’s schools were recognised. Jasmine Parish from Tenambit public school received the highly commended award for Stage 2, while Emily Foreman, Bella Maystone, Madison McDonnell, Banjo Longworth and Hannah Elliott each received participation certificates. All entries are on display at East Maitland branch library.

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One of our students met author Barry Maitland and shared her ambition of one day becoming an author.

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Mrs Riding My Blog ,

‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder‘ ~ Margaret Wolfe Hungerford

‘Beauty is only skin deep‘ ~ Sir Thomas Overbury

I’m sure you are familiar with these quotes. I read a great book last week called The Ravenous Gown and 14 more Tales about Real Beauty by Steffani Raff. It was a lot of fun, but it also had a very profound underlying message. It challenges the idea that you have to fit society’s idea of beauty in order to be loved and accepted. It’s about being yourself, and being happy in the skin you’re in. It’s in our library now just waiting to be taken home and enjoyed.

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Marvellous monsters

Mrs Riding My Blog

Oops! Did I say monsters? What I should have said was marvellous monitors. I am very lucky to have the support of these amazing students who every week give up their time to ensure the library is tidy, well organised and a fun place to be. I haven’t managed to capture them all here but I’ll be sure to feature those I’ve missed in a later post. The tasks they perform are many and varied.

Shelving returns

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Sharing stories

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Tidying and dusting shelves, and training future library monitors

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Assisting with circulation

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Preparing displays and promotions

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Calculating class borrowing percentages

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Being wonderful role models who demonstrate our core values of respect, responsibility and excellence.

You asked for these!

Mrs Riding My Blog , , ,

imageAdditional books in the Young Sherlock series have just been added to the library. I read the first in the series, Death Cloud, and I can see why you enjoy them Ben. Mystery, adventure and a great cast of characters.

 

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The Spirit Animals series is new to our library but one that was requested. I haven’t read any of these yet but I’d love to hear what you think about these. If you enjoy them please spread the word.

Mr Browne’s Precept

Mrs Riding My Blog ,

“When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.”   – Dr Wayne W. Dyer

Mr Browne is Auggie’s English teacher and he begins every month by writing a precept on the board for his students to copy into their books. At the end of the month they have to write about the precept and what it means to them. (A precept is anything that helps or guides us when making important decisions.)

Wonder_Cover_ArtWonder by R. J. Palacio is the story of 10 year old August Pullman who is petrified at the prospect of beginning year 5,  as this will be his first year at school. You see up until now Auggie has been home schooled. Auggie is a huge ‘Star Wars’ fan, he’s clever, he’s funny, and he’s become pretty good at pretending he doesn’t care when people stare at him which they do a lot, because he was also born with very horrific facial abnormalities. He doesn’t describe his appearance other than to say, “…whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.”

This beautifully written book takes us on an emotional  journey with Auggie, his family and classmates during his first year at Beecher Prep school. What is so powerful is not just the way Auggie’s courage, strength and ability to overcome the huge challenges he faces is so realistically portrayed, but the insight into the behaviour, attitudes and prejudices of some of his classmates and their parents. He endures some of the worst kind of bullying and enjoys some of the best kinds of friendships.

Auggie’s first year at  Beecher Prep helps everyone become more tolerant and accepting as they realise that his outward appearance doesn’t make him any different from them on the inside.

I hope this book is never sitting on the shelf in our library. I want it to be borrowed, read, loved and talked about. There is so much we can learn from Wonder. Its a book that has the power to move hearts and change minds.

Saturday Shopping Spree

Mrs Riding My Blog

Saturday was a great day for book shopping! It was too wet for the garden, too cold for the beach, and with Mr Riding knocking out a wall in the kitchen, it was far too noisy for snuggling up with a good book. I just had to escape the chaos.

Harry Hartog, QBD, David Jones, Big W, K Mart and I still didn’t manage to find more of the Young Sherlock and Spirit Animals series. I’ll have to place an order for these but I did come home with some new treasures.

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Book by David Miles was a stand out.  If you ever needed a reminder about why picture books are so special look no further. I can’t wait to share this one with you.

‘… your suddenly in a place that only you can imagine. A place where everything is possible. Where imagination scrapes the skies of opportunity, the forests of what-could-be stretch beyond the horizon, and the friends of fact and fiction make believe all night long under the milky stars of possibility.’

Wow! I wish I had written that.

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Did you catch a glimpse of something here that you would like to borrow? Send me a reply and I’ll reserve it for you.

Where the Magic Happens!

Mrs Riding My Blog , , ,

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‘Outside of your comfort zone is where the magic happens’. That’s the quote I chose for the Homepage of our brand new blog at Tenambit Public School. It’s the message I gave to my enthusiastic group of bloggers as they embarked on this exciting new journey.

I remembered back to the beginning of 2015 when I too was undertaking the same journey when beginning this blog. It was all very new and more than a bit scary. But I know that to learn and grow we need to continually challenge ourselves. We should not be afraid to try new things and understand that we have to fail sometimes in order to learn.  If we always settle for safe and comfortable, we are never going to know what we are truly capable of.

I hope that you visit our new blog regularly and share the learning and experiences of our newest bloggers at Tenambit Public School.

The learning begins when you step outside your comfort zone! That’s where the magic happens.

http://tenambit15.edublogs.org/

 

Stephen Michael King

Mrs Riding My Blog ,

I was lucky enough last Friday to spend time with one of my favourite author, illustrators Stephen Michael King. Stephen spoke candidly about the difficulties of his early school years, about the writing and illustrating process and the joy it brings. He offered encouragement as I too picked up the pencils and joined him in letting my thoughts and ideas flow freely on the plain paper before me.

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http://www.stephenmichaelking.com/

Hats on Tenambit for NSS

Mrs Riding My Blog

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On Wednesday 25 May at 11am  Tenambit Public School will join over 3100 libraries and schools across the country for National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS). This is an initiative of the Australian Library and Information Association held every year as part of Library and Information Week. This year we will be reading the picture book,  I Got This Hat written by Jol and Kate Temple.

Do you have a great hat? This might be the perfect opportunity to show it off. More details will follow.