Schools Share Reading Joy
Every March, the classrooms and corridors of our schools transform into lively celebrations of literature to acknowledge World Book Day, an important event that allows our pupils to revel in the joy that reading brings.
Here’s a look at what they got up to this year:
Beauchamp City Sixth Form, Leicester
Students enjoyed a thoughtful twist on reading with a Blind Date with a Book challenge. A wide mix of classic and modern titles were wrapped up to obscure the cover, the author and the book’s title. Instead, each parcel included only a genre and a short synopsis.
Students were encouraged to choose a book based purely on these clues, prompting them to take a chance on something they might not normally pick up and discover new stories in an unexpected way.
Beauchamp College, Oadby
Students embraced a mixture of reading fun and creative challenges. They explored a busy book fair where many discovered their next exciting read and took on a special library activity that encouraged them to travel the world through stories.
One of the standout moments was a light‑hearted competition that saw pupils turn potatoes into their favourite book characters, showing plenty of imagination. A crafty character hunt around the school added to the excitement as students searched for clues and compared their finds with friends.
Brocks Hill Primary School, Oadby
Uniting pupils and their families, the school community enjoyed a wholesome Breakfast with a Book event in the morning where they spent time reading together, signing up for the local library and sharing a tasty treat or two.
Staff and pupils arrived in an array of creative outfits inspired by classic and contemporary books. From Horrid Henry and Matilda to Willy Wonka and Mr Fox, a host of literary icons filled the school with colour.
Elsewhere, pupils joined the live World Book Day lesson before working on their entries for the annual Book Token competition.
Broom Leys Primary School, Coalville
Broom Leys took inspiration from the Little People Big Dreams series this year, with pupils and staff dressing as inspirational figures from real life. The range of costumes brought a bright, positive energy to the school and sparked plenty of conversations about the people behind the stories.
At the end of the day, children enjoyed a friendly book swap where they could pick up a new to them read before taking part in relaxed activities and sharing stories with parents.
The Castle Rock School, Coalville
Curiosity swept through The Castle Rock School as staff cleverly hid behind a selection of their favourite reads, inviting students to guess who was behind each cover as part of a playful challenge.
Around school, wrapped mystery books were also hidden for pupils to discover, each one offering the chance to stumble across a new exciting read.
The Cedars Academy, Birstall
The school library was transformed with bright World Book Day decorations that set the scene for a host of engaging activities. Pupils tackled a lively crossword and had fun crafting short, thoughtful poems in a haiku challenge.
The creativity continued to flow as students designed their own book covers or bookmarks, each one reflecting their favourite stories or characters. A special literary quiz rounded off the celebrations, bringing classes through teamwork and friendly competition.
Greenstone Primary School, Coalville
Embracing a cosy start to World Book Day, pupils arrived at school in their pyjamas, with a teddy in tow as their reading buddy.
Acorn Class enjoyed a calm, story filled day that included a visit to the school library and special readings from Mr Hall, the Premises Officer, and Miss Squires, the Head of School. The celebrations ended on a lovely note as parents and carers joined the class for story time, giving pupils the chance to share books with the people they love.
Hallam Fields Primary School, Birstall
Classes dived into live online events and enjoyed the chance to join authors and illustrators as they shared stories and ideas. In the afternoon, each class got creative with book themed art, choosing projects linked to stories they had been reading together.
As part of the celebrations, they also welcomed children’s author Kirsty Applebaum into school on Friday. She led Key Stage assemblies and ran engaging writing workshops before signing copies of books pupils had purchased, including titles from the Princess Minna series as well as TrooFriend, The Middler and The Life and Time of Lonny Quicke.
Humphrey Perkins School, Barrow upon Soar
The school marked World Book Day with a burst of Roald Dahl inspired fun as departments dressed as characters from favourites such as The Witches, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and Esio Trot.
Students also enjoyed a sweet sale, before showing off their own creative outfits in the Key Stage 3 dress up, which featured everything from Where’s Wally and Hagrid to Wednesday Addams and Lottie Brooks. Throughout the day each lesson included a DEAR session with golden ticket chocolate bars awarded, and Creative Learning Services led energetic flash fiction workshops for Year 8 and Year 10.
Judgemeadow Community College, Evington
Students took part in a lively Book Character Bounty Hunt, tracking down staff wearing character stickers on their lanyards and completing bounty sheets for a chance to win a prize. Creativity also came through the Once Upon a Potato competition, which invited pupils to design a character using a potato or send in a photo. Lessons began with shared reading of a short story, giving everyone a calm moment to settle into the day.
Martin High School, Anstey
Infectious energy reverberated throughout the school as staff and learners arrived in a mix of creative outfits and spent the day taking part in a range of literary themed activities. Spirits lifted even further when Batman and Robin made an unexpected appearance, joining forces to track down the Joker who had slipped into school!
Subject teams also dressed in themed groups, including a lively Wizard of Oz ensemble. Learners enjoyed a Blind Date with a Book challenge, a friendly book swap and even created favourite literary characters using potatoes!
Mercia Academy, Swadlincote
Students threw themselves into an energetic World Book Day-themed escape room challenge. Clues were hidden in different corners of the building and teams raced to crack each one before the 45‑minute limit ran out.
Alongside the challenge, pupils worked through creative activity sheets that encouraged them to think about characters and stories in new ways. The fun continued with a teacher matching task where students studied staff lanyards to link books with their authors.
The Newbridge School, Coalville
A host of famous literary characters descended on The Newbridge School as staff ditched their usual attire and arrived dressed as their favourite heroes and villains from well-known books, and this proved to be just the tip of the iceberg.
Throughout the day, students also took part in the Guess the GCSE Quote challenge, spotting key lines from familiar texts for a chance to win a small prize. A quiet read‑a‑thon offered a calm space for those who signed up, while the poetry slam in the hall invited students to perform their own work or read a favourite poem. Creativity continued with a front cover competition that encouraged pupils to redesign a much-loved book.
Newhall Junior School, Swadlincote
Newhall was full of colour and character as pupils and staff arrived dressed as their favourite figures from well-loved stories, including a cheerful group of staff Mister Men and Little Misses. The library hosted a popular Book Swap at breaktime where many children picked up something new to enjoy.
The kitchen joined in too, decorating the serving hatch and preparing a special book themed menu. Throughout the day, classes took part in a mix of reading activities, from watching authors introduce their books to designing new covers and sharing plenty of story time together.
Riverside Primary School, Birstall
Classes across the school threw themselves into World Book Day with each year group focusing on different authors. EYFS and Key Stage 1 explored much loved Julia Donaldson titles while older pupils read books by Roald Dahl or David Walliams.
Staff joined in by dressing as characters from their chosen texts, helping to bring each story to life. The whole school then gathered for a lively assembly where each year group took to the catwalk to show off their outfits.
In the afternoon, pupils paired up with other year groups to enjoy sharing a book together.
Sir Jonathan North Girls' College, Knighton
Colour and creativity radiated throughout the school as staff and students arrived dressed as a huge range of characters, from Galadriel to Heathcliff and Cathy, filling the school with familiar faces from well-loved stories.
Classrooms were transformed too, as pupils decorated doors to look like book covers, turning corridors into a vibrant celebration of reading. At different points in the day everyone paused to drop everything and read, creating moments of quiet enjoyment that captured the joy of books.
Together, our schools proved once again that reading can spark excitement and bring whole communities together. We look forward to seeing how they top this in 2027!
About the author
Lionheart Educational Trust