This week,the students at RBIS joined the global community of millions of children, in over 100 countries in celebrating World Book Day. Reading is the most important skill which a child can learn. It lays the foundations for future success. It stimulates the brain; develops empathy and critical thinking skills; strengthens our understanding of the world around us; builds vocabulary and develops writing skills.

Moreover, a good book can take a child, or indeed adult, on amazing adventures; it can transport us into new worlds; allow us to gain insights and new perspectives; and spark our imagination and creativity.

As Dr Seus famously said,
“The more that you read,
The more things you will know,
The more that you learn,
The more places you’ll go.”

To celebrate the importance of reading, the children across the Primary School embarked on a range of fun and exciting World Book Day activities. The morning started with a whole-school assembly and the opportunity for the children and staff to “show-off” their fabulous costumes. We had a superb range of literary characters, and it was clear that Harry Potter is a clear favourite at RBIS, with over 15 Hogwarts students and staff making an appearance. Judging was extremely difficult with many stand-out costumes, including Willy Wonka, The Cat in the Hat and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. However, the eventual winners went to:

• Indie in Year 2 for his outstanding Golden Ticket from Charlie in Chocolate Factory costume, complete with RBIS personalisation.
• Anna in Year 4 for a wonderful Clifford the Big Red Dog outfit.
• Mr Carlone for his very convincing Professor Dumbledore costume.

Students then returned to their classes to complete a whole range of exciting book-themed activities. These included Mad-libbing stories, book reviews, bookmark making and a door-decorating competition, organised by the House Captains and Vice-Captains. The competition was a close race with outstanding entries including The Hogwarts Express, Dragons Love Tacos and the Lorax, but was eventually won by Year 1 with their Rapunzel theme.

The highlight of the day was creating a whole-school story. The story was started in Year 1 before being passed along to every class in turn to add their own section. We ended up with an outstanding piece of writing which took us on a journey from a sparkling shimmering beach, to battling with Earth-destroying villains. The story was rounded off in fine-fashion by Year 5 with a fitting moral about helping one another and looking after those around us. The story will now be bound into a book and put on display in the school library.

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