And I’m not talking about water slides! The “summer slide” is a well documented decline in reading achievement that children can experience while they are away from school over the long summer break.

Continuing to read through the holidays, whether it’s books (print or online), magazines or graphic novels, will help set your child up for a great start for Term 1 2019 by maintaining or developing their reading skills.

Year 7 students who are returning to Heaton next year are encouraged to borrow up to six books from the Heaton LRC to help keep them entertained over the summer holidays. They can borrow from the LRC right up until the last day of the term, 18th December.

While Year 8 students can’t borrow from the LRC anymore, they can of course use their public library. This is a great time to visit Tūranga, our awesome new  central library. They have  fantastic book and graphic novels collections, as well as lots of other cool stuff like Virtual Reality headsets and gaming, Playstations, and the Discovery Wall.

Encourage your child to check out Christchurch City Libraries' Summertime Reading Challenge over the holidays.  All they need to do is complete five reading experiences from options listed on the challenge sheet.  Prizes include movie passes, book vouchers, and other Christchurch experiences.

Happy holidays everyone - and keep on reading!