Premier’s Reading Challenge Celebration

A number of Iona College students celebrated their success in the 2025 Premier’s Reading Challenge by attending a special celebration morning tea on Tuesday 16 September.

Each student completed the challenge by reading a minimum of 15 books between May and August, demonstrating wonderful dedication and a love of reading.

During the celebration, students received their official Premier’s Reading Challenge certificates and enjoyed sharing food and conversation with fellow readers.

We look forward to even more students joining the challenge and discovering the joy of reading in 2026.

Lads and Dads

During the Lads and Dads Breakfast at the end of Term 3, the Library set up a pop-up table where dads could browse and borrow books to share with their sons at home.

The aim was to encourage shared reading, strengthen family connections, and make it easy for families to access engaging books.

The event was well received, with dads taking the opportunity to find books to enjoy with their sons and spending time reading together.  Remember, ‘Real Men Read’.

Author Visit

Author Dannika Patterson will visit Year 6 to share her skills and knowledge on picture book publication. She will share the interplay between text and pictures and give students top tips for writing their own picture book based on the Antarctica animal theme.

Welcome to Oliver

The Library has changed our catalogue software to Oliver . Check out the new system by clicking the link. Oliver will integrate with TASS and make Library operations much more streamlined.

Library Curriculum

In Term 4, Year 5 library lessons will introduce a clear focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI). Students will engage in a series of lessons designed to help them understand what AI is, how it is programmed, and how it generates information.

They will explore the differences between human-to-human interactions and conversations with AI chatbots, developing an awareness of who is behind the screen, why chatbots are designed to mimic human responses, and how AI impacts our daily lives – both positively and with potential pitfalls.

These lessons will also highlight the unique aspects of human communication that AI cannot replicate, encouraging students to think critically about the data behind AI and its limitations.

Importantly, there will be a strong emphasis on digital wellbeing and e-safety, empowering students with the knowledge and skills to make informed and responsible choices in their online interaction

Year 6 library lessons will also focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Students will critically examine the impact of AI bias, exploring both its positive applications and potential negative consequences.

They will also investigate real-world AI tools, such as facial recognition technology, considering the opportunities and risks they present. Through scenario-based dilemmas, students will weigh up benefits and drawbacks, practising ethical decision-making.

Years 7 and 8 library lessons will be following the Elevate reading and notetaking sessions from Term 3 and students will be focusing on efficient reading for research using the Design Reading approach.

Students will also practise making the best of notetaking to revise for exams and taking notes for revision and assignments.  

Term 4 library lessons bring a focus on academic integrity and ethical AI usage in association with the Furze scale.  From no AI usage to full AI exploration, students can expect to have the roles of AI at each level of the scale be clearly differentiated and demonstrated in relation to their assignments task requirements for this past year. 

This will help students understand what AI they can and cannot use for assignment tasks, as specified by the Furse scale. Students will understand what Academic Integrity is, including awareness of concepts like honesty, morals and ethics.  

Students will understand what constitutes breaching academic integrity standards and the significant consequences that could occur.

Mrs Donna Stephens
Head of Library