Ballarat Wildlife Park reptile keeper Jesse Farquhar paid a visit to the school on Monday and delivered a rare ‘Reading Bug Egg’ into their care.

He said the egg couldn’t be hatched in a normal incubator but had to be read to.

“Just last night I was feeding the tortoises and I was excited to find something like this. It’s definitely too big to be a tortoise egg,” he told them.

“You guys read to this egg and it actually grows.”

The egg is expected to hatch in time for Children’s Literacy Week on Friday, August 1, with the help of Phoenix P-12 Community College-Redan Campus pupils and a series of guest readers including deputy mayor Des Hudson and a North Ballarat Roosters player.

The Smith Family partnered with several local organisations on the initiative.

Central Highlands LLEN partnership broker Brendan O’Connell stressed the importance of getting kids into reading early.

“Literacy is a big issue and if you’re not developing it at five or six, it leads to long-term issues,” he said