This year’s World Book Day at CLC brought it all, from themed Prayers, a dazzling ‘Costume Catwalk’ down the Marble Corridor, competitive Kahoots!, a Quiz, and a ‘Guess Who?’ challenge, to name but a few. Read all the highlights from the week from our Head of English and our English Reps.
What an incredible World Book Day last Thursday at CLC! From Dorothy and Toto to The Lorax and The BFG, everybody took this year’s theme, ‘Inspiration Literary Figures,’ very seriously. The prayers, led by the English Reps, were certainly one to remember and got everyone thinking about how authors, their characters and books can inspire us. Lola and Constanza, dressed as Snoopy and Charlie Brown, talked about what we mean by inspirational. They explained that it challenges society and how that can be made to have an impact on society.
Yasmine and Hailey (William Shakespeare and one of the Three Little Pigs) also shared what makes someone inspiring, whereas Katie (also known as Plankton!) ran a very entertaining True or False Quiz about writers such as Malala Yousafzai and Maya Angelou, both of whom have inspired and empowered people around the world.
Demelza, dressed as Paddington Bear, spoke about empathy and how stories can help us to understand the experiences of others. The duo of Dorothy and Toto, Erin and Catherine, then talked about the ordinary to extraordinary and how, at CLC, we are so fortunate to have access to two beautiful libraries full of rewarding and powerful books.
Later, we also discussed themes that appear in many stories, such as love, sacrifice, and courage. We looked at different perspectives using examples from The Hunger Games and Twilight, reminding all of us that stories can help us see the world in a new light and encourage us to find our own voice.
We finished World Book Day Prayers with music from the recent adaptation of ‘Wuthering Heights’ by Charlie XCX, before showcasing our creativity on the iconic Marble Corridor Catwalk. Along with fun activities such as Guess Who?, it proved to be an amazing start to the day and the perfect way to celebrate the power behind books, characters and their authors.
Demelza, SFC2
For World Book Day, the English reps were thrilled to organise a College favourite activity, the Costume Catwalk! This year’s theme was ‘Inspirational Literary Figures’, and College did not disappoint.
Students and teachers alike showed off their witty costumes in the Marble Corridor, with appearances from literary icons like Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz, Roald Dahl’s BFG, inspiring comic heroes like the Incredible Hulk, and even The Lorax! Whether students were dressed solo or in group costumes with friends, the atmosphere was infectious.
Beyond the laughter and jokes, World Book Day is a great opportunity to bond with others over stories and illustrates to us the ability literature holds to inspire friendship, love, and imagination. It was wonderful to see students confidently show off their costumes and celebrate their beloved stories and characters, transforming the Marble Corridor into a lively runway of fun and creativity.
It is more pertinent than ever to hold onto literature and creativity in a world where creative disciplines are slowly becoming underrated, a task which students undertook and accomplished with brilliant enthusiasm! Thank you to all who participated, and to the English department and reps, as well as the Library team, for bringing this special day to life.
Martha, SFC2
My favourite part of this year’s World Book Day wasn’t the Costume Catwalk, the breaktime Kahoots, the ‘Guess Who?’ games or even morning Prayers (sorry, lovely Reps!): it was eavesdropping on conversations about literary inspiration. I won’t indulge you in an ‘overheard at CLC’(!), but you can imagine the range of characters being represented, the transnational abundance of authors being mentioned, and the uniqueness of personalities being revealed. I wanted to share this poem by local poet, Anna Amo.
Formative as
I began with Heidi
who climbed a mountain
to soften a grizzly grandfather;
I grew with Anne
lady of imagination
kindred spirit
tumbling gracelessly
into make-believe;
I skated helter-skelter
along Jo’s adolescence
her love a kind of fury
enlivening my world;
I met Dorothea, trembled
as her inexperience
belied her good intentions,
until fawn-like, she emerged,
rebuilt herself steady.
They unfurled their roots in me,
showed me the footpaths
and byways of dreaming
and belonging. Led me
to the wide open spaces
where girls can be free.
I’m particularly drawn to the last line, which especially resonates in a context such as ours. Which literary figures shaped you? Who were the ‘imaginary friends’ of your childhood? Which author would be your top dinner party guest? World Book Day is a time to celebrate the power of books, for sure, but it’s also a time to learn more about each other and connect.
Ms Meyrick, Head of English
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