From the Senior School Librarians

Students across the state have been busy doing NAPLAN tests these last few weeks and whatever your feelings on the value of these tests are they do give us a snapshot of how our students perform in Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar, and Numeracy. While students at Saint Ignatius perform on average well above in all areas when compared to all Australian students in my role as Coordinator of Library Services, I am always keen to see how we can improve our students’ literacy.

Reading is fundamental to the building of literacy, and it also has wide-ranging cognitive benefits. It expands our vocabulary, builds comprehension, and helps develop our critical thinking skills. Reading enables us to encounter different ideas and ways of understanding the world. It increases our ability to understand others and reading for pleasure has the bonus of reducing stress and improving our mental and emotional wellbeing.

We are always looking at creative ways to encourage our students to read. At the end of last year, we decide to rearrange the library and created a new Reading Area that encouraged our students to browse and read more. English classes come to the library regularly for silent sustained reading and students seem to be enjoying the new spaces. In a move to encourage students to broaden their horizons and think more deeply we have created a new collection and named it People and Ideas. This collection not only includes biographies and autobiographies but also a selection of books from many disciplines that are thought provoking and to let students know that nonfiction books are not just for research. Another initiative we started last year was Uber Reads, we deliver reserved or requested books to students during Mentor Time. This initiative has been well received by our year 7 and 8 students. They quite enjoy receiving their books in an Uber Reads bag!

Lucy De Palma
Coordinator of Library Services - Senior School