World Book Day 5th March 2020

Croxley Danes School celebrated World Book Day for the first time on Thursday 5^th March when students joined children from across the nation to spend a day reflecting on the value of books and reading. This year every lesson began with a video presentation of a short story, extract or poem for students to listen to and reflect on with their teacher. At break and lunch time students could collect a free World Book Day book, take a £1 book token or buy a new paperback at the bargain price of £2 from the dining room. By the end of the day students completed questionnaires reflecting upon their day and there was definitely a buzz about the event. Mr Hiorns, Head of English remarked,

“I think that students got a lot out of the day and really enjoyed it; the videos went down especially well. Students will be in no doubt how much we value reading at the school.”

Tatum in Year 8 reflected on her day:

On World Book Day we celebrate reading around the world to give a message to the people who don’t usually read and tell them what reading is all about and how much you can learn from it. On World Book Day small books are given away to give an idea of what an author writes about so the reader can try something new. My favourite extract was the reverse poem called Refugees by Brian Bilston because it gave a very clear message to the reader about not just taking one look at them and walking away but actually spending some time to get to know them. I also enjoyed the 'You are Awesome' extract by Matthew Syed because it described the experiences of different people who had failed but still got somewhere and managed to achieve something awesome; it had a really strong message of not giving up. My favourite book quote is ‘So many books, So little time’ because it shows that you have to pick your choice of book wisely because there are so many books out there. Reading is very important to me because it brings across strong messages and transports you to new worlds.

Yousuf in Year 9 said, "I enjoyed listening to the stories at the start of lessons and I'm hoping that next year we could have some more quizzes during lunchtime. It was a fun, first World Book Day at Croxley Danes." No doubt World Book Day will now go from strength to strength. Mrs Broadis, the school's Literacy Coordinator who organised the day, is looking forward to running a £2 book sale each term in the new building. "Reading for pleasure is vital to success at school and beyond. There is a direct correlation between how much a child reads and how well they do in life. It is vital that we continue to do everything we can to encourage a love of reading at Croxley Danes." Our thanks to Duty Manager, Tina, at Tesco Rickmansworth for her support in giving us 16 free books and a book stand for World Book Day.