Latest News
World Book Day
Posted: 8th March 2019Mystery surrounds the arrival of lily pads, water and glitter all over desks in a Harlow primary school.
Year 2 pupils arrived at Freshwaters Primary Academy to make the discovery which sparked endless discussion and wonder around the event.
The surprise was set up as a hook to draw pupils in to the story within picture book Tuesday as part of World Book Day.
Pupil Cassie said: “The evil elves told the frogs to come here and mess up our desks. I wonder if they are going to come back and do it again. It was not us, it was the frogs and the evil elves!”
The class worked on plans to capture the elusive visitors and quizzed witnesses around school to piece together the story of what had happened.
Jacinta Addison, Year 2 teacher, said: “We want pupils to really understand the story and then have a go at writing their own versions.
“They were so excited to find the evidence on their desks; it’s the most excited I’ve ever seen children. Even the lower ability pupils have been engaged; this is exactly the sort of thing we need to do for them to spark their imaginations for their own story writing.”
Throughout the day, pupils in all year groups dressed as their favourite book characters; were given book tokens to exchange at their local book shop; took part in Drop Everything And Read (DEAR) sessions with their favourite books from home; paired up with peers from other classes to share stories and read to each other; took in their unwanted books for a book swap; heard stories read by visiting parents; made a display of photos of them reading for pleasure at home; and entered the Book Jar Competition where they represented a book in a jar.
Sixth form students from Epping St John’s School, in Epping, also visited to read with Year 1 pupils.
Rebecca Freire-Norma, assistant headteacher, said: “World Book Day has been about promoting reading for pleasure among our children and the kind of things they can read. We wanted to make pupils realise they don’t always have to like a particular genre, but they can find something they will love reading for pleasure.
“Everyone has a book they love. We told pupils if they don’t yet love reading, it is because they haven’t found a book they love yet.”
