Students take on the sport of reading

Eight enthusiastic Year 7 students from Red Bend Catholic College put their reading knowledge to the test by taking part in the sport of reading. At James Sheehan Catholic High School in Orange students competed in the Central West heat of the 2025 Lit Quiz Competition against 30 other teams from Central West schools. Red Bend had two teams compete who answered 100 themed questions over ten rounds based on all literature types including popular fiction and non-fiction books, fables, myths and rhymes. Red Bend's first team consisting of Elena Bet, Brodie Stephenson, Miah Ross and Jacob Swindle demonstrated their extensive knowledge of literature and placed third overall. This team won the 'Roald Dahl' round with their comprehensive knowledge of all Dahl's books earning themselves individual book prizes. Red Bend's second team included Lexi Millerd, Tamryn Meyer, Marcus Collins and Lucy James also performed strongly placing sixth overall. This team also won individual book prizes with their outstanding performance in the 'Marie Animals in Literature' round. "The competition is a fantastic opportunity for students to engage in a competitive activity focused on reading," Red Bend teacher and librarian Ms Janice Little said. "The questions are wide and varied and the more books students have read, and the greater the variety of their reading, the better they perform." The quiz is promoted as the 'Sport of Reading' and encourages kids to read and discover the many benefits of wide reading including the intellectual (knowledge and vocabulary development), physical (relaxation and stress relief) and social (teamwork and social interaction) benefits of reading.