A Lancaster Primary School is preparing to be taken over by munchkins, mad hatters, princes, princesses and sea creatures as part of World Book Day. (Thursday 1st March)
Pupils at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School are preparing to swap their usual uniform for the dress of their favourite fictional characters, before taking part in a fashion show to highlight their love of books. The school’s Parents, Teachers and Friends Association will award prizes for the best costume in each year group.
The fancy dress day is only one of the many activities being held at St Joseph’s tomorrow. Children will also be pairing up with those in other year groups to share their favourite books before showing off their reading skills to parents, who are invited into the school’s story sessions at the end of the day.
Head teacher Juliet Walling said: “There’s a real buzz around school at the moment with children planning their costumes and more importantly, talking about their favourite books and the characters in them.
“At St Joseph’s we believe in instilling children with a passion for reading and a love of books and this is a great way to tap into this and show children’s enthusiasm and skills.”
Each year group has chosen a theme for their World Book Day dress, linking it to their topic work. Years 5 and 6 will be characters from The Wizard of Oz, Years 3 and 4 will be transformed into character from Alice in Wonderland, Years 1 and 2 will be characters from stories set Under the Sea, Reception children will receive the royal seal of approval as they are transformed into Princes and Princesses while children in both the morning and afternoon nursery classes will be dressed as their favourite character from any story as part of their work on All About Me.
“From the moment children start at St Joseph’s we seek not only to teach them the skills to enable them to read and understand stories and texts of different genres,”added Mrs Walling, “but also to foster the idea of reading for pleasure and a love of books.”
• Children will also have the opportunity to watch and listen to a range of authors and illustrators as part of World Book Day broadcasts for schools, nurseries and organisations via www.worldbookday.com