Oaklands Central School | Books in Homes-

Primary School:

Oaklands Central School

Town and State:

Oaklands, NSW

Summary:

Regional government school

Website:

www.oaklands-c.schools.nsw.gov.au

Year Range:

Kindergarten to Year 12

No of Students:

42 (primary school students)

ICSEA:

966

Indigenous Students %:

9%

LBOTE^* Students %:

2%

School Description:

Oaklands Central School is located in the Riverina approximately 120km from Albury. Our students are from the immediate township, outlying farms and other nearby towns. Luceat Lux Vestra (Let Your Light Shine) is our school motto and reflects the school’s core beliefs, that every student has the strength to thrive and shine. Our student’s curiosity and enthusiasm for exploring new worlds through books is always a pleasure to observe. However, their access to quality reading materials can be limited due to their location. The school library is modest, and our students love to borrow, however, given recent funding cuts, the ability to consistently purchase and update our library resources is limited. Despite these challenges, our students eagerly devour anything they can get their hands on, demonstrating a thirst for knowledge and imagination that deserves to be nurtured. We have an extremely supportive community who value education and reading. Given our location, the cost of living and travelling to libraries etc, the community relies on the school to provide students with opportunities to borrow books for reading.

Principal’s Statement:

Our small school is a predominately a farming community that includes students from the immediate surrounding town. Our geographical location can limit the opportunity for our students to source a constant supply of new and engaging reading material. Our students love to read and enjoy shared reading experiences, we are lucky enough to have students who still want to engage with physical books as opposed to devices and television. We have considered the cost of sourcing the program ourselves, however, considering recent significant budget cuts to our school, it isn’t a feasible option. Our P&C work hard to raise funds to support the school but due to our small school population fundraising would not reach the funds required to pay for the program ourselves. The program would be of huge benefit for our students and families in providing an opportunity to access books that students can select for themselves to maximise their engagement of reading, as they currently are limited by the choice of our school library. The Riverina mobile library services the area every fortnight, however, this is within school hours and prevents the students from accessing any additional books. If OCS was successful in gaining sponsorship, our students could continue to engage with the wider world through their enthusiasm for reading. Every student and their family would appreciate and understand the significance of receiving new books.

Annual Sponsorship Cost:

$3,681.21 (ex GST) per annum across three terms for the standard three book program.

Additional Comments:

Two sponsors could support the school by paying $1,840.61 (ex GST) each.

More Information:

If you’re interested in sponsoring this school or require additional information, please phone Peter Large on 0420 984 970 or email: peterlarge@booksinhomes.com.au