Ian Macdonald

Rocket Phonics reading books are fully decodable phonics books allowing children to practise their phonic skills in context, developing emerging reading skills. When the otters of Larch Class go pond dipping, they are hoping to find pond skaters and dragonflies, so are surprised when they see a scary pond monster ... Or is the monster just their classmate, Dell, playing a trick on them? Reading age: 5-6 years

Reading Planet - Out of the Pond - Blue: Rocket Phonics

Betty O'Keefe

This lively biography of Bishop Edward Cridge and his wife Mary paints a vivid picture of early Victoria as it developed from an isolated Hudson's Bay Company post into the bustling capital of British Columbia. Recruited from England by Governor James Douglas in 1854 to be the Church of England chaplain of Fort Victoria, Edward Cridge became an important figure in the spiritual life of the city as the rector of Christ Church.The Cridges also became two of Victoria's foremost social reformers, leaving an indelible mark on British Columbia's social institutions. Living through the terrible smallpox and black measles epidemics, the latter taking four of their own children, the inseparable pair worked to create the first hospital, beginning with a few beds in a rented cottage and living to see it transformed into the Royal Jubilee. As the first superintendent of education, Cridge played an essential role in B.C.'s early school system. When abandoned children were left at the parsonage door, Mary created Victoria's first orphanage.The biography also tells of Cridge's very public argument with Bishop Hills, a dispute that caused him to break with the Church of England to found and build the Church of Our Lord, a Reformed Episcopal church, which is today an historic Victoria landmark. Included also are cameos by many of the notable people of the day, such as Emily Carr, who as a young girl lived opposite the Cridge family.

The Legacy of Early Victoria's Bishop Edward and Mary Cridge

Quiet Reformers

"We taught our children to be delinquents." So wrote lifelong criminal Joe Gordon before he was hanged at British Columbia's Oakalla Prison Farm in 1957 for shooting a policeman during a failed robbery. In a letter he scrawled in his jail cell, Gordon described his downfall and made a plea to parents to love and care for their children so they wouldn't end up like him. Born to Die is the story of Gordon's sensational trial, set against the backdrop of Vancouver's seedy underworld amid a time of widespread police corruption. His final words are as relevant today as they were then, for although he lived and died in 1950s Vancouver, his tragic life and path to oblivion can be walked at any time and in any community in North America.

A Cop Killer's Final Message

Born to Die

Josh and his class are on a trip to the library, but he would much rather be playing computer games. When he is separated from the group, he steps into a little room and finds a strange machine all covered in dust. What will happen when he pulls the lever? The Adventure Machine is part of the Rocket Phonics range from Rising Stars Reading Planet. Rocket Phonics offers fully decodable phonics books for Pink A to Orange band that help children build a firm foundation in word reading. Children will practise their phonic skills in context and develop their comprehension skills. Reading Planet books have been carefully levelled to support children in becoming fluent and confident readers. Each book features useful notes and activities to support reading at home as well as comprehension questions to check understanding. Reading age: 5-6 years

Reading Planet - The Adventure Machine - Orange: Rocket Phonics

October 25, 1918, is the day that goes down in history as the Inside Passage's worst maritime disaster. More than 350 people lost their lives and the CPR's British Columbia Coast Service was forever tarnished when the Princess Sophia went down off Vanderbilt Reef in Lynn Canal between Skagway and Juneau, Alaska. In this book, the authors relive the tragedy of the Princess Sophia and her last voyage and tackle questions that still linger. Was the sinking really just a "peril of the sea," as the inquiry concluded? This story explores the heroic efforts of those who answered the SOS and tried to save the passengers and crew but were later the ones to recover bodies instead.

Did They All Have to Die?

The Final Voyage of the Princess Sophia

Sir Kenneth Lyon Blaxter

Comparative Nutrition

In the wake of SARS and H1N1, this story of medical health officer Dr. Fred Underhill and his battle against the 1918 Spanish influenza that killed 25 to 50 million people worldwide is particularly relevant. Underhill is symbolic of the senior public health officers in cities across Canada and the U.S. who mounted the best defence they could against the killer flu. His vision, his tireless efforts, and his dialogue with colleagues in Seattle and elsewhere saved many lives. And his patient advice and findings are still relevant today as we await the new viral epidemics that undoubtedly lie ahead. In their enlightening account of the events of that era, authors O'Keefe and Macdonald have crafted a compelling story of people coming together in a time of crisis.

Fighting the Killer Flu

Dr. Fred and the Spanish Lady

Karl Stewart

Catherine Burke

The new edition of this influential and bestselling book is concerned with how people come together to achieve a productive purpose. Survival and success in business and social terms have always depended upon our ability to form and sustain social organisations. People have a deep need to be creative and to belong. By creating positive organisations we can fulfil these needs and build a worthwhile society. One of the failures of organisations is precisely the lack of efficient and effective social organisation, which is what this whole book is about. Poor social organisation, including poor leadership, are major drivers of poor productivity and lead people to give up or retreat into a minimalist approach of just doing what is needed to get by and survive. The authors provide a language for developing, discussing, thinking and working with propositions about organisations and management. They do not tell you what decision to make but rather present tools to help you consider, analyse and predict the consequences of your decisions. This new edition is much broader in its application areas ¿ public, private and not-for-profit sectors. It contains new models and propositions with regard to types of social organisation, domains of work and the nature and use of authority. It contains a range of new case studies, and throughout looks at how these ideas can be used to achieve an organisation¿s purpose while encouraging creative working. It is not a book about fads or fashion but an integrated approach that offers the user the benefit of foresight.

Creating Positive Organisations

Systems Leadership

Tony Tiplady

Clive Dixon

It is easy to underestimate the impact that school organisation has on the behaviour, effectiveness, engagement and creativity of the teachers, staff and students who work within it. It also has a marked effect on the well-being of staff members, and how families and the community relate to the school. Attempts to improve school organisation are often short term "initiatives" that only cover only one or two aspects of what it takes to organise a school effectively. Improving Schools Using Systems Leadership, in contrast, provides those involved in the design and delivery of educational services with a coherent and easy-to-follow framework to help run an effective organisation. Based on theory, real data on education improvements at school and regional level, and case studies, this book demonstrates how Systems Leadership can be used to improve school organisation. It integrates models of leadership, teamwork, capability, structure and systems to help make them more effective in improving the learning outcomes of students and also sustain this improvement over time. This book explains how Systems Leadership can and has been applied in schools to bring clarity to the purpose, structure and systems within a school and have a major impact on its success. As such, it is an essential text for school leaders and managers looking for practical tools to help improve the working lives of the people within their organisation, and hence their effectiveness.

Ian Macdonald

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