Readers Cup season has commenced with two different Year Level competitions being held in recent weeks. The Readers Cup, organised annually by the Queensland Branch of the Children’s Book Council of Australia, aims to bring children and books together in a celebration of stories and a shared passion for reading and learning. Readers Cup includes Regional competitions across Year 5/6, Year 7/8 and Year 9/10 where students are challenged to read widely, work collaboratively and develop their love of reading.

Year 5/6 Readers Cup

Our GCC Year 5/6 team competed in Sunshine Coast Regional Readers Cup Competition against 27 other teams and participated with great recall and teamwork at the competition. They met weekly as a team to discuss their progress and track their reading, with many students reading titles multiple times.

Samantha Wheeler, author of Turtle Trackers was the quiz master at the event. The students highly recommend all five of the books they read for the competition:

Dragon Skin By Karen Foxlee
Treasure in the Lake By Jason Pamment
Turtle Trackers By Samantha Wheeler
The Sugar Cane Kids and the Red Bottomed Boat By Charlie Archbold
Mr Bambuckle’s Remarkables Join Forces By Tim Harris

Click on the titles of the books for some reviews of these great stories!

Congratulations to the following students for their commitment to read, prepare as a team and compete with enthusiasm at the event:

Amelia Buckland 5M
Bella Ryan 5W
Bryce Stout 6G
Cooper Beaven 6G
Sarannah Leary 6M

Our enthusiastic readers had some interesting comments to share about the best part of their Readers Cup experience:

The best part of the Readers Cup was the fun conversations we had on the bus, and when we got to Immanuel, and when we took pictures – Sarannah 
The best part of the Readers Cup for me was definitely the games we had in the middle of the rounds of the competition! – Amelia
The best part of the Readers Cup was getting to meet the author Samantha Wheeler. She gave great advice about writing stories and getting them published. – Bella
The best part of the Readers Cup was when we could get together into our team and chat about lots of funny things and reading the books together to represent the school. – Bryce

You can see all the photos HERE.

Year 8 Readers Cup

Our GCC Year 8 Readers Cup team competed in the Sunshine Coast Regional Readers Cup Competition against 17 teams from schools and colleges across the region. The students demonstrated a high degree of commitment in preparing for the competition – each reading 5 Young Adult novels (often more than once!). Each quiz round was intense, requiring quick thinking, collaboration and accuracy in recording responses. Our team’s third-place finish in the competition was an impressive result and well rewarded with receiving medals, vouchers and books – an exciting end to a wonderful evening.

The following students are to be commended on their commitment to read and for their enthusiasm and teamwork in this fast-paced, highly contested Lit Quiz event:

Laura Cifuentes 8C
Milla Hinds 8W
Joshua Neideck 8M
Sophia Sharma 8W
Zara Watson-Brown  8W

We’re always keen to have students share their experiences and all the team agreed that the best part of the Readers Cup was the different types of books, the excitement of the competition and obviously the reading experience! 

For these Year 8 students, the best part of reading is:

 It feels like you actually go inside the book! – Zara
The best thing about reading is the middle of the book, because it means that it has sucked me into the story and I don’t want to put it down!  – Laura
You can go anywhere in the world for usually under $20!  – MIlla 
…Or you can go anywhere for free with a book from the Library! – Mrs Morris
I think the best part of reading for me is ‘meeting’ the characters… You see how some of them relate to your own life and then you find the book even more enjoyable. –   Josh
The best part of reading is that you get to be by yourself, you can do it anywhere and it allows you to be free!  – Sophie

If you are looking for a highly-rated recommendation for great holiday reading, then pick up a copy of Blitzkreig by Brian Falkner. You can click on this link to watch the Book Trailer for this exciting story. Another Year 8 favourite read was Cop and Robber, by Tristan Bancks. You can read a review of this fast-paced action novel, written by popular author Tristan Bancks – here

All those involved in the Readers Cup events definitely agree that reading for fun is worth the effort!  
#ReadForPleasure #RelaxAndRead #RecommendaGreatRead! 

Competition Photo #1
Competition Photo #2
Competition Photo #3

You can see more photos HERE

Vanessa McKellar and Beryl Morris, Teacher Librarians