Book Week at OLA

Jess Black giving her approval of the writing by one of her many fans.

What a week OLA had for BOOK WEEK…

Author Visit

Jess Black visited our school to talk to all grades about what it is like being an author. Jess Black is an Australian author of children's books. She has written over twenty-five junior fiction books and has two picture books coming out in 2016. Jess is the co-author of the hugely successful Bindi Wildlife Adventure series, the RSPCA Animal Tales series and The Kaboom Kid series with David Warner.

Jess has a new four book series called Keeper of the Crystals. Book one, Eve and the Runaway Unicorn, is available from June 1st. Students had the opportunity over the past few weeks to view some of her work and become familiar with her writing style and also had the opportunity to buy her books and have it signed by Jess during her visit.

PO-ET-RY!

It's all about Enunciation and Expression! OLA students had the great privilege of having Annette Kosseris work with them for a day on their poetry recital. Annette is a renowned writer of children's poetry. Each year, OLA students participate in the verse speaking section of the Hawkesbury Eisteddfod and Annette's poems are often a popular choice for their recital. Annette, who runs her own school of Performance Poetry for Children, was very happy to be back working a school and especially pleased that schools are still valuing the importance of speech.

She went on to say that she was particularly impressed of the spirit in the school, the rapport among the teachers and their obvious interest in the students. "You should be proud!" she said. We are. The school is very grateful to Annette, not only for her time but for the poetry books she donated and dedicated to OLA students. These will be a source of poetry recital for many years to come. Thursday afternoon also saw our regular whole school reading afternoon.

Annette Kosseris shared her knowledge with the students in Years 1 to 4 before their Verse Speaking Eisteddfod.

OLA Verse Speaking choirs achieved a 1st, 2nd, 4th and Highly commended amongst some very tough competition - well done to you all!

Written By

Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese
www.parra.catholic.edu.au

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13 Mar 2026
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Congratulations to our Outstanding Achievement and St Francis award recipients for Week 7!

11 Mar 2026
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Recently, our Year 6 scientists have been busy investigating forces in action! Students have been exploring how push, pull, friction, and gravity affect the movement of objects through hands‑on experiments. There has been plenty of curiosity, teamwork, and great discussion as they have been testing predictions and observing what really happens. Well done, Year 6 scientists- keep exploring!