More than 46,000 students across New South Wales have already completed the 2025 Premier’ s Reading Challenge( PRC), as the initiative marks its halfway milestone. Now in its 24th year, the Challenge continues to inspire young readers to discover the joy of books, explore new authors and broaden their literary horizons.

Once again, J. K. Rowling’ s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’ s Stone leads the list of most-read titles, with over 7,800 reads logged so far. It’ s followed closely by Aaron Blabey’ s Pig the Pug and Deborah Kelly’ s The Thing About Oliver, demonstrating the enduring appeal of both classic and contemporary storytelling.

High school students are also turning to familiar favourites, with books tied to major film adaptations— such as Harry Potter and The Hunger Games— continuing to capture their imaginations. Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning, Prue Car, welcomed the enthusiasm shown by students across the state and highlighted the Challenge’ s importance in developing strong literacy skills.

“ As a Harry Potter fan myself, I’ m delighted to see children of all ages still captivated by the magic of Hogwarts,” Ms Car said.

“ With the Challenge reaching its halfway point, I applaud the more than 46,000 students who have already

completed it and encourage those still reading to cosy up with a good book during these cooler winter months.”

To give students more time to engage with new titles, the Challenge deadline has been extended to 19 September 2025. The reading requirements remain the same: students from Kindergarten to Year 2 must read 30 books, while those in Years 3 to 10 are required to complete 20.

Ms Car emphasised that the PRC is a key element in the NSW Government’ s broader strategy to improve educational outcomes.

“ Encouraging a love of reading through initiatives like the Premier’ s Reading Challenge plays a vital role in boosting literacy and academic performance,” she said.

Open to students from Kindergarten to Year 10 across government, independent, Catholic and home schools, the PRC promotes reading for leisure and pleasure.

It’ s not a competition but a personal challenge that encourages students to read more— and read more widely.

To support families and educators, the PRC has launched a new podcast, Between the Bookshelves, featuring author interviews, reading tips and book

recommendations. It is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and The Arts Unit website.

The 2025 PRC is proudly supported by Digital Partner ePlatform and Supporter PETAA.

Courtesy of NSW Education

by Lachlan Turner

Throughout the latter part of the year it is possible to come across what is commonly described as a Grevillea or Spider Flower Plant.

There are four Spider Plants having a similar structured flower, each presenting with a different contrasting colour.

The most noticeable one in natural bushland could well be the Red Spider Plant( Grevillea speciosa), flowering mostly from June to September on a spreading shrub up to 2 meters tall.

Maybe the most prolific one would be the Grey Spider Plant( Grevillea

buxifolia). An erect shrub also up to two metres in height. The flowering period is mainly between July and October. Buds may have a pinkish tinge in the early stages.

Undoubtedly the most attractive one would be the Pink Spider Plant( Grevillea sericea). Its flowers are generally a bright pink colour but the centres can tend toward a deeper pinky mauve while the ends may tend towards paler pink when the flower matures. It flowers between July to December.

Probably the least common is the Narrow-leaf Spider Plant( Grevillea linearfolia), which has a small white flower with pink tips when in its early

stages. It can grow up to 4 meters in height but can be somewhat straggly in appearance. Flowering mostly occurs from July through to October.

With the exception of this last one, all these Grevilleas have similar shaped leaves with some individual variations in shape.

There is a fifth variety, Grevillea mucronulata, or Green Spider Flower, that has a somewhat different form in both its foliage and flower, which may be located from May to December.

All five can be found within the same general areas of open forest, adjacent heathlands and sandy slopes along the east coast of NSW.

The latter part of the year is probably a good time to get out into our bushland reserves and discover some of these colourful Grevilleas.

Grevillea speciosa Red Spider Flower