There is still time to register for Reading is Magic! – our 10th National Conference.
We’re looking forward to meeting you in Camden NSW 17 – 18th September.
As Andrea Folkard, a workshop presenter from WA writes: If literacy is built in the everyday moments … it is everyone’s business.
So whether you are a keen parent, grandparent, community worker or volunteer, work in health, education, Local and State government, this Conference is for you
Thinking back over National Reconciliation Week this year, with the theme ‘All in’, we know that so many of our Paint the Town REaD/Paint the Town REaD, Black and Yellow communities work in and alongside with their local Aboriginal Communities all year round.
National Reconciliation Week was such a great way to celebrate that.
In partnership with Paint Camden REaD, we are thrilled to announce that registrations are now open for our 10th National Conference – Paint the Town REaD is magic!
Follow the QR code to find out about who the keynote speakers are, the Civic Reception, celebratory Dinner and so much more. And of course how to register.
You can also find how to register here: https://events.humanitix.com/10th-national-early-literacy-conference
Looking forward to meeting you at the Conference.
As we wrap up our Books for Bedtime (B4B) Manual Review and update, piloted in 60 new communities across Western Australia (WA), we want to say a huge thank you to our funding partner, The Stan Perron Charitable Foundation. Without your support, this project would not have been possible. Thank you for your commitment to partnering with small charities working towards big outcomes.
We recently completed an evaluation of the 6 month pilot in WA and are so very excited that the aim, to reintroduce bedtime reading routines back into homes or build on already existing practices, has been well and truly achieved.
Thank you to the Children’s Services, Libraries, Community Centres, Child and Parent Centres and Playgroups who participated across 60 metropolitan, regional and remote communities. Thanks to the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation grant, we were able to provide these kits free of charge to all 60 communities.
B4B partners with services and educators working with families, who are best placed to share the information and resources. As an added benefit, these same educators and leaders can model daily shared reading routines with the children in their daily/weekly settings. Rather than overwhelm families with too much at once, B4B highlights just one meaningful daily routine to anchor shared book reading: bedtime. It also offers the knowledge, gentle encouragement, and practical resources families need to bring shared reading back into the home – or to build on the great routines they already have.
The success of this project is what PTTR is all about, mobilising communities to support families in their role as children’s first teachers.
The short video below, developed in collaboration with the UTS Shopfront Community Program, shares practical ways families can support this from the very beginning.
Please consider sharing this post with your network. It may help reach a parent or carer who needs it at just the right time.
You can also support the work of our 110 Paint the Town Read Australia-wide communities helping more children start school ready to learn to read.
Every share, conversation or contribution helps us reach more families. Donate here, on this webpage. Or search Paint the Town Read through your company’s Good2Give workplace giving platform.
Our 10th National Early Literacy Conference is going to be a huge focus for us in 2026.
In partnership with Paint Camden REaD, the Conference will be held 17- 18 September in Camden NSW.
Our theme celebrates the everyday magic created when we talk, read, sing, rhyme, draw and play with children from birth. Magic that sparks connection, learning, imagination and lifelong literacy.
Watch this space and follow us on Facebook to receive more updates.
Want to make a meaningful donation this Financial Year? We’re looking for donations to help us print our Aboriginal English booklet ‘How to feed your bub’s brain’. Can you help us?
Please use the ‘Donate’ button on this page.
From West to East PTTR is firing in 2025. Here are two examples:
In WA Paint Mandjoogoordap REaD launched in February, with the arrival of their mystery egg.
Widi the Penguin from City of Rockingham’s Paint the Town REaD came over to lend a hand. Welcome!
And over in the East, in partnership with PWC, the How to Feed Your Baby’s Brain movie was launched, created by the very creative students from UTS’s Shopfront.
Here’s the video, on Dropbox.
All of us at PTTR want to thank everyone across Australia who has supported reading, talking, singing, rhyming and drawing with children from birth this year.
Whether you be our generous funders, partner organisations, our 1000s of local volunteers, and mums, dads, grandparents, big brothers and sisters – thank you. You are changing children’s lives!
We hope you all can enjoy a time of slowing down and reflection in this Season….and find a book for yourself under the Christmas Tree.
Justine Roberts, who took over as our Executive Director this year, is leading us into 2025 with enthusiasm and passion.
Paint Liverpool REaD have launched their bilingual children’s book (Dharug and English) – ‘Where is Bayagin’s Brother?’
Written and illustrated by Leanne Redpath, and translated by Rhiannon Wright, the book tells the story of two baby bayagin (leaf tailed geckos). It also introduces children to the importance of both family and place.
We are thrilled!
