THOUSANDS of northern Victorian prep to year 10 students, including those at Jamieson Primary School, have embraced a challenge set by Premier Daniel Andrews to read more books. Jaclyn Symes (MLC, Northern Victoria) congratulated the 60 schools and 2471 students in northern Victoria who participated in the 2015 Premiers Reading Challenge. Ms Symes said the challenge, now in its 11th year, asked all students in years three to 10 to read 15 books or more by September 14. For students in prep, year 1 and year 2, the challenge was to read or experience 30 books by September 14. Ms Symes said more than 204,100 participants from 2800 schools, early childhood settings and homes took up the challenge in 2015, reading nearly four million books. Its great to see students at these schools taking up the challenge with such vigour and enthusiasm, Ms Symes said. Reading is an essential life skill and the challenge encourages students to discover the joys of reading and explore new concepts and ideas. Students who complete the challenge will receive a signed certificate.