Testimonials

- Acting Principal of Garbutt State School
(File format: PDF; file size: 120kb)

- Principal of Westport Public School
(File format: PDF; file size: 176kb)

- Principal of Eaglehawk Public School
(File format: PDF; file size: 138kb)

- Parent of Mungindi Central School
(File format: PDF; file size 86kb)

I am the Principal of Pooncarie Public School. We are a small isolated school in between Broken Hill and Mildura.

We have 19 students and love the Books in Homes program! 

I would just like this opportunity to express some of the advantages we have found with your program: -  

1. The quality and variety of books offered is excellent;

2. Students enjoy reading these high quality books;

3. Our small school library has never looked so good with all the new books added to it over the last 15 months;

4. It has encourage social interaction between our students with shared reading times;

5. Parents are reading these books at home with their children, creating quality family time;

6. Parents are buying other quality books for their children, being guided by what their child is choosing from Books in Homes;

7. Students value the independence and responsibility for choosing their own books; and

8. Students are further discovering their love for books and the magical world that can be opened to them!

Thank you for the wonderful program you provide. Our students are always excited when your books arrive! 

Amanda Hawes
Principal
Pooncarie Public School

The Books in Homes project has been operating at Byrock Public Schools for 18 months. During this time the students have had developed an appreciation of reading books at home as well as at school. They are now eager to be engaged in the home reading program as they see reading as meaningful.  

The role models that have visited us in isolated NSW have assisted the students in switching on their love of books. They have reinforced the way that reading has provided opportunities for themselves. As we are so isolated we do not always get opportunities to meet role models. 

The students have been using the books in the classroom during shared reading and silent reading activities. The students get excited whenever a new viewing pack arrives. You should see their faces when they get to choose from a great range of quality reading books. I have never had a child who has not been able to select books that they are interested in.  

The parents of Byrock Public School use the Books in Homes Books to read with their children. They comment on how proudly the children keep their books in the draw string bags and can often be seen sharing them with each other. We have a visiting TAFE mobile library that visits once a month and since the program has commenced the parents are now becoming regular borrowers of children's books.  

Without access to the books provided by the Books in Homes Project the students would not be able to gain access to such high quality resources as we live too far away to gain access to the public libraries. 

Michael Wood
Principal
Byrock Public School

Thanks for your support and that of the BIHA program in our endeavours to promote the skills in literacy amongst our students at Mount Druitt Public School. 

I cannot begin to tell you just how excited the kids get with this process of selection and actually receiving the books of their own choice and I know that all the families of those children involved certainly appreciate the opportunity of being involved with such a wonderful program. 

 At Mount Druitt we are committed to improving student learning outcomes but we are also committed to perhaps passing on those positive values in life that children can take with them along the pathway to adulthood. 

One of them is a love of reading.  Again, thank you for your support and would you please pass on my sincere appreciation to the St.George Foundation for allowing the kids of Mount Druitt Public School the opportunity to participate in such a worthwhile program. 

Yours sincerely, 

Michael Kelly
Principal
Mount Druitt Public School.

Books in Homes has been of great benefit to our students at Railway Town as one of the aims in our Literacy programs is to raise the Literacy level of students. We have a home reading program which includes keeping a diary of what books are read, and having the opportunity to choose books that they can own encourages students to keep reading. It is especially wonderful for students who are from a low socio economic background as books are not always the priority or possible purchases in the family. 

The school was established in 1914due to the demand from the influx of miners coming to Broken Hill. The day the school was to open the two teachers kept parents and children waiting as they had lost the keys to the building! After this delay, shortly afterward a huge and severe dust storm rolled in and the children had to be sent home again. The storm was so severe it was two days before the children could return to school! 

Our school is the most western school in New South Wales. We have two main buildings and three demountable buildings. We even have one building that is across a lane at the rear of the school as we have a very limited play area. Due to drought conditions we only have two very small ‘patches’ of lawn and 2 play equipment areas. The rest of the school ground is bitumen.  We have 8 classes, many are composite. There is a full time librarian/reading recovery teacher, an STLA teacher and the principal – making 11 full time teachers at the school. We have several students with autism and other learning difficulties and receive support from 2 part-time teacher’s aides. Just this year we have been appointed a school counsellor for the area who will be visiting our school once a week. One other support teacher visits the school in the afternoons as she travels between 3 other schools due to limited budgets out here. 

We have a school uniform which all children wear and last year every child was issued with a free school ‘bucket’ hat as part of sun safety awareness.  

The students are so excited about receiving Books in Homes again this year and very enthused by the competition as we were honoured to have a winning student in the last year’s book review. The staff are very supportive during the ordering and sorting process as they enjoy seeing the reaction from the students when they receive their books.

One thing I would like to see is for a set of library bags to be sent for the Kindergarten children (like the ones the students received the first time they ordered – these were a great idea and still in use by many students) a few extra for new enrolments would also be handy. However I for one would not like to look a gift horse in the mouth as your program for books far out weighs any other ‘gifts’ the children receive. 

Yours sincerely

Sharon Kelly
Class teacher and coordinator for Books in Homes at Railway Town Public School.