06 Dec 2019
The P&C Committee has donated $1000 to support Parkes High’s fledgling reading program, DARE, and the money has been used to purchase books for the Library that are specifically targeted at students in Years 7 - 9. These books include many HiLo readers – books of high interest value, for students with low reading ability. However, books were also purchased based on students responses to a recent survey which asked them what type of reading material (fiction, non-fiction, graphic novel, magazine, eBook, audio book) and genre (romance, adventure, horror and mystery, for example) that they like to read.
The reading program is in response to local, national and international studies and concerns about the decreasing rate of children who read for pleasure, and the subsequent effect on literacy. DARE aims to create a culture of reading for fun at Parkes High, and will involve compulsory quiet reading lessons for all English classes in Years 7 - 9.
DARE is a collaboration between the enthusiastic English teachers and the Teacher Librarian. Once a cycle, English teachers take their class to the Library to read. The Teacher Librarian gathers reading data to help students select books at the appropriate level, about topics that interest them individually.
We hope that despite living in a technology saturated world, students will come to see the value and pleasure in reading, which will lead to improvements in reading skills and more varied post-school options.