Not content with just celebrating their love of books for a single day, children and staff at Ellington Infant School in Ramsgate have enjoyed a full week of activities.
Celebrations kicked off with a book-themed dress-up day for children and adults which was greatly enjoyed by everyone and sported some very creative costumes.
Throughout the week children were also able to enjoy stories read by a wide range of staff from other classes and also took part in a book-themed scavenger hunt organised by the school librarians.
The week began with family reading sessions in each class. Parents and carers were invited in at the start of the day to enjoy the wide range of books in school alongside their children.
To end the session, children and families were invited to sit and listen to a story read by the class teacher, which was very popular with children and adults alike!
There was also the opportunity during the week for children to bring in their favourite book from home to share with the rest of their class. A diverse range of books were brought in, confirming the children at Ellington are keen readers and book lovers.
As Ellington is a school with strong links to its community and other local schools, St Laurence Junior Academy also helped make the week a success, with St Laurence pupils invited in to spend some time reading and enjoying books with children in Year R and 1 from Ellington.
The children enjoyed getting a chance to mix with their older peers, and there was a great ‘buzz’ around the school. Ellington’s Year 2 children had the opportunity to make a visit to St Laurence Juniors, to share books in a different environment.
The classes at Ellington are all named after children’s authors and there was a focus throughout the week for each class on learning more about these authors and their books. This led to a ‘Decorate a Door’ competition, with each class decorating their entrance on the theme of their class author.
As with last year, the school has also been visited by Adam Taylor from local business ‘The Classroom’, who very generously came to deliver a World Book Day book to every child in the school.
The week was topped off by a visit from Kent author Emma Rosen. Emma led a whole-school assembly around her new book and her life as an author. Children had the opportunity to ask Emma questions and many also purchased signed books.
Ellington English Leader and Assistant Headteacher Mrs Wheeler co-ordinated the week’s events and was very happy with the end result, saying: “We had such a wonderful week celebrating our love of books and reading. We had a range of exciting activities throughout the week; including having the author Emma Rosen conducting an assembly, the children brought their favourite books into school to share with their friends and we shared stories with children from the local junior school.
“On World Book Day, the children (and staff) enjoyed dressing up as a book character and our wonderful librarians put together a book scavenger for all the children, which they really enjoyed. I’d like to say a huge thank you to all staff and children for their enthusiasm and effort put into making it a really special week.”
Headteacher Adnan Ahmet added: “It is our duty as a school to promote a love of books and reading, and we hope that holding events such as this help children to find pleasure and enjoyment in literature.
“Personally I can never pass up an opportunity to discuss just how important a part books can play in the development of children and their future life chances, and so events such as book week are always welcome. It was great to be able to have Emma Rosen visit us, and I am really grateful to her for giving us some of her time.
“ I’d also like to add my thanks to everyone else who contributed to the week, including Mrs Wheeler for organising, all of our staff for getting stuck in and dressing up, the children and staff at St Laurence Junior Academy, and of course the parents and carers of our children for being so engaged with our activities.”