Samantha Rogut – Head of Library and Information Services K-6

2023 NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge

Students in the Primary School are being encouraged to enter the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge.

What is the PRC?

The PRC, as it is affectionately known, has continued to evolve and change to reflect the reading needs and tastes of its audience. The greatest change has been made this year, with new rules allowing students to have increased freedom to choose books which are not on the list and are of their own ‘personal choice’. Students are now able to choose to read ten ‘personal choice’ books, up from five last year.

Another interesting change has been the ability for students to continue to track their reading on the PRC website even when they have completed the challenge. This has proven encouraging for those who really enjoy reading and are ready to move beyond their challenge year.

How to participate?

All students in Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 have their PRC books logged by library staff. These include books that are read to them during Library lessons and in class. Parents may also add books read to their child’s PRC.

Students in Years 3 to Year 6 have been given their own logins and may add books during Library lessons or in their own time at home. Everyone is being supported and encouraged to complete the challenge.

Why participate?

• Students who complete the challenge receive a certificate at the end of the year. However, there are other less extrinsic reasons to consider when deciding to take part.
• More reading results in higher reading achievement. Kavanagh’s research findings “indicate that students’ intrinsic motivation and self-concept make independent contributions to reading activity, and reading activity, in turn, significantly predicts reading achievement.” (2019, p. 576) This, therefore, results in students who think they are good readers becoming even more motivated to read. They “engage in greater amounts of recreational reading, and those who engage in greater amounts of recreational reading have, on average, higher reading achievement.” (Kavanagh, 2019, p. 576)
• Taking part in the PRC helps create an Emanuel School ‘social reading environment’ as all students are involved in the challenge. “The social reading environment of a classroom, school and wider community is crucial to fostering an ethos of reading for pleasure.” (Cremin et al., p.114)

And isn’t this what we want students to achieve? To develop a habit and love of reading that will sustain them throughout their lives, providing both a means of accessing academic knowledge and the pleasure of inhabiting different worlds at the turn of a page.

For more information about the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge please visit the website or contact the Primary Library.

References:

• Cremin, T., Hendry, H., Rodriguez Leon, L., & Kucirkova, N. (Eds.). (2022). Reading Teachers: Nurturing Reading for Pleasure (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.sydney.edu.au/10.4324/9781003215615
• Kavanagh, L. (2019). Relations between children’s reading motivation, activity and performance at the end of primary school. Journal of Research in Reading, 42(3-4), 562–582. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12284
• Department of Education and Training (2023). 2023 NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge  https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html