RC—past, present and future

Ahh the start of a new term—that fresh and shiny feeling, the expectation, the hope for a brilliant term ahead. The RC will take any chance to reflect and as such, would love to take this opportunity to look to the past, celebrate the present and anticipate the future. Hmmm… have they have read too much of Charles Dickens Christmas Carol??

Past

Term one was a whirlwind and we wouldn’t have it any other way. We have such wonderful students in all year levels, but it has been a particular joy to meet our wonderful new Year 7 students and watch as our senior students mature and progress. At the end of last term, we drew winners for our Readopoly competition. Natalia Gill of Year 8 won the $50 Westfield gift card and ten students received canteen vouchers. We look forward to another fabulous term of reading and challenges and remind all involved that there are still three more chances to win! Well done to Natalia and everyone else who competed!

Present

The Resource Centre staff are excited to launch a new initiative for our senior students whereby they can book in a one-on-one, student and library staff, research support session. We anticipate receiving a full spectrum of need from, “OMG, where do I start” right through to requests for super obscure topics from eons ago. The college has a wide variety of fantastic databases and are so excited about helping students navigate their way to brilliant, academic resources. Bookings are made online through a link available on the Year 11 and 12 pastoral Canvas pages and a QR code is available at both the circulation desk and in the senior common room.

Our clubs continue to go from strength to strength. Manga Club continues to create a space to talk all things manga and watch anime. Japanese Immersion Club is such an incredible resource and we have loved seeing our students make the most of the amazing teachers and senior students’ knowledge. Writers Club has continued to foster some incredible talent, last week we created poems in the form of an ode and wow we did not realise the beauty and lyricism an ode to chocolate could produce. Reading Café have been practicing ahead of our entry into The Kids‘ Lit Quiz, an annual literature competition in which teams of students work together to answer wide-ranging literary questions. This week we have a wonderful, featured reader session in which a teacher comes and talks about their love for reading. Who could be better but the wonderful and very passionate Mrs Larson?!

Future

It may be the start of Term 2, but RC staff are always looking forward! Book Week will be celebrated in Term 3 Week 6. Stay tuned for lots of exciting news and promotions but for now, we would be delighted if we could introduce you to wonderful local author Lisa Fuller. Lisa Fuller has visited our senior literature students and was an invaluable perspective on identity, writing and voice. We are delighted that she will be visiting us during book week. Lisa is a Murri woman from Eidsvold, Queensland, currently doing her PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Canberra, where she also teachers. Her novel Ghost Bird is much loved in the SFX community. A gripping thriller about identical twins, community, racism and familial love, there is so much to love about this incredible debut work. If you are interested in reading this work, go and have a chat to the library staff.

Meanwhile, we are busy reading the shortlisted CBCA picks and have found it valuable discussing their opinions with each other and of course making their pick for the 2022 winner.

Here are some more details about Ghost Bird and two other new books in the library:

	Ghost Bird by Lisa Fuller Stacey and Laney are twins – mirror images of each other – and yet they’re as different as the sun and the moon. Stacey works hard at school, determined to get out of their small town. Laney skips school and sneaks out of the house to meet her boyfriend. But when Laney disappears one night, Stacey can’t believe she’s just run off without telling her. As the days pass and Laney doesn’t return, Stacey starts dreaming of her twin. The dreams are dark and terrifying, difficult to understand and hard to shake, but at least they tell Stacey one key thing – Laney is alive. It’s hard for Stacey to know what’s real and what’s imagined and even harder to know who to trust. All she knows for sure is that Laney needs her help. Stacey is the only one who can find her sister. Will she find her in time?
	Medusa by Jessie Burton Exiled to a far-flung island by the whims of the gods, Medusa has little company except the snakes that adorn her head instead of hair. But when a charmed, beautiful boy called Perseus arrives on the island, her lonely existence is disrupted with the force of a supernova, unleashing desire, love, betrayal . and destiny itself. Filled with glorious full-colour illustrations by award-winning Olivia Lomenech Gill, this astonishing retelling of Greek myth is perfect for readers of Circe and The Silence of the Girls. Illuminating the girl behind the legend, it brings alive Medusa for a new generation.
	Able by Dylan Alcott The astonishing life of Australia’s most inspirational athlete. Not long after he was born in 1990, Dylan Alcott was found to have a tumour on his spine. The surgery to remove it was successful, but left Dylan a paraplegic. Part of an average Aussie family in Melbourne, Dylan experienced his fair share of bullying and loneliness growing up. By early high school he was feeling pretty low, depressed, overweight and fearful for his future. Then, somehow, he discovered sport—swimming, basketball and tennis. Fast forward 10 years or so and the Order of Australia recipient has climbed to the top of not just one sport, but two—winning gold and silver at two Olympics and in both. Now the four-time winner of the Australian Open, is not only a sports star, but a motivational speaker, Triple J radio host, music fan, keynote presenter, business owner and youth mentor with his own youth foundation. In Game Changer, Dylan Alcott at last tells his story.