East London schools celebrate World Book Day

World Book Day is an annual global celebration of storytelling and reading. This year it was held on March 3.

Pupils at Olive School in Hackney dressed up as characters including The Cat in the Hat, Fantastic Mr Fox, Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz.

Zayneb Kherrab from The Olive School in Homerton dressed as Alice in Wonderland (Image: The Olive School)

Harry Potters celebrate World Book Day at Mossbourne Riverside Academy (Image: Mossbourne Riverside Academy)

They paraded their outfits proudly in a special assembly on the day and throughout the week classes competed against each other to decorate their classroom doors in the style of a favourite character or book.

Other activities included a World Book Day quiz, virtual visits from authors and group reading to introduce children to new books and authors.

A Mossbourne Riverside Academy student, which is based in Olympic Park, with her favourite Princess Halima book (Image: Mossbourne Riverside Academy)

Teachers at Bygrove Primary School also dressed up as their favourite fictional heroes (Image: Bygrove Primary School)

Aisha Choksy, assistant headteacher at The Olive School in Homerton said: “Across the school our activities sparked pupils’ growing imaginations, stimulating critical thinking whilst helping to develop empathy through a variety of invigorating activities.

"I strongly believe reading gives children the very skills they need to succeed in life."

In Tower Hamlets, pupils at Bygrove Primary School and Stebon Primary School celebrated the day with a parade, as well as stories and creative costumes.

Inspired by Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Year 1 at The Olive School dressed up their classroom door (Image: The Olive School)

Hackney student Ibn Ali dressed as The Cat In The Hat (Image: The Olive School)

Fiona Durnian, headteacher at Bygrove Primary School, said: “It was a delight to see all the pupils in their costumes today having such a wonderful time celebrating books."

Pupils at the schools also received book tokens to use at local bookshops and, at Stebon, teachers were encouraged to tell stories in different languages.

Very Hungry Caterpillars at Stebon Primary School in Tower Hamlets (Image: Stebon Primary School)

Students from Bygrove Primary School near Poplar celebrate their favourite literary heroes (Image: Bygrove Primary School)

In addition, the school welcomed a Sylheti storyteller who visited classes and told pupils traditional Bangladeshi stories in the native dialect.

Jeremy Iver, headteacher at Stebon Primary School, said: “At Stebon we believe that stimulating a love of reading and encouraging our pupils to read widely is the best way to improve literacy, and days like World Book Day do exactly that.

"As exciting as today is, our focus on literacy is not a once a year event - it is something we are passionate about every day of the school year.”

A pupil from Mossbourne Riverside Academy (Image: Mossbourne Riverside Academy)