World Book Day has been an absolute delight this year, and we managed to make it last for over a week! We have had some lovely events and celebrations across our school divisions and hope that all of our students have been inspired to continue their reading journey, and most importantly, inspired to read for pleasure. Events included the customary World Book Day dressing up, quiz competitions, book themed crafts, fashion shows, author visits and virtual events.
Our Nursery children and staff dressed up as their favourite book character and brought in their best-loved books to share with classmates. We spotted some fabulous costumes and some of our favourite classic picture books for younger children.
The Juniors did a sponsored read to provide new books for schools without libraries or extra reading resources.
Years 3 and 4 enjoyed a zoom session with author Maisie Chan, talking about her book ‘Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths’ . The students then had a go at creating hybrid creatures, just like Danny does in his book, we had some really weird and wonderful creations drawn. Students had a chance to ask Maisie some great questions at the end of the session.
This week our Year 5 and 6 children were treated to an in-person visit from wonderful author, Iszi Lawrence. She began her visit with lunch with our Y6 Library Prefects who gave her a good grilling on all things booky. She then gave a very informative and fun talk on her books, with a little history thrown in. Her book ‘Billie Swift Takes Flight’ is actually based down the road at White Waltham which was very cool to know. Iszi was a fantastic guest and students and staff alike said how good her talk was. Children had the opportunity to also get books signed by Iszi.
All books written by our World Book Day authors are available in our school libraries for students to borrow.
Junior School children entered a ‘design a book potato’ competition and we were super impressed with their incredible creations which have been on display in our Junior libraries. From Harry Potter to Paddington Bear, their entries were ‘spudtacular’.
Well done to all of the children who entered and a special mention to our four winners with their potato characters pictured below:
- The Very Brave Lion By Riley Year 1
- Where’s Wally by Dylan Year 3
- The Little Mermaid by Elize in Year 1
- The Bear Who Went to War by Scarlett in Year 5
At Juniors a special assembly focussed on the importance of reading, which led into a fashion show! Each year-group chose a song to strut their stuff to and staff also took to the fairy light runway to show off their fabulous costumes. At Junior Boys Mr Dryden even treated the boys to a rap of a book! At Junior Boys they initiated four sessions of ‘Drop Everything and Read’, announced by our Head Boy, Henry, and his deputies (Jack and Fred). They rang the bell and shouted out, commanding all staff and pupils to drop everything they were doing, and get lost in the wonders of their chosen books. It meant that for the entire day, the boys and staff had to carry their books around with them.
Our mixed Senior team entered the first heat of the 2023 National Reading Champions Quiz. This national event, run by the National Literacy Trust, tested the pupils' knowledge of all things booky. From picture rounds to video challenges and missing words, they were tested on authors, titles, illustrators and book characters. Congratulations to the team! No win today but a wonderful first attempt.
Year 7 set some new reading goals for World Book Day when the live Great Big Footy & Booky Quiz tested both reading and football knowledge. Questions came from both authors and Premier League footballers but the answers came thick and fast from our own Year 7 readers.
Our senior school students now have access to our new school library database web app which encourages pupils to explore new booky resources and find some new reading inspiration. This new online resource includes links to online author events, author read-alongs, free ebooks and audiobooks, writing workshops, podcasts, competitions and recommended reading booklists. Seniors can access this in school or at home, at any time.
World Book Day was full of activities based around reading, and the energy and excitement towards such a wonderful activity (and vital life skill) has been absolutely amazing. A huge thank you to our team of fantastic librarians who work tirelessly to make books easily accessible to all of our students in the Claires Court family.
Bring on World Book Day 2024!
