News Story
Family reading night at Willowra School
21 April 2008
Families came out in force for a ‘reading night’ at Willowra School, 300km northwest of Alice Springs recently.
Highlight of the evening was the launch of a new book Pina-jarrinjaku Riiti-maninjaku Ngurrangkaku (Reading at Home with you Child), written by Warlpiri educators in Warlpiri and published by the Bilingual Resource Development Unit at Yuendumu School.
The book gives practical steps to encourage and help children with reading at home.
Willowra teacher Maisie Kitson Napaljarri presented the new book to more than 100 community members.
Around 60 family members then headed with their children and teachers to classrooms to join in reading activities, practise the tips set out in the book and enjoy the growing collection of colourful and high quality Warlpiri books coming out of the Bilingual Resource unit.
Mothers, fathers, aunties, grandmothers and big brothers and sisters spent an hour listening to children’s reading, reading out loud with children and playing reading games.
The evening wound up with the children presented with book bags of reading goodies and a community barbecue.
Charles Darwin University Researcher Josie Douglas described the event as “one of the best I’ve ever been to.”
She was impressed with the family participation and enjoyment everyone got from reading with the children.
Willowra School staff hope to make family reading nights part of the term timetable to involve families in the school, in their children’s literacy learning and to promote reading in the community.
Willowra School runs an English-Warlpiri bilingual program.