SLANSW Summit - May 2026

Back on May 16, I attended a School Library Summit at the senior campus of Abbotsleigh School at Wahroonga.

I have not missed a summit since they began in their current format in 2018, and this one would rate as the best I've attended to date.

The summit was literacy-focused on the theme All the Literacies: Read, Discern, Discover. 

The speakers were excellent and made us reflect on how we promote literature, how we promote a positive reading culture, the benefits of reading (educational and well-being), how we promote deeper reading, and, for me, how can we improve information literacy to help our students counter misinformation. 

For me, the key "take-away" points from the summit were:

• Focus on developing the cultural diversity of my school's picture collection, given the wide range of cultures represented in my school's student population.
• Use picture books to promote intercultural understanding.
• Acquire and promote picture books that promote diversity across society, e.g. disability.
• Experiment with fun and engaging strategies to encourage students to read. Consider running an audit of how reading is encouraged at the school.
• What strategies could I identify to improve information literacy to effectively counter misinformation?
• Poor reading is associated with lower well-being, according to research. The question I need to ask back at school is how I can respond and apply a research model focused on six strategies to support reading engagement.
• Books of nostalgic appeal are gaining popularity. We have a classics display stand (permanent display) with a selection of classic novels. How can we enhance the appeal of classics, or even popular reads from certain periods, e.g. Millennials or Generation X?

SLANSW Summit - March 2024

On 16 March, I attended the biannual School Library Association of NSW (SLANSW) Summit at Trinity Grammar School in Summer Hill. The theme was: Piecing it together: Voice, choice and connection and focused on literacy.

I have prepared an article for SLANSW that will appear in its blog. In it, I provide a detailed account of the summit from a member's perspective. This entry in my blog will focus on three strategies or approaches that I can apply what I learnt on the day to my day-to-day professional practice and my school library.

1. In encouraging students to read, I should consider the types of readers that exist such as Avid, Proficient, Struggling and Reluctant readers within the school community and propose how I can accommodate them, especially struggling and reluctant readers. Also, I should consider the types of reading, such as Aesthetic and efferent. What type of reading should I be promoting in the classroom? What type of reading supports reading for pleasure.
2. My school has a READ program where students read for twenty minutes a day, four times a week. I believe that student input in how the program is run will be key to its future success and effectiveness in improving student reading (and ultimately) academic results. Given the successful approach of including students in the success of the Just Read Program at Queenwood, I'll need to advocate for student input.
3. I concede that my school library has other pressing challenges that need to be prioritised at present, but I would like to eventually move towards greater curation of resources within the library collections and working with teachers across the faculties to make this happen. In past years at previous schools, I have attempted a library newsletter as a means of communicating with staff, which has its merits, especially with limited time to undertake such a venture, but it becomes a diary of record relating to the library in itself. I would like to challenge myself to also provide library presentations in the event of any professional learning days that comprise concurrent workshops that are delivered by staff.

ASLA Webinar – Creating Internal Wide Reading Challenges

On Wednesday Night, I presented my first (solo) professional learning session for the Australian School Library Association (ASLA) as part of their monthly webinar series. I had set myself a challenge for 2022 which was to lead a professional development session through a non-school provider. It has been five years since I presented my first professional learning session, but it was at a school level. I knew who my audience was at the time and was not daunting. 

Late last year, I attended one of the ASLA webinars and a question was asked in the feedback form if attendees were interested in presenting monthly webinars. I expressed my interest and it went from there. I decided to focus on Creating Internal Wide Reading Challenges as I felt that I owed a debt to those who provided their ideas to help me organise the Cover 2 Cover wide reading challenge for Bethany College Hurstville in 2019. 

I believe that there were people out there who wanted to create one and why not lend them a hand and share my experience and give them ideas. Even in 2019, I remember one teacher librarian on the OZTL-NET Forum who was looking to do the same and for me to share their ideas with them. 

I felt it was a “dry topic” when it came to school libraries and wide reading, again raising opportunities to share. It also encouraged me that one of my fellow members of the Management Committee from the School Library Association of NSW was present along with others within my professional network, some of whom contacted me to ask about the webinar before the evening. 

As for the presentation itself, presenting it online was not scary at all even for a virtual audience. If it were face to face, I would have had a few nerves, but as I was able to organise the presentation and reinforce it with my experiences, it was straightforward. The feedback is positive so far from the attendees, but will need to post a little more in an upcoming post.

Representation Matters: Embracing Diversity and Inclusion - SLANSW Summit

The School Library Association of NSW (SLANSW) held the first of its biannual summits for 2022 which was provided online on Saturday.

The focus was on embracing diversity and inclusion and attending on Saturday was a must given that in a secondary setting, students are indicating a preference for literature that reflects the world around them.

Two items stood out on Saturday

Firstly, I enjoyed listing to keynote speaker - Will Kostakis (Author), who provided a wonderful overview of his writing career, and the challenges that he has faced in writing literature as his novels such as The First Third and Sidekicks have been inspired by his experience growing up as gay. He had been told that he had to "de gay" the storyline for The First Third. I have read both of those titles and are very well written.

Secondly, Pooja Mathur (Teacher Librarian, The Kings School & ) presented a workshop that helped us to identify suitable literature that can be representative of all students within your school including authors. In our resource acquistion, we had to consider the impact the story may have on the reader and if it improves our understanding of an issue. Also how can we classify it. "Relationships" was recommended. Promotion of literature that is from the "Relationships" genre is straightforward and can be easily applied in my practice.

One matter raised during the day was the amount of censorship or concerns that have been raised about books and how they may "misrepresent" certain groups or issues in society.  Even great and bestseller books have been listed as doing so, even though the intention is to provide an insight into their world but also help society understand their needs and issues in a positive way. I would not be surprised if these concerns are being raised more by the "politically correct" or "woke" groups in our society in terms of outing the faults in books, and not realising the debate and discussion and positive change that has stemmed from the publication of the book.

I am currently a Metropolitan Representative on the School Library Association of NSW Management Committee.

Professional Development for Casual Teachers

Casual Teachers find access to professional development to be challenging, even at the best of times. This would also involve forgoing work and income just to complete any professional development that is essential to their work.

Fortunately, even before COVID-19 stretched its tentacles around the world, there were providers already providing on-demand professional development for casual teachers.

I am going to share three providers that will provide professional development to casual teachers. Some of these providers are also available for full-time teaching staff. Some full-time staff may even find courses for casual teachers useful in their everyday teaching. Win/Win.

Relief Teachers Association

Yearly membership is $99 but there may be offers that allow for reduced fee membership. It is the main provider of professional development for casual teachers. While there are some curriculum and technology offerings, options may be limited. Curriculum offerings are limited across all key learning areas and focus on essential skills, pedagogies and technology that is provided as part of the curriculum. However courses relating to classroom management are excellent. Some courses are also NESA accredited. Those seeking more in-depth professional development may need to go elsewhere.

Teacher Learning Network (TLN)

At this stage, a yearly subscription costs $350 but they do charge pro-rata rates after March 31. If you can hold off until after March 31, and you have the time, it becomes better value for money. Even at the full rate, I believe its great value for money. I signed up early this term after finding it while investigating on-demand PD options and have completed nine courses so far. Some of the areas covered include leadership, professional network/learning, diverse learners and technology. For casual teachers, there is also a portal with even more courses available designed for casual teachers. The courses featured are initially presented live to members but are available for viewing up to two years after they have been presented. Certificates are available on request and will be handy for a professional portfolio.

TTA

Do not let the $299 annual fee deter you from accessing this site but caters to all key learning areas. You can attend individually but note that individual courses cost the same as a yearly subscription. All courses are delivered online. I am exploring taking a one year subscription.

Finally, did you know its easy to become an Apple Teacher. All you need is an iTunes account and you can complete modules to become a certified Apple Teacher. I took it this year, and though good with technology, discovered some new ways that I can intergrate technology into my teaching.

Click here to visit the Apple Teacher Website.