Brooke Weston Academy held its own ‘World Book Day’ celebrations by inviting all students and staff to come to school dressed as their favourite literary character and take part in a day of book themed activities.

The day incorporated all key stages and each lesson gave access to a segment of a short story ‘The Open Window’ – over the course of the day all BW students read, decoded, condensed and retrieved key information from their short story, building on their inference and prediction skills. Students were able to offer a review and submit their analysis into a prize draw for voucher prizes as a reward for their hard work and commitment to learning.

English offered a collapsed curriculum for the day – inspiring students to write book reviews and become writers themselves through a series of transformational writing tasks – inspiring the writers of tomorrow and further engaging with the book prizes gifted earlier in the academic year.

In total almost 300 books were awarded as prizes on the day – encouraging curiosity and promoting a life-long love of reading. Money donated on the day by students and staff will be given to support literacy poverty in the local community, demonstrating the positive influence reading can have on both the individual and the wider community.

Literacy coordinator, Lauren Fitzjohn, who organised the event said, ‘I am so proud of the students at Brooke Weston in relation to how engaged and invested they all were in our belated WBD celebrations. Staff and students alike, dressed up and used their favourite books to inspire others and collaborate in the wider message of the importance of reading and how it can influence our lives. It was a pleasure seeing the students engage with the tasks on the day – there was a palpable buzz around the academy. We are already looking to next year and how much more we can add to the provision offered at Brooke Weston to encourage and inspire an appreciation for the knowledge reading offers.’