World Book Day
World Book Day is always marked in a big way in the Prep School and this year was no exception. The theme this year was “Celebrate stories. Love reading.” The corridors were decorated with book themes: so much work and thought had gone into the various decorations. The Prep 2s gave us a Harry Potter themed corridor. The Prep 1s' The Explorer corridor came complete with jungle sound effects! Downstairs, The Very Hungry Caterpillar munched his way along the Alpha corridor.
During the week there was a story chair situated next to the Library and every break time the bean bags around it were crammed with pupils waiting to hear stories read by members of staff. The story theme continued into Friday when everyone came to school dressed in their PJs (yes, teachers too) to prove that stories aren’t just for bedtime. Our lovely Prep librarian Mrs Houghton had arranged a visit from master storyteller Vanessa Woolf who entertained first the Prep 1s and Prep 2s with the thrilling adventures of nineteenth century highwayman Jack Judd and his black hound Lucifer. The room was totally quiet as the pupils, and staff, sat engrossed by the tale. Afterwards it was the turn of the Alphas and Betas who were equally enthralled, this time by three stories including a retelling of the myth of Echo with lots of audience participation. Neal’s (BLY) reaction was typical, “She was wonderful. I enjoyed the way we got to participate in the second story.” Storytellers like Vanessa are keeping the old oral traditions alive by telling stories without the aid of a script or book – everything is in her head!
I thought the storyteller was really exciting and she was very aware of how we felt. She made an effort to make sure we enjoyed it
Arya, BKY
The Senior School hadn’t forgotten World Book Day. Competitions were organised throughout the week, including a daily quick fire tutor time quiz which proved so popular that Mrs Squire had to purchase extra prizes to meet demand. In Thursday after school, the Library held a Book Tasting session. This gave pupils the opportunity to dip into some of the latest acquisitions in the Library while enjoying a cake or a book inspired snack (marmalade sandwiches, the favourite of a certain bear from Peru, or cold apple pie which The Railway Children feasted on for breakfast),
