The Junior School Inquiry Centre

The colourful and engaging Inquiry Centre sits at the heart of the St Paul’s Junior School and places a rich world of literature, learning and imagination at the fingertips of every student from Kindergarten to Year 6. It is a supportive hub for student inquiry and creativity.

Giving students access to quality literature and helping them to explore and understand it, is a major focus in the Junior School. With the assistance of a team of highly trained and experienced library staff, St Paul’s helps to broaden and deepen the reading landscape of our students. The Inquiry Centre’s collection is carefully chosen and constantly being updated with new books and other learning resources that align with the Junior School Units of Inquiry. Each year at Grandparents’ Day, many generous families donate brand new books at our annual Book Fair. The new books are greatly appreciated by staff and students.

The Inquiry Centre also curates an accessible and growing bank of online resources for Junior School students and their families, which is continuously refreshed to supplement and enrich the learning experience provided at St Paul’s. Increasingly, information and communication technology is playing an important part in contemporary student learning. The Inquiry Centre hosts three desktop computer labs, fifteen laptop computers and a bank of iPads. Students learn and create in a well-resourced environment where keeping a balance between online and print resources is a priority. Students are also developing important skills, equipping them to navigate the ever-changing online environment confidently and safely.

Lunchtimes see many students drawn into the Inquiry Centre space to engage in a variety of activities. Some students have shown great initiative and leadership by starting clubs for their peers or sharing their coding and drawing skills. Last year, a Minecraft group proved very popular. Likewise, augmented reality books and Merge Cubes, used with our iPads, are always in great demand, along with construction, drawing, and board games. A knitting club runs during the winter months, ably assisted by talented, volunteering teachers.

Although the Inquiry Centre is much more than a library to our students, families and staff, it speaks volumes that you will still always find children sitting down, in a quiet corner, absorbed in a good book!

As Ursula Dubosarsky, the new 2020 Australian Children’s Laureate said:

Reading is a skill to be encouraged, not assumed.

Canberra Times, February 2020