Abercorn celebrated World Book Day in style!

At Abercorn, our World Book Day celebrations spanned over the course of two weeks. It has been wonderful to hear lots of discussions in the corridors about the books the students are enjoying reading and there has been a palpable eagerness to explore different genres, engage in creative writing endeavours and indulge in the sheer joy of reading for pleasure.

Nick Arnold

We kicked off the celebrations by a visit from renowned author of the Horrible Science series, Nick Arnold, who came in to speak to our Year 3 - 10 pupils about his multi-million selling books and how science can be really horrible but also really fun. The students in Years 3 - 6 received a signed copy of one of Nick’s books.

Lou Kuenzler

At the Lower School, Lou Kuenzler worked with the Nursery to Year 2 pupils, visiting individual classes and enthralling them with her picture books. As a dyslexic writer who came late to reading, Lou spoke about putting imagination, accessibility and (often) a good splash of humour at the heart of everything she does. The students were engaged and excited by her stories and were able to have their books signed on the day.

Toby Glover

The following week we welcomed the author, Toby Glover, to both the Lower and Senior School. Toby read his amusing stories to the children and allowed them to ask questions. It was interesting to hear about his journey as an author and they all enjoyed joining in with his funny animal stories.

Assemblies

In the the Year 3-6 assembly, Mrs Shuttleworth spoke to the students about the importance of reading pleasure and, not only that but also, how to overcome barriers to reading for pleasure. The students shared their own experiences of reading which was lovely to hear and they finished with a quiz.

In the Year 7-10 assembly, Ms Meredith spoke to the students about the power of reading and the reasons why students are always encouraged to read. She talked about books that had changed the world. She also showed celebrities Stormzy and Dua Lipa talking about the value of reading. Ms Meredith explained the health benefits of reading and why just reading a small amount every day has been shown to improve your career prospects. The assembly culminated in a quiz with questions about celebrities and teachers’ book stacks.

Lower School

The Lower School students were all excited by the ‘hooks’ into the books that their fantastic teachers provided: a package containing a hen and an egg, vegetables on the wall of the classroom, an audible crash in the garden, an invasion by a gingerbread man caught on camera! All of these scenarios went on to inspire some wonderful writing and mark-making.

World Book Day Books

This year, instead of giving the students a World Book Day voucher, they were each given a free book of their choice from the selection on offer. Many students have reported back that they have already read the book they received and really enjoyed them.

Daunt Book visits

Senior school is very conveniently located round the corner from one of the most beautiful bookshops in London, Daunt Books. Therefore, the students from Years 3 - 10 had the opportunity in their English lessons to visit and purchase an array of books from this original Edwardian bookshop with long oak galleries and graceful skylights. Their choices were eclectic and demonstrated just how important it is that we empower students to make their own choices when it comes to reading for pleasure.

Leo’s visit

One of the highlights of the week was a visit from Ms Seguire’s delightful labradoodle, Leo. Each class from Years 3 - 6 had the opportunity to share an excerpt from their favourite book with Leo. He was enthralled with tales of Harry Potter, Winnie the Pooh and Two Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, again demonstrating the diverse range of books the students enjoy reading in their spare time.

Online lessons

Throughout the week, students took part in various online live lessons with celebrities and sports personalities. Year 6, in particular, enjoyed a Booky and Footy quiz hosted by the National Literacy Trust whilst Year 7 took part in a live lesson hosted by Puffin.

Competitions

There were two competitions that the students were invited to enter: one to make a book character from the inside of a toilet roll and the other was to recreate a book cover which Mr Haverley ran. There were some fantastic entries and it was difficult to choose the winners but these were the lucky students who were awarded book tokens:

Sina (Nursery)

Edgar (Gruffalo)

Halasultan (Year 4)

Bryant (Year 4)

Livia (Year 5)

Dayul (Year 7)

Congratulations!

World Book Day dress up day and D.E.A.R

Of course, no World Book Day would be complete without a day of dressing up as book characters. The week culminated in the whole school dressing up as their favourite characters or in their pyjamas ready for a bedtime story. We had a lot of fun and raised a substantial amount for charity too.