World Book Day '24

Southborough's Celebration of Reading

“Reading fiction is important. It is a vital means of imagining a life other than our own, which in turn makes us more empathetic beings.”

“Following complex story lines stretches our brains beyond the 140 characters of sound-bite thinking, and staying within the world of a novel gives us the ability to be quiet and alone, two skills that are disappearing faster than the polar icecaps."

– American Author Ann Patchett

World Book Day is a way to give every 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. It is held in over 100 countries.

This year WBD took place on Thursday 7/3 and the event received lots of media coverage. Elsewhere, small children and their teachers were seen dressing up as their favourite book characters, a fun and effective way of engaging children in WBD activities.

However, as a secondary school, we don’t believe that celebrating the love of reading should stop once a child leaves primary school. We believe it’s more important than ever to engage our students with a selection of interesting and fun activities such as a book quiz, a literary lunch and… dressing up as your favourite book character!

Big ‘Book Off’ Quiz

‘Big Book-Off’ Quizzes took place for Years 7, 8 and 9 in the morning. The hall had been decorated the day before by Ms Panesar and 6th-formers with a stunning ‘gothic’’ theme: a magnificent balloon arch, gothic props, and displays of any book  genres. Packed with students and supported by our A-Level Eng Lit students, the atmosphere was lively, 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. Guests were treated to pizza, cakes, biscuits 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 enjoyed in equal measure. The winners of the fancy dress competition were:

Year 7 1 Kanesksh K 7HCR 2 Luca T 7DPU  3 Joseph W 7MCO
Year 8 1 Ryan C 8CLC 2 Ted W 8SLE 3 Ayaan M 8SLE
Year 9 1 Nathan M 9STY 2 Jesse B 9JMC and Harrison S 9JMC 3 Joshua M 9RHE

Thanks

Many thanks must go to Head of English Faculty Ms Salloo and English Teacher Mrs Panesar for organising such an exciting day. Thanks also must go to the entire English Team and our Sixth form students for making the day so special. Lastly, thank you to all students, parents and staff for their support! 

To enjoy more pictures, have at look at the full Gallery of pictures here