Last day of term reflections

To the Woodlands Park School tamariki

Thank you for engaging with your teachers and with me during the lockdown. On this last day of term, I want to briefly reflect on that.

What I have learnt, over the two years of intermittent lockdowns is that it is preferable to Zoom with children and classes than to record readings. In 2020 I recorded an entire chapter book in chapters and posted it to Seesaw during the first lockdown. There was some engagement, but the reach was limited. 

In the second lockdown, I organised a few Zoom Storytimes where anyone from school could join. One of them turned to custard when the tsunami warning siren went off in the middle of it!

This time, I offered to pop into class Zoom meetings to read picture books to classes. This has been my favourite way of interacting by far, and I hope to be able to do that again if we hit another lockdown, down the line. 

I have loved seeing all of you, and your teachers—and reading to you in your class groups. I visited 11 classes; some of them twice, and read a number of stories. I got to hear your thoughts and opinions on the stories, and to see your pets/siblings/favourite toys/funky Zoom glasses/backgrounds, etc.

These are some of the books I read:

I also pulled out my daughter's Hairy Maclary & Friends—Scotland, please note, Lynley Dodd is a kiwi author :)—and read a few favourites.

We met as a Book Club - late in the lockdown, and wished we'd done it sooner. There was a great turnout, and I think we all enjoyed hearing about what one another is reading. I was so impressed to hear your summaries and thoughts on your current reads. And it was heartwarming just to see you all again.

I tried to update the blog almost daily, with resources for you, and I hope you found that helpful. Here is one of my working companions:

I also really enjoyed sharing your pics of 'reading in interesting places', and I look forward to doing the lucky draw next term. Thank you for engaging in this way - sharing our collective LOVE of BOOKS and READING! 

Remember, if you've run out of books at home, you can read eBooks and listen to Audiobooks on the Libby app if you have a library card.

I hope you have a happy and safe holiday, and I'm looking forward to seeing you in person.