By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
CHILDREN from Kilberry Valley Primary School turned over a new page.
The Hampton Park school again participated in the Premiers’ Reading Challenge, now in its 11th year, which aims to encourage reading among children.
Narre Warren South MP Judith Graley was joined by former Victorian Premier John Brumby on Wednesday 2 December when she visited Kilberry Valley Primary School and Hillsmeade Primary School in Narre Warren South.
There were 624 students from Kilberry Valley who completed the challenge, while there were 52 students from Hillsmeade who got involved.
Every student in Patricia Thomas’s Grade 5 class at Kilberry Valley Primary School read more than 100 books for the challenge.
“The students love participating in the challenge and are so proud of their achievements,” Ms Thomas said.
“From a teacher’s point of view, it is very encouraging to see such a remarkable improvement in the reading skills of our students.
“We are just so very proud of the students’ success with the Premiers’ Reading Challenge.”
Ms Graley said it was always encouraging to see local schools going “above and beyond” to encourage a “love of reading”.
“Kilberry Valley Primary has yet again led the way and, as always, Ms Thomas’s students have achieved the remarkable feat of reading more than 100 books each,” Ms Graley said.
“I am just so pleased to see so many students at both Kilberry Valley and Hillsmeade Primary Schools discovering the joys of reading for themselves.”
Since its inception, Victorian students have read more than 32 million books as part of the reading challenge.
