Cringila Public School students dress-up for Book Week parade

Even Star Wars storm troopers, Frankenstein, Pokemon characters, Wonder Woman and Superman were in the house for the school’s Book Week parade.

Teachers also got in the spirit, with some dressing up as B1 & B2 from Bananas in Pyjamas as well The Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.

Cringila Public School principal Amanda Giles said literacy was a major focus of the school.

‘’We are an Early Action for Success school. This is a Department of Education initiative to support literacy and numeracy from kindergarten to year 3,’’ she said.

‘’But literacy is certainly a focus for all students at the school. The parade today is just one of many Book Week activities.

‘’In the classrooms teachers have been working on different books and through the library lessons the librarian has been showing the children the Book Week books that have been put up for awards, and the children have had access to them.

‘’They are also doing some art activities and things around those books.’’

The school also emphasised its focus on literacy and numeracy during Education Week recently when members of the public were invited to participate in a community read event.

Members of the Illawarra Hawks, Wollongong Wolves and Illawarra Stingrays dropped by the school to read to children.

Whitlam MP Stephen Jones,  a police officer and a number of Warrawong High School students also dropped by to emphasise the importance of reading for primary school children.

‘’We really value literacy and reading at our school,’’ Mrs Giles said.

‘’That’s why we are so thankful to Dymocks Wollongong for their recent donation of new books to our school.’’

During Dymocks’ Books for Kids  campaign running August 12-26, 50 cents from every children's book sold will be donated to support local literacy programs for disadvantaged kids.

Every Dymocks store has nominated a local beneficiary school. The Wollongong store chose Cringila because the school has 79 per cent students with a language background other than English.

A spokesperson said the national campaign aimed to increase book ownership, promote reading for fun and raise literacy levels among disadvantaged children.

It comes on the back of a new survey commissioned by Dymocks and carried out by YouGov, which found that more than a third of Australian children own fewer than 11 books.

‘’The key to improving early literacy is parent engagement, book ownership and allowing children to choose books for themselves,’’ literacy expert Louise Park said.

Dymocks will donate to local literacy support programs for students who need it most, with more than 12,000 students across Australia to benefit from the Books for Kids campaign.