Schools celebrate Book Week

HERNE Hill Primary School has joined other schools around Australia in celebrating this year’s Book Week.

The annual event took place from August 17 until August 23, hosted by the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA), celebrating all things books.

On Friday last week, students and teachers ended the week with their costume parade, dressing up as their favourite book characters.

Herne Hill Primary School Prep and Grade 1 teacher Belinda Hynes said Book Week is a fun way of celebrating something important in everyday lives.

“It also promotes a feeling of community, friendship and inclusion, and the opportunity to create a special memory during their days at primary school,” Ms Hynes said.

“The students look forward to seeing which book characters their teachers are going to dress up as.

“It is also a great occasion to celebrate the fantastic Australian authors and illustrators nominated in the CBCA awards.”

Along with the dress-up parade, the school introduced the HHPS Book Swap as part of this year’s celebrations, which Ms Hynes said was a great success.

“We had many families donate a large quantity of books which enabled every child in the school the opportunity to take a book home,” she said.

Ms Hynes’ class also paired up with their Grade 3 and 4 buddies for an escape room-style challenge, reading books and answering questions to lead them to different clues.

This year’s Book Week embraced the theme of ‘reading is magical’, celebrated by schools, early childhood centres and libraries.

Ms Hynes said Book Week was an important event on the calendar for Herne Hill Primary School, like many Australian schools, and one the school had celebrated for many years to highlight the importance of reading and literacy.

“It’s a chance to share stories – whether it’s an old classic or being able to introduce students to a brand-new series that they are going to fall in love with,” she said.

Book Week will return in 2025 from August 16 to 23 with the theme of ‘book an adventure’. For more information, head to cbca.org.au