Category Archives: library environment

More puppets! It’s an obsession!

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Puppets 1

Bargain basement animal puppets at $3 each from The Reject Shop, Penrith Plaza. Not sure why the Dalmatian has a yellow nose. I originally rejected these four puppets as my least favourites, but at just $3 each they made a hard bargain to pass up.

Puppets 2

More cute animal puppets, this time from the online Sunshine Markets, Queensland. The parcel arrived today! These were an irresistible Internet find: crocodile, leopard and (what the online catalogue called) “the Big Good Wolf”. Really? With those eyes?

Imagine your own adventure

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I have been invited to present at the 2012 MANTLE Conference in June, speaking on two topics: “Engaging students through Guided Inquiry” and “How to promote your school library on a shoestring budget”.

Both topics will have some added tweaks to presentations I’ve done before, so I’m really looking forward to the challenge of the conference, and meeting teacher librarians of the Newcastle, Maitland, Taree, Lake Macquarie and Central Coast districts.

What’s new in the library?

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I haven’t had a chance to post pics of the new items that have recently taken residence in the school library to kick off the 2012 school year:

Blue chair
A chair that is a perfect match for the deep teal colour of our fabric-covered walls. I inherited this from my parents’ place.

Study chair
An old study chair that someone tossed out for recycling.

Quick reads
Newly-stickered (with ubiquitous round yellow dots on the spine) “Quick read” books on the old spinner rack.

Footstool
A footstool from my parents’ place that is proving popular with K-2 browsers.

Jokes in a basket
A little recycled hamper basket now keeps the ever-popular Jokes & Riddles books from cluttering the Non Fiction shelves.

Co-teacher chairs
My ergonomic chair has now been joined by a co-teacher chair for team-teaching.

Curio frames
These stackable photo frame cubes also hold little artifacts (currently holding some small plastic animals and a few wayward Smurfs).

Paddington Bear
Paddington Bear, donated by Mrs Newbold. Found in a second hand store at a bargain price!

Susanne Gervay and Jack’s Ponto!

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Susanne Gervay at Penrith PS

Today, our school was graced by the presence of author Susanne Gervay, of “I am Jack” fame. All the attendees (Years 3-6) had been well prepped via serialised readings from “I am Jack” all this term, so it was great to see the book come to life with Susanne’s witty and frenetic presentation.

Susanne, the Ponto and Mrs Mead

Mrs Mead tried to keep up with all of Susanne’s jokes, anecdotes and anti-bullying strategies, signing for the hearing support students. Can you see Mr McLean’s growing prop of “Jack’s Ponto” in the above pic?

Ian McLean and Jack's Ponto
Mr McLean and Jack’s Ponto, photographed by Susanne Gervay

Susanne Gervay at Penrith PSwhiteSusanne Gervay at Penrith PS

Thanks Susanne for a wonderful author visit. Susanne has blogged about the day as well.

Susanne loved the story of our historic library mural!

Book Week approaches

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Aldi world map

Teacher-librarians had been mentioning that Aldi supermarkets were stocking a large, exclusive, felt map of the world, which might prove useful to decorate the library for Book Week (this year’s theme being, “One world, many stories”). I checked out my local Aldi today and, sure enough, there it was. It comes with 100 small felt pieces to attach to the map: iconic buildings, animals, birds, people, products, rivers – and labels for the oceans and continents. Looks great!

Family forest display

Congratulations to Class 1H for creating this beautiful display for the library on the picture book, “Family forest”! This and other class displays are in my Flickr slideshow.

In the news: Healthy drinking days recalled

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Penrith City Star article

Penrith City Star article, part 2
Thanks to “Penrith City Star“.

Archeological dig
Our historic school milk bottles are now enshrined in a shadow box.

The inside text reads: Penrith Public School’s library stands on the site of a portable library building, and before that a previous portable building. In 2010, workmen excavating the foundations found these “school milk” bottles buried deep in the rubble. One is embossed “1/3 PINT PASTEURISED MILK”.

See the original blog entry of our archeological find HERE.