Junior School Author Week

A host of ‘mystery readers’ were invited to share extracts from their favourite Roald Dahl and Chinese books.  Donned in glittery hats, scarves, sparkling jackets, and brightly coloured wigs, our guests entered classrooms to the sound of excited and enthusiastic children, who were ready to be transported to the imaginary worlds held within the books that were going to be read to them.  Thank you so much again to all our mystery readers for bringing these books to life for us!

A real highlight of the week was the Author parade, which included happy and excited children from years 1 through to 6 dressed up as their favourite book characters.  It was truly delightful to see their smiling faces, as they walked, skipped or danced in their year groups around the field and past the gathering of proud parents.

Our Author Week assembly was such a lovely celebration of books written by our spotlight authors. Our Head boy and Head girl began confidently presenting our reading journey. The children had been encouraged to send in photographs of themselves reading books in the craziest places they could imagine and were a captive audience as they laughed and cheered to a compilation video of the photographs – ranging from reading on the back of a horse to reading inside a washing machine.  It turns out you really can read anywhere!

We listened to excerpts from both Cao’s and Roald’s books and shared the wealth of language and words that flow through their works. It was so magical and was a real showstopper. The assembly ended with a short drama and watching the entire Junior School sing ‘When I grow up’ (a song inspired by the story of Matilda). The whole event, and indeed the week, was delivered and received with the gusto and enthusiasm we come to expect from our wonderful pupils and staff, and it was a real privilege to witness.

Throughout the week, the children were given time and opportunity to explore many Roald Dahl and Chinese books, in their English and Mandarin lessons.  The children benefitted from learning about the life and works of Cao Wenxuan, alongside Roald Dahl. The Mandarin Department and the Junior School class teachers collaborated beautifully to further encourage and enthuse our pupils in reading, imagining and hopefully creating amazing stories and books of the future.