Last Saturday (March 13), the School Library Association of NSW (SLANSW) presented its first blended summit where attendees could either attend in person or online. Instead of the State Library of NSW, it was hosted by The Kings School.
For those who enjoy attending face to face, it was the first time in one year that we could gather in person for a summit or conference. Last year, SLANSW were fortuante to have one face to face summit prior to COVID-19 Restrictions and presented an online speaker series instead of a second face to face summit.
Providing it online enabled those in regional areas to participate or for those in the city, participate from the comfort of their own home.
Karen Yager was fantastic in explaining how we can use Australian literature to encourage students to improve their writing by focusing on landscapes then collaborating actively on creating lists of resources to share with English Teachers.
Ursula Dubosarsky (Author & Australian Children's Laureate 2020-2021) shared her insights in the role of libraries in engaging children with reading and how we can support them. I asked her a question based on experiences where schools do not have a wide reading program and students have presented statements such as "I don't like reading" and "I don't read" and what we could do. She admitted that she could not answer the question, but she had her concerns about schools that have not encouraged a positive reading culture. I for one have concerns for schools that do not have a wide reading program or encourage reading for pleasure. Ursula and I have common ground on this.
Also we had an opportunity to discuss different wide reading intiatives and programs applied by different schools and I was encouraged by the opportunity to share within a small group some of my successes to date with wide reading programs and the interest attendees within that group had.
I hope to comment further once resources are finalised but found the day to be well engaging.
I am a currently a Metropolitan Representative on the Management Committee of SLANSW. If you wish to join, please feel free to contact me at fabian.amuso@syd.catholic.edu.au
