Bourne Education Trust celebrates World Book Day 2025

Our BET Reads initiative continues to show positive impact across all Trust schools, with World Book Day 2025 providing the perfect opportunity to celebrate our shared commitment to reading.

In the lead-up to the big day, our schools built momentum through a range of activities including book fairs, giving pupils the chance to discover new titles, visits from local authors inspiring pupils through their creative workshops and competitions for pupils to design national book tokens. Alongside these special events, our schools continue maintain our year-round aim to create inviting reading spaces, including book nooks and outdoor reading areas for break times, as well a beautiful library spaces to encourage children to access books each day.

World Book Day itself was marked by a variety of engaging events across the Trust. Pupils and staff at several schools embraced the tradition of dressing up as their favourite book characters, bringing stories to life in imaginative ways. The Book Cover Door Challenge saw classroom doors transformed into giant book covers, showcasing the diverse range of literature that resonates with our school communities.

Everest Academy pupils had the opportunity to visit the iconic Globe Theatre in London, providing unique insights into Shakespeare's works and their historical context, while Jubilee High School pupils channelled their creativity through MC Grammar Rap Challenges, writing and performing raps inspired by their favourite books. Several schools also featured 'Masked Reader' activities, taking inspiration from the popular TV show with teachers reading book excerpts while disguised, creating an engaging guessing challenge for pupils.

Why is World Book Day so important?

The BET Reads strategy continues to ensure there is no lottery in terms of exposure and quality of reading provision across our schools, with our five-pronged approach focusing on strategic ownership of reading at all levels, a shared vision for reading culture, collaborative working across schools, high-quality resource development and effective assessment with early intervention.

"World Book Day allows us to showcase the fantastic work happening daily in our schools to foster a love of reading," said Clare Goldsmith, Education Leader and BET Reads Lead. "What makes me particularly proud is seeing how our schools have taken our shared vision for reading and implemented it in ways that suit their unique contexts and communities. The enthusiasm for reading demonstrated today reflects our ongoing commitment to ensuring all pupils leave our schools as lifelong readers."

The Trust's work around reading links closely with its other strategic aims. Our focus on social justice parallels the BET Reads aim of ensuring consistent access to quality reading approaches, recognising the clear links between reading proficiency, academic achievement and future opportunities.

Research consistently shows that reading for pleasure is the single biggest indicator of a child's future success – more than their family circumstances, parents' educational background or income. With only 1 in 3 children now saying they enjoy reading, there is a critical need to reverse this trend. At Bourne Education Trust, we believe children are more likely to read if they find it enjoyable, which is why events like World Book Day are so valuable. Through our BET Reads initiative and celebrations like today, we're working to help more children develop a life-long habit of reading for fun and experiencing all the benefits this brings.

To view learn more about BET Reads, please visit: https://www.bourne.education/1481/bet-reads