The household was abuzz, a combination of utter panic and action stations.
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The setting was heightened by the basket of washing to be sorted, the folded piles of clothes that should have been put away days ago, dinner dishes to be stacked, lunch boxes to be filled, and remnants of half-eaten fruit and bread crusts that should have been relocated far earlier.
Book Week was fast approaching.
The kids were beside themselves, unsure how to theme this year's event. They had left it way too late with parents busy at work, sport being played, and practice undertaken, the consequences of inaction delivered an unpleasant chaos.
"Why don't you dress the same as last year, no one will notice," offered dad.
A verbal response was not forthcoming, just a look that, in modern day lingo, is described as side-eye.
"Just go and tidy the kitchen," mum eventually instructed.
Experience told the parents that they would make it through this evening and that Book Week would be a success, but it didn't take away from the stress of overthinking an annual event.
To my surprise, Book Week was first celebrated in Australia at the end of the Second World War in 1945. At the time, the emphasis was as much on encouraging more authors to embrace the genre of picture books and novels as it was acknowledging the importance of children's literature.
The theme for Book Week 2023, August 19th-25th, was "Read, Grow, Inspire" and I can't think of a more apt description of the challenges we face as we attempt to improve literacy confidence across Tasmania.
The theme for Book Week 2023, August 19th-25th, was "Read, Grow, Inspire" and I can't think of a more apt description of the challenges we face as we attempt to improve literacy confidence across Tasmania.
To understand the importance of reading, we need to unpack recent data that measures attainment.
To be frank, I am not a fan of NAPLAN, the National Assessment Program.
Rudimentary tests in a particular month on a particular day are not the be all and end all of assessment because we have far from sophisticated ways of undertaking formative and summative measures; however, NAPLAN does provide a benchmark.
University of Tasmania associate professor and demographer Lisa Denny Demographer was, last week, reported in The Examiner discussing the results of the most recent phase of testing:
"Dr Denny said across 20 NAPLAN indicators, two in five students were not meeting the expected level, and in three of the indicators, around half were not meeting the expected levels.
"She said more students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 needed support and intervention to meet the expected levels than ever before, and yet were not receiving the help."
The Mercury were even quicker to the point when they reported:
"Tasmanian students produced worse results than those in all other states and territories - except the Northern Territory - in 18 of the 20 total testing categories."
Tasmania is regionally dispersed with many smaller schools serving our communities. City kids achieve higher results than country kids. White kids achieve better than those from aboriginal and migrant backgrounds. And kids from poorer backgrounds achieve lower results than those who are considered socioeconomically advantaged.
There will be the occasional outlier and over-achiever, but this pattern remains consistent.
Yet book week was a massive success from an engagement and participation point of view - so why doesn't this lead to improved reading attainment?
To unpack, let's discuss funding.
Catholic and private schools in Tasmania, servicing just a third of the population, achieve full funding each year. Put simply, the kids and the schools have the resources they need.
However, when the shoe is on the other foot, the public system, which services two-thirds of all students in Tasmania, receives about 90 per cent of required funding. That's right, rich schools are fully funded, and public schools are left short by at least 10 per cent.
It's a national disgrace. Public schools are democracy, the greatest gift in the world, and they deserve far better.
Furthermore, while some schools are undertaking pool upgrades and building new performing arts centres, public schools are scrimping and saving so they can try and buy the extra support and resources that are so desperately required.
How is this even possible?
Alas, Book Week was over for another year, they had survived.
The family noted that social media platforms were littered with posts. The younger children looked amazing, and it mattered little their social standing nor their backgrounds. Families had embraced the week, taking the considerable time required to mark the occasion with love and pride.
A dining table discussion ensued about the importance of early childhood literacy before children even arrive at school.
"Just imagine if it was book week every week," mum prophetically offered.
"Perhaps without all the rushing around and panic stations," she added.
The family reflected that while there may be books and libraries and book weeks, we need to make reading more about opportunity and enjoyment. Of course, we can measure outcomes with tests, and we should teach reading explicitly, but there must be something more.
It was resolved to talk more about funding public schools to make sure that Tasmanian communities who need support the most are not short-changed.
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