Chief Minister of the Northern Territory
Eva Lawler
Minister for Education
Media Release
Chief Minister's Reading Challenge Resonates with Remote Schools
12 November 2023
Tens of thousands of pages have been turned in this year's Chief Minister's reading challenge, captivating the entire Territory.
The reading challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure, fostering a culture of family reading, increasing student and community engagement with school and improving literacy and lifelong learning.
Students were challenged to read 12 books each over a 24 week period, resulting in over 30,000 books read in a matter of months.
This year in a testament to their love for literature, Larapinta Primary School had 286 students participate in the reading challenge, the highest number across the NT.
Bradshaw Primary School in Alice Springs also opened a new chapter with 282 students partaking in the challenge, a new school record and second place in the Territory.
219 students from Tennant Creek Primary saw their school come in third place, rounding out the top three performing schools in the Territory this year.
Overall 63 schools and 2,560 students participated in the challenge which is underscored by strong educational values leading to lifelong benefits.
Quotes attributable to the Chief Minister, Natasha Fyles:
"Over the past 24 weeks thousands of Territory students have read an incredible number of stories which have taken them on twists and turns, highs and lows and of course triumph.
"The reading challenge creates the perfect opportunity for students to love books across a multitude of languages, all while improving a core learning tool.
"Well done to all of you who participated and thank you to our superstar teachers and librarians for making this all possible."
Quotes attributable to the Minister for Education, Eva Lawler:
"Congratulations to all the students who participated in this year's reading challenge and uncovered over 30,000 wonderful stories with in just a couple of months.
"It is crucial that students develop key literacy skills from a young age, but also understand that reading is much more than an educational task, it fosters imagination and creativity whilst immersing you in a story.
"It was fantastic to see such high participation rates in all schools around Alice Springs and Tennant Creek this year, it is truly impressive to see the number of books you have read over the past few months."
Northern Territory Government
