World Book Day celebrated

Decorated doors, blind dates with books and a game of Harry Potter-inspired Quidditch helped students and staff celebrate World Book Day.

Organiser and Vice Principal Joe Hermiston thanked everyone for their “phenomenal” response to make it a memorable day across the school’s two sites.

“Reading improves the life chances and future success of all our students and so we wanted to find a way to celebrate World Book Day with this philosophy in mind,” he said.

“We organised the decorate-a-door competition, with students inspired by a book of their choice.”

Students worked together in form groups to decide on a theme. Some voted for their favourite book, others looked at covers for inspiration.

“All showed great teamwork in meeting the deadline and transforming their doors.

“Judging the competition was incredibly tough as it was evident how much time, energy and enthusiasm went into decorating the doors,” said Mr Hermiston.

Entries varied from Gothic horror ‘Dracula’ to children’s favourites the ‘Gruffalo’, David Walliams’ ‘Gangster Granny’ and Rudyard Kipling’s ‘Jungle Book’.

Students even had staff involved with ‘Where’s Mr. Dickinson?’, with the senior leadership team featuring in a ‘Jack and The Beanstalk’ inspired door.

Curriculum leaders for English, Mrs Brett and Mrs Hammond, said: “It was hard to pick one winning form from each group as the effort from students and staff had been outstanding.

“However, the winners were 7H, who had everyone smiling with their ‘Where’s Wally?’ door; 8D’s ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ transported visitors to Narnia; 9D’s amazing Alice in Wonderland display; and 10D’s fantastic student bookcase.”

Students who had made excellent gains in their reading levels and others completing weekly reading journals to a high standard were invited to ‘Blind Date with a Book’ on World Book Day.

Students were invited to choose from a selection of books, wrapped to hide the front covers with their first line written on a tag.

Mrs Brett said: “They enjoyed a sweet buffet and a lesson with their chosen books.

“Some managed to choose books that were exactly the type they usually enjoy while others experienced a new genre they might otherwise not have chosen based on the cover alone.

“All students enjoyed the experience and it helped them to become more open minded in their book choices.”

All lessons across the Academy linked to a book on World Book Day to reflect literature being central to every subject.

Louth Academy Principal Philip Dickinson thanked Mr Hermiston and the English department for organising  the memorable day and everyone for taking part.

“Having a school-wide focus created a superb, community atmosphere and ensured all students were able to take part in the celebrations,” Mr Dickinson said.

“Every subject was able to link their learning to a text successfully, with PE students even taking part in a Harry Potter-inspired game of Quidditch!

“Reading is at the heart of our curriculum at Louth Academy and World Book Day was a wonderful opportunity to showcase the fantastic enthusiasm of our staff and students for reading.”