From secret readers and booky Bake Offs to recreating Hogwarts and author visits, in their own words discover the creative ways our schools have celebrated World Book Day 2025.
Bowbrook Primary School
“What a wonderful week at Bowbrook Primary School!
We have enjoyed the mystery of secret readers, unwrapped books to share with our friends, immersed ourselves in storytellers, baked gingerbread men, pancakes and jam tarts!
We’ve heard tales using Makaton and stories by the campfire with hot chocolate.
We dressed in our pyjamas and had cosy bedtime stories. We even disguised a potato as a story character!
The week has finished with a visit from a CBeebies presenter who brings stories to life. What a week to celebrate the pleasure of reading!”
Bridgnorth Endowed School
“To mark World Book Day, Bridgnorth Endowed staff went all out by dressing up as their favourite book characters and bringing stories to life.
With no set theme, the costumes were an imaginative mix of classic and creative, keeping students guessing and adding to the excitement.
Head of English and Languages, Emily Aston, thanked everyone for their enthusiasm and effort in making the day so much fun. What a great way to celebrate the magic of reading!”
Coleham Primary School
“Coleham School celebrated World Book Week by announcing the winners of their House Story Competition. Thank you to picture book illustrator, Katie May Green, for judging the entries.
We’ve had an exciting week with visiting authors, a storyteller, a robot maker, a book fair and author visit to Prestfelde School.
Every child selected a 2025 World Book Day book from our pop-up shop to take home, but of course the highlight is always seeing the staff in hilarious costumes!”
John Wilkinson Primary School and Nursery
“Students at John Wilkinson Primary School and Nursery arrived at Hogwarts this morning looking smart and excited for their sorting ceremony. Throughout the day, students enjoyed flying lessons, owl and dragon-making with Hagrid, mandrake planting, wand making, Quidditch, story writing, quill writing and potion making.
Nursery have been busy with their own sorting ceremony, broomstick races and owl making. It has been wonderful to watch all of the children embrace the Ministry of Magic and become fully engrossed in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!”
Much Wenlock Primary School & Nursery
“What a fantastic day we’ve had celebrating World Book Day! This year, our theme was inspirational characters—whether from books we love or figures who inspire us. The children had a brilliant time visiting each teacher, who shared their favourite books featuring inspiring characters. It was wonderful to see their excitement and enthusiasm for reading!
One of the day’s highlights was the Much Wenlock Book Bake-Off, kindly judged by Foden’s Solicitors. This year’s entries were incredibly creative and truly inspirational—a huge well done to all who took part! Parents joined us in the afternoon to admire the amazing book-themed bakes and even purchased slices, with all funds raised going towards books from our Book Wish List—created by our children themselves.”
St Martins 3- 16 School
“World Book Day at St. Martin’s has been a week-long celebration of storytelling and creativity! Year 11 students shared their favourite childhood books with Year 5 and 6, while Year 7 took on exciting reading challenges.
Primary students enjoyed working with a professional author, visiting Oswestry School, swapping books, writing reviews, and decorating book-themed cakes.
Many also entered a National World Book Day Competition. The highlight? Their incredible costumes, bringing stories to life in the most vibrant way!
It’s been a fantastic week celebrating the joy of books—here’s to another year of literary adventures!”
The Priory School
“The Priory School always grasps World Book Day to celebrate together the unique power of books and great storytelling.
Large numbers of both staff and students arrived in creative character costumes, driving reading conversations through the day and the sun shone on our English department transformed into The World of Beatrix Potter.
To mark 2025, we also enjoyed a free book giveaway in the library, a competitive whole school house book quiz (Hawking triumphed!) and a create your own page of a graphic novel competition.”
Thomas Adams School
“At Thomas Adams School, we celebrated World Book Day with the theme ‘Read Your Way,’ featuring engaging activities like assemblies, book-themed quizzes, and a design-a-book-token competition.
Students received £1 book tokens and participated in creative challenges.
Our library added over 400 new books since 2024, including a collection of European language books from the Institut Francais.
The English Department dressed as Alice in Wonderland characters, and Year 11 students recreated the Jabberwocky poem. Overall, it was a day filled with fun and learning.”
William Brookes School
“For the second year running, students arriving at William Brookes on World Book Day were met by a wild array of costumes, from Mr Men to Wonderland characters, and even a crocodile with a ticking clock. In the second year of what they hope will be a long-standing tradition, 35 staff dressed up as a range of book characters, ready for students to guess the book and the character.
Many puzzled faces scrutinised, questioned, argued and eventually decided. Students even cast a vote for the best dressed. As well as the costumed amusement, school librarian, Miss Harrison, organised a range of other events including a book fair and murder mystery competition.”
Hodnet Primary School
“We have had a super day celebrating World Book Day, well done to all our children, families and staff who have gone to great effort with costumes – fabulously creative!
To celebrate the joy of reading, we have encompassed the theme of ‘read your way’ by asking children to complete a feather to show where books can take them. From a magical journey of wonder under the sea or through the pages of The Far Away Tree to the corridors of Hogwarts; reading can take us all to interesting places sparking our imagination. We will display our feathers as a set of wings to symbolise a journey and share some of the captions around school.
We also had great fun with an intriguing competition this morning – The Masked Reader! Children had to guess which staff member was behind the mask and which story they were reading. Brilliant fun was had by all. Thank you to the staff for their efforts in making the video clips, they were fantastic to watch.
Our children also participated in a book swap within their classes. Each child brought a book to swap so they could take a new one home. Some classes did this as a book cafe, some enjoyed some shared reading, and some created a free book shop.”
Notes for editors
The 3-18 Education Trust is a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) of primary and secondary schools across Shropshire, with a community of over 5,000 students.
For press enquiries, contact media@318education.co.uk.
