The Big Bad Wolf, The Cat in the Hat and his reliable Thing 1, The BFG, Miss Trunchbull, as well as a Tiger all came to the Mad Hatter’s tea party in order to help celebrate World Book Day. Lockdown could not deter the enthusiasm of all the children and staff at Blue Coat, who embraced the day in high spirits, while sharing their love of books and authors together. A perfect opportunity to appreciate books and to develop the benefits of reading for pleasure, which stretch throughout an individual’s life.
Pupils in Prep have engaged in high-quality virtual author events throughout this week and in particular on Thursday, as well as solving World Book Day Dingbats and some pupils even participated in a World Book Day Rap! Year 3 got the opportunity to take part in a World Book Day quiz before getting the chance to produce a picture book inspired by the writing of Oliver Jeffers, the children produced some wonderful writing and many wanted to carry on writing and illustrating even at the end of their English lesson!
Maths was also inspired by World Book Day in Year 3, pupils were inspired by the book Fractions in Disguise by Edward Einhorn. In the book, Mr Factor investigates fractions who might not be who they seem. Children then had to write a fractions story describing how to simplify fractions using their reducer gun! Below is an extract from the work produced by Mia Z in Year 3.
“First I met a very badly disguised fraction, it was a very simple 2/4. I randomly dialled a 3! Absolutely nothing happened. I was incredibly confused. Then I dialled a 2 then the 2/4 turned into a very cute ½! Then I walked into a much more complicated 5/25. Although that seems very complicated it isn’t! First I dialled a 2. Well absolutely nothing happened (again!). So I dialled a 3. Still nothing happened. So I tried a 5. Finally the 5/25 turned into a ⅕! Then I walked through the last obstacle (the deadly bridge where so far everyone who tried to cross it fell and died by looking down and panicking!) where I only met one fierce fraction. It was a mythical 3/120 (so far no mathematician has conquered the mythical 3/120)! Well I was totally and completely petrified (as you might have guessed). I really wanted to run but I bucked up my courage and dialled a 3. Suddenly the terrifying changed into a tiny,weeny 1/40! It was SO cute!
Meanwhile, Year 4 took part in the Nothing to See Here Hotel draw along with Steven Butler and Steven Lenton, and wrote comic strips about eating a particular food and gaining superpowers, based on Little Badman and the Radioactive Samosa. They found out about Philippe Petit, the funambulist, and wrote a piece about tightrope walking, based on Skysteppers. Pupils also created dreaming rooms, based on The River Whale and wrote poems and stories about our world, based on Protect the Planet. A firm favourite activity in Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 has been the opportunity to draw Dobby with Jonny Duddle. They also had a go at blackout poetry with Matt Windle and enjoyed Serena Patel’s tales of quirky families. Furthermore, Year 5 and pupils in Year 6 learnt all about Katherine Rundell’s story writing ingredients and how one should make an adventure story as wild and imaginative as one desires! Maths in Year 6 also involved a crime fighting opportunity to crack cipher codes with Sherlock Holmes and solve a Murder Mystery.
Reading for pleasure was widely celebrated over the course of the week in other subject areas: Mrs Newman commenced all her lessons in Prep with a short story or poem in French, Mr Hegenbarth asked all pupils to engage in book character fun in Art, while Chaplain’s Chapel Tube invited pupils to think of the many books within the bible. Year 5 and 6 also had great fun getting creative and designing their very own invitations to a happy unbirthday tea party inspired by Alice in Wonderland.
Head of Prep by day and perfect Quizmaster by night, Mr Newman hosted a thoroughly engaging World Book Day Kahoot Quiz in the evening on Thursday, well over 100 families across the school joined in the excitement using the Zoom platform. Well done to all the pupils and families who participated and thank you to Ms Stacey for putting the quiz together. You can still try it out here if you missed it. Well done to Joel Drake, Emily de Bono and Remi Granger who were out top 3 performers!
Finally, thank you to all our busy parents for supporting your child(ren) to dress up. A superb week with lasting memories for all.
Mrs Ayub
