March 1

Meet Deb Abela

The PMBW Teacher Librarian Group Committee has plans well underway for another very exciting year of professional development and networking, including our Term 1 Author Book Talk! Please mark the following date in your diaries!

* Term 1 Literary Afternoon Meeting Wednesday 30th March (Week 10) at Glenmore Park High School with guest author Deborah Abela, who will launch her new title Teresa: a new Australian. Deb delves into her own past to bring us a story of courage, strength and a plucky little Maltese Australian girl called Teresa. Bombs, caves and a new life in Australia!

Deb

Time: 3.30 – 5pm
Cost: FREE
Parking: Council car park adjacent to the sport fields, near the school’s front car park. There may be some parking onsite.

Afternoon tea will be provided. Deborah’s books will be for sale (payment by either cash or schools can be invoiced) and autographing!

bookAbela

RSVP: by Friday 18th March to host teacher librarian, Jenny Dengate
Phone: (02) 4733 0155 or email jennifer.dengate@det.nsw.edu.au

In other news, details of our Term 2 full-day conference will be announced soon. Connect to collaborate and create will be held on
Thursday 30th June at Rooty Hill RSL Club.

August 11

Resources from the PD day

In this blog entry, you can quickly locate the digital resources used by the presenters at our Term 3 professional learning day, held on Monday 10th August (Week 5).

* Progressing with Oliver:
Research Projects – Evidence of how Oliver and Orbit are supporting student learning
(A) Primary: Julie Grazotis (Banks PS – their Oliver ClassMovie is linked HERE) and Ian McLean (Penrith PS).
(B) Secondary: Jenny Dengate (Glenmore Park HS) & Lolita Garcia (Richmond HS).

* STEPS Book Forum – Engaging your school learning community: Julie Grazotis (Banks PS) – Click down to Page 2 of the PDF.

* CBCA Update: Jackie Hawkes & Honor White (CBCA NSW representatives)

Book Week poster
Ian demonstrates the phone app that brings this year’s CBCA poster alive!

* Promoting reading through dynamic author/illustrator visits: Jenny Scheffers (Caddies Creek PS)

* Website of our Guest Author: Randa Abdel-Fattah (Click on the hyperlink).

Randa Abdel-Fattah
Randa Abdel-Fattah

November 2

Reading Beyond 2012!: a PMBW literary conference

Where to now, after the 2012 National Year of Reading?
Applications have now closed for attending our 2012 conference. Here are some important details:

Date: Thursday 8th November 2012 (Term 4)
Venue: Penrith Panthers
123 Mulgoa Road, Penrith NSW 2750
Phone: (02) 4720 5555

Registration is from 8am and the Conference runs from 8.45am – 4.00pm. In ground free parking is available at the front of the Club. Please enter Panthers from the side door on the right hand side of the Main Entrance and proceed up the escalators. You will not need to sign into the Club unless you wish to enter other areas of the Club. If you have any special dietary requirements please contact Colleen Allen (Panthers Events Manager) on 02 4720 5531 ASAP.

Paul Collins (one of our guest presenters and book publisher) will have a wide range of books for sale. Payment will be by cash, credit card or the school may be invoiced. You will be able to take purchases with you on the day and have them autographed by our guest authors!

Scholastic, World Book, Elizabeth Richards and Bizfurn will also have trade displays.

Please check your enrolment status on MyPL@Edu; “Confirmed” indicates that your $120 course payment has been received, “Tentative” indicates that payment still needs to be made. For any queries regarding the Conference please contact either Jenny Scheffers (Caddies Creek PS) or Lee Arundel (Blacktown South PS).

The Committee looks forward to sharing a very exciting and dynamic day of literature and professional development with you!

CONFERENCE PROGRAM:
8 am Registration.
8.45am Welcome & General Business.
9am Judith Ridge – speaker & MC for day. CS Lewis said, “We read to know we are not alone.” Reading is not just a solitary pursuit, but has become a shared experience. How to encourage a reading community and introduce Westwords Bookclub .
9.45 am Deb AbelaThe write stuff! An activity to get your kids writing their own stories.
10.30 am Morning Tea.
11.15 am Louise ParkBoys who love computer games and not reading, girls who like reading but want more than fairies and ponies. Engaging readers on their own terms.
12pm Paul CollinsAudience participation on creating a fantasy novel outline from a 12-point structure.
1pm Lunch.
2pm Susanne GervayAustralia is an immigrant nation in an immigrant world- presenting complex yet accessible visual literacy and identity through the book “Ships in the field”, a moving exploration of the migrant experience.
2.45pm Panel Discussion: Kim Miller, Meredith Costain and Sophie MassonReading the Future.
3.30 pm Thanks, Evaluation & Lucky Badge Prizes.
4pm Conference concludes.

Gotta keep reading

September 23

CBCA NSW AGM 2012: a resounding success!

CBCA NSW AGM 2012

Congratulations to the committee of the Children’s Book Council’s NSW Branch who successfully gave yesterday’s Annual General Meeting a slick, new look, with rousing “speed dating” presentations by five authors and illustrators – Susanne Gervay, Nathan Luff, Sue Whiting, Serena Geddes and Sarah Davis – before the meeting proper and the scrumptious morning tea. PMBW’s own Jackie Hawkes and Honor White are on the committee this year (and next)!

Ian and Susanne at CBCA
Ian McLean with author, Susanne Gervay

August 27

Reading Beyond 2012!

In support of The National Year of Reading, the Penrith, Mt Druitt, Blacktown & Windsor Teacher Librarian Professional Learning Group is proudly hosting an exciting Literary Conference. This major professional development event will be held on Thursday 8th November Term 4, at Penrith Panthers.

The Reading Beyond 2012! Conference, which is a celebration and exploration of Australian literature, aims to:

· expose delegates to a wide range of well-known and award-winning authors

· provide delegates with practical and successful teaching strategies that will extend students’ writing skills

· provide suggestions for promoting students’ continued interest in reading, particularly in the transition to high school

· provide discussion about the current trends in reading and book publication.

Please see the program below, which provides full details of the day.

8 am Registration

8.45am Welcome & General Business

9am Judith Ridge – speaker & MC for day. CS Lewis said, “We read to know we are not alone “. Reading is not just a solitary pursuit, but has become a shared experience. How to encourage a reading community and introduce Westwords Bookclub.

9.45 am Deb Abela – The write stuff! An activity to get your kids writing their own stories

10.30 am Morning Tea

11.15 am Louise Park– Boys who love computer games and not reading, girls who like reading but want more than fairies and ponies. Engaging readers on their own terms

12pm Paul Collins – Audience participation on creating a fantasy novel outline from a 12-point structure

1pm Lunch

2pm Susanne Gervay – Australia is an immigrant nation in an immigrant world- presenting complex yet accessible visual literacy and identity through the book Ships in the field, a moving exploration of the migrant experience

2.45pm Panel Discussion (topic to be finalised): Kim Miller, Meredith Costain and Sophie Masson

3.30 pm Thanks, Evaluation & Lucky Badge Prizes

4pm Conference concludes.

Online registration through MyPL@Edu is now available. The course title is PMBW Term 4 Reading Beyond 2012! Conference and the course number is NR03812 (note 0 is zero). Please register as soon as possible, as numbers are strictly limited. When completing the online registration, please select the payment option Cheque, as there is NO DIRECT DEBIT available. Your initial registration will be listed as Tentative. Once your payment of $120 has been received, your enrolment status will be changed to Confirmed. Cheques, together with details of your name and school, should be posted to:

Attention: Lee Arundel, c/- Blacktown South Pubic School, 183 Flushcombe Road, Blacktown 2148

Please make the $120 cheque payable to Blacktown South Public School. There is NO GST involved in this registration payment. If you have any special dietary requirements, please contact teacher librarian Jenny Scheffers at Caddies Creek Public School ph: 8814-5916.

The Committee looks forward to sharing a dynamic day of Australian literature, professional learning and networking!

Jenny Scheffers
Chairperson
Penrith, Mt Druitt, Blacktown and Windsor Teacher Librarian Professional Learning Group

Instructions for registering
1. At our DET homepage click on the ‘My applications’ tab.
2. Click on the ‘M’
3. Scroll down & select ‘My PL@Edu’
4. Select ‘Search/Enrol for Event’
5. In the ‘Refine your search’ section locate the ‘course code’ box and type in NR03812 (0 is a numeral)
6. Scroll down & select ‘search’
7. You should be able to click on the course title, scroll down to ‘Event Enrol’ to register.
8. Don’t forget to select ‘cheque’ as your payment option.