Photo credit: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
 

Hello Friends,

It’s been a busy month and I’m writing this after returning home from a very full couple of weeks in Western Australia, working with AISWA to visit schools all around Perth and Fremantle. During my time as the Laureate, I am particularly keen to reach schools who may not necessarily have access to author visits, either because they are remote, or from low socio-economic areas, so AISWA were very helpful in arranging these visits for me. We travelled hundreds of kilometres over the two weeks I was in WA, from tiny independent schools in remote bushland areas to huge schools that were so new they were still being built! It was a wonderful experience, and I particularly enjoyed travelling with Melissa and Janelle, hearing about their work and learning more about the support AISWA offers to schools around the state. And of course, it was great to meet so many incredible teachers and librarians, passionate about literacy, as well as hundreds of enthusiastic kids!
 
If you’ve been keeping an eye on the socials, a few of you will also know by now that I had an unexpected request before heading off to WA to attend an event to meet The Queen! Apparently, Queen Camilla is an avid supporter of books, reading and early literacy, and as part of the Royal Tour of Australia, requested to visit a public library so that she could hand out certificates to students who were the winners of the Commonwealth Essay Competition. Several authors ran workshops that morning at Green Square Library for students from a broad range of Sydney schools, and then after Queen Camilla’s visit, stayed on to be part of a panel, answering questions from the budding young writers. The kids were all incredibly excited and it was a lovely event to be a part of and a great opportunity for me to chat with several department of education representatives about my mission as the Children’s Laureate to ensure all kids can be readers.
 
As we are heading towards the end of my first year, I especially want to thank everyone who has taken an interest in the ACLF for all your support. All the messages directly or via social media have been so welcome and greatly appreciated. I’m really keen to hear from anyone following my journey about ways that I can best support your interests in my next year as Laureate. Please get in touch and let us know!

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Best wishes,

Sally

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