15 Aug 2017
The Manilla Born to Read Reading days were successful last week with visiting author, Oliver Phommavanh, visiting our school. Oliver is a primary school teacher and has published 7 books so far.
On, Monday, 31st July, Oliver presented a workshop to Year 7 and 8 students before heading to the primary to have lunch with staff. After lunch he worked with Year 3 and 4 students before heading across to St Michaels for the afternoon. Oliver shared ideas about the process of writing a novel and how he gets inspiration from observing everyday people.
On Tuesday morning, students from Manilla Central School, St Michaels, Manilla Community Pre-school, Newtrain Long Day Care and Manilla Playgroup gathered together under the COLA for an assembly. Captains, Charlotte Good and Jack Opie, from MCS and Molly Purtle and Cameron Keys from St Michaels interviewed Oliver with a series of questions about his writing and announced competition winners. Oliver has a wacky sense of humour and his use of props such as Mario, Care Bear etc. certainly engaged students.
After the assembly, students were split into groups to complete 3 rotations. During each rotation, students were read a story and then completed an activity to take with them. With the focus being on reading some groups had time to read more than one story which students enjoyed. On completion of the activities students returned to their respective schools for the afternoon.
Overall the days were very enjoyable and it was lovely to have such a young and inspirational author to spend time with our children. Oliver was very supportive of the notion that everyone has the potential for writing good stories and as such encouraged students to write down their ideas and to believe in themselves.
A big thank you to the Manilla Born to Read Committee for their continued fundraising that enables authors such as Oliver to come and inspire our children. Thank you also to students and staff from Manilla Central School, St Michaels, Manilla Community Pre-school, Newtrain Long Day Care and Manilla Playgroup for making the day a fantastic community event. Last, but not least, a big shout out to all of the business who supported our Born to Read Scavenger Hunt competition and also those businesses who continue to support Manilla Born to Read throughout the year.
Please remember to encourage and promote the life-long skill of reading with your children as it is such a powerful tool that should never be underestimated.