World Book Day, 4th March 2010

Literary fancy-dress competition challenges pupils and staff

Parents and passers by could not quite believe their eyes as the pupils arrived at school on World Book Day. There were wigs and home-made hats, painted faces and props-a-plenty as all the pupils came dressed as their favourite character from a book. Every category of fiction was covered, from cartoons to Victorian sagas and Ancient Greek myths to spy novels. As they entered their form rooms, the pupils were even more delighted to discover that the teachers had all dressed up too; Captain Pugwash, Scrooge, Captain Underpants and Miss Trunchbull were amongst those taking lessons today. 

The special day began with a F1/U1 assembly all about books and the children were able to see each others’ costumes for the first time. As the highlight of the assembly, the children gave an excited countdown as the youngest child in the school was asked to cut the ribbon to open the eagerly awaited Junior Library. Everyone was then able to explore the books and brightly decorated room for the first time. At break time, Mrs Taylor the Senior School Librarian, came over to judge the fancy dress competition.  The entire school paraded past her and she found the decisions extremely difficult as imagination was rife! Well done to the winners!  As the teachers had so thoroughly entered into the spirit of things, it would not have been fair to miss them out and Mrs Taylor chose Miss Bewley as the most convincing Ladybird. The older children then rushed to the library to countdown for their own opening ceremony. An extremely dedicated pupil-librarian cut the ribbon to many cheers from her peers.

Throughout the day, all the children in the school spent a lesson in the library, learning how everything works and being introduced to the exciting new books.  A huge number of fiction and non-fiction books flew off the shelves, borrowed by the eager pupils, some of which were returned at the end of the day having already been read! (This bodes extremely well for our upcoming Readathon challenge!) There were also book-related activities to enjoy in many lessons elsewhere in the school.

Overall, a very successful and enjoyable day was had by all, both pupils and staff. Books and reading were certainly at the heart of the celebration and it could not have been a better day to open the rejuvenated Junior Library.