Our Temporary Library Workroom

After any type of disaster we have to be grateful for all the positives in the situation, rather than dwelling on the negatives. Two big positives are: no one was injured and we were all able to start back to school in Week 1.

Another positive is that we now have a temporary library workroom located near 2 White. We are sharing this space with the Quicksmart team. 

We have tables, shelves and chairs. We have books that have been donated and purchased. Our new barcodes and scanners have arrived and we have started to accession new books for our new library. 

A big thank you to All Barcodes Australia who not only produced new barcodes for us in one day, but also gave us 3000 barcodes at no cost. 

Our aim is to get the new books into classrooms as quickly as possible. Thanks also to Miss Mimi, my library assistant, who has been working hard to help make this happen.

St Brigid's Library Fire

On the evening of 20 January, 2016 fire crews arrived at our school to find the library on fire. Due to their skill and courage the school was saved, but the library was destroyed by the fire. 

Through this blog, I will keep parents and students updated on developments. If you wish to receive notifications of new posts, please add your email on the right side of the blog under the title "FOLLOW BY EMAIL".

Book Week 2015

This year we are inviting parents and grandparents to join us in the library for our lessons during Book Week. 

We want to show you how books light up our library! 

An invitation will go home with all the details.

Author Visit - Alice Zaslavsky

This week, author and Masterchef contestant, Alice Zaslavsky visited our school to share her new book Alice's Food A-Z.  She gave the Stage 2 students and teachers a wonderful presentation about her book and the positive views she has about health and life.

http://aliceinframes.com/

Library Lovers' Day 2015

The Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) has declared Saturday February 14 to be Library Lovers' Day (oh, and it's Valentine's Day too!). 

At St Brigid's we're going to be talking about all the books we love, the libraries we love and reading books about love and friendship. 

Look out for the posters and red hearts!

Book Week 2014 - Paper Bag Book Reviews

Students chose their favourite book and created a Paper Bag Book Review. Some examples of these bags were photographed and made into a collage using the Google App Loupe Collage.

Archdiocesan eLearning Network Meeting

Today I battled through the rain and flooded roads to attend the eLearning Network Meeting for the Sydney Archdiocese. What an inspirational experience!

Our presenter was George Couros who says: " I am the Division Principal for Parkland School Division and an Innovative Teaching, Learning, and Leadership consultant. I believe we need to inspire our kids to follow their passions, while letting them inspire us to do the same"                    http://georgecouros.ca/blog/

CC image by: devianART http://fav.me/d6bkchf

Here are some of the thoughts I came away with:

• eLearning is not about technology; it’s about relationships and learning. I'd always known that teaching and learning depended very much on relationships, but had not before considered technology in the same way.

• Although we can use Google and other search engines to effectively find information, it’s what we do with it that really matters.

• If you can Google the answers to the questions on a test – it's not a good test. We need go write better questions that make students think.

• Technology does not equal engagement - just because a student has a device in hand does not mean they are engaged in the task.

• The biggest shift for educators using technology is not a skill set – it is a mind set.

• Teachers need to go to the place where our students are because that is important to them.

• Kids need guidance from teachers and parents.

• The focus needs to be on learning first, technology second.

• Schools can be a place where exploration, creativity and imagination make learning exciting and where all learners (including staff) aspire to reach their dreams.