Millionaire’s Tea Party

On Wednesday 2nd March - the day before World Book Day - we celebrated the reading achievements of a group of students from Years 7 and 8 who have read over one million words since the start of the school year as part of the Accelerated Reader programme! The students were invited to a Millionaire’s Tea Party in Mr Deighan’s office, where they enjoyed sandwiches, cakes and scones while discussing reading, books and the correct pronunciation of the word scone! The students will be presented with Reading Millionaire certificates in their library lessons.

 

World Book Day Picnic

Varndean celebrated World Book Day in style this year with a range of reading and book-related activities, starting with our first ever whole school Drop Everything And Read (D.E.A.R.). All staff and students stopped what they were doing at 11.10 and read for 20 minutes. The sound of 1400 people reading quietly is magical!

We followed this up with a picnic in the library at lunchtime. While students ate their lunches, Mr Katz announced the winners of the Year 7 Bookbuzz competition, which was won by Jasmin Jetchev who created a wonderful video trailer for Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge.

There were then readings by four members of staff: Miss Bates, whose dramatic performance of The Witches shook the walls; Ms Knights, who brought laughter to the library with David Walliam’s Demon Dentist; Mr Farquharson, who read to a spell-bound audience from Magyk by Angie Sage; and Mr Katz, who told how a baby in a cello case came to be rescued from a shipwreck, in Katherine Rendell’s Rooftoppers.

And last but not least, there was the Book Jacket Potato (and carrot) competition! Students were challenged to dress up and decorate a potato as a character from a book. We had some great entries, but the clear winner was a spectacular scene from Moby Dick by Gigi Goldsmith!

Book Jacket Potato

1st: Gigi Goldsmith - Moby Dick (Moby Dick)

2nd: Mia Brooker - Bob (Minions)

Special Mention: Pasha Taylor-Hanson - Fang (Maximum Ride)

Bookbuzz Competition Winners

1st: Jasmin Jetchev (Cuckoo Song trailer)

2nd: Gabriel Messer (The Last Wild book cover)

3rd: Hajarah Begum (Dandelion Clocks book cover)

Readings

Miss Bates - The Witches (Roald Dahl)

Ms Knights - Demon Dentist (David Walliams)

Mr Farquharson - Magyk (Angie Sage)

Mr Katz - Rooftoppers (Katherine Rundell)