World Book Day 2023

World Book Day 2023 at Southborough

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies…The Man who never reads lives only one.” (George R.R. Martin)

World Book Day is a registered charity on a mission to give every child and young person a book of their own. It’s also a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) it’s a celebration of reading. In fact, it’s the biggest celebration of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world.

This year World Book Day fell on Thursday 2nd March but because this was an official teacher strike day, we didn’t want to risk anyone -both students and staff of SHS - - missing out on such an important celebratory event. To this end, we postponed the event by 24 hours, so that it took place on Friday 3^rd March. And what a celebration it was!!!!

Both students and staff were given the opportunity to dress up as one of their favourite book characters. It was by no means compulsory but many students chose to come into school in fancy dress. And they really seemed to appreciate their teachers dressing up as well!           

 Big ‘Book Off’ Quiz

A staggered ‘Big Book-Off’ Quiz took place for Year 7, 8 and 9 students in the main school hall in the morning. The hall had been decorated the day before with a ‘Wizard of Oz’ theme which also included a magnificent balloon arch and iconic book cover artwork produced by students in Ms Geering’s art class. Packed with eager students and supported by our talented A Level English Literature students, the atmosphere on the day was lively and positive and provided the perfect opportunity to test the literary knowledge and skills of our boys.

Literary Luncheon

During lunch break, Our Librarian Mrs Hensman and Head of English Faculty Ms Salloo hosted a special Literary Luncheon for selected Year 7, 8 and 9 students and staff to attend. Guests were treated to a delicious spread of sandwiches, cakes and jam tarts whilst taking it in turns to read extracts from their favourite books and explain to others why the books were so special to them.

To this end, our World Book Day was a cornucopia of wonderful activities and events, which students and staff seemed to enjoy in equal measure. The winners of the fancy dress competition can be seen below:

 Year 7 Top Three Costumes:

3: Teddy W (7CLC) as Alice in Wonderland

2: Harrison B (7CJO) as Spongebob

1: Jason B (7CLC) as Grumpy (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves)

Year 8 Top Three Costumes:

3: Shai K (8ABS) from Money Heist

2: Harrison S (8GSR) as the Peach Crayon

1: Nazar A (8GSR) as Gandalf

Year 9 Top Three Costumes:

3: Rodrigo M C (9JGR) as The Boy in the Dress

2: Alfie S (9MBR) as Atreus  from God of War: Ragnarok

1: Ethan W (9MBR) as Augustus Gloop

Thanks:

In all, there was certainly a positive ‘buzz’ around the school and World Book Day got the attention and awareness in Southborough that it truly deserved! Many thanks must go to Head of English Faculty Ms Salloo for organising such an exciting day. Thanks also must go to the entire English Team for making the day so special.

Lastly, thank you to all students, parents and staff for their support on the day.