New releases – Page 12

Billy Kool was an ordinary boy until he was thrust into the life of an extreme sports TV celebrity. Billy finds an advertisement for a competition. A production studio is looking for hosts for a new reality TV show about extreme sports. Billy, as well as his friends Sally and Nathan, decide to try and win. It’s all or nothing. Will they make it? At the end of the book, there is an extreme information section detailing the origins of extreme sports as well as a glossary. Part of an 8-book series, the Billy Kool books are informative, empathetic and exciting; targeted to readers and reluctant readers alike ages 8-11 years. Teacher Notes here.

Rock Climbing: Book 8 $12.95

Billy Kool was an ordinary boy until he was thrust into the life of an extreme sports TV celebrity. Billy feels down that the final episode of the Xtreme World of Billy Kool is coming up. But he is also excited because the final episode will feature the most extreme sport yet: rock climbing! Will Billy be able to climb the full rock face, or will he fall? At the end of the book, there is an extreme information section detailing the origins of rock climbing, a glossary and a description of the equipment used when rock climbing. Part of an 8-book series, the Billy Kool books are informative, empathetic and exciting; targeted to readers and reluctant readers alike ages 8-11 years. Teacher Notes here.

Kart Racing: Book 7 $12.95

Billy Kool was an ordinary boy until he was thrust into the life of an extreme sports TV celebrity. Billy’s grandfather is coming to stay, although not for the usual reasons. He wants to give Billy his car, his most loved possession since he believes he's too old to drive. Thinking about this, Billy talks to Shey, the show's producer. and they decide to include his grandfather in the most extreme sport yet; kart racing! At the end of the book, there is an extreme information section detailing the origins of kart racing, a glossary and a description of the equipment used when kart racing. Part of an 8-book series, the Billy Kool books are informative, empathetic and exciting; targeted to readers and reluctant readers alike ages 8-11 years. Teacher Notes here.

Mountain Biking: Book 6 $12.95

Billy Kool was an ordinary boy until he was thrust into the life of an extreme sports TV celebrity. After skydiving, Nathan must honour his promise and retrieve the forty cricket balls from the monster’s backyard. Will he survive his most extreme sport yet? After this, Billy, Sally and Nathan (if he makes it) will go mountain biking! At the end of the book, there is an extreme information section detailing the origins of mountain biking, a glossary and a description of the equipment used when mountain biking. Part of an 8-book series, the Billy Kool books are informative, empathetic and exciting; targeted to readers and reluctant readers alike ages 8-11 years. Teacher Notes here.

Skydiving: Book 5 $12.95

Billy Kool was an ordinary boy until he was thrust into the life of an extreme sports TV celebrity. Billy, Sally and Nathan realize that they want their viewers to believe that extreme sports are for anybody. They decide that Basher Brown, the neighbourhood cricket star, should join them in their next sport. Now, Basher, Billy, Sally and Nathan must prepare for the most extreme sport yet; Skydiving! At the end of the book, there is an extreme information section detailing the origins of skydiving, a glossary and a description of the equipment used when skydiving. Part of an 8-book series, the Billy Kool books are informative, empathetic and exciting; targeted to readers and reluctant readers alike ages 8-11 years. Teacher Notes here.

Snowboarding: Book 4 $12.95

Billy Kool was an ordinary boy until he was thrust into the life of an extreme sports TV celebrity. After white-water rafting and bungy jumping, the Xtreme World of Billy Kool is becoming more popular and the TV ratings are getting higher. Billy’s friend, Nathan is sad because his father (who left him when he was young) is coming to visit. Luckily, Nathan cheered up when it came to filming another extreme sport; snowboarding. Nathan’s dad happens to be amazingly good at snowboarding and shows the cast a couple of moves. Ultimately, snowboarding was an extremely fun experience for Billy, Sally and Nathan especially! At the end of the book, there is an extreme information section detailing the origins of snowboarding, a glossary and a description of the equipment used when snowboarding. Part of an 8-book series, the Billy Kool books are informative, empathetic and exciting; targeted to readers and reluctant readers alike ages 8-11 years. Teacher Notes here.

Bungy Jumping: Book 3 $12.95

Billy Kool was an ordinary boy until he was thrust into the life of an extreme sports TV celebrity. In this book, Billy, and his friends Sally and Nathan are onto their third adventure; Bungy jumping! Billy, still riding on the high of white-water rafting, is finding school a drag. The only thing that keeps him excited is the idea of bungy jumping on the weekend. However, Billy and Nathan are both scared of heights! Billy pops his first pimple and then attends the school dance, where he dances with his crush, Crystal. After this courageous act, he moves on to an even scarier one. The most extreme sport yet; Bungy jumping. Packed with exciting information, a glossary and a description of the equipment used when bungy jumping, as well as great images, this book will appeal to readers and reluctant readers alike aged 8-11 years. Teacher Notes here.

Whitewater Rafting: Book 2 $12.95

Billy Kool was an ordinary boy until he was thrust into the life of an extreme sports TV celebrity. In this book, Billy and his friends, Sally and Nathan are onto their second adventure; whitewater rafting! Billy can’t see the point of learning French at school until he meets Pierre, a world champion white-water rafter who happens to be French. We follow Billy and his friends as they battle nerves and prepare for the most extreme sport yet. When Billy falls into the water, it’s his new friend Pierre who saves him. At the end of the book, there is an extreme information section, a glossary and a description of the equipment used when whitewater rafting. Part of an 8-book series, the Billy Kool books are informative, empathetic and exciting; targeted to readers and reluctant readers alike ages 8-11 years. Teacher Notes here.

Teacher Wellbeing $39.95

If you’re an educator you’ll know this: teacher wellbeing has never been more important. And yet, this complex issue is often misunderstood, leading to band-aid solutions that don’t address the root cause or inspire long-term change. In this go-to guide for teachers and leaders, Amy Green provides inspiration and practical tools to unpack the many facets of teacher wellbeing. She explores the purpose of teacher wellbeing; where we’ve gone wrong in tackling issues such as burnout and stress; and what we can do to build teacher capacity and enhance school systems to support teacher wellbeing. Amy believes we all play a part in writing a better story for our teachers. With awareness and knowledge we can move beyond tokenistic activities to long-term, embedded, sustainable solutions. In these pages you will find a deeper, richer, more holistic approach to improving wellbeing. It’s a book that will inspire the real conversations we so desperately need. Together, we can bring about transformation far beyond what we imagine.

Passion, Guts and Leadership $39.95

Deborah Patterson shares her trials and tribulations gleaned over decades of being in schools, the education system and leadership roles. This book provides teachers, educators and principals with a collection of tips, tools and strategies to help them become the best they can be and the leader that they want to be. Knitting together stories and providing a whole lot of sound advice, Deborah provides a real insight into principalship and how to be a successful unconventional educational leader.

The Thinking Classroom $44.95

Developing the critical and creative thinking skills of students in our classrooms is a necessary culture that all teachers should foster. Not only does it underpin the syllabus outcomes and content indicators, but the ability to think critically and creatively, and to articulate that thinking to others, is a hugely valuable skill in today’s world. Supporting students to be critical and creative thinkers requires us as educators to be willing to build our capacity, to make small consistent shifts towards embedding practices and fostering a ‘thinking’ environment that welcomes questions, that celebrates multiple perspectives and is comfortable working in a space that requires depth of understanding. This book was written with the teacher and leader in mind and is a mix of foundational theory and practical strategies with tools you can take away and apply in your classroom or with your teams tomorrow. It is divided into five parts, with each component delving into key areas of embedding critical and creative thinking into practice.

Become a Better Thinker $39.95

Good thinkers are 4P thinkers. The international bestseller, Become A Better Thinker, focuses on ways of improving the 4Ps. Positivity for better attention to a task Pattern seeking for identifying key elements Probing for asking yourself helpful questions Picturing for summarising key words and their connections Become a Better Thinker contains examples, strategies, and tests for improving the 4Ps. Aiming to examine, support and improve the creative and critical thinking skills of teachers and their students in order to help all learners think better in our rapidly evolving world. Revised and updated, this book is now in its fourth edition. Download PDF of the tests from this book to use: The Langrehr Test of Creative ThinkingThe Langrehr Test of Critical ThinkingThe Langrehr Test of Early Childhood Thinking

Learning Language Through Movement $34.95

This practical resource provides early years professionals and foundation teachers with games, activities and strategies to incorporate language into movement. The premise is that learning language concepts through movement will help all children, particularly especially those who might have language delays or coming from non-English-speaking backgrounds. Section one provides whole class and individual movement activities to enable children to learn single-word concepts and simple phrases. Section two contains concept games and development motor movements activities and ideas that will help develop the physical process needed in learning language. Educators, teachers and learning assistants can easily implement these ideas to their programs and be equipped with the knowledge and confidence to help children develop language through movement and active play. Authors: Garry Powell was a teacher and administrator in both country and city government schools for 32 years. He was a classroom teacher, specialist physical education teacher and principal at inner city schools. He lectured in tertiary education for 15 years, and has spoken on teacher education at conferences and workshops. Garry has written numerous teacher reference books. Debra Armstrong has taught in government primary schools for 28 years. She has been a classroom teacher, a specialist teacher in art and physical education, and a lecturer at Monash University. Debra has undertaken research in Australia and overseas, and won awards for her contribution to teaching. Debra has co-authored a number of teacher reference books. Download the Flashcards here

Grammar in its place $42.95

Grammar in its place tackles the two questions most asked by teachers: How do I teach grammar? What grammatical features do I include in my teaching? Part A of this book presents a variety of text types and the grammatical features that are associated with each one. It demonstrates how to use these text types to give purpose to the students’ writing and meaning to the teaching of grammar. Part B deals with the knowledge, understandings and the terms used in traditional and functional grammar. This section covers parts of speech, sentences, phrases, clauses, noun groups and punctuation. This book is packed with activities, and the authors show teachers how to implement strategies that will integrate the knowledge and the function of grammar into all areas of the school curriculum. Some activities focus on the needs of individuals while other activities can be used as the basis for class lessons. The methodology suggested in Grammar in its place encourages students to realise that a sound knowledge of grammar is essential for clear, concise and effective communication.

Exploding Dunny $12.95

Welcome to the Clancy of the Outback series. Eleven-year-old Clancy has been thrust into life out woop-woop. These are the stories of his outback adventures at his uncle's sheep station, Overflow Station. In 'Exploding Dunny', the shearers return to Overflow Station with a new cook. Everything was going well, until the cook served an extra hot curry one night. You can imagine - or maybe you'd better not - what happened to the shearers' toilet a few hours later! Clancy tries his best to help but it sort of misfires ... At the conclusion of this book there is an Outback Facts section about shearing in Australia and includes some recipes to make. There is a Bob Pacey poem, 'The Shearers Cook', and the all-important, Outback Jokes section.

Paddock Bomb $12.95

Welcome to the Clancy of the Outback series. Eleven-year-old Clancy has been thrust into life out woop-woop. These are the stories of his outback adventures at his uncle's sheep station, Overflow Station. In this book, Dad's old car has to be taken off the road, so Little Bill decides it could be Clancy's 'paddock bomb'. Meaning he was going to drive it around the farm. Meaning Little Bill was going to teach Clancy to drive. She makes Clancy sit in a baby booster seat so Clancy could see over the steering wheel, and that was just the start of his humiliation! At the conclusion of this book there is an Outback Facts section which provides information on all the car acronyms you will hear, there a poem about the paddock bombs as favourite cars, and the all-important, Outback Jokes section.

Feral Frenzy $12.95

Welcome to the Clancy of the Outback series. Eleven-year-old Clancy has been thrust into life out woop-woop. These are the stories of his outback adventures at his uncle's sheep station, Overflow Station. In 'Feral Frenzy', Mum is still trying to work out how to do her thing on Overflow Station and the whole family continues to have a lot to learn about country life. But who would have thought that feral pigs would get into Mum's precious veggie garden? Clancy thought it was pretty exciting at the time but now it is an issue they need to fix pronto. At the conclusion of this book there is an Outback Facts section which discusses feral animals in Australia, there is an A.B. 'Banjo' Paterson poem, 'Brumby's Run', and the all-important, Outback Jokes section.

Horse Play $12.95

Welcome to the Clancy of the Outback series. Eleven-year-old Clancy has been thrust into life out woop-woop. These are the stories of his outback adventures at his uncle's sheep station, Overflow Station. In this book, Little Bill's insists on turning Clancy into a country boy teaching him how to ride a horse. How hard can that be? Little Bill turns up on a humungous bay horse and Clancy begins to wonder if he has bitten off more than he can chew. In the end Clancy gets a tiny, mean-looking Shetland pony to learn to ride on. Just getting onto it was hard enough, but in the end, that pony and Clancy save the day! At the conclusion of this book there is an Outback Facts section which provides information about Australian horses, there is a A.B. 'Banjo' Paterson poem, The Man from Snowy River and the all-important, Outback Jokes section.

Simple Tools $34.95

Simple Tools explores the use of technology in the classroom and offers a considered, student-centric and foundational approach. In this book, teachers will be introduced to the selection of simple digital resources that have a clear purpose and do one thing well. They will be able to identify suitable technology that is quick and easy to set up for classroom use, as well as a host of strategies that will help make learning clear for both teachers and students. Along with recommendations and advice, Simple Tools includes activities for teachers to develop the confidence to select and embed digital resources that have a purposeful fit within an existing practice. Find out how using the Simple Tools approach can be beneficial in your classroom. Finally a book about technology and the classroom that is insightful about both topics. Simple Tools offers teachers practical strategies that they can use to maximise their impact in the classroom immediately.Glen Pearsall, author and education consultant

Balance $39.95

The roles and responsibilities of educators grow more complex every year. School leaders and teachers are tasked with creating high-performing schools that foster a culture of trust, collaboration and enquiry for students, parents and staff – all while working within prescribed protocols of safety, equity, transparency and fiscal responsibility. How do they do it? There’s no simple solution, but balance is the key. Andrew Oberthur draws on his rich experience as a principal and teacher to unpack a range of scenarios where a balance must be struck between following the rules and building relationships. His insights on ethical and courageous leadership – including when to follow and when to flex – offer new and experienced educators a proven framework for difficult decision-making. Exploring real-life dilemmas of communication, enrolment, staffing, budgeting, behaviour management, parent-teacher relationships, managing through uncertainty and more, Balance provides tested strategies for navigating the system’s myriad rules and regulations while building positive relationships and improving outcomes for all students.

Seriously Fun Maths $42.95

In Seriously Fun Maths, Dr Laura Tuohilampi changes the narrative of mathematics education into something fascinating, intriguing and something that touches every human. Based on her cutting-edge research she challenges the outdated ways of motivating students around maths. This engaging book provides teachers with research, resources and activities to teach a lesson a month. The rich activities are accessible to young students and deep enough for secondary students. Even adults! This book will help mathematics educators reflect on their skills of orchestrating mathematical discussions and problem-solving. They will learn how to increase students’ engagement in ways that reduce stress-inducing expectations around what a ‘good’ student in maths can and cannot do. Teachers will improve their grasp of what’s important – making mathematics a meaningful experience. Everyone will have serious fun while learning maths!

So You Want to Be a Principal $44.95

“The role of independent school principal is a complex and demanding one ... it is one of the most noble and fulfilling roles that anyone could attain.” Dr Paul Teys shares insights gleaned over four decades of teaching, and two decades of principalship in P–12 independent schools in this engaging book. Knitting together his doctoral research and extensive lived experience in the world of Australia’s independent schools, Dr Teys lays down a path for aspiring and early-to-mid career principals to take the next exciting steps in their careers. Providing the latest information and guidance on what it is really like to be a principal of a school these days, Teys offers a glimpse into a world which is not often understood by those, not in the hot seat. Real examples help to illustrate the complex layers associated with leading a school and becoming its CEO. With an earnest combination of strategic focus and personal anecdote, So you want to be a principal is a must-read for the next generation of independent school principals.

Becoming Autistic $39.95

In this provocative and informative book, Drs Rachael Sharman and Michael C. Nagel take the reader on a journey where nature and nurture intersect. Becoming Autistic reflects the concerns of the authors and numerous neuroscientists around the world that environmental impacts, like too much screen time and the lack of socialisation, have neurological consequences on the developing brain. The consequences of developmental changes in young people due to screen use are increasingly being expressed as psychological and behavioural changes that very much resemble known disorders such as autism spectrum disorder or virtual autism. This important book explores the pervasive impact of technology on the developing brains of young people. It raises questions regarding the trajectory of a generation that may be underdeveloped in aspects of interpersonal skills. Importantly, the authors offer practical ideas for ideas for correcting and changing the current course for many young people, so that subsequent generations can reshape the social norms and expectations of society and set new standards for a healthier outlook.

Practical Reading Strategies $42.95

Practical Reading Strategies introduces teachers to six highly effective strategies that every reader uses when grappling with texts. Through a range of engaging classroom activities, students will be introduced to Making Connections, Visualising, Questioning, Inferring, Summarising, and Synthesising as a way of making meaning and understanding what they read. Activities range from focused close reading to group work and discussion, and are broken down into teacher and student instructions, clear examples, and the underlying theory. With Practical Reading Strategies, all teachers can develop confidence in building their students’ abilities to read and understand. Templates from the Appendix are available to download here