Mrs Graves (Head of English)

This year is the 25th anniversary celebration of World Book Day, and their message for every child is: you are a reader! Here at BGS we wholeheartedly support that message, and the students have participated in a week of fun-filled activities on the theme of enjoying and celebrating reading.

The week began in the Senior School with an assembly which offered students some new perspectives on the benefits of reading, and information on how regular reading for pleasure can improve outcomes for children later in life. With this thought in their minds, Year 8 were then challenged to ‘turn over a new leaf’ by recommending books to each other via the medium of the Poetree. With Spring just around the corner, our tree has sprouted new leaves and every student in Year 8 should be selecting a peer recommended book to try and read over the Easter holidays to restart their reading habits.

Year 7 have also been doing some decorating, but in Form Time, not English lessons. Each Form is transforming their classroom door into a book cover, and we look forward to sharing images of these as they evolve. Class entries will be judged later in the Term and the winners announced before Easter.

On Wednesday, a selection of Year 9 students went across the road to the Junior School to take part in activities with Year 3 surrounding children’s books. The students began by listening to the Year 3s read, and discussing what they liked to read. The Year 3 classes were told that it was their job to reignite a passion for reading in the older students, and they did an excellent job. Together, the students worked in groups to apply their own creative ideas to a set of illustrations and make a short story, and the outcomes were certainly imaginative.

Whilst the bulk of the activities were aimed at our younger students, all students in the Senior School were also invited to dress up as a book character, to keep the joy of reading alive, and we saw some fantastic and diverse costumes. The LRC produced some lovely activities and displays around the theme of crime fiction, which we have found to be very popular in recent years with a growing number of series produced along these lines for readers aged 11-14.

Finally, we would like to say a massive thank you to all the members of our community who have been bringing books to donate to BRASS - Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support. We have amassed a great number of beautiful books for different age groups and they will make wonderful donations to children who may not otherwise have books of their own.

View photos of staff and students dressed up as their literary characters here.