On Thursday 7th March I was able to celebrate my first World Book Day in the Prep School. I had been told about the extravaganza but was not prepared for the overwhelming sense of fun and love for literary characters. That said, I was a little disconcerted by the appearance of Mr Coleman as Professor Snape with a wig so shiny, lustrous, black, and glossy he would have impressed the advertisers for ‘Just for Men’!  

Beneath the fun was a critical message, the importance of reading. We were extremely fortunate to enjoy a wonderful assembly from 5F with characters as diverse as Demon Dentist, Violet Beauregarde, Matilda and Danny, the Champion of the World. Whilst it is important to celebrate the joy of reading it is something which needs to happen every day, and it is great to see the number of pupils in the Prep School who become word billionaires or have their work published as part of the national Young Writers competitions. Reading is a superpower and I loved seeing our latest update on the Prep School’s Wellbeing board: 

·         If you read for twenty minutes a day you will be exposed to 1.8 million words a year. 

·         If you read for five minutes a day you will be exposed to 282,000 words a year. 

·         If you read for one minute a day you will be exposed to 8,000 words a year.    

With the holidays fast approaching I hope that all the children continue to immerse themselves in a love of reading, adventure, and a world of imagination. In the meantime, I am off to research my next costume…

Happy holidays, 

Albus Dumbledore (AKA Ed Burnett, Head of Prep)