What does a thylacine ghost, dry-land dog sledding, a marvellous submarine, bus-bullies, and potentially untrustworthy fish have in common? The 2026 Northern Primary School Readers’ Cup!
On the 28th of May, 108 excited upper primary students arrived at Hagley Farm School to participate in the 2026 Northern Primary School Readers’ Cup, vying for a chance to have their school’s name added to the trophy.
This year saw a record number of schools involved, with 20 taking part from across the north of the state from as far reaching as Cressy, Exeter, Beaconsfield, Scottsdale, Ringarooma and Flinders Island.
Students began reading the books in Term 1, with this years’ set comprising a wide range of themes and text types.
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The five books read by the Readers' Cup teams
Prior to the final each school held their own event with a quiz about the books and time for each team to share a creative piece that demonstrated the message or theme of one of the books. At school level, 382 students participated this year, with the winning team from each school going on to compete in the Final.
We began our afternoon with the Extra Challenge - an on-the-spot, 10-minute task based on an additional book.
Then came the Quiz – a much harder version than the one already experienced at their school event. The quiz is weighted to be the most important part, with teams needing to show an excellent knowledge of the books.
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Longford Primary School working together in the Quiz phase. (Photo credit - Jessica Jackson)
Finally, in front of a large crowd of school staff and families, these amazing teams shared their creative ideas about the book their team had chosen to showcase. These varied from songs, to dioramas, plays, and PowerPoint presentations. Our volunteer judges certainly had their work cut out for them! With 20 performances to share, our teams were each aiming to enlighten us in 3 minutes or less.
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Photo caption – Teams sit at the front of the audience with blankets, cushions and snacks, while watching each other on stage (Photo credit - Jessica Marston)
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Students had a large and supportive crowd to perform to. (Photo credit – Jessica Marston)
Nerves were faced and the crowd was well and truly entertained, with serious and humorous moments filling the evening.
At the end of the night, we were so pleased to announce Longford Primary School as the winning school for the second year in a row, with new-comers Ringarooma finishing 2nd, and Flinders Island taking out 3rd.
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Our winners! Longford Primary School, holding their CBCA Tas Branch sponsored Petrarch’s Bookshop voucher, a set of the books supplied by the School Libraries team, and the trophy! (Photo credit - Jessica Jackson)
Across the evening, we were able to share some snippets of student feedback, which came from over 160 responses from students involved at school-level.
The following quotes capture the most common answers when students were asked about their favourite part of Readers’ Cup:
“The quiz was really fun and I made a new friend and got closer to the people in my group.”
“Learning to read better and working as a team to create a performance that we all enjoyed.”
“Exploring all the different books and seeing how they are pictured in my head.”
“Reading new books and discovering new authors.”
“Getting to read all the books and that there was such a variety of stories.”
“I loved the Readers Cup because there were lots of twists and turns and it was competitive but not too competitive. It was really fun and challenging. Also we had to show teamwork which I loved.”
“Getting on the stage and getting out of my comfort zone.”
“It encouraged me to read more.”
“Honestly, it was just being on a team and reading books with my friends.”
A very big thank you must go to the CBCA Tasmania Branch for generously providing Petrarch’s Bookshop vouchers for all participating schools, and of course, the winner’s prize.
We are so fortunate to have this support from the CBCA Tasmania Branch, willing school staff who go above and beyond, our dedicated volunteer judges, assistance from the School Libraries team, and of course the families involved, all enabling students to have this wonderful opportunity to celebrate books and reading together.
Jessica Marston
Teacher Librarian, Hagley Farm Primary School
Coordinator of the Northern Primary Readers’ Cup
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