As befits a school with a beautiful new library, Amesbury enjoyed celebrating a whole week of books last week to tie in with World Book Day on Thursday 5 March. This being Amesbury, of course, we did things slightly differently and held our dress up day on the Tuesday!
Mrs Bayne and Mrs Kean led assembly on Monday morning getting Book Week off to a flying start by launching the school charity Readathon, telling pupils about the Scholastic book club that is open to them and promoting the ‘Reading in Unusual Places’ competition that runs from now until after the Easter holidays. True to their name, the Year 4 Bookworms had been busy in the run up to Book Week, and we really enjoyed watching the videos they had put together interviewing each other about their favourite reads.
The sun was out on Tuesday morning to greet the wonderful array of characters we had strolling through our corridors and grounds for dress up day! Willy Wonka, the Cat in the Hat, Humbert the Hungry Baby, Stig of the Dump, TinTin, Asterix and a Gangsta Granny were all in evidence, to name a few, and it was hard to identify some of the staff behind their fabulous costumes!
On Wednesday, another competition was up and running, this time the ‘Guess the Face behind the Book’! The display board by the Year 3 classrooms has photos of some well-known Amesbury faces hidden by books. Can you guess who they are?!
Throughout the week, members of Years 7 and 8 spent time in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 as reading buddies with the younger pupils. They very much enjoyed the chance to swap roles and be the teacher for a short time…finding out that it’s harder than they thought to hold the attention of excitable and chatty children! Mrs Collyer and Mrs Hopwood were very impressed by the ways they engaged the children and hope that this shared reading is something we can continue. The children in Reception and Key Stage 1 loved being read to by the older boys and girls!
On Thursday, parents in Reception and Years 1 and 2 had the chance to pop in to share a book at pick up time. The children hosted their parents very sensibly by offering drinks and snacks before settling down to read together. What a lovely way to end Book Week!
As always, our thanks to all those who supported our Book Week so enthusiastically!
Happy reading!
Mrs Keen
Co-Head of English
