“You could write a book on all the things we did to celebrate World Book Day!” beamed Mr Martin.
The school organised several activities to encourage the whole School to read and celebrate their favourite stories.
Extreme reading
The children were first challenged to an ‘Extreme Reading’ competition over half term, a competition to see who could find the wildest way to read. Submissions included reading up a tree, reading in an aquarium, and the winning entries were from a child reading with a real snake and another reading whilst riding a rollercoaster!
An extreme reading competition took reading to new heights!
Sharing stories
On the morning of World Book Day, the teachers grinned like Cheshire Cats watching the whole school come together for World Book Day celebrations.
Previously children have dressed up as storybook characters, but this year, the focus was on the words and pictures. In the morning, the older children in Years 3-6 joined the Pre-School, Reception and Years 1 and 2 to read their favourite stories. The children paired up with their School House buddies and found a cosy corner in the library to sit down and read. They took it in turns to read and be read to.
Form 1 teacher Mrs Picken commented: “It was so wonderful to see the children reading to one another. There was no fuss, the children just found a spot to sit, opened their books and loved sharing with their friends.”
Zac in Reception brought in ‘Room on the Broom’ and said: “This my favourite book because it has a cat in it and I have two cats.”
Sophia in Pre-School brought in a Pop-up Paddington book. She said: “I love this book. I love Paddington. Here he is on a bus.”
Zac loved sharing ‘Room on the Broom’ with his friends
Scavenger hunt
In the afternoon, Ghyll Royd pupils came together again for their weekly School House assembly. In the three School Houses, the children went on a word scavenger hunt. The younger children had to find words or pictures from a pile of books from a list – searching for ‘porridge’, ‘a witch’, and ‘feet’ to name a few things. The older children had a harder task, having to find a specific word buried in pages upon pages of novels!
Mr Martin said: “We dressed up in January for our Australian bushfire relief fundraiser and as a school we are always hosting non-uniform days. This year, we thought we would do something different and focus on the stories we love and the power of reading. Seeing our children so enthusiastic about sharing stories, writing their own and finding new reads made the day so special!”
For more pictures from World Book Day, visit our Facebook page.
