The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.’
– Dr. Seuss
The first week of the New Year started in exciting fashion in SPGSI, as the pupils and teachers celebrated Book Week. This week-long event, which included all pupils from EYFS to the Sixth Form, was a celebration of reading in its many different forms. The children took part in multiple events, and it provided another opportunity for collaboration between our school’s Senior, Primary and Early Years teachers. At the heart of all our activities was a simple message: that we must cultivate a love of reading and celebrate the many benefits it brings into ourchildren’s lives.
A Whole-School Reading Collaboration: From Early Years to Senior School, Growing Side by Side
Our Book Week was centred around in-class activities designed both to improve the children’s reading comprehension skills and to introduce the children to a variety of wonderful literature. These activities were supported by an inter-school reading programme, which saw a selection of Senior pupils working with the Primary children to help them engage with a selection of texts. Working as a thriving learning community, from Nursery to Year 6, each class was visited by its senior peers: an excellent opportunity to share in the joy of reading while improving comprehension skills. The event was a huge success, as Senior pupils overcame nerves to lead guided reading lessons under the guidance of our dedicated teachers.
For our Primary pupils, this offered an exciting way to engage with the reading curriculum and earn points towards winning the SPGSI House Reading Cup. The school community is grateful for the outstanding work of both our Primary School teachers, who planned and facilitatedthese shared lessons, and the Senior School teachers, who helped prepare the older pupils for their role as guest teachers. The whole SPGSI family deserves praise for bringing the reading curriculum to life in a positive and supportive environment.
Over the CNY holiday and during Book Week, all pupils across the school took part in our Read-A-Thon Competition to keep track of how much they were reading at their personal academic level. To be inclusive of all levels and reading interests, the children did not have to finish entire books. They simply had to celebrate all the reading being done, whether great or small.
Pupils submitted their Read-A-Thon Reading Records at the end of Book Week and now eagerly await the announcement of the most voracious readers in the school. The children who have read the most pages per class will become Reading Ambassadors to lead on the direction of the school’s future reading journey. To highlight and celebrate their commitment to reading, our Ambassadors are soon to be adorned with badges made from the winning design of our school-wide Reading Badge Competition.
A Surprise-Filled Library Adventure: Mystery Reads, Review Challenges, and a Literary Detective Quest
It would be impossible to discuss Book Week without sharing the wonderful contributions made by our Librarian, Ms Li. She created a wonderful and adventurous reading environment in our School Library, a space which has become the true heart of our reading curriculum. The library team facilitated the House Book Review Contest, in which children from each of our four houses recorded book recommendations to lead their fellow pupils to new reading adventures. The house with the most recorded book reviews earned points towards winning the SPGS House Reading Cup. Ms Li also prepared a ‘Mystery Book’ activity that aimed to ensure that children never judge a book by its cover again by immersing them in styles of literature that they would otherwise have missed. Lastly, to encourage more visits to the school library, Ms Li released a daily ‘Find the Quote’ activity that challenged children to play detective and find the source of the presented passages.
Other school-wide lesson activities
Other school-wide lesson activities included our Book Week Quizzes and Emoji Puzzle Challenges to test our pupils’ knowledge of English literature from a wide variety of genres.
Our pupils were also given the opportunity to contribute to our school’s colourful ‘My Reading Journey’ display, which now showcases our pupils’ reading journey through a personal exploration of why they fell in love with reading. They have presented this task eloquently to inspire others through sharing the impact reading has had within their young lives.
Outside the classroom, children engaged their creative flair to take part in our Book Week Art Contest, which saw a number of children share their love of reading through the mediums of drawing, painting and sculpting.
This artistic streak was demonstrated more widely through White T-Shirt Day, which embodied our school’s values of creativity and possibility. To encourage sustainability, pupils were asked to repurpose old white t-shirts as a canvas to display their colourful love of reading in pictures, quotes or their own wonderings inspired by their favourite texts. On the last day of Book Week, the school community gathered to showcase their varied and imaginative t-shirt designs.
This article provides a snapshot of the engaging educational activities which took place during Book Week. It was gratifying to experience the pupils’ enthusiasm and passion as they explored and enjoyed the different reading activities. Our teachers cherished the sight of our children discovering and genuinely enjoying their idea of a good book. In a fitting close to a successful week of learning, digital and physical records of the Book Week celebrations will be sealed in a Book Week Time Capsule, to be opened during our school’s 25th anniversary.
We would like to thank all the people, both children and staff, who made Book Week possible.
