Summer reading, learning about te Tiriti & Waitangi Day, AnyQuestions
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Newsletter to schools — Term 4 2024
Here's what's in our Term 4 newsletter:
- Special offer — books for summer reading
- Advice and information to support reading and literacy
- Explore our new Katherine Mansfield topic curation
- Inspire learning about te Tiriti and Waitangi Day
- Sparking readers
- AnyQuestions classroom sessions
- Professional learning and lending news
- Online resources, He Tohu Tāmaki programmes for Terms 4 and 1
Special offer — books for summer reading
Kaiako (teachers) and school library staff — are you looking for some engaging books to read yourself or to keep your ākonga (students) reading over the summer break?
Summer reading is important and a great way to relax. Staying engaged with books can help with wellbeing and avoid the ‘summer slide’ in reading skills.
Tell us what you'd like using our online form, and we'll send you some great reads. Or come in to our Auckland or Christchurch Centre from 29 October and choose books yourself!
Find out more about our great summer reading offer — share this link with any other staff who may be interested in your school!
Read our blog post: Summer reading — it's more than it seems.
Advice and information to support reading and literacy
Our reading content includes a great selection of advice, resources and information to support reading and literacy. And now they're even easier to access.
Our 'Supporting reading and literacy' page is a one-stop-shop, which curates research, frameworks, blogs, book recommendations and more from across our website.
Check out Supporting reading and literacy.
Explore our new Katherine Mansfield topic curation
Image credit: Katherine Mansfield, 1916 by Lady Ottoline Morrell. Ref: 1/2-002594-F Alexander Turnbull Library.
Ākonga can explore the life and works of Katherine Mansfield with our new Topic Explorer set for Years 11–13 English. This topic set contains reliable resources covering her life, and the influences and themes in her writing. Ākonga can access a range of Katherine's texts, such as short stories, poems, letters, notebooks and journals.
This topic set complements the Alexander Turnbull Library’s exhibition that's also available online: ‘A child of the sun’: Katherine Mansfield’s last year.
Inspire learning about te Tiriti and Waitangi Day
Get ākonga thinking and talking about the significance of te Tiriti o Waitangi | the Treaty of Waitangi. Our recent blog post has teaching resources, images and books to spark curiosity and inspire learning about te Tiriti and Waitangi Day. Use the ideas and resources as a starting point with early learners and beyond.
Read our blog post: Conversations about te Tiriti and Waitangi Day.
Sparking readers
Image credit: Used with permission.
In his latest blog post, Te Awhi Rito Reading Ambassador Alan Dingley reflects on his travels and the people he has connected with while inspiring thousands of young New Zealanders to read for pleasure.
Travelling and meeting new people, hearing their stories and seeing the impact of your work first-hand is incredibly fulfilling. I have learnt as much from the communities and people I’ve met as they may have learnt from me. This is what the Te Awhi Rito role is all about. Shared experience and knowledge.
Read Alan's blog post: A Reading Ambassador: Being the spark.
In September, Alan joined Australian Children’s Laureate Sally Rippin to discuss the crucial role of reading in the lives and minds of young people.
AnyQuestions classroom sessions
Do your ākonga need help with their research? AnyQuestions is now taking bookings for classroom sessions, where one of our expert librarians will demonstrate how the service works and, in the process, cover some key concepts around information literacy.
It can be hard for ākonga to find trusted sources in a digital world surrounded by polluted information, AI and social media.
AnyQuestions is a free, online chat service that helps school-aged students with their research. Our trained librarians don't just give ākonga the answer — they help unpack questions, discuss keywords and talk about why websites are trustworthy. We develop their skills so that they can find information for themselves in the future. Read more about how AnyQuestions works
AnyQuestions is supported by the Ministry of Education, managed by the National Library and staffed by librarians around Aotearoa New Zealand.
Book a classroom session now
If you'd like to book a classroom session to help with supporting information literacy in your classroom, email anyquestions@dia.govt.
Professional learning and lending news
Do some PLD with us in Term 4
We have some great PLD (professional learning and development) offers for Term 4 that will have you ending the year in an upbeat mood!
- Planning for the end of the year — join us for a walk-through of end-of-year activities and tasks in the school library to get off to a good start in 2025.
- Network wrap-ups for the year — join one of your local network meetings to celebrate all that's happened in 2024 and share what you're looking forward to in 2025. Check out the advantages of joining local networks
- Cultivating keen readers (Auckland) — explore strategies to use in the library, classroom and wider school community.
Planning your PLD for 2025?
We're busy finalising an exciting professional learning programme for next year. We're publishing our 2025 programme early (this term), grouping our offers into learning pathways and delivering most learning online.
We hope these changes will make it easier for you to plan your learning, find options that interest you and be able to attend wherever you are.
Lending service tips and important dates
Getting ready to return our books and need a list of what you've borrowed? Or maybe you're missing some books?
Contact us and we'll send you a list or update your account — email servicestoschools@dia.govt.nz.
Read our policy on overdue, lost or damaged books
Submit your Term 4 topics selection and extra reading requests by 14 November. Term 4 books are due back to us by 14 February 2025 and our summer reading books by 11 April 2025.
Online resources, He Tohu Tāmaki programmes for Terms 4 and 1
Check out our learning resources on popular topics and important historical events from Topic Explorer, Many Answers, Te Kupenga and more.
Use our tools to support ākonga to think critically about people, places and events: Tools for primary source analysis.
27 October to 2 November — Te Vaiaho o te Gagana Tokelau | Tokelau Language Week
29 October to 3 November — Diwali
1 November 1944 — Polish refugees land in Aotearoa New Zealand
5 November 1881 — invasion of Parihaka
11 November 1918 — Armistice Day
20 November 1863 — British Army attacks Rangiriri
29 November 1949 — Iriaka Rātana becomes the first female Māori MP elected
3 December 1863 — New Zealand Settlements Act passed into law
8 December 1972 — Whetu Tirikātane-Sullivan becomes the first Māori woman Cabinet minister
10 December — UN Human Rights Day
6 February 1840 and 2025 — the signing of te Tiriti o Waitangi, Waitangi Day
- Te waitohutanga o te Tiriti ki Waitangi | The signing of te Tiriti at Waitangi — Social sciences topic starters for Years 0–3
- Te hiranga o te Rā o Waitangi | The significance of Waitangi Day — Social sciences topic starters for Years 0–3
- Treaty of Waitangi (junior) — Many Answers
- Treaty of Waitangi — Many Answers
- Treaty of Waitangi — Topic Explorer
- Te Tiriti o Waitangi | Treaty of Waitangi
- Te Tiriti o Waitangi | the Treaty of Waitangi — and its history
Popular topics for Term 4 and Term 1 2025:
Find more teaching and learning resources
He Tohu Tāmaki programmes for ākonga
Book your class on a programme to experience the history and significance of He Whakaputanga, te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Women's Suffrage Petition. Our school programmes are designed to engage and inspire young minds with the foundational stories of Aotearoa New Zealand.
