World Book Day 2023

Why do we celebrate World Book Day…

Reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child’s future success – more than their family circumstances, their parents’ educational background or their income. World Book Day was created by UNESCO on 23rd April 1995 as a worldwide celebration of books and reading. It is marked in over 100 countries around the globe. Spending just 10 minutes a day reading and sharing stories with children can make a crucial difference to their future success and not forgetting, it’s great fun for all involved.

Pupils and students in QEGS Primary School, Secondary School and Sixth Form took part in this year’s ‘ World Book Day’ with a range of activities that took place over the school day.

An annual tradition, pupils in Primary School dressed up as their favourite literary heroes, with lots of teaching staff donning their character dress too.

To launch the day, the whole school took part in the ever-popular D.E.A.R event (drop everything and read) a reading initiative that ran right from Reception through to Sixth Form. Amazingly, the whole school was reading at the same time! Reading for Pleasure (RfP) certainly was working at its best on the day. A DEAR event is a fun and informative way to help improve literacy skills and instil independent reading.

Over in our Primary School, pupils EYFS to Year 6 spent the morning taking part in various activities. Each year group looked at a different author and all work was focused on their books. Pupils made bookmarks, redesigned their favourite book covers and enjoyed drama and role-play activities. Pupils also got the chance to visit the book fayre and were able to trade in their ‘World Book Day Token’ which entitled them to buy a book for £1.

Mrs Julie Tattersall, Year 6 Teacher and World Book Day lead for Primary School said “Everyone has really enjoyed the day. Pupils have had lots of fun with some pledging to read even more books for pleasure by their chosen author. The day was a huge success. Thank you to all our parents/carers for their efforts with the costumes and for supporting these events.”

Over at our library, we welcomed Matt Oldfield, author of the Ultimate Football Legends books, who worked throughout the day with pupils in Year 5, 6, 7 and 8. Matt thrilled pupils and staff with his burst of energy as he shared his writing passion and his own personal journey, to reach the career he had always dreamed of. His presentation engaged everyone, with pupils craving more. There was even time for some Q&A’s, when pupils took the opportunity to find out more about the author’s books and his thirst for writing.

At lunchtime, a book sale took place in the library, and it was also a further opportunity for pupils to chat with Matt. It was good to see an array of different year groups attending this session, ranging from Year 7 to Sixth Form. Many pupils left with signed copies of the author’s books and free bookmarks – not to mention lots of writing advice.

Mrs Dewhurst, Head of Library and World Book Day lead said “The day couldn’t have run any better – visiting authors make days like these magical. They bring the whole day to life, creating excitement and a buzz around books, so that pupils leave having discovered even more knowledge.”

Thanks must go to everyone who helped to make the day a huge success, to all teachers (both Primary and Secondary and Sixth form) who sent in photos of their D.E.A.R event and to all pupils and students for their contributions.

An inspiring and busy day for all of our pupils and students, who we hope will continue to read for years to come!

D.E.A.R (Drop Everything and Read)