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It is a glorious Autumn day here at school today. The children have been laughing to the sounds of the crunch and crackle of  fallen leaves as they run through them,  kicking them up in the air.

It is a delight to watch. The backdrop red classroom is of one of our historic open-air rooms.

Ray Blank was the headmaster of Fendalton School from 1922 until 1949. He was instrumental is opening up classrooms which featured much larger windows for more light and ventilation. The French doors open to the playground. This was to help combat influenza last century. It is wonderful that it survived the earthquakes and still stands proudly in our school grounds.

One of our senior students just making himself at home in the library before school. Corin was so absorbed in his book he was completely oblivious to anyone else in the library, even when I took his photo. I did of course gets his permission to post this pic doing what he loves to do. Reading anywhere and anytime.

Wow! Just look at the gorgeous blossoms outside the library. They are just beautiful.

Term four is going to be busy and exciting so I hope you are ready to have some fun as well as learn a few things along the way. Do watch out for a blog post soon all about the piles of new books we have purchased through the wonderful efforts of the PTA and BOT and a grant which will pay for all the purchases. We are so very lucky. Watch this space!

We had a surprise visitor in the library yesterday. Room 4’s Mrs Williamson brought in her dog Tilly for a wee visit.

Isn’t she just gorgeous? It is so special owning a pet. Come and tell me what pets you have.

Room 5 came for a visit to the library the other day and were so engrossed at finding Wally in a Where’s Wally book they didn’t even know I was taking their photo. I wonder if they found Wally?

Do you get stuck for ideas when trying to write? Do you want to write but don’t know where to start?

Well, check out this very cool site and enjoy the many different story ideas. It is fun and interactive.

Just spin here and begin! Lots of different types of writing, from postcards, to articles, stories and much more. The fun thing is that you get to choose simply by spinning the wheel.

Come and show me your stories when you have finished. I would love to read them.

It is cold and wintry outside so why not take a few minutes and watch this clip of actress Betty White reading out the funny story of Harry the Dirty Dog. This is a favourite of so many children and yes we do have it in the library if you want to read it yourself.

Love that dog

By Sharon Creech

4 of 5 stars

  If you enjoy poetry in a diary format then this is a perfect read for you. Jack doesn’t like poetry. He thinks it is for girls. But he writes one poem and his teacher loves it! So he writes more and more and gets really inspired. His favourite author is Walter Dean Myers. And he is lucky enough that Walter is coming to see a friend that lives in the same town as him and is coming to visit his school. I won’t give away the ending so read the book to find out happens next. This is an easy and fun read that will make you want to write poetry.

This book suits ages from 6-10. 

Review by Jack P

Thanks Jack. Do you know that this type of book is called a verse novel. We have a number of these books here. I have to add though that I think any age will love this book. I have seen many of the teachers enjoy this book and some of us have even cried over it and I am sure you can guess what part that is but we will let the children read that for themselves. You might also like the follow up to this book. It is Hate that cat and we have it in the library.

Once again the library has been transformed with a special display. This time we commemorate the centenary of World War 1.

Our wonderful caretaker has created a model of the trenches which is based on photos from the war. Looks awesome; thank you Paul W.

There is a backdrop of items, information and even postcards from the Great War. There are some very informative new books on World War 1.  I am indebted once again to the PTA for their fund-raising efforts that provide the  funds for all the books in the library. There are also QR codes with links to information on such awful things as trench foot. Very gross and the pain must have been horrendous. For many soldiers trench foot resulted in gangrene and then of course amputations.

Do take the time to visit the library and see for yourself.

For those of you who want to research more click here and it will take you to a number of sites that have been pre-checked for you already.

Monkey Boy

By Donovan Bixley

This is a great new addition to our collection of library books. Bright eye-catching cover, quirky illustrations and great story full of action.

“Jimmy Grimholt is the youngest sailor aboard warship H.M.S Fury, bound for bloodcurdling battle”.

“It is a story of gruesome horrors, awful amputations and ghastly ghouls …”

Sounds gross, disgusting and scary and it is in our library now!

The library display this week is part of the all right campaign.  We know the earthquakes were three years ago but many people still struggle with so many issues. This is a chance for our students to think about each other and encourage each other to try something different. It might be a new sport, a new cake to bake (and remember the librarian is always happy to taste test!) or perhaps even write a poem. For parents and teachers you don’t even need to focus on the quakes, but just take time out to read a book together and discuss any worries or concerns and see where they take you. Start off with a good book to share and just enjoy some quality time together. If you want to find out more you can visit Allright.

This week has been a crazy busy time with everyone thinking about books, reading books, sharing stories and just having fun. We have lots of competitions going; book cover designs, 50 word stories, creating book trailers and heaps more. The children have been buzzing with excitement all week. We also have the book sale which is fun way to fund raise for new books for the library. We had a great book character dress-up parade this morning and I will post photos later. I want to thank our teacher Sue and her year 6 children for the wonderful book embroidery on the school fence outside the library. It looks fantastic. One of the extra special events this week has been the Read-around where teachers and support staff visit different classes and read a story. The children have loved having visitors to their class. Even our wonderful caretaker Paul read to excited classes of children.