World Book Day is a global celebration – held in over 100 countries world-wide – dedicated to encouraging children to discover the joy of books. This World Book Day, we wanted to encourage pupils to talk about reading at CBSC. Staff were invited to dress up and share their favourite books / characters with pupils, whilst we also ran a number of book-related lessons (including in English, Maths and Art), as well as rewards events in the library, tutor-time activities and a scavenger hunt. Talking about books is a crucial part of developing the school’s reading culture (something we’ve been working hard to develop, this year). Find out what your child is enjoying about their current book – are they enjoying it? Why / why not? Does it remind them of any other stories, films or TV shows? Have you tried reading it together?

According to a study by the Institute of Education (IoE, 2013) students who read regularly do “significantly better” across the curriculum – including 10% better in maths – than students who don’t read: an amazing statistic that further fuels our commitment to reading at CBSC. Meanwhile, the Sparx Reader programme continues to go from strength to strength, with CBSC pupils accumulating over 16,500 hours of careful reading since September (that’s 3,500 completed books!).

Looking for more tips on ways to encourage pupils to enjoy reading, or help with children who say they don’t enjoy reading? Check out these links for ideas!