Why we love to read!

RGS Primary students share their passion for reading

Ilisha (Prep) - “ I love reading because it is fun and it tells cool stories. My favourite book is Beauty and the Beast because I like the character in this book.”

Ella (Prep) - “I love reading because it has nice pictures and has cool names. I like Possum Magic because it tells a nice storyline.”

Amelia (Year 1) - “Reading is my favourite activity. My favourite book is Billie B Brown.”

Gus (Year 1) - “I like reading because it makes me smart. My favourite books is Lego City.”

Hannah (Year 2) - “I like learning to read and practise because it helps me read my spelling words and I can read signs when I drive past one. My favourite book is Disgusting Mcgrossface because he leaves his undies everywhere and he is funny.”

Charlie (Year 2) - “I love reading because it’s just good for you and it’s fun. My favourite book is my dinosaur encyclopaedia book. I keep it in my library bag, and I like to read it every morning. There are facts about dinosaurs, and I love dinosaurs.”

Natalia (Year 3) - “I love reading to keep me entertained and it’s also a great way of learning. My favourite books are the Dogman series because it’s so entertaining and it’s really easy to read.”

Allie (Year 3) - “I love reading because it lets your imagination run wild. My favourite books are the Wolf Girl series by Anh Do, because they are so exciting and you never know what’s going to happen next.”

Nuala (Year 4) - “I like reading because if it’s really good you can feel like you are in the spot with all the characters. My favourite book is Anne of Green Gables because I really like how the characters act and I really like Anne’s personality.”

Richie (Year 4) - “I love reading because it’s fun and if you pick up a really good book it feels like you’re in the book. My favourite book is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets because it’s fun and I like the climax in the story.”

Brielle (Year 5) - “I love reading because it really connects me into books, and it makes me feel like I’m in a whole other world. It’s just really calming for me. My favourite book is The Railway Kitten because I adore the cute kitten and the storyline.”

Johanna (Year 5) - “ I love to use my imagination to imagine whatever I want, without the pictures telling me. My favourite book is Harry Potter because it is so imaginative and creative and JK Rowling describes Harry Potter and his classmates well.”

Max (Year 6) - “I love reading because when I read it takes me into another reality and I can just imagine it so vividly. I also like reading non-fiction books because I enjoy learning. I really enjoy reading the Wizard of Once series by Cressida Cowell because it is described very well.”

Kate (Year 6) - “I love reading because it takes me to a whole different world and it makes my imagination work. I also love reading because it just makes me relax and it makes me so happy that someone in the world is reading the same book as me. My favourite book would probably Hugo Cabret because it takes me to a whole other dimension.”

Mrs Harris said children will come home with lots of sound knowledge and their phonemic knowledge will be strong as they demonstrate how they can use what they know to read the words in the text.

“For each sound they learn in class they will be given a text with that sound in it. We’re making connections between the sounds and the book and not just memorising words,’’ Mrs Harris said.

Mrs Harris said reading was vital to all future learning success and that parents could also help in the reading process.

“Whether that’s oral reading or listening to reading. New bookmarks help parents know how to respond when children don’t know the word. Reading and talking about books is a small thing that has a big impact. Audio books during car travel is another easy strategy to help at home. When children can share literature with their parents and talk about what happens in the book, this supports our developing readers,’’ Mrs Harris said.

“Children who love literature love it from being engaged with reading all of the time.”

Monica, who spent 20 years in education as a classroom teacher, literacy coach and deputy principal inclusion in the public school sector in Queensland, said people were once taught to read in phonics before a teaching switch in the late 1970s.

“This happened across all English speaking countries, but there’s been a big decline in literacy levels and we believe that’s a big reason why. The shift away from phonics was a cause,’’ Monica said.

Monica said she hoped Seminar attendees look at the ways children do learn to read and look at how it’s translated in the classrooms, and how they can implement the six big ideas to teach reading.

The big six include: Oral Language; Phonemic Awareness; Phonics; Fluency; Vocabulary; and Comprehension.

“Learning words by sight only gets you so far. As the text gets more complex you can’t apply those techniques any more. We want to get them applying the alphabetic code early,’’ Monica said.

The “code” is explicit and systematic instruction in phonics. It is one part of a number of skills required for reading. RGS primary teachers have the alphabetic code available for learners and are explicit in teaching this in their classrooms.

Monica and Camilla both agree that learning to read was not a naturally occurring process and it requires systematic instruction to give students the best chance at success. It requires a connection in the brain between sound and meaning.

“Written language is a new skill as far as the evolution of the brain is concerned. It is not naturally acquired like spoken language or learning to walk. There is no single “reading” area of the brain. Making sense of the printed words requires making connections between regions of the brain that were originally devoted to other processes,’’ Monica said. Brain imaging studies have taken place throughout the world, and the images are consistent again and again. Camilla introduced her workshop participants to the work of cognitive neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene who states, “It simply is not true that there are hundreds of ways to learn to read....When it comes to reading, all [children] have roughly the same brain that imposes the same constraints and the same learning sequence” (2009).

Monica said she hoped the Seminar will help teachers do more of their own private study and reading and keep learning. This was a learning focus in RGS Primary last year and continues to be the 2023 focus of teacher professional development and learning.

The School’s Firsts netball team, RGS Magic, is taking every opportunity that comes their way.

Magic won the Open A Schoolgirls Grand Final with a 38-25 win over TCC. This was followed by Magic competing in the statewide QISSN competition over the school holidays. The team has more netball ahead in 2023, continuing to compete in the RNA competition and Magic also qualified to represent the region at the Vicki Wilson Cup State Finals in Brisbane during August.

RGS Schoolgirls grand finals:

(Open A) RGS Magic d TCC 38-

25 (Player of Final - Paige Jones)

(Open B1) RGS Meteors d TCC

38-26 (Player of Final - Kaylee Acton)

(Open C2) RGS Blazers d TCC

34-19 (Player of Final - Ava Mann)

(10C) NRSH d RGS Phantoms 19-7

Australian swim team selection

RGS Year 12 student Taryn Roberts gained selection in the Australian Junior Dolphins swim team! The Australian Junior Dolphins will compete at the 2023 World Junior Championships in Netanya, Israel from the 4th – 9th September 2023. Taryn also competed at the Australian World Championship trials in Melbourne. She qualified for the 800m A Final where she raced against Olympic gold medallist Ariarne Titmus and world record holder Lani Pallister.

Providing new opportunities

RGS Year 12 student Clem Boston welcomed the opportunity to take on coaching duties for the School’s Junior and Senior AFL boys teams this season. “Footy is very important to me and to have a chance to bring that love of the game to Grammar is something that meant a lot. It was always interesting teaching players from different codes how to adapt to a completely new game, yet the one thing that remained constant, no matter the background, was the energy and passion shown in the red and black colours.”

Futsal

The RGS Junior Boys futsal team won their division at the Football Queensland Capricornia Schools Futsal Championships. RGS scored a 4-2 win over Emmaus College in the final. RGS was also represented by Senior Boys, Senior Girls and Junior Girls teams.

The RGS Secondary schoolgirls rugby league teams were in action during Term 2 with the Year 7/8 and Year 9/10 teams qualifying for the semi-finals. These players also competed in the Karyn Murphy Cup.

AFL RGS Junior and Senior boys teams competed in the StreetSmarts AFL Queensland Schools Cup competition at Kele Park. The Junior Boys lost their final to St Brendan’s by just four points while the Senior Boys team was competitive in their three round games.

12 Years Girls Hollie Foot

12 Years Boys Yuto Yokoyama

13 Years Girls Grace Francis

13 Years Boys Spencer Swaffer-Selff

14 Years Girls Sophie Wright

14 Years Boys Tanner Munro

15 Years Girls Katie Cooper

15 Years Boys Henry Lau

16 Years Girls Asha Stewart

16 Years Boys Connor Munro

Open Years Girls Eliza Acton

Open Years Boys Cooper Broadhurst

Percy Withers 75 yard sprint: (Girls) Mia Bourke; (Boys) Will Patrick

Champion House Kellow

6 Years Girls Eugenie Ostwald

6 Years Boys Riley O’Hanlon

7 Years Girls Elizabeth Hayman

7 Years Boys Thomas O’Sullivan

8 Years Girls Molly Garland

8 Years Boys Beckett McMillan

9 Years Girls Evelyn Varrell

9 Years Boys Henry Houghton

10 Years Girls Aria Caton

10 Years Boys Oliver Lau

11 Years Girls Grace Evans

11 Years Boys Eddie Dobson/Aidan Li

12 Years Girls Sophia Benton

12 Years Boys Valentino Cook

Hindmarsh Trophy 100m Sprint: (Girls) Grace Evans; (Boys) Valentino Cook

Champion House Jardine

All three RGS boys Secondary School football teams qualified for the grand finals. The Middle A team won their division defeating Emmaus College in the final. The Middle B’s finished runners-up against St Brendan’s College after a penalty shootout and the Open A’s also finished runners-up agaisnt Emmaus.

Basketball RGS nominated seven boys Secondary School basketball teams in the Rockhampton District Sport competition. The Year 9/10A team reached the grand final before finishing runners-up against TCC.

RGS boys and girls teams competed in the regional round of the inter-schools tennis. The RGS Boys A team of Lenny MacLean-Booysen, Neal Dhamsania, Toby Rowland, Shriyan Geddada and Jonte Beasley played in the State Final where they placed third in the Country Cup.

The RGS 2022/2023 season team of the year: Sam Gassman, Eddy Atkinson, Adelaide McArthur, Griffin Bennett, Abbey Harvey, Henry Lau, Josh Peckett, Riley McDonald, Sam Young, Richard Pershouse, Archie Clifford, Fletcher Hewitt.

RGS fans celebrate a netball grand final win at Jardine Park; Year 11 students Lara Crawford and Maddy Lynch march in the Rockhampton ANZAC Day parade; Henry Huang, Year 6, prepares to entertain the Secondary School assembly; Year 11 student Greta Smith assists Ben Gibbs, Year 3, at the Primary Before School Reading sessions; Year 11’s Connor Munro and Henno Muller join the basketball trick shot competition in the Spaceframe; Year 6’s Janya Dave has fun with the Primary Rock Band; Elsa Li, Year 6, practices her chess moves; Year 12’s Tyler Bell works with sticks and seeds in an Art workshop; Year 7’s Archie Becker competes in his first single scull rowing race; Year 9’s Ollie Weyling-Cain prepares to launch his dragster.

The pirates were a hit in the Secondary School musical Peter Pan; Year 12’s Charlie King (Peter Pan) and Year 9’s Kalani Williams (Wendy) perform at the Pilbeam Theatre; Prep’s Briar Bridges enjoys some outdoors play fun; Year 6’s Ava Brown wins her parading class at the Rockhampton Show; Year 9’s Rohan Vasoya finds success in making bubbles during Science; Matilda Kitchen dives into the action during her Year 7 Form Camp; the Lost Boys on stage during their performance of Peter Pan; the crowd scores a 10 at the basketball trick shot competition; Ella Holcombe and mum Amy at the Year 7 Showcase; Indianna Henke dresses up for the Prep Nursery Rhymes day to celebrate the end of term; Year 12 students Zavier Wedel and Cooper Mackenzie support the First XIII rugby league team’s annual Shave for a Cure, raising funds for the Leukaemia Foundation.