Fairytale celebration for World Book Day

World Book Day news from schools around the Borough.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears enjoyed the spring sunshine when two West Norfolk schools celebrated this year’s World Book Day.

Pupils of all ages at Snettisham Primary and Heacham Junior arrived at school on Thursday (March 6) dressed as their favourite storybook characters, while staff also joined in the fancy-dress fun.

“At Snettisham and Heacham Junior, children were invited to come to school in character from their favourite stories,” said Louise Jackson, Executive Headteacher across the schools, which are members of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

“Staff were also keen to come as key characters for the quality books we teach in school. At Snettisham our Early Years Foundation Stage teachers came as the three bears, and one pupil came as Goldilocks.”

Family members and friends also participated in the World Book Day celebrations, which involved a range of book-themed activities.

“Families were invited into school at the end of the day to share books with their children,” continued Mrs Jackson. “As it was a beautiful spring day, the children and parents enjoyed reading books with special nooks and dens created in the garden.

“In addition to this, families were also invited to work with the children to create book character vegetables. We saw some fabulous and creative potatoes, cauliflower, and broccoli.”

“The day built on our values to support a pleasure-for-reading culture in our schools, and the recent enrichment work at West Norfolk Academies Trust around the recent Literary Event.” 

King’s Lynn students celebrate all things literary for World Book Day - Springwood High School

World Book Day turned into a week-long celebration of all things literary at a King’s Lynn school.

Students from Years 7 to 11 at Springwood High School took part in a range of book-themed activities and challenges, which included a ‘readathon’, workshops, quizzes, and competitions, along with various creative ventures.

“As part of World Book Day, we ran activities during the whole week,” said Alan Wisniewski, event organiser and Learning Resource Centre Manager.

“These included the Read for Good Readathon, four workshops centred around professions or roles that reading is important for, such as writing, poetry, journalism, and illustration, a form group reading quiz competition, and crafting and reading activities at lunchtime.”

The school, which is part of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, also saw staff and students dress as fictional characters for World Book Day on Thursday 6 March, as well as share some of their favourite reads.

“We got staff involved by getting everyone to fill in a poster detailing what they enjoy reading and having them up on the classroom doors,” continued Mr Wisniewski. “Also, on the day of World Book Day, they took five minutes each lesson to talk about books they liked or thought were important for their subject.

“Members of the English Department also dress up every year, so there were some good costumes.”

Other WNAT members participating in the event included Smithdon High School in Hunstanton, which held a two-week Literary Festival, and Gaywood Primary School, where each class focused on a specific children’s author.

“World Book Day is important because it encourages a love of reading and shows students that it can be fun and interesting,” added Mr Wisniewski.

Clenchwarton Primary

Pupils at a West Norfolk primary school were invited to tuck into Ratburger with Gangsta Granny’s salad to mark World Book Day.

The special menu, with Lord Voldemort Veggie burger for non-meat eaters, also included Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Ice Cream Factory or James and the Giant Peach Fruit Selection.

It was the second inspired menu of the week as the school also marked Pancake Day by including them on the lunch dessert menu - along with chocolate sauce, jelly or fruit.

The costumes children arrived in brought a whole host of book characters to life for the day and there was even a fashion parade where pupils were encouraged to showcase their outfit to the whole school.

Children also completed a range of activities in their classes to mark the day, including taking part in a national competition to design a book token

West Lynn Primary

Children at West Lynn Primary school were left guessing after The Masked Reader session held on World Book Day.

Staff at the school read to the pupils, but were in disguise. The children were then asked to guess who was behind The Masked Reader.

Children were also invited to design a book cover and older children designed a cover and wrote the ‘blurb’ to describe the book and entice readers to discover more. A £5 book voucher was presented to the winner of each class.

The school, a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, was joined by other members including Clenchwarton, Gaywood, Heacham Infant and Junior and Snettisham Primary School.

St Clement’s High (pictures attached)

There were activities galore at St Clement’s High School when staff and students marked World Book Day.

Pupils from the high school took the chance to read stories to younger children from the Terrington St Clement Community school as part of the celebration of all things literary.

It was a return visit for many of the high school pupils who had also attended the junior school when they were younger. They read stories and also discussed their favourite books and authors with the primary children.

Students at the high school, a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust, also had the chance to dress as their favourite literary character and staff weren’t left out of the fun either.

There were also competitions and cakes back at the high school where the day was declared a great success.

Smithdon - Hunstanton students enjoy trip down the rabbit hole

The White Rabbit, the Red Queen, the White Queen, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum and Alice herself, were all present when readers and writers at a Hunstanton school came together to celebrate their love of literature as part of this year’s World Book Day.

Besides Alice in Wonderland Day, Smithdon High School’s two-week Literary Festival featured Journalism Day, Poetry Day, and, of course, World Book Day itself on Thursday. (Mar 6)

Students across the school participated in the closing event, where the library was transformed into Lewis Carroll’s fantastical underground world.

“For Alice Day, the staff dressed up as the characters,” explained Amanda Wright, Head of English at Smithdon and co-organiser of the Festival.

“Lunchtime activities included teacup painting, Mad Hatter hat-decorating, Pin the Crown on the Flamingo, bag or pencil-case art decorating, and riddle writing. Chess was also available, and Claire Pike, our Head of Science, demonstrated a ‘Drink Me’ potion.

“The themed day brings books alive. It can show students that reading can indeed be fun. With costumes, and decorating the library in that theme, it gives students a visual of the story and brings the characters off the page. We hope that it inspires the students to actually pick up the book, if they haven’t read it before.

“Previous feature day themes have included Harry Potter Day and Hunger Games Day.”

Journalism Day saw Hunstanton-based journalist Chris Bishop take Year 9 students through the process of ‘chasing a story’, with the help of Smithdon Headteacher Amanda Gibbins, who held a ‘Press Conference’.

“Journalism Day is an amazing experience for those involved, as they have to draw on their communication, organisation, writing, and research skills,” continued Ms Wright.

Other visitors during the Festival included Cambridge University Professor Claire Wilkinson, who led a discussion with Year 9 and 10 students for Poetry Day, and sports writer Dan Freedman.

“Claire Wilkinson also talked to the students about life beyond school, and how cool it is to go to uni, and that Cambridge isn’t as out of reach as they think – everyone has a chance if they put their minds to it,” said co-organiser Marie Taylor, school Librarian.

“Dan Freedman worked with our Year 7 and 8s. He is an author of football fiction, having met and interviewed big stars such as Ronaldo. As a journalist, he has also followed the England Team.

“Having a published author visit and talk to those in the early years of high school about how they succeeded is important – it can motivate and inspire those that perhaps have little confidence in themselves, and, equally, those that have a desire to write, but are not sure where to begin.”

For World Book Day, staff and students alike dressed as their favourite fictional characters, meeting in the school library at lunchtime for photos. Among the other highlights across the fortnight were Smithdon’s annual 500-word story competition, a book swap, and a Masked Reader competition, where students were challenged to identify disguised members of staff reading extracts from books.

It was the fourth time that the Literary Festival had taken place at the school, which is a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

“It is always a fun fortnight, with a range of events that can include all students, whether they enjoy reading or not,” added Miss Taylor.

“Donations this year will support Tapping House and our school library.”

Gaywood - The Gruffalo meets Harry Potter at West Norfolk primary

The Gruffalo, Harry Potter, and Hiccup the Viking were just some of the colourful characters arriving at a West Norfolk school for World Book Day.

Staff and children at Gaywood Primary came to school dressed as their favourite fictional heroes and heroines to celebrate the annual event on Thursday (Mar 6).

“Each year group celebrated the books of a different popular children’s author,” explained Chloe Sneath, Year 4 Teacher at the school, a member of the West Norfolk Academies Trust.

“Children and adults dressed up as a character from one of their books, and the reading and writing lesson was themed on one of the author’s books.”

While the Early Years pupils dressed as characters from traditional children’s stories, Year 1’s chosen author was Julia Donaldson, known for such children’s favourites as The Gruffalo,The Snail and the Whale, and Room on the Broom, and Year 2 were inspired by Jill Tomlinson, creator of The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark.

The Year 3 children adopted characters from Roald Dahl’s famous classics, while Year 4 focused on Cressida Cowell, whose popular Viking series features Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third and his pet dragon.

In Year 5, the class studied the creations of comedian-turned-children’s-writer David Walliams, while Year 6 explored the magical world of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter.

“All children from all year groups took part, from Early Years Foundation Stage up to Key Stage 2,” continued Mrs Sneath.

“World Book Day is important because it celebrates the diversity of stories and voices from all around the world,” she added. “It encourages a love of reading and helps children to discover different genres, from adventure to mystery to fantasy.

“It’s also a day full of fun, where we can enjoy dressing up as different book characters.

“Most importantly, it inspires ambition to explore new ideas and learn new knowledge through the books that we read.”

Marshland High School - Author visit

Marshland High School hosted an author and illustrator as part of World Book Day celebrations.

The West Walton School invited Pen Avey, who is also a poet and lives in Norfolk, to speak to students about her work and the importance of reading for pleasure. Her latest release, Dear Earthling:Cosmic Correspondent also features illustrations she created.

Pupils also completed themed activities in the school library.

All photos except St Clements that provided their own image credit Barking Dog Media/Ian Burt Photography