2007 Premier`s Reading Challenge Report

Transcription

Annual Report
2007
www.prc.sa.edu.au
Front cover: Premier Mike Rann reading to Sachem Parkin, Tori Bemold and Axel Virgo.
Please note: In this report, the term ‘parents’ denotes all parents, caregivers and guardians.
Further information
Policy and Program Officer, Premier’s Reading Challenge
Department of Education and Children’s Services
Level 4 Education Centre
31 Flinders St ADELAIDE 5000
Courier R11/37
Phone: 08 8226 2006
Fax: 08 8226 2401
Email: [email protected]
Or visit the website at: www.prc.sa.edu.au
© 2008, The State of South Australia,
Department of Education and Children’s Services
2
CONTENTS
CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................................................................... 3
TABLES ............................................................................................................................................................................ 4
FIGURES.......................................................................................................................................................................... 4
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................................. 5
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................ 7
CONTEXT ........................................................................................................................................................................ 8
STATISTICAL OUTCOMES ......................................................................................................................................... 9
SCHOOL PARTICIPATION ................................................................................................................................................. 9
STUDENT PARTICIPATION................................................................................................................................................ 9
HOME EDUCATION AND INDIVIDUAL STUDENT STATISTICS ........................................................................................... 10
GENDER STATISTICS ..................................................................................................................................................... 10
YEAR LEVEL STATISTICS ............................................................................................................................................... 11
AWARDS ........................................................................................................................................................................ 12
ABORIGINAL STRATEGY ......................................................................................................................................... 13
PREMIER’S RECEPTION ........................................................................................................................................... 14
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT ...................................................................................................................................... 16
OFFICE OF THE PREMIER ............................................................................................................................................... 16
DECS ........................................................................................................................................................................... 16
PROGRAM PROMOTION........................................................................................................................................... 16
AMBASSADORS............................................................................................................................................................ 17
OTHER COMPONENTS OF THE .............................................................................................................................. 19
THE WEBSITE ................................................................................................................................................................ 19
SCHOOL CONTACT PEOPLE ............................................................................................................................................ 19
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT ..................................................................................................................................... 19
BOOKLISTS ................................................................................................................................................................... 19
POSTERS ....................................................................................................................................................................... 20
STICKERS ...................................................................................................................................................................... 20
DATABASE AND DATA ENTRY ....................................................................................................................................... 20
SURVEYS ....................................................................................................................................................................... 22
DEMOGRAPHIC DATA .................................................................................................................................................... 22
STUDENT READING ....................................................................................................................................................... 22
MANAGEMENT OF THE CHALLENGE ............................................................................................................................. 22
DATA ENTRY ................................................................................................................................................................ 23
BENEFITS OF THE CHALLENGE ...................................................................................................................................... 23
SCOPE FOR EASIER PARTICIPATION IN THE CHALLENGE ................................................................................................ 23
IDEAS TO IMPROVE THE CHALLENGE ............................................................................................................................ 24
GENERAL COMMENTS ................................................................................................................................................... 24
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 2008 ............................................................................................................................. 25
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................................... 25
APPENDICES................................................................................................................................................................. 26
APPENDIX 1—SCHOOLS INVITED TO THE PREMIER’S RECEPTION, 2007, IN RECOGNITION OF THEIR OUTSTANDING
ACHIEVEMENT .............................................................................................................................................................. 26
APPENDIX 2—SCHOOLS WITH CONTINUING OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT, 2007......................................................... 27
APPENDIX 3—MOST POPULAR BOOKS .......................................................................................................................... 28
APPENDIX 4 PARENT, STUDENT & STAFF SURVEYS .................................................................................................... 34
3
TABLES
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Numbers of schools participating in the Challenge in each sector
Numbers of students completing the Challenge
LaN mean score differences between PRC and non-PRC students
Home education and individual students completing the Challenge
Certificates and medals awarded to students in 2007, by gender
Year level statistics, including percentage improvement from 2006 to 2007
Awards presented in each educational sector
Awards presented over all the years of the Challenge
Aboriginal students in DECS schools completing the Challenge
Students in APY Lands schools completing the Challenge
Students in Aboriginal schools completing the Challenge
Ambassadors of the Premier’s Reading Challenge
Visits to the website, by page
Figures
1
Numbers of times the ambassador section of the website was accessed, by month
4
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The 2007 Premier’s Reading Challenge continued
as a well-established literacy program in South
Australian schools, with the number of students
completing the Challenge continuing to increase.
It contributed towards achieving the literacy
targets in the education section and the Aboriginal
education section of Objective 6 in South
Australia’s Strategic Plan 2007, the Department of
Education and Children’s Services (DECS)
Aboriginal Strategy 2005-2010 and Goal 2 in
DECS Statement of Directions 2005-2010.
It was the fourth year Premier Mike Rann
challenged students from Reception to Year 9 in
all schools in South Australia to read 12 books by
September. It was the first year gold medals were
presented for achieving ‘The Olympics of
Reading’.
The Premier announced there would be three new
medals to follow on after the gold medal, taking
the program through to at least 2010. The three
new medals are the Champion Medal, the Legend
Medal and the Hall of Fame Medal.
In 2007, 100 971 students completed the
Challenge, which was an increase of 11 per cent
from 2006. This number of students completing
the challenge represents over 55 per cent of all
South Australian students from Reception to Year
9. Of these, 51 per cent were girls and 49 per cent
were boys, maintaining the close gender gap from
2006. There was a significant increase in
participation in all year levels from Reception to
Year 9.
There was a 28 per cent increase in the number
of Aboriginal students who completed the
Challenge in DECS schools, from 1776 to 2278.
Of these 89 students were from the Anangu
Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands. It is
expected there will be stronger involvement again
in 2008 resulting from the parcel of books and
pens donated to 18 Aboriginal and APY Lands
schools by the Premier to celebrate Book Week in
August 2007.
The following awards were presented to students
who completed the Challenge:
28 268 Certificates
One year
28 228 Bronze Medals
Two years
23 438 Silver Medals
Three years
21 037 Gold Medals
Four years
There were 748 schools with students completing
the Challenge in 2007. This was 93 per cent of all
eligible schools, with 30 schools participating for
the first time.
In 2007, there were also 212 home education
children who completed the challenge, which is an
increase of 40 per cent on the number involved in
2006.
The Premier’s Reception was held at the Space
Theatre at the Festival Centre on Friday 19
November and representatives from 52 schools
with outstanding achievement were invited to
attend. A further 69 schools that had
representatives attend a Premier’s Reception in
previous years were sent a framed certificate to
recognise their continuing outstanding
achievement in the Challenge.
The 14 ambassadors, who are high profile South
Australians, made a valued contribution to the
program.
Three surveys were available on the website in
November and December 2007. There was a
separate survey for students, staff and parents to
gain some feedback on the effectiveness of the
Premier’s Reading Challenge and to inform
decision making for future directions.
The benefits of the Premier’s Reading Challenge
listed by survey respondents included:
• providing an incentive to read and another way
to promote reading and literacy with the
development of a whole-school reading culture
• enhancing the profile of reading and receiving
support by the school community
• good recognition for the library staff and the
value of the library, with increased borrowing of
books
• quality literature being highlighted and more
books being purchased
• students discovering they enjoy reading,
resulting in literacy levels improving and
students reading more and being eager to
participate
• motivating students with varying levels of
reading ability to improve by practising their
skills and striving to achieve
• students feeling proud and excited about their
achievements and about reading
• students talking to each other about books,
recommending titles and broadening their
reading selection and awareness of authors
• the appeal of the ‘challenge’ aspect, especially
for boys
• many schools encouraging students to read
beyond the initial challenge of 12 books each
year
• participating in the Challenge increasing the
numbers of books being read each year.
Based on the responses from survey participants,
recommendations were formulated to enhance the
program in future years.
5
Implementing the following key recommendations
will put the program in a strong position to
contribute to meeting the literacy targets in South
Australia’s Strategic Plan which are to achieve
benchmarks in reading in Year 3 (T6.12), Year 5
(T6.13) and Year 7 (T6.14), and to increase yearly
the proportion of Aboriginal children reading at
age appropriate levels at the end of Year 1.
(T6.18).
The recommendations are:
• Reflecting DECS priorities by continuing to
target Aboriginal schools and Aboriginal
students to increase participation in the
Premier’s Reading Challenge.
• Consider more promotional materials for
school contact people, public library staff,
teachers and students.
• Investigate the feasibility of providing funding
to schools to purchase books to support
participation in the Challenge.
• Continue developing links with Premier’s be
active Challenge.
• Further develop the partnership with the eteacher program and the Premier’s Reading
Challenge ambassadors with Centra software.
• Promote the ability to read books in languages
other than English, particularly to language
teachers.
• Enhance the website to make it easier to
navigate, and promote the website to students.
• Continue to develop the booklists with a range
of books and include more non-fiction titles.
• Consider initiatives to make the Challenge less
time-consuming for staff.
• Appoint a new ambassador for 2008.
• Assure stakeholders that the program will
continue at least until 2010 and that three new
medals will follow the Gold Medal.
• Consider an evaluation of the program in 2008.
High levels of school participation and continued
rapid growth in student completion numbers
indicate this is a valued literacy program. More
books are being read as a direct result of the
Challenge but this is also causing higher
replacement costs. Although survey feedback
cannot be assumed to be representative, it also
suggests a high degree of satisfaction, and
provides a variety of strategies to further enhance
the program. The evidence suggests positive
progress towards Premier Rann’s aims in
introducing the Challenge in 2004 which are to:
• encourage children to enjoy reading books
• improve literacy levels.
6
INTRODUCTION
The Premier’s Reading Challenge is a State
Government initiative of the Premier, Mike Rann.
His aim is to encourage students from Reception
to Year 9 to read more books for enjoyment and
to improve literacy levels.
Students are required to read 12 books a year to
complete the Challenge. In the first year, students
receive a Certificate signed by the Premier. When
students complete the Challenge for the second
year they receive a Bronze Medal, a Silver Medal
for the third year, and a Gold Medal for the fourth
year.
In February 2007, Premier Mike Rann announced
there would be three new medals to follow the
Gold Medal. The Premier’s Reading Challenge
Champion Medal will be introduced from 2008, the
Premier’s Reading Challenge Legend Medal from
2009, and the Premier’s Reading Challenge Hall
of Fame Medal from 2010.
Students from Reception to Year 9 from
government and non-government schools and
home education families are encouraged to
participate in the Challenge.
The Premier’s Reading Challenge began in 2004.
The program has specific purpose allocation
funding which will take it to at least the end of
2010.
The Premier’s Reading Challenge is launched
near the beginning of each school year. Posters
are distributed to schools and public libraries.
Schools are encouraged to nominate a school
contact person to complete an online registration
for the school, organise the Premier’s Reading
Challenge at the school and receive
communications throughout the year.
Public libraries are very supportive of the
Challenge and students are encouraged to use
their public library as well as their school library to
find the books they would like to read.
There are now government supported literacy
initiatives for all South Australians with the launch
of The Little Big Book Club in February 2006
catering for children from birth to age five, the
Premier’s Reading Challenge from Reception to
Year 9 and The Big Book Club for Year 10
students and older, right through to adults.
All information about the Challenge is available on
the website at <www.prc.sa.edu.au>.
The Premier’s Reading Challenge is an inclusive program—students from Regency Park School
receive awards at the Premier’s Reception, November 2007.
7
CONTEXT
The Premier’s Reading Challenge contributes
towards achieving Objective 6: Expanding
Opportunity—EDUCATION in South Australia’s
Strategic Plan 2007. Specifically, these are the
targets T6.12, T6.13 and T6.14 relating to the
achievement of the national benchmarks in
reading for Year 3, Year 5 and Year 7 students.
It also contributes towards achieving Objective 6:
Expanding Opportunity—ABORIGINAL
EDUCATION target T6.18 aimed at increasing
yearly the proportion of Aboriginal children
reading at age appropriate levels at the end of
Year 1.
These targets are included in the DECS
Statement of Directions 2005-2010 in Goal 2:
Excellence in Learning. There is also a specific
target to increase the percentage of Aboriginal
students in Year 5 and Year 7 achieving the upper
skill bands for literacy.
The Premier’s Reading Challenge also works
towards achieving the literacy aspect of the
Aboriginal Education target in the DECS
Aboriginal Strategy 2005-2010 specifically in Key
focus area 3: Literacy and Numeracy. DECS
commits to addressing the urgent need to improve
educational outcomes for Aboriginal children,
especially in literacy … to a level comparable with
that of the school population as a whole.
Minister for Education and Children’s Services,
Jane Lomax-Smith, has attributed the
achievement of some of the highest results on
record in this year’s State Literacy and Numeracy
(LaN) tests to the State Government’s major
investment in literacy improvement, which
includes the Premier’s Reading Challenge
(Education News, November/December 2007).
Three surveys were available on the website in
November and December 2007. There was a
separate survey for students, staff and parents.
The purpose of the surveys was to gain some
feedback on the effectiveness of the Premier’s
Reading Challenge in a number of areas and to
inform decision making for future directions and
enhancement of the Premier’s Reading
Challenge.
It must be noted that because the surveys were
freely available to anyone who could access the
website and who chose to respond, the
respondents are not necessarily representative of
program stakeholders. Reference will be made to
the surveys in this report.
Ambassador Aurelio Vidmar presented awards to students at Lockleys Primary School
8
STATISTICAL OUTCOMES
School participation
The final number of schools participating in 2007
was 758 schools. Of these, 748 schools, which is
93 per cent of eligible schools in South Australia,
had students who completed the Premier’s
Reading Challenge. There were 30 schools in
2007 participating for the first time.
school sector, from 2004 to 2007: Department of
Education and Children’s Services (DECS),
Catholic Education South Australia (CESA) and
Association of Independent Schools of South
Australia (AISSA). It indicates a three percentage
point increase in the number of schools with
students completing the Challenge from 2006.
Table 1 indicates the growth in numbers of
schools participating in the Challenge in each
Table 1: Numbers of schools participating in the Challenge in each sector
Sector
DECS
CESA
AISSA
Total
Number of
schools 2004
445
82
61
588
%
73%
76%
64%
73%
Number of
schools
2005
490
88
67
645
%
81%
84%
72%
81%
Number of
schools
2006
547
96
75
718
%
91%
92%
81%
90%
Number of
schools
2007
565
101
82
748
%
93%
94%
85%
93%
Student participation
Challenge, more than doubling numbers from the
first year of the Challenge in 2004 (see Table 2).
Table 2: Numbers of students completing the Challenge
Sector
DECS
CESA
AISSA
Total
Number of students Number of students
2004
2005
35 072
51 968
8 720
11 129
5 788
8 202
49 560
71 299
Number of
students 2006
64 871
15 742
10 302
90 915
Number of
students 2007
70 374
18 568
12 029
100 971
Students from Eastern Fleurieu R-12 School, Langhorne Creek Campus at the Premier’s Reception,
2007.
9
In 2007, analysis of the DECS students who had
completed the Challenge in 2004, 2005, 2006 and
2007 and their Literacy and Numeracy (LaN)
results over these years was carried out. It
showed that the average LaN score for reading for
all students who completed the Premier’s Reading
Challenge was slightly higher than for students
not completing the Premier’s Reading Challenge
(PRC), as shown in Table 3. A one point
difference in the mean score equates to
approximately four months of reading
development.
A mean score difference in the last column of two
points indicates approximately eight months more
progress in reading development.
Table 3: LaN mean Score differences between PRC and non-PRC students in DECS schools
Level
Year 3
Year
2004
2005
2006
2007
2004
2005
2006
2007
2004
2005
2006
2007
Year 5
Year 7
PRC
students
51.6
50.8
51.2
51.1
58.8
57.3
57.0
58.3
63.6
62.9
63.0
64.2
All
students
50.0
49.9
50.5
50.4
57.1
56.2
56.1
57.6
61.5
61.3
62.1
62.9
Home education and individual student
statistics
The number of students completing the Challenge
who were home educated or attended a school
Non-PRC
students
49.3
48.8
49.2
48.7
56.5
55.3
54.9
56.3
61.1
60.7
61.4
61.9
PRC/non-PRC
difference
2.3
2.0
2.0
2.4
2.3
2.0
2.1
2.0
2.5
2.2
1.6
2.3
which did not participate in the Challenge
continued to rise, increasing by 40 per cent from
2006.
Table 4: Home education and individual students completing the Challenge
Number of students
2004
Number of students
2005
Number of students
2006
Number of
students 2007
44
76
151
212
Gender statistics
Of the 100 971 students who completed the
Premier’s Reading Challenge in 2007, 49 per cent
were boys and 51 per cent were girls, which
maintained the close gender gap from 2006. The
surveys revealed that boys are motivated with the
idea of ‘taking up the challenge’ and that the
Premier’s Reading Challenge has been a factor in
encouraging boys’ literacy development. In 2007,
more boys than girls completed the first year
Challenge and received a Certificate.
Table 5: Certificates and medals awarded to students in 2007, by gender
Gender
Female
Male
Total
Certificate
13 813
14 455
28 268
Bronze Medal
14 151
14 077
28 228
Silver Medal
12 168
11 270
23 438
Gold Medal
11 471
9 566
21 037
Total
51 603
49 368
100 971
10
Year level statistics
The overall take-up of the Challenge has
increased each year, with an overall 11 per cent
increase from 2006 to 2007. There was a varying
but significant increase in all year levels in 2007.
In particular, the numbers of students completing
the Challenge in the later years of primary school
and in Years 8 and 9 is very positive. This
achieves the aim of the recommendation from the
2006 report to increase participation in Year 8 and
Year 9. A new guideline was introduced in 2007,
by popular demand, to allow students to continue
the Challenge in Year 10 to achieve the next
medal. This resulted in 80 students taking this
opportunity.
Table 6: Year level statistics, including percentage improvement from 2006 to 2007
Reception
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Total
2004
7 717
7 968
7 883
6 179
5 947
5 505
4 000
3 088
821
428
2005
10 942
10 545
10 787
9 144
8 837
8 452
5 022
4 831
2 051
688
2006
12 637
12 790
12 781
11 805
11 634
10 595
8 322
7 001
2 107
1 243
49 536
71 299
90 915
2007
14 701
13 405
13 781
13 094
12 630
11 777
9 296
8 212
2 430
1 585
80
100 971
2006 to 2007
improvement
16%
5%
8%
11%
9%
11%
12%
17%
15%
27%
11%
Students from Sunrise Christian School, Marion Campus, looking at books presented to
them for their school library at the Premier’s Reception 2007.
11
AWARDS
Challenge for the first time and were awarded a
Certificate signed by the Premier. The fact that
this number of students is taking up the Challenge
for the first time augurs well for the continuation of
the program.
The ‘Olympics of Reading’ was achieved for the
first time by 21 037 students who were presented
with Gold Medals. These students had completed
the Challenge every year since it began in 2004,
with a retention rate of 43 per cent of students
over the four years.
The Challenge was completed by 28 228 students
for the second time, and were awarded a Bronze
Medal. Silver Medals were presented to 23 438
students for completing the Challenge three times.
Table 7 shows that a total of 100 971 students
completed the Challenge in 2007, with awards
spread across all educational sectors. Table 8
summarises awards presented during the four
years of the Challenge.
Table 7: Awards presented in each educational sector
AISSA
CESA
DECS
Total
Certificate
3 135
5 632
19 501
28 268
Bronze Medal
3 317
5 418
19 493
28 228
Silver Medal
2 719
3 689
17 030
23 438
Gold Medal
2 858
3 829
14 350
21 037
Total
12 029
18 568
70 374
100 971
Table 8: Awards presented over all the years of the Challenge
Certificate
Bronze Medal
Silver Medal
Gold Medal
Total
2004
49 495
2005
37 829
33 403
2006
34 357
29 999
26 334
49 495
71 232
90 690
2007
28 268
28 228
23 438
21 037
100 971
Total
149 949
91 630
49 772
21 037
312 388
The Premier, the Minister for Education and
Children’s Services, Members of Parliament,
Premier’s Reading Challenge ambassadors and
local dignitaries were involved with many award
presentation ceremonies across South Australia.
Many schools focused on celebrating the
Challenge in term 4. School communities took the
opportunity to demonstrate pride in the
achievement of their students.
The awards are an achievement of which students
and their parents are very proud. A very high
90 per cent of student respondents in the survey
agreed that the medals were an incentive to
participate. The Premier has announced that there
will be three new medals to follow on after the
gold, taking the program through to at least 2010.
These are the Champion Medal, the Legend
Medal and the Hall of Fame Medal.
Ambassador Juliet Haslam presented awards at
St John the Baptist School and showed them her
Olympic medals.
12
ABORIGINAL STRATEGY
The Premier’s Reading Challenge has an
emphasis on encouraging Aboriginal schools and
Aboriginal students to participate, in line with
achieving South Australia’s Strategic Plan 2007
targets and also DECS Statement of Directions
2005–2010 targets. These include a number of
literacy and wellbeing targets for Aboriginal
people which participation in the Premier’s
Reading Challenge can help to achieve.
There were 89 Aboriginal students from the
Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY)
Lands schools who completed the Challenge in
2007, with 86 of these students participating for
the first time.
Statistics of Aboriginal students completing the
Challenge are only available for DECS schools.
Numbers rose in 2007 from 1776 in 2006 to 2278
- a 28 per cent increase. There may have been
more Aboriginal students in the non-government
sector who completed the Challenge but
information is not available.
participate in the Challenge. Alberton Primary
School increased numbers so much that they
were invited to the Premier’s Reception in 2007.
Indulkana Anangu School in the APY Lands was
also invited to the Premier’s Reception because of
their outstanding achievement.
To celebrate Book Week and encourage
participation in the Challenge, 18 Aboriginal and
APY Lands schools received a parcel of books
(over the value of $500), bookmarks and pens
from the Premier. The books were from the
Premier’s Reading Challenge booklists and many
of the books reflected Aboriginal themes and
culture. Schools responded very positively having more books with which the students could
identify would encourage more schools and
students to participate in 2008.
Table 9: Aboriginal students in DECS schools
completing the Challenge
2005
1056
2006
1776
2007
2278
% increase from
2006 to 2007
28%
Ambassador Che Cockatoo-Collins is a role
model for Aboriginal students and his visits have
been targeted towards schools where there is a
high proportion of Aboriginal students. For 2007,
these included Alberton Primary School, Kaurna
Plains School and Pennington Junior Primary
School. Reports after the visits indicated he was
instrumental in encouraging Aboriginal students to
Danielle Grant-Cross presenting books to
students at Kaurna Plains School.
Table 10: Students in APY Lands schools completing the Challenge
School
Amata
Indulkana
Mimili
2004
Students
%
17
30%
2005
Students
%
2006
Students
%
2007
Students
71
18
%
97%
32%
Table 11: Students in Aboriginal schools completing the Challenge
School
Carlton
Kaurna Plains
Koonibba
Marree
Oodnadatta
Point Pearce
Raukkan
2004
Students
%
2005
Students
%
29
48%
17
18
28%
55%
8
27%
5
22%
2006
Students
4
33
14
23
24
11
2
%
4%
26%
42%
88%
69%
41%
15%
2007
Students
5
34
24
22
11
8
%
6%
30%
67%
69%
37%
80%
13
PREMIER’S RECEPTION
The Premier’s Reception was held on Monday 19
November 2007 in the Space Theatre at the
Festival Centre. The official proceedings took
place in the theatre followed by an informal
gathering in the foyer outside the theatre. Guests
enjoyed refreshments while they chatted with
ambassadors, had their faces painted and were
entertained by the roving entertainer, Boppo the
clown.
There were over 210 guests including 98
students. Members of Parliament were invited if a
school from their electorate was represented and
22 attended. Mark Bickley was the Master of
Ceremonies for the event and ambassadors
Amanda Graham, Phil Cummings and Che
Cockatoo-Collins assisted with reading the names
of schools and students for the presentations. The
Premier and Minister presented representatives
from schools with a certificate and a parcel of
books and book vouchers. Guests were
entertained by students from Colonel Light
Gardens Primary School who presented their
State winning Wakakirri story performance of
Thumbs Up - a story the students created about
bullying.
Boppo the clown with a young admirer at the
Premier’s Reception, 2007.
The 52 schools with outstanding achievement
were invited to the Premier’s Reception (see
Appendix 1). This included schools from all three
education sectors and from districts all over South
Australia, including Indulkana in the APY Lands.
Colonel Light Gardens students presenting the
story of Thumbs Up.
Mem Fox
delighted
everyone
when she
read her
book The
Magic Hat to
finish the
official
proceedings.
Mem Fox reading The Magic Hat.
14
An official photographer recorded the event and
the photographs have been made available on the
Premier’s Reading Challenge website.
Many schools represented at the Reception
completed a feedback sheet and the
overwhelming number of positive comments
indicated school representatives thought the event
was extremely worthwhile. Highlights from the
feedback included:
• ‘Meeting the ambassadors and getting
autographs’
• ‘The relaxed atmosphere and the great venue’
• ‘Just being there and feeling very special!’
• ‘Being taken on a tour of Parliament House by
our politician after the event’
• ‘The food and the smoothies’
• ‘Mem Fox reading The Magic Hat and getting
her autograph’
• ‘The great parcel of books’
• ‘Meeting the Premier and the Minister and
collecting their awards’
• ‘Bringing two children who had never been to
Adelaide before’
• ‘The performance about bullying and the funny
clown’
• ‘Excellent organisation’.
Suggested improvements included using stronger
bags for the book awards, making sure the media
covers the event, supplying a parking voucher and
holding it a little earlier in the day to assist country
people getting home.
An additional 69 schools had a certificate signed
by the Premier sent to the school. These schools
had already attended a Premier’s Reception in
previous years and continued their outstanding
achievement in the Challenge in 2007 (see
Appendix 2). Over the four years, 159 schools
have been invited to a Premier’s Reception.
Premier Mike Rann and Minister Jane Lomax-Smith present Indulkana representatives with a
certificate and books for their school.
15
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
PROGRAM PROMOTION
Office of the Premier
There were articles in the Sunday Mail, The
Advertiser, Education News and local Messenger
newspapers. Every opportunity was taken to
promote the Premier’s Reading Challenge at
various literacy events, teacher librarian meetings
and conferences, and an article appeared in
editions of the School Library Association SA
newsletter. Many schools across the State
included articles about their involvement in, and
success stories with, the Premier’s Reading
Challenge in school newsletters at various times
throughout the year. Public libraries also
promoted the Challenge in various ways.
Premier Mike Rann was kept fully informed about
the Premier’s Reading Challenge through a policy
adviser who also had direct involvement, putting
forward ideas and strategies to promote the
Challenge to all South Australians. It was a vital
link to the success of the program. The Premier
regularly promoted the Challenge at other events
and enjoyed talking with students about their
success in the Challenge.
DECS
The Premier’s Reading Challenge was placed in
Curriculum Services and under the management
of a Curriculum Superintendent.
Staffing included a full-time Policy and Program
Officer and a 0.5 Administration Support Officer.
Temporary support staff members were employed
when required to manage busy periods of the
year.
Promotion of the Premier’s Reading Challenge
was also achieved through participation in
Community Cabinet events when the Premier
and/or the Minister visited schools or met with
school representatives at community events.
Locations included Port Lincoln, the Adelaide Hills
and Gawler. Many politicians and local identities
presented awards in schools as well.
Two large banners were available for schools to
use for displays or parades and they were fully
booked throughout the year. A third stand-alone
banner was kept for more official occasions such
as visits by the Premier and ambassadors and
conferences.
In 2007, a general information pamphlet about the
Premier’s Reading Challenge was published. This
was a very useful addition to promotional
materials and will be distributed to all schools and
public libraries with the 2008 poster.
Premier Mike Rann at Port Lincoln Primary School
with children from surrounding schools at the
launch of the Premier’s Reading Challenge for
2007 during Community Cabinet.
Other promotional materials produced in 2007
were a bookmark, notepad and pen, all of which
have been very popular. All school contact people
received a notepad as a thank you gift at the end
of 2007, and the pens were also distributed to
Aboriginal and APY Lands schools with their
parcels of books.
Public library staff will receive a gift of a notepad
with the 2008 poster distribution.
16
AMBASSADORS
read aloud to children and emphasising the
importance of reading and literacy from birth.
Ambassadors were invited to appear at major
functions for the Premier’s Reading Challenge, to
visit at least two schools during the year, to
present awards at one school in fourth term, and
to promote the Premier’s Reading Challenge in
the course of their work, all of which they have
done very successfully. Ambassadors visited
approximately 50 schools in 2007. Schools that
hosted an ambassador reported on the positive
experience it brought to their students. These
visits included Mem Fox travelling to the Riverland
and talking to students from many schools when
she presented at Loxton Primary School and
Barmera Primary School. She also presented an
evening session for parents encouraging them to
Reports and photos of many of these visits were
recorded on the Premier’s Reading Challenge
website in the News section and now in the 2007
archives pages.
There was an ambassador section on the website
with information and photographs of all the
ambassadors, with a new Fact File added in 2007.
The popularity of the ambassadors is also
demonstrated by Figure 4 which shows the
access to the ambassador section of the website
in 2007, which reached a peak in April with over
1400 ‘hits’ on the site.
Table 12: Ambassadors of the Premier’s Reading Challenge
Ambassador
Mark Bickley
Che Cockatoo-Collins
Phil Cummings
Mem Fox
Amanda Graham
Danielle Grant-Cross
Juliet Haslam
Brooke Krueger-Billett
Travis Moran
Matthew Primus
Rebecca Sanders
Rachael Sporn
Aurelio Vidmar
Jenny Williams
Media personality and former Crows captain
Former Essendon and Port Power footballer
Children’s author
Children’s author and literacy consultant
Children’s author and illustrator
Former Australian netballer and Ravens captain
Former Australian Hockeyroo player
Olympic and Commonwealth Games hammer thrower
2004 Olympian - volleyball
Former Port Power captain
Former Australian and Thunderbirds netballer
Former Australian and Olympic basketball player
Adelaide United soccer coach
Children’s author and former Australian lacrosse player
Figure 4: Numbers of times the ambassador section of the website was accessed, by month
Ambassadors- Stats
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Feb
March
April
May
June
A new initiative for 2007 increased the presence
of ambassadors in country schools. Through a
partnership with the DECS e-teacher program and
the Premier’s Reading Challenge, Centra software
was used to make it possible for ambassadors to
make ‘virtual visits’ to schools. Rachael Sporn and
Matthew Primus volunteered for four events
July
August
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
covering Southern Sea and Vines (including
Kangaroo Island), the Barossa, the Limestone
Coast and Eyre districts. The events were
promoted in the Learning Technologies Online
Learning Events Guide and through the Premier’s
Reading Challenge. Apart from being online for
approximately 40 minutes, when students
17
interacted with the ambassador, students could
participate before and after the event in the webbased ‘moodle’ site which included information
and activities about reading, the Challenge and
the ambassador. 1495 students participated, with
48 teachers from approximately 38 schools.
There are plans in place to expand this
partnership in 2008. This will include the posting
on the Premier’s Reading Challenge website of a
recorded video interview with the Premier.
• Brooke Krueger-Billett attended the ‘Book
Olympics’ Extreme Read Event organised by
Tea Tree Gully public library and attended by
four schools
• Danielle Grant-Cross, Aurelio Vidmar and Phil
Cummings featured at the Come Out Festival
at the Festival Centre in March, with many
schools listening to the interviews.
The ambassadors are all high profile, busy people
and have given their time voluntarily. Some
schools that have requested a visit are on the
waiting list for 2008.
Amanda Graham has been a wonderful
ambassador for the past three years and her
efforts have been very much appreciated,
particularly by the schools she has visited and the
students she has inspired. Amanda has indicated
that she will no longer be able to be an
ambassador for the program from 2008.
A screen shot of the Centra presentation.
Other initiatives used in 2007 to take advantage of
opportunities for one ambassador to reach
students from multiple schools, included the
following:
Rebecca Sanders moved to live in Vietnam late in
2007 and it is hoped she will be able to continue
her participation in the program through an e-mail
link with some schools in 2008. She is keen to
continue her involvement in the Challenge.
In the survey, some respondents stated they
would like more access to ambassadors.
Ambassadors Mark Bickley, Danielle Grant-Cross, Premier Mike Rann, Matthew Primus, Amanda Graham,
Brooke Krueger-Billett, Che Cockatoo-Collins, Mem Fox and Rebecca Sanders.
18
OTHER COMPONENTS OF THE
OTHER COMPONENTS OF THE PROGRAM
The website
Booklists
The website was the main avenue of
communication for the Challenge and was used to
inform and keep people up-to-date with news
including refreshed booklists and visits to schools.
In 2007, there were 62 595 visits to the Home
Page of the website, confirming that it was a wellaccessed resource. Visits to the various pages on
the website are included in Table 13.
The booklists were developed by a panel of three
school-based teacher librarians and a public
librarian, in consultation with the Policy and
Program Officer:
• Fran Knight, Richmond Primary School
• Pauline Annear, Nairne Primary School
• Judy Woods, Hillcrest Primary School
• Janice Curtis, Port Adelaide/Enfield Public
Library.
Table 13: Visits to the website, by page
Page
Home Page
Ambassadors
Booklists
Information about the
Challenge
For Staff
News
Times
accessed
62 595
6 444
9 254
21 372
13 986
7 710
Survey respondents commented that the website
was very useful for independent learners, and that
it was easy to navigate and was user-friendly.
Plans for increased accessibility are in place for
2008.
School contact people
School contact people received information about
the Challenge on a regular basis - approximately
three times per term - via e-mail. The updates
were a vital link factor in the success of the
program in organising the Challenge at the school
level and the school taking responsibility for data
entry of students completing the Challenge.
Responses to the survey indicated this was a
valued means of communication. The success of
the program largely depends on the valued input
of these school contact people.
The program was fortunate to have this dedicated
group that was so knowledgeable about child and
adolescent literature. Many people from schools
and parents commented on how useful the
booklists were. Many teacher librarians used the
booklists to purchase new resources for their
libraries and comments in the survey
demonstrated the value of these booklists, which
are available on the website in both searchable
and printing format.
In 2007, there were 3396 books on the Premier’s
Reading Challenge booklists, which was an
additional 378 books from the previous year. This
increase was made up of 1000 books for the
Reception to Year 2 section, 1000 books in the
Year 3 to Year 5 section and 1396 books for the
Year 6 to Year 9 section.
A total of 100 971 students read at least 12 books
each, so a minimum of 1.2 million books were
read. Many schools encouraged their students to
keep reading once they had completed the
Challenge and various ‘in-house’ incentive
schemes were used. There were many anecdotes
of students who had read well over 100 books.
Professional development
Information and training sessions about the
Premier’s Reading Challenge were presented at
teacher librarian hub groups in metropolitan and
country locations, a Public Libraries State meeting
and local meetings, the library technician
conference and through the School Library
Association of South Australia.
Jake from North Haven Primary School read 1000
books in 2007.
19
Stickers
A stratified random sample of schools was
selected to record data about the books that
students read for the Challenge in 2007. The
average number of books read by this sample of
students was 19 books each. The 50 most
popular books from 2007 are listed on the
Premier’s Reading Challenge website, together
with the 20 most popular books in each year level
(see Appendix 3).
Students responding to the survey mentioned
many titles that they had read for the Challenge
and that they considered were the best books.
These titles were also the popular books for each
year level from the database. These included the
Boyz Rule series, Andy Griffiths books, Tashi
books, Harry Potter books and the Artemis Fowl
series.
Posters
Posters were the initial way of publicising the
Premier’s Reading Challenge in all schools and
public libraries. They were also distributed to
bookshops, district centres, DECS central office
and electoral offices. The poster included the
website address and other brief details about the
challenge for easy reference. Survey comments
showed they were very useful in schools.
Schools appreciated that they could assist
students by purchasing Premier’s Reading
Challenge stickers for book spine labels to
designate books on the Premier’s Reading
Challenge booklist. The stickers were available in
a different fluoro colour for each of the three levels
of the Challenge. Staff and parents indicated in
the survey that they were a very useful addition in
libraries to designate the Premier’s Reading
Challenge books, making it easy for a student to
choose appropriate books.
Database and data entry
Opportunities to enhance the database were
taken in 2007, usually as a result of suggestions
from schools or to add autonomy of use rather
than reliance on extract reports produced by
DECS Technology and Knowledge Management
Services (T&KMS). Enhancements implemented
in 2007 included being able to sort students by
class groups instead of the broader year level
grouping and having maintenance reports written
to be able to maintain the database more
accurately and avoid duplication of records. A
report to identify statistics relating to Aboriginal
students was also very useful. For the first time, in
2007, two school contact people were able to be
added by a school at the time of registration. The
added facility of being able to create a list to email all school contacts was invaluable in
communicating with schools.
DECS schools entered Challenge completion data
for the third time directly through the Education
Department School Administration System
(EDSAS) at their site. The data came via the
Centralised Education Data System (CEDS) to the
Premier’s Reading Challenge database, which
was an initiative supported by T&KMS in DECS.
In 2007, for the second time, data was entered by
non-government schools at each school site,
using the DECS Eduportal System. Although
some central processing of data is still required,
this has been kept to a minimum.
Survey respondents commented that data entry
was easy but could be time consuming, especially
in non-government schools with children new to
the program. The most difficult aspect was
tracking students who had changed school and
this issue will be addressed in 2008.
Premier’s Reading Challenge poster, 2007
20
LINKS WITH OTHER PROGRAMS
Within DECS, links were formed with the Early
Years Literacy Program. The Premier’s Reading
Challenge was also strongly promoted by the
Policy and Program Officer in Home Education,
with a record 213 students completing the
Challenge in 2007.
Strong links were developed with public libraries
and school community libraries, both services
being very supportive of families participating in
the Challenge.
MS Readathon is a reading program organised to
raise funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and
the Premier’s Reading Challenge encouraged
students to read for both programs.
Links were also established with Windmill
Theatre. The books used as a basis for theatre
productions were added to the Premier’s Reading
Challenge booklists and two schools that had an
outstanding achievement in the Challenge were
offered free tickets to a performance.
Close links were established with The Little Big
Book Club which encourages parents to read
aloud to children from birth to 5 years of age.
Children who had been involved with the Little Big
Book Club were encouraged to progress to the
Premier’s Reading Challenge once they began
school. After participating in the Premier’s
Reading Challenge, students were encouraged to
become involved with the Big Book Club. These
three programs encouraged South Australians of
all ages to enjoy reading.
Supportive links were also established with the
Premier’s be active Challenge, which was
launched in 2007. A joint bookmark was printed
and distributed to all South Australian students
mid-year to jointly promote both Challenges.
Initiatives to benefit both programs will continue
in 2008.
Eliza featured in the 2007 Premier’s Reading
Challenge poster.
21
SURVEYS
Three surveys were conducted through the
Premier’s Reading Challenge website in
November and December 2007 for:
• students
• staff
• parents.
The questions in the surveys are included in
Appendix 4.
Demographic data
There were 83 respondents to the student survey,
of which 48 per cent were males and 52 per cent
females, with 95 per cent attending DECS
schools. Of all student respondents, 88 per cent
attended primary school. The number of years
they had completed the Challenge were spread
evenly for 60 per cent of the students. The other
40 per cent had completed the Challenge for three
years.
The 91 staff respondents included school leaders,
teacher librarians, teachers, school support
officers and public library staff. Of these, 70 per
cent were from DECS schools and the remainder
from non-government schools, with one public
librarian. The respondents were predominantly
from primary and junior primary schools, with
8 per cent from high schools. Over half had been
involved with the Challenge for four years and, for
8 per cent of respondents, it was the first year that
they had been involved.
There were nine parent respondents - six
associated with DECS schools and three with
Catholic schools. They were all parents of primary
and junior primary children.
Student reading
When asked why they took part in the Challenge,
the highest number of responses from students
indicated it was because they liked reading, they
wanted a certificate or a medal and they liked a
challenge. Others said they participated because
their teacher suggested it or they had to do it for
school. Over a third (35 per cent) said they
wanted to improve their reading. Students
reported that friends and parents were the least
likely to influence them to participate.
Almost two-thirds (65 per cent) of respondents
reported reading more than 12 books in 2007.
Almost half (49 per cent) said that they read more
books now that they were participating in the
Challenge, and 45 per cent said they were getting
better at reading because they were participating
in the Challenge. 79 per cent of respondents
indicated they would like to participate again next
year.
Six of the nine parent respondents thought that
the Premier’s Reading Challenge had increased
the number of books their child was reading each
year, and 72 per cent of staff respondents agreed.
Some 5 per cent of students reported reading a
book in a language other than English, and 3 per
cent of staff were aware of students who had
done so.
Seventy per cent of student respondents said they
were good readers who enjoyed reading, and
67 per cent reported that they enjoyed
participating in the Challenge. The parent
respondents generally thought their children were
good at reading already, but four of the nine still
agreed that participation had improved their
child’s reading, and six thought that it had
increased their child’s enjoyment of reading. Six of
the nine parents responded with the opinion that
the Challenge encouraged students who were not
usually keen readers, while eight felt that doing
the Premier’s Reading Challenge gave the child a
sense of achievement.
In the staff survey, 87 per cent of staff agreed that
it was worthwhile being involved with the
Challenge, 81 per cent agreed that the Challenge
had increased interest in reading, and 64 per cent
of staff responded that the Challenge encouraged
students who were not usually keen readers.
Staff respondents agreed that the Premier’s
Reading Challenge had increased the number of
students who were reading at least 12 books a
year. Respondents also commented that the
increase was significant and that the variety of
books students were reading had improved.
Another comment was that the increase was
because it was part of the classroom reading
program. Making the Premier’s Reading
Challenge curriculum-based is a choice that
teachers can make and high schools reported
finding it particularly effective.
Management of the Challenge
Respondents felt that the overall management of
the Challenge was well organised with good
communication and efficient assistance available.
Staff responses of over 90 per cent agreed that
enough information about the Premier’s Reading
Challenge was received.
Almost half the students and six of the parents
responding to the survey were unaware that there
were three new medals to follow the Gold Medal
from 2008, although 90 per cent of staff were
aware of the new medals.
Over 60 per cent of students reported that they
didn’t use the website to find out information about
the program or about the booklists. Sixty-eight per
cent of all respondents agreed that the certificates
22
were an incentive to participate, and almost
90 per cent agreed that the medals were an
incentive to participation. Of staff respondents,
85 per cent agreed that the awards were an
incentive for students. ‘Now they are hooked!”
was a telling comment.
Data entry
Of all staff respondents, 70 per cent indicated it
was easy to enter data and 7 per cent indicated it
was difficult. It was the third year that DECS
schools entered the data through EDSAS. For
non-government schools, it was the second year
that they had completed data entry at the school
site. Respondents said that both data checking
and data entry were time-consuming but had
improved. Most issues centred around students
who had changed schools, especially if they had
transferred from one education sector to another.
Benefits of the Challenge
A number of themes emerged to the question
about the benefits of the Premier’s Reading
Challenge, including:
• providing an incentive to read and another way
to promote reading and literacy with wholeschool reading culture developing
• enhancing the profile of reading and receiving
support from the school community
• good recognition for the library staff and the
value of the library, with increased borrowing of
books
• quality literature being highlighted and more
books being purchased
• students discovering they enjoyed reading,
resulting in reading levels improving and
students reading consistently and being eager
to participate
• motivating students with varying levels of
reading ability to improve by practising their
skills and striving to achieve
• students feeling proud and excited about their
achievements and about reading
• students talking to each other about books,
recommending titles and broadening their
reading selection and awareness of authors
• the appeal of the ‘challenge’ aspect, especially
for boys
• award ceremonies raising the interest for
others to participate in the next year and
students being excited about the next award
• increased involvement of parents in their
children’s reading
• many schools encouraging students to read
beyond the initial challenge of 12 books each
year.
Scope for easier participation in the Challenge
The next question in the staff survey asked about
any outstanding issues experienced in
participating in the Premier’s Reading Challenge,
with a view to overcoming, or decreasing, these in
2008. Again, a number of themes emerged,
including the following:
• Seventeen respondents replied they had no
difficulties at all.
• Many respondents also made the point that,
although it was quite time-consuming, it was
well worth the effort and the benefits for
students and their literacy development made
it all worthwhile.
• Strategies to assist in filling in the Student
Reading Records would be given in 2008.
• Motivation and involvement of classroom
teachers and English teachers in high schools
was the critical factor to increasing student
participation. Effort was required to engage,
encourage and maintain the interest of
students. Again, teachers are prepared to do
this because they see value in encouraging
students to complete the Challenge.
• The majority of parents and classroom
teachers were very supportive. The central role
the school contact person fulfils is crucial in
making the program equitable for all students.
• Schools are finding ways to purchase more
books for the Challenge and to replace worn
books caused by the extra use the Challenge
has generated.
• Tracking how many times a student has
completed the Challenge so that he/she
received the correct award, particularly when
students had changed schools, was a
database issue to be addressed before data
entry in 2008.
• To promote awareness that the Premier’s
Reading Challenge is a very equitable and
accessible program for all reading
competencies will be important in 2008.
The suggestions from parents included being able
to read fewer than 8 books from the designated
Premier’s Reading Challenge booklist, and
receiving recognition for reading more than the
minimum 12 books. This will be followed up in
2008.
23
Ideas to improve the Challenge
The responses to the question asking for
suggestions for improving the Premier’s Reading
Challenge covered a variety of topics. Some of
the things suggested were already in place in
2007, so these aspects need to be highlighted
more to participants in 2008. Eighteen
respondents had no suggestions for improvement
and many of these indicated they were very happy
with the program. Below are respondents’ ideas to
be considered for 2008:
• More books on the booklists were requested.
However, others commented that updating the
lists would mean more work. Increasing the
range of books for less proficient readers and
more non-fiction books were requested.
• There were a number of requests for not
making it necessary to fill in the book number
on the student reading record form.
• More support from the media was requested.
• Incentives for classroom teachers were
considered a good idea.
• It was suggested that a certificate should be on
the website. It could be downloaded for
students who read more than 12 books.
General comments
The final question of the survey asked for any
other comments from respondents.
Overwhelmingly, the comments were positive with
respondents saying such things as:
• ‘Loved the notepads—thanks’ (a gift for school
contact people at the end of 2007).
• ‘Great initiative, professionally run with
excellent support and always improving.’
• ‘I think it is thoroughly worthwhile with many,
many benefits.’
• ‘We had some very excited and proud students
stand up for recognition at a whole-school
assembly.’
• ‘It is a useful means of encouraging reading of
books in a digital age.’
• ‘Let’s keep refining the process so that
teachers will be more willing to participate.’
• ‘A trip for two students to go to the Premier’s
Reception was a very memorable experience.’
• ‘This rewards students of any ability for
persevering with their reading.’
• ‘Seeing their faces when they receive the
medals is a real boost.’
• ‘It’s good to see there will be three new
medals.’
The few negative comments reflected the
following themes:
• There was concern about students in older
year levels not wanting to participate.
• Some concerns were expressed over the
range of books and texts on the booklists.
• Concerns were expressed about the extra
workload the Challenge created for library
staff.
2007 Premier’s Reading Challenge display at St Joseph’s School, Barmera,
indicating all children who have completed the Challenge.
24
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 2008
CONCLUSION
Implementing the following recommendations will
put the program in a strong position to contribute
to meeting the literacy targets in South Australia’s
Strategic Plan 2007 which are to achieve
benchmarks in reading in Year 3 (T6.12), Year 5
(T6.13) and Year 7 (T6.14), and to increase yearly
the proportion of Aboriginal children reading at
age appropriate levels at the end of Year 1.
(T6.18).
High levels of school participation and continued
rapid growth in student participation numbers
indicate that this is a valued program. Staff
noticed that many more books are being read as a
direct result of the Challenge and this is causing
high replacement costs as well as requiring the
purchase of new books. Feedback obtained
through the surveys, while it cannot be assumed
to be representative, also suggests a high degree
of satisfaction, as well as providing a variety of
strategies to further enhance the program.
Overall, the evidence suggests positive progress
towards Premier Rann’s aims in introducing the
challenge in 2004 to:
• encourage children to enjoy reading books
• Improve children’s literacy levels.
The recommendations are:
• Work towards achieving the literacy targets in
South Australia’s Strategic Plan 2007.
• Reflecting DECS priorities, continue to target
Aboriginal schools and Aboriginal students to
increase participation in the Premier’s Reading
Challenge.
• Consider more promotional materials for
school contact people, public library staff,
teachers and students.
• Investigate the feasibility of providing funding
to schools to purchase books to support
participation in the Challenge.
• Continue developing links with Premier’s be
active Challenge.
• Further develop the partnership with the eteacher program and the Premier’s Reading
Challenge ambassadors with Centra software.
• Promote the ability to read books in languages
other than English, particularly to language
teachers.
• Enhance the website to make it easier to
navigate, and promote the website to students.
• Provide a generic certificate on the website
able to be downloaded for staff to use to
acknowledge achievements associated with
the Premier’s Reading Challenge (but not to
replace the official certificate).
• Continue to develop the booklists with a range
of books and include more non-fiction titles.
• Consider initiatives to make the Challenge less
time-consuming for staff; for example, not
having to include book identity numbers and
making the tracking of students new to the
school easier.
• Consider an incentive for classroom teachers
to promote the Challenge.
• Appoint a new ambassador for 2008.
• Assure stakeholders that the program will
continue at least until 2010 and that three new
medals will follow the Gold Medal.
• Consider an evaluation of the program in 2008.
25
APPENDICES
Appendix 1—Schools invited to the Premier’s Reception, 2007, in recognition of their outstanding
achievement
Alberton Primary School
Eastern Fleurieu: Langhorne Creek Campus
Aldinga Junior Primary School
Madison Park Junior Primary School
Ashford Special School
Madison Park Primary School
Belair Junior Primary School
Melaleuca Park Junior Primary School
Belair Primary School
Moana Primary School
Berri Primary School
Moorak Primary School
Blackwood High School
Moorook Primary School
Brown’s Well District Area School
One Tree Hill Primary School
Cabra Dominican College
Ramco Primary School
Cadell Primary School
Regency Park School
Darlington Primary School
Renmark North Primary School
Dover Gardens Primary School
Richmond Primary School
East Para Primary School
Roseworthy Primary School
Edwardstown Primary School
Spring Head Trinity Lutheran School
Elizabeth Grove Primary School
St Catherine’s Parish School, Stirling
Elliston Area School
St David’s Parish School
Faith Lutheran Secondary School
St James’ School, Jamestown
Gawler East Primary School
St John the Baptist Catholic School, Plympton
Glencoe Central Primary School
St John’s Lutheran Primary School, Eudunda
Golden Grove Lutheran Primary School
St Joseph’s School, Ottoway
Good Shepherd Lutheran School, Para Vista
St Monica’s Parish School, Walkerville
Hackham South Primary School
St Paul’s College
Happy Valley Junior Primary School
St Spyridon College
Henley Beach Primary School
Sunrise Christian School, Marion Campus
Indulkana Anangu School
Ungarra Primary School
Kilkenny Primary School
Unley Primary School
26
Appendix 2—Schools with continuing outstanding achievement, 2007
Barmera Primary School
North Haven Junior Primary School
Blyth Primary School
North Haven Primary School
Booborowie Primary School
Norton Summit Primary School
Bute Primary School
Our Lady of the Visitation School
Calvary Lutheran Primary School
Parafield Gardens Junior Primary School
Clare Primary School
Port Lincoln Special School
Cobdogla Primary School
Port Neill Primary School
Dernancourt Junior Primary School
Port Vincent Primary School
Encounter Lutheran School
Rapid Bay Primary School
Farrell Flat Primary School
Redeemer Lutheran School
Fulham Gardens Primary School
Renmark North Primary School
Glenburnie Primary School
Riverland Special School
Glossop Primary School
Rosedale Primary School
Hallett Cove South Primary School
SA School for Vision Impaired
Hamley Bridge Primary School
Salisbury Junior Primary School
Immanuel Lutheran School
Salisbury Park Primary School
Kalori Catholic School
Scott Creek Primary School
Kangaroo Island CE Penneshaw Campus
Seaton High School
Karkoo Primary School
Sedan Primary School
Keller Road Primary School
Settlers Farm Junior Primary School
Kersbrook Primary School
Spalding Primary School
Koolunga Primary School
St Albert’s Catholic School, Loxton
Lake Wangary Primary School
St Dominic`s Priory College
Laura Primary School
St Joseph`s School, Hindmarsh
Loveday Primary School
St Joseph`s School, Peterborough
Loxton Lutheran School
Stradbroke Junior Primary School
Loxton Primary School
Terowie Rural School
Massada College Adelaide Inc
Truro Primary School
Melrose Primary School
Watervale Primary School
Memorial Oval Primary School
Westminster School
Millbrook Primary School
Wharminda Primary School
Mount Pleasant Primary School
Whyalla Special School
Mount Torrens Primary School
Whyalla Stuart Junior Primary School
Nazareth Catholic College Findon Junior Campus
Wudinna Area School
Nicolson Avenue Primary School
27
Appendix 3—Most popular books
50 most popular books 2007—Reception to Year 9
Title
Who Sank the Boat?
Mr McGee and the Perfect Nest
The Potato People
Mr Archimedes’ Bath
Belinda
Giraffes Can’t Dance
Boyz Rule: Hit the Beach
Boyz Rule: Mega Rich
Boyz Rule: Wet World
Selby’s Stardom
Where does Thursday go?
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Grandad’s Teeth
Snap! Went Chester
The Twits
George’s Marvellous Medicine
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Esio Trot
Fantastic Mr Fox
The BFG
The Witches
Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy
Scarface Claw
Where is the Green Sheep?
Possum Magic
Boo to a Goose
The Magic Hat
Diary of a Wombat
An Ordinary Day
Just Stupid!
Just Annoying!
Just Crazy!
Just Disgusting!
Where’s Spot?
Edward the Emu
Too Loud Lily
Pog
Eight
The Rainbow Fish
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Holes
Green Eggs and Ham
John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat
Looking for Crabs
Author
ALLEN, Pamela
ALLEN, Pamela
ALLEN, Pamela
ALLEN, Pamela
ALLEN, Pamela
ANDREAE, Giles
ARENA, Felice & KETTLE, Phil
BALL, Duncan
BRIAN, Janeen
CARLE, Eric
CLEMENT, Rod
COX, Tania
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
DODD, Lynley
DODD, Lynley
FOX, Mem
FOX, Mem
FOX, Mem
FOX, Mem
FRENCH, Jackie
GLEESON, Libby
GRIFFITHS, Andy
GRIFFITHS, Andy
GRIFFITHS, Andy
GRIFFITHS, Andy
HILL, Eric
KNOWLES, Sheena
LAGUNA, Sofie
LEE, Lyn
LEE, Lyn
PFISTER, Marcus
ROWLING, JK
ROWLING, JK
ROWLING, JK
ROWLING, JK
ROWLING, JK
ROWLING, JK
ROWLING, JK
SACHAR, Louis
SEUSS, Dr
WAGNER, Jenny
WHATLEY, Bruce
28
Reception—20 Most popular books 2007
Title
Grandpa and Thomas and the Green Umbrella
Grandad’s Teeth
Scary Bear
Scarface Claw
Possum Magic
The Magic Hat
One Lonely Sea Horse
Where’s Spot?
Mog and the Vee Ee Tee
Edward the Emu
Too Loud Lily
Eight
Pog
A Day in the Life of Me
The Rainbow Fish
Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale
Green Eggs and Ham
Kiss, Kiss!
Author
ALLEN, Pamela
ANDREAE, Giles
CARLE, Eric
CLEMENT, Rod
COX, Tania
DODD, Lynley
FOX, Mem
FOX, Mem
FREYMANN, Saxton
HILL, Eric
KERR, Judith
KNOWLES, Sheena
LAGUNA, Sofie
LEE, Lyn
LEE, Lyn
MARSDEN, John
PFISTER, Marcus
PFISTER, Marcus
SEUSS, Dr
WILD, Margaret
Year 1—20 Most popular books 2007
Title
The Potato People
Who Sank the Boat?
The Bear’s Lunch
Mr McGee
Snap! Went Chester
Whoever You Are
Possum Magic
Diary of a Wombat
Where’s Spot?
Old Tom’s Holiday
Edward the Emu
Green Eggs and Ham
Looking for Crabs
The Ugliest Dog in the World
Farmer Fred’s Cow
Miss Lily’s Fabulous Pink Feather Boa
Author
ALLEN, Pamela
ALLEN, Pamela
ALLEN, Pamela
ALLEN, Pamela
ANDREAE, Giles
CARLE, Eric
COX, Tania
DODD, Lynley
FOX, Mem
FOX, Mem
FOX, Mem
FRENCH, Jackie
HILL, Eric
HOBBS, Leigh
KNOWLES, Sheena
SEUSS, Dr
WHATLEY, Bruce
WHATLEY, Bruce
WILD, Margaret
WILD, Margaret
29
Title
Daisy All-sorts
Alexander’s Outing
Belinda
Mr McGee and the Perfect Nest
Reggie Queen of the Street
Where does Thursday go?
Hunwick’s Egg
Boo to a Goose
Josephine Wants to Dance
Poor Fish
Rosie’s Walk
Milli, Jack and the Dancing Cat
The Silver Stream
Green Eggs and Ham
The Cat in the Hat
The Cat in the Hat Comes Back
Dinnertime!
Author
ALLEN, Pamela
ALLEN, Pamela
ALLEN, Pamela
ALLEN, Pamela
BARBALET, Margaret
BRIAN, Janeen
CARLE, Eric
DODD, Lynley
FOX, Mem
FOX, Mem
FOX, Mem
FRENCH, Jackie
GODWIN, Jane
HUTCHINS, Pat
KING, Stephen Michael
ROENNFELDT, Robert
SEUSS, Dr
SEUSS, Dr
SEUSS, Dr
WELD, Ann
Title
Boyz Rule: Water Rats
Boyz Rule: Bike Daredevils
Boyz Rule: Race Car Dreamers
Boyz Rule: Rock Star
Dragonquest
The Waterhole
Animalia
Uno’s Garden
Madeline
Just Another Ordinary Day
Esio Trot
The Twits
Fantastic Mr Fox
An Ordinary Day
Toocool: Beach Patrol
Girlz Rock! Girl Pirates
Are We There Yet? A Journey Around Australia
Reef
Author
BAILLIE, Allan
BASE, Graeme
BASE, Graeme
BASE, Graeme
BEMELMANS, Ludwig
CLEMENT, Rod
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
GLEESON, Libby
KETTLE, Phil
KETTLE, Shey
LESTER, Alison
OKTOBER, Tricia
30
Title
No Hat Brigade
Boyz Rule: On the Farm
Boyz Rule: Battle of the Games
Boyz Rule: Rock Star
Boyz Rule: Rotten School Day
Boyz Rule: Tennis Ace
Girlz Rock! Skater Chicks
Emily Eyefinger, Secret Agent
Billy the Punk
The Twits
Tashi and the Big Stinker
An Ordinary Day
Toocool, Grand Prix Champ
Toocool: Cricket Legend
Toocool: Tennis Ace
Girlz Rock! Girl Pirates
Highway
Author
AIREY, Miriam
ARENA, Jacqueline
BALL, Duncan
CARROLL, Jessica
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
FIENBERG, Anna
GLEESON, Libby
KETTLE, Phil
KETTLE, Phil
KETTLE, Phil
KETTLE, Shey
WAGNER, Jenny
WHEATLEY, Nadia
Title
Boyz Rule: Golf Legends
Boyz Rule: Halloween Gotcha!
Selby, Space Dog
Selby Surfs
Selby’s Secret
Billy the Punk
The Magic Finger
The Twits
Danny the Champion of the World
The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me
Esio Trot
Fantastic Mr Fox
Girlz Rock! Hair Scare
Tashi Lost in the City
At the Beach: Postcards from Crabby Spit
Singenpoo Strikes Again
Ali the Bold Heart
Author
BALL, Duncan
BALL, Duncan
BALL, Duncan
CARROLL, Jessica
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
DINBERGS, Holly Smith
FIENBERG, Anna
HARVEY, Roland
JENNINGS, Paul
JOLLY, Jane
WAGNER, Jenny
31
Title
The Watertower
Memorial
Matilda
The BFG
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
The Awesome Egyptians
Just Crazy!
Just Stupid!
In Flanders Fields
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Is It True, Grandfather?
Holes
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
Fox
Author
CREW, Gary
CREW, Gary
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
DEARY, Terry
GRIFFITHS, Andy
GRIFFITHS, Andy
JORGENSEN, Norman
LEWIS, CS
LOHSE, Wendy
ROWLING, JK
ROWLING, JK
ROWLING, JK
ROWLING, JK
ROWLING, JK
SACHAR, Louis
SCIESZKA, Jon
WILD, Margaret
Title
The Princess Diaries
Artemis Fowl
Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code
Beneath The Surface
Vin Fiz
Muffin Top
The Icebound Land
Teacher’s Pet
The Cat on the Mat is Flat
Ark Angel
The Falcon’s Malteser
Into the Wild
Warriors—Rising Storm
Walking with the Seasons in Kakadu
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
There’s a Boy in the Girls Bathroom
1001 Cool Freaky Facts
The Cay
The Garden of the Purple Dragon
Author
CABOT, Meg
COLFER, Eoin
COLFER, Eoin
CREW, Gary
CUSSLER, Clive
DADDO, Andrew
FLANAGAN, John
GLEITZMAN, Morris
GRIFFITHS, Andy
HOROWITZ, Anthony
HOROWITZ, Anthony
HUNTER, Erin
HUNTER, Erin
LUCAS, Diane
ROWLING, JK
ROWLING, JK
SACHAR, Louis
SINGLETON, G
TAYLOR, Theodore
WILKINSON, Carole
32
Title
The Witches
The BFG
Boy Overboard
Girl Underground
Just Annoying!
Just Stupid!
Just Disgusting!
Just Crazy!
Just Tricking!
The Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler
Chinese Cinderella
Holes
Nips XI
Dragonkeeper
Author
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
DAHL, Roald
GLEITZMAN, Morris
GLEITZMAN, Morris
GRIFFITHS, Andy
GRIFFITHS, Andy
GRIFFITHS, Andy
GRIFFITHS, Andy
GRIFFITHS, Andy
KEMP, Gene
MAH, Adeline Yen
ROWLING, JK
ROWLING, JK
ROWLING, JK
ROWLING, JK
ROWLING, JK
SACHAR, Louis
STARKE, Ruth
WILKINSON, Carole
Title
Millie and the Night Heron
Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident
The BFG
Boy Overboard
Just Annoying!
Just Stupid!
Baptism of Fire
Devil’s Island
Children of the Lamp: The Akhenaten Adventure
Chinese Cinderella
Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society
Tomorrow When the War Began
The Dead of the Night
Peeling the Onion
The Reptile Room
The Austere Academy
The Fellowship of the Ring
Author
BATESON, Catherine
COLFER, Eoin
DAHL, Roald
GLEITZMAN, Morris
GRIFFITHS, Andy
GRIFFITHS, Andy
HARRIS, Christine
HARRIS, David
KERR, PB
MAH, Adeline Yen
MAH, Adeline Yen
MARSDEN, John
MARSDEN, John
ORR, Wendy
ROWLING, JK
ROWLING, JK
ROWLING, JK
SNICKET, Lemony
SNICKET, Lemony
TOLKIEN, JRR
33
Appendix 4 Parent, Student & Staff Surveys
34
35
36

2007 Premier`s Reading Challenge Report

Transcription

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