There were costumes, competitions and quizzes galore when Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust’s schools marked this year’s World Book Day.
St Charles’ Catholic Primary School, Gosforth
Among those celebrating the occasion were the pupils at St Charles’ in Gosforth, who kicked off the day with an 8.00am ‘Book Bistro’, where books were enjoyed over breakfast. The literary theme continued with the Literacy Trust’s ‘Big Footy and Books Quiz’ and a book hunt in the school grounds.
The children also had the opportunity to showcase their creative talents in a writing competition, and to make their own concertina picture books, as well as dress as their fictional favourites.
Assistant headteacher Abigail Micklethwaite commented: “St Charles’ loved World Book Day! Reading is a skill we continue to develop throughout our lives, but starting this process as early as possible has significant benefits for our continued success as readers, as well as opening doors to learning across the curriculum.”
Read more about St Charles’ day here.
English Martyrs Catholic Primary School, Fenham, Newcastle
World Book Day became world book week at English Martyrs’ in Fenham, where pupils took part in a variety of activities in the run up to the day, including listening to bedtime stories that had been recorded by staff members.
There was also the school’s annual ‘Masked Reader’ competition, where the voices and appearance of staff members as they read well known children’s books were digitally altered so that pupils could guess the identities.
In addition, the children had the chance to get creative, dressing as their favourite story characters, decorating the doors of their classrooms with book-themed displays, and writing letters to send to their chosen authors.
Read more about English Martyrs’ day here.
St Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School, Walbottle Village, Newcastle
Diversity and inclusivity were the focus at St Cuthbert’s, Walbottle, where the children dressed in a rainbow of coloured T-shirts for the day, which included an array of activities inspired by Aree Chung’s book, ‘Mixed: A Colourful Story‘.
Headteacher Colette Barrett said: “We planned the whole-school event around the book, which links to our PSHE [Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education] curriculum. The theme of the book helps us to think about living in harmony, how we are all unique and that is OK.”
Read more about St Cuthbert’s day here.
St Bede’s Catholic Primary School, Bedlington
It was poetry in motion at St Bede’s in Bedlington, where pupils spent a week exploring the works of popular poets before performing their favourite poems at the end of World Book Day.
Headteacher Therese Worrall explained: “We looked at how books can help us to escape into so many different worlds, how poetry helps with creativity, and how performing it allows us to appreciate the power of words in sharing our feelings. Celebrating World Book Day in this way showed how everyone could be involved and the true meaning of the day could be shared within our school community.”
Read more about St Bede’s day here.
St Aidan’s Catholic Primary School, Ashington
Literary figures were brought to life at St Aidan’s in Ashington, with princesses, a young Mary Poppins, Ratburger baddie Burt, and The Cat in the Hat all putting in an appearance.
Staff joined in too with head teacher Michael Moran dressed as the wardrobe from the Narnia series by CS Lewis, while other staff members came as crayons, a butterfly, Batman and Robin, and a witch.
Read more about St Aidan’s day here.
The fun wasn’t limited to the younger age groups, with the Trust’s secondary schools also taking part.
Sacred Heart Catholic High School, Fenham, Newcastle
Activities on offer at Sacred Heart High School included a 500-word short story competition, and challenges such as ‘Match the Teacher to the Greek Myth’ and ‘Guess the Teacher by their Favourite Books and Pets’.
The day came to a close with each class invited to ‘Drop Everything and Read’, when the students enjoyed Henry Slesar’s short story Examination Day, accompanied by an Audible-style recording featuring some of Sacred Heart’s teachers and fellow students.
Deputy Headteacher Louisa Connolly commented: “World Book Day is so important to Sacred Heart , a chance for the whole school community to celebrate our love of reading across every age group.”
Read more about Sacred Heart’s day here.
You can view a collection of photos from across the day in the Flickr slideshow below:
Article created on behalf of Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust by Barking Dog Media. For more information email: david@barkingdogmedia.co.uk or call 07754 271086.