Last term several classes were involved in creating art based on the Children's Book Council of Australia's Notable books. They were displayed at a professional development session for teachers and teacher librarians and were greatly admired. The artwork is now on display in the school library for all students to enjoy.

(article from APS Newsletter, week 5, term 1, 2019)
Frequent independent reading supports a student’s learning across the curriculum. The more children read the more they learn. So, at Ardtornish we are committed to making access to books as easy as possible. When all classes make their weekly visit to the library each student borrows on average of 5 to 10 books and last year 42,040 books were loaned out.
 
At Ardtornish we set high expectations for students as readers and students from F-7 are encouraged to read at least 40 books a year. Last year 75 % of our year 2/3 to 7 students read 40 books or more (sometimes in the 100’s), 85% read 30 plus books and 95% 20 plus books. The Read Write Inc program, run in the junior primary, is highly effective and supports many students to become independent readers by year 1.
 
Just knowing how to read is not enough, we want students to be passionate, independent readers for life. Research shows that students who read more, are better at every subject and are more likely to achieve higher educational qualifications later in life.
 
How much a child reads is linked to four main factors:

1. Access to books – how easy is it for them to browse and select books
2. Choice of reading material – being able to make personal choices about what to read
3. The enthusiastic promotion of books – hearing a teacher talk about great titles on a daily basis and getting reading recommendations
4. Having opportunities to discuss books every day – students sharing their reading experiences with others

 
To address these four key factors effectively we have committed, over the next few years, to establishing class libraries in every classroom.
 
In 2019 we are establishing independent classroom libraries in 9 rooms. These are specific, age appropriate libraries that operate entirely independently from our main school library and their presence will ensure that students are constantly surrounded by books and have instant access to fiction and non-fiction texts.
 
The selection of books in class libraries will grow over the years as students actively participate in selecting more titles for the collection and teachers encourage reading and to make the use of the collection an integral part of the classroom.
 
Classroom libraries will not replace the school library, which contains a wider range of titles, but they will encourage children to more easily borrow, read and share popular books. Students that have access to classroom libraries become more confident readers and actually borrow more from their school library as well.
The classroom libraries are an exciting addition to our school literacy program and will help to continue to build on Ardtornish Primary School’s successful reading outcomes.

​44 students from the Read Write Inc group in rooms 19/20 have been working on publishing their own versions of Freya Blackwood's picture book, "the Great Rabbit Chase".They have spent a term constructing their characters and storyline as well as illustrating the text.
Mrs Matthews, Mrs McAskill and myself are very proud of their efforts. They made one copy to keep and one copy for other students to borrow from the library.