Literature Week & World Book Day

It’s the English department’s favourite week of the year, celebrating reading and literature – and what a busy week it has been! Assemblies throughout the week have been looking at books that we believe everyone should read: First, Second and Third Years were recommended the compelling, clever and character-driven The Amber Spyglass, the final instalment in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy; Fourth and Fifth Years were urged to read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice for its wit and wonderful story-telling; meanwhile, Tess of the D’Urbevilles was presented as the ultimate novel for everyone to read due its painful but poignant portrayal of the injustice mankind inflicts but also our ability to maintain humanity and dignity nonetheless.

On Tuesday, all of the Third Year went to The Globe to watch their set text, Romeo and Juliet, performed by a cast clad in leather, doing the Fortnite dance and duelling with blood splattering everywhere. Pupils thoroughly enjoyed the drama, romance and spectacle whilst also hearing Shakespearean language brought to life – we think the Bard would have loved the modern, fun feel of this production as much as the pupils did!

Finally, the week culminated in World Book Day, which was packed with activities: Drop Everything And Read happened on a mass scale across the school; Upper Sixth volunteers set up Blind Date with a Book in the Library and had wonderful chats with younger reader about the books they all enjoyed; Lower Sixth volunteers went to the Pre-Prep School to read stories to the fabulously dressed up pupils; pupils manned a stall of scientific books by the refectory during lunch. Not to be left out, staff across the school dressed up as characters from novels – there was a terrifying, dirt-smeared Kurtz from Heart of Darkness by Mr Fahey, whilst Mrs Webster came as eponymously and simultaneously as The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and the whole of the Art Department were replaced by ‘The Son of Man’ painting, a clever link to Freud’s ‘Interpretation of Dreams’. Unfortunately, one teacher couldn’t make it in but Mr Birling from An Inspector Calls covered lessons for the day…

We would love to hear your suggestions of books that you think everyone should read and why, so please do get in touch with Hannah Wildsmith with any suggestions! Happy World Book day – may your weekend be filled with wonderful reading!