Written by Mr Brandreth & Ms Dotson

Thursday 7 March was a special day at St Chris, with the children at Saar celebrating books and authors as well as raising money for charity at the same time! Children from nursery to Year 6 all brought in their favourite books and met up with their buddy classes to share them. It was fantastic to see, all across the school, the older children reading to the younger ones after being told all about their chosen books and why they love them so much. The whole school (and a large number of brave teachers!) also came in their pyjamas to raise money for the United World Schools charity and help them continue their amazing work in Nepal and Cambodia. The grand total raised this year was a whopping 518 BD! Well done to everyone involved.

World Book day, 2019, focused on how books have the potential to influence and change our lives. The fundamental aim of World Book day is not only to celebrate books and offer recommendations, but to understand the potential impact of reading on our personal, academic and professional lives. By engaging with reading on World Book Day, we hope to inspire greater interest in autonomous reading and reading for pleasure among senior students. To achieve these aims, students and staff filmed videos about books that had a significance influence on them; the videos were shared and viewed during registration and Enrichment. Mrs Dodson, Head of English, delivered assemblies, sharing how books and specific authors had influenced and changed her life. Enrichment activities allowed students to explore books that had influenced leaders and celebrities, as well as engage with reading. Students were invited to dress up as a famous literary character on World Book Day to encourage discussion and interest in the books the characters appeared in. Teachers read extracts from books that their characters appeared in at lunchtime. Students were asked to ‘Drop Everything and Read’ for 15 minutes during the school day. The response from students and staff this year was brilliant, and we hope to build upon the event next year.