Pupils throughout St John's celebrated the joy of reading with our annual Book Week. The School transformed into a literary wonderland with activities, reading-related competitions and author visits designed to engage children of all ages. Five renowned children's, authors and illustrators gave inspirational talks to children throughout the School, including: A.F. Steadman, Robin Stevens, Tom Palmer, A.F. Harrold and Isabel Thomas.
Before half term the older children had a taster of things to come with bestselling author A. F. Steadman visiting as part of her Skandar: Chaos Trials paperback release tour. A.F.Steadman gained international recognition with her debut novel and won the Waterstone's Children's Book of the Year in 2022. For our pupils, the opportunity to meet her in person was a wonderful way to connect with the books they have loved reading.
Book Week is my most favourite week of the whole year!
Book Week itself kicked off with Science writer Isabel Thomas who spent the day in Byron House. Her Assembly for T1 (Year 1) to Form 2 (Year 4) explored important questions such as, ‘Why does water make you wet?’ and, ‘Are cats liquid or solid?’ finishing with the children pretending to be cilia cells wafting mucus molecules (green balloons) through the body. KG (Reception), T1 (Year 1) and T2 (Year 2) learnt about peppered moths through her book, Moth: An Evolutionary Story and the older years explored the characteristics of insects, through drawing and games.
Poet and author A F Harrold’s visit to Senior House brought much joy as the children laughed at his renditions of ‘The Pud Song’ and his theory that we should all be eating four courses of pudding after every meal! Author of over 60 children's books, Tom Palmer, shared World War Two relics with the younger years and talked about the philosophy of using animals in war with the older children.
Mystery writer Robin Stevens, author of the Murder Most Unladylike series, shared how her childhood friendships inspired the characters in her books and challenged the children to use detective skills for code-breaking. The children had the opportunity to purchase books from the visiting authors, and exchange a few words with them as they got their copies signed.
The Norfolk Children’s Book Centre visited both Byron House and Senior House to set up a Book Fair, bringing an extensive array of books to suit all tastes. Each class had a chance to peruse the books, including some special edition copies which were previously signed by the authors.
I loved hearing about the authors' childhoods and what inspired them to want to write. I want to be a writer when I grow up.
Form 6 (Year 8) joined their Form 3 (Year 5) buddies for a Book Swap event. The special occasion started with everyone bringing in a pre-loved book from home. The older children then guided their younger buddies in selecting a book before finding a cosy corner to sit in pairs or groups to read, laugh, and share excerpts from their chosen books.
The children in Byron House was treated to a cosy evening on Wednesday for 'Book at Bedtime' when they returned to school at dusk wearing their pyjamas and cuddling their soft toys for hot chocolate, home made biscuits and stories with their friends. Their teachers had decorated their classrooms with fairy lights and brought in soft blankets and pillows, and read them stories.
Our Book Week finale was the much anticipated 'Dress as a Character Day', inspiring many creative costumes across both sites (staff included!). There were groups of Minions, pupils from Hogwarts, the Avengers, hobbits, princesses, moths, Smeds & Smoos and many more. Some classes in Byron House even managed to read through everyone’s chosen book. The sun shone and break times were full of imaginative play surrounding the children’s favourite characters.
A big thank you to our librarians for organising another inspirational, educational and fun Book Week.
