Year 4 students from 11 Sydney Catholic Schools gathered at Saint Catherine of Siena Catholic Primary School Prestons for a quizzical competition in celebration of reading and literacy.
In teams of four and dressed in wizard hats, Hawaiian leis, bright pink bows and more, the 88 students had their recall and interpretation skills tested at a first-ever cluster LITQUIZ for schools in Sydney’s south on 10 August.
A team from the host school won the day by a single point, scraping past a team from St Luke’s Revesby by blitzing categories such as ‘fractured fairytales’, ‘heroes and villains’ and ‘curious characters’.
Susan Bombardiere, Organiser and Literacy Cluster Coach, said students left the day buzzing with excitement, and that one child asked her if they could hold another one the following week.
‘We know that there’s great interest when children are learning to read, but our data tells us that sometimes interest in reading drops off when students reach Stage 2,’ Ms Bombardiere said. ‘Reading can begin to feel a bit clinical, so we wanted to bring back the love, the enjoyment and the richness around reading.’
‘I also think it’s important that every child has a chance to come together and mix with other students, because sometimes individuals only know a small set of children and experiences. We often get together and we compete in big competitions in sport or public speaking, but never anything around literature.’
We wanted to bring back the love, the enjoyment and the richness around reading. – Susan Bombardiere
My favourite books are the Alice Miranda books, Harry Potter books and Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. – Rosemary, Saint Catherine Sienna Catholic Primary School Prestons