Swindon schools in the Ascend Learning Trust celebrate World Book Day 2023

By Jessica Durston - 6 March 2023

Education

Various schools in Swindon incorporated their own twist on celebrations for this year's World Book Day.

World Book Day aims to change lives through a love of books and reading  and on Friday 3 March all of the schools within Ascend Learning Trust celebrated the day in their own ‘book-tacular’ way.

World Book Day is a charity-led organisation, and a worldwide celebration of books.

Royal Wootton Bassett Academy held a House Book Door Competition, each tutor dressed their room door based around a book cover. The rules were that no books based on a film could be the inspiration, and that the door does not have to be an exact replica of the book cover.

The school day began with an I LEARN quiz and a literary treasure hunt, followed on by a Share a Story, each lesson started with the teacher reading a short story.

Lawn Manor Academy and The Wellington Academy allowed staff and students to dress up as their favourite characters from a book. The staff were said to have gone all out with their costumes.

Staff costumes at Lawn Manor Academy included Violet, Cleopatra, Mary Poppins, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, to name but a few. Lawn Manor Academy also held a ‘bookshelf selfie’, where students and staff had to guess which staff member owned the bookshelf in the photos.

Noremarsh Junior School asked all their children to attend in their pyjamas, for their bedtime stories theme. The day started with a special assembly, followed on by a visit to the Moonrakers book stall. The school also had best-selling Author Paula Harrison visit the school on Tuesday 28 March, who did workshops with the children and helped them venture into the exciting world of books through a fun-filled assembly.

The assembly started with a story, 'Barbara throws a wobbler.' Ms Sexton read the book to all the children and then carried on to explain how Bedtime Stories are extremely powerful. She said they can relax people, bring them enjoyment, or, can be a fun activity.

She then explained how she had read the story to her three children, who were all very different ages, and how reading the same story to them, brought out different emotions towards the book. To finish the assembly teachers were asked to say a bit about their favourite childhood book and why it was special to them.

The Wellington Primary Academies ran a 'Story in a Bottle' activity for children to bring in. The children are being given the chance to write their own silly stories inspired by books they have read, with competitions to see how many photos each class can take, of them reading in different areas around the school, as well as a competition to design the cosy reading corner.

This exciting day was followed by a blanket and story time with parents with hot chocolate. The parents were said to have commented on how cosy the staff had made the hall, and how spectacular it was to be able to find new books to read with their children.  

A spokesperson for Ascend Learning Trust said: “It is wonderful to see such varied celebrations of World Book Day being covered by our schools in the Trust. World Book Day is a day to celebrate the Authors and books we love, sharing our passion of reading with all and having fun whilst doing so.

"It is lovely to see the care and detail all of our schools have put into their day, outfits and planning.”

Your Comments

Be the first to comment on this article

Login or Register to post a comment on this article

Subscribe to The Link

Registered in England & Wales. No: 4513027, Positive Media Group, Old Bank House, 5 Devizes Road, Old Town, Swindon, SN1 4BJ