GrHPS was very fortunate to have the remarkably talented author/illustrator, Matt Cosgrove, come to visit! He is most famously known for his Macca the Alpaca picture book series, as well as illustrating the Worst Week Ever! series (co-authored by Eva Amores). Students were highly entertained as Matt shared stories of his creative journey, demonstrated how to draw Macca the Alpaca and even hosted a runway show for the primary kids. In the lead-up to the event, 3-6 students re-created a Worst Week Ever! book series cover and Matt chose a winner from each of the classes, who won an autographed book prize on the day!

International Dot Day, encourages creativity, collaboration, and resilience in students, inspired by Peter H. Reynolds' book The Dot, published on the same date in 2003. The story within The Dot revolves around a teacher motivating a hesitant student to take a small creative step, fostering confidence and courage. At GrHPS, we celebrated the event by exploring dot-related activities in library and classroom lessons and also invited students to dress up in clothes of their choice on the day!

GrHPS has wrapped up its first official Book Week event, which was a joyous celebration of books and reading! We celebrated the stories that inspire us, the authors who spark our imaginations and the characters who become our friends. Many fun activities were planned throughout the week and also in the lead up for the students to enjoy - and they participated with bucket-loads of eagerness and enthusiasm! 

It was great to see so many enthusiastic students get dressed up for the Book Character parade, with many families staying for our family lunch too! It was such a fun day!

Our first official Book Fair was a huge success, where student and family purchases helped to raise a massive $932.50 in resources for our school library!

All of our classes participated in decorating their classroom doors, with a fun book-themed display! Hopefully, families enjoyed viewing them during our lunch day!

Throughout the week, all of students across K-6 participated in ZOOM live stream author/writing workshops organised through the State Library of NSW. 

Through an enchanting celebration of literature and imagination, Perform Education came to our school to entertain and delight our students in the lead up to Book Week. In a fun, dynamic and interactive performance, our students really enjoyed the 'Way Too Cool' show, featuring the shortlist books that have been studied during library lessons including, Jigsaw: A Puzzle in the Post, Dirt By Sea and My Strange Shrinking Parents.

National Simultaneous Storytime is an exciting Australian literacy event, hosted by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Every year, a picture book is shared simultaneously in public and school libraries and pre-schools around the country. The 2023 event involved over 2.35 million participants at over 59,000 locations. It aims to promote the value of reading and literacy, as well reading for fun and enjoyment.

The 2024 Australian book share title was The Speedy Sloth, by Beck Young and illustrated by Heath McKenzie and celebrated on Wednesday, 24th May.

As part of the event, students of Gregory Hills PS wore sports clothes and brought in a gold coin donation, to sponsor our very own sloth through the Sloth Conservation Foundation! We gathered together in our school hall for the shared story read and also participate in a guided drawing experience with the illustrator, Heath McKenzie.