Book Week – Reading is Magic

Week 6 at Kalamunda was a magical experience of reading and imagination. Inspired by this year’s Book Week theme Reading is Magic, the English and Library staff teamed up to provide a range of activities for students to participate in. Competitions included 'Write in 25 words or less what superpower you would like to have', match the teachers to their favourite books, book spine poetry and a staff dress up where students could guess the genre that staff were dressed as. The participation in the activities was excellent and students enjoyed the variety of ways that they could engage with books and reading. A library display was also created from Year 9 AE Blackout poetry and Year 7 book sculptures. The Year 9s had read the novel The Outsiders and created poems from broken copies of the novel inspired by the quote 'Stay Golden, Ponyboy'. The book sculptures turned old hardcover novels into landscapes and works of art. The library staff wore different costumes including witches, fairies, Where’s Wally and Hermoine and the creativity of staff was outstanding, and everyone had so much fun. The Write a Book in a Day incursion is the grand finale of Book Week, and once again the work produced by the Year 7s and 8s participating was excellent. Thank you to all the staff who contributed and made this a very fun week for everyone.

Holden Sheppard Incursion

On Thursday 15 August, we welcomed Perth author Holden Sheppard to talk to the Year 12 General students. The students have been studying his novel The Brink in class and have enjoyed the story and characters he created. This incursion was a great opportunity for the students to meet Holden and learn about his inspiration for the text. He was so impressed with the students’ engagement and the interesting questions which they asked him to learn more about the novel and his characters. Many students had purchased a copy of the novel and had the opportunity for Holden to sign their books. The presentation was enjoyed by teachers and students, and we were so lucky that he was able to visit our school.

Write a Book in a Day

On Thursday 22 August, 23 students competed as 3 teams in the annual 'Write a Book in a Day' competition. The students have 12 hours to plan, draft, write, edit, and illustrate a book which includes set parameters. The competition is run by the Kid’s Cancer Project and Kalamunda has had strong representation in this event for many years. The team Population 10 produced the book Glitch, The Academic Elephants wrote Monkey Business and The Krazy Kurly Wurlies constructed Partners in Crime. The effort and resilience were outstanding, and the teams worked well together to create their final products. Thanks to Ms Stokes, Mrs Eden, and library staff for providing this wonderful learning opportunity for our students. 

Young Writer’s Collective

On Tuesday 13 August, a group of 5 students, Audrey Coetzee, Scarlett Courtenay, Sadie Harris, Charlotte Lee Steere and Joy Plaistowe, attended the third session of the Young Writer’s Collective for the year, hosted by the Fremantle Literature Centre. This term's guest was novelist Dr Jared Thomas who focused on contemporary fiction. Dr Jared Thomas is a Nukunu person of the Southern Flinders Ranges and the Research Fellow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Material Culture and Art at the South Australian Museum and the University of South Australia. During the sessions, students explored 'What If' scenarios and materialised their ideas by drafting the setting, characters and dialogue of their narratives. Students had a chance to share their ideas and work collaboratively.  

Post Colonial Lecture

On Friday 16 August the Year 11 ATAR English and Literature students were treated to an academic lecture presented by our own Anjali Chaurasia on postcolonial literature. The presentation was designed to help the students develop an understanding of how colonisation has shaped writing, art, and culture historically and in today's world is important not only for our upcoming assessments, but also for being able to engage in critical conversations around these issues. Ms Chaurasia delivered an engaging and interactive presentation that challenged students to consider perspectives and representations of colonisers and colonised people in images and writing. 

Nicolee McNally
English Teacher