A useful link for special days, such as Remembrance Day in Australia, is Timeanddate.com.
Remembrance Day – Lest we forget
Category Archives: theme days
Book Week 2013
Read across the universe!
Photo Peach slideshow by 5/6E
Here are this year’s displays from classes to help us celebrate Children’s Book Week.
Python by 3-5R
Apollo the powerful owl by KP
It’s a miroocool! mobile by 1/2RH
A forest by 1/2IW
Read across the universe mobile by 3/4W
The coat by 1/2Sa
Read across the universe by 1/2St
The pros and cons of being a frog by 3/4B
The whale shark song by 1/2B
Read across the universe Culture Pod by 5/6E.
Yes, it’s space culture – in a pod!
With Nan by KF
Lyrebird!: a true story by 3/4M
Tom the outback mailman by 3/4L
One very tired wombat mobile by KB
We have also had a lot of fun with these hilarious picture books (from New Zealand) this Book Week. By Mark and Rowan Sommerset:
Whatever you do, don’t accept smarty tablets from a sheep. Nor lemonade from a turkey.
Book Week 2013
National Simultaneous Storytime: The wrong book
Penrith Public School students are about to share a fun tale of Nicholas Ickle’s challenge to share his story, in the wonderful picture book, “The wrong book” by Nick Bland, as part of ALIA’s National Simultaneous Storytime 2013.
The wrong book Auslan version
“My name is Nicholas Ickle and you’re in the wroooooooooong book!”
Second anniversary of All Black Day
In February 2011, Christchurch, NZ, was devastated by an earthquake and a month later the teacher librarians of Australia, and their schools, rallied behind a fundraising campaign called “All Black Day”. My school created a slideshow (and added to it a few days later with additional photos), but in the Great Photo Peach Crash of December 2012, we suffered our own disaster.
I have had to retrieve all the images from Flickr‘s Creative Commons and various home computers. Today is the two-year anniversary of All Black Day. Please note that the slideshow now has a new URL:
photopeach.com/album/y7vl7s
All Black Day: Christchurch earthquake appeal, 2011
I shall keep you posted as other slideshows from my Photo Peach site get restored.
Summertime stories
Today was Summertime Stories – with Tohby Riddle, Ursula Dubosarsky and WestWords‘ Judith Ridge at Blacktown Arts Centre.
These are my five two-minute sketches of artist Dub Leffler, who ran a great art workshop for kids (and adults) at the event!
Reading Picnic 2012
Today was Penrith Public School’s annual reading picnic, this time celebrating our 97% success rate in the Premier’s Reading Challenge (PRC) in this, the National Year of Reading. It was also the second anniversary of our occupation of our BER school library. How the time has flown!
Our special guest was Judith Ridge, of WestWords. Judith is a recognised expert in the field of children’s literature, a former editor of the School Magazine and a member of the PRC selection and reviewing panel.
Our Guest of Honour, Judith Ridge of WestWords.
Parents, caregivers, toddlers and community members brought with them books, picnic rugs and snacks and joined the 400+ students and teachers for a relaxed afternoon of reading in cosy corners of the playground. Some students sat in class groups, and others sat with family and friends. And Mother Nature turned on some perfect picnic weather after several days of looming thunderclouds.
The school also received a special package from author and illustrator Emma Quay! A beautiful giclée print (Mr McLean had to look up that term on Wikipedia!) and a lovely handwritten letter, explaining that this artwork is a preview of her forthcoming picture book, Not a cloud in the sky (2013).
Emma Quay’s letter and giclée print!
Our school captains present Judith with a school crest keyring.
Judith Ridge, who was very complimentary of our students’ work with digital storywriting, book rapping and our school’s blog and wiki, shared a quote from E.B. White, author of Charlotte’s web and Stuart Little:
“A library is a good place to go when you feel unhappy, for there, in a book, you may find encouragement and comfort. A library is a good place to go when you feel bewildered or undecided, for there, in a book, you may have your question answered. Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people — people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.”
A commemorative plaque has now been mounted on the wall of the school library.
Celebrating National Simultaneous Storytime
Today, our whole school participated in the annual ALIA National Simultaneous Storytime with a reading of Nick Bland’s “The very cranky bear”.
The hearing support unit used a Youtube presentation in Auslan. It was so well done that, after I’d read the book to the Stage 1 group who’d used the school library as their venue today, we decided to play the Auslan performance as well.
National Simultaneous Storytime is an eagerly-anticipated annual event!
The very cranky bear at 11am
Don’t forget that the picture book “The very cranky bear” by Nick Bland is today’s annual ALIA National Simultaneous Storytime title!
Have fun, everyone!
The very cranky bear – Auslan version
The very cranky bear
Enter Cranky Bear, Stage right
“The very cranky bear” by Nick Bland
I saw these at Christmas, but the picture book has been announced as this year’s ALIA National Simultaneous Storytime title. Just had to have me a Cranky Bear. Found him today in Dymocks, in the CBD.
See you on 23rd May, Cranky Bear!
The resident library puppets greet the Cranky Bear.
Loyalty and truth
My old school, Arncliffe Public School, is turning 150 on Saturday. I’m Class of 1970, and was school captain – and very excited to be going back to check it out. I’ve tempted two of my former teachers to go, and hoping to catch up with old classmates. Was also asked to contribute a double page of memoir for the souvenir book.
The pic is me in 1966, standing in front of “The Gully” that ran through the then-Infants playground.