Earlier this term for the Year 9-13s - late last term for the Year 7s and 8s - we were very excited to launch the EOHS Reading Challenge 2022. To buck national, and international, trends and get our students reading, we hope that the Reading Challenge will have a huge impact, not only in our students’ enjoyment of reading, but in academic success at NCEA. All studies say the same thing: good students read! Students will earn certificates for the number of books they read - 5 books (Bronze), 15 books (Silver), 20 books (Gold), 25 books (Platinum) and 60 books (Diamond). The first certificates were presented to the proud recipients at a recent assembly. Not only do the students earn certificates, they also earn house points. At the end of the year (just before the Seniors go on NCEA study leave) the house leaders will add up the scores and Mr Cummings will award points based on where each house is placed. We hope that you will support us in this initiative and encourage the students to read at home – 20 minutes a night would be a good start for some of them. We’ll get the house leaders to do a count and share an update with you at the end of Term 2. Already there’s quite a bit of competition going on in the Year 7 and 8 classes, so we’ll see if we can replicate that across the school.