Girls inspired by top tips from female authors
Girls at St Mary’s Junior School, Cambridge were thrilled to get top tips from two female authors during Book Week. Author Lou Kuenzler shared a range of great techniques for writing stories with each year group, encouraging the girls to start writing their own stories and leaving them brimming with enthusiasm for reading and writing. The pupils listened in suspense to exciting snippets of Lou’s books, including The Incredible Shrinking Girl and The Return of the Railway Children. Pre-prep girls were also treated to a visit from author Charlotte Sebag-Montefiore, who read from her books of animal-themed poetry before helping the girls have a go at writing their own rhymes and riddles.
Next came Drop Everything And Read (D.E.A.R) on World Book Day itself, where all the girls and staff made sure to always have a book to hand so that when the signal was given everyone got reading, wherever and whatever they were doing at the time! An Extreme Reading competition ran throughout the week, with many girls sending in brilliant photos of themselves reading in a range of unexpected places and/or unusual poses.
Finally, Friday was dress-up day, when girls and staff came to school dressed up as a favourite book character. There were some amazingly imaginative costumes on display. The girls picked many female protagonists and heroines as it was International Women’s Day – Hermione Granger from Harry Potter was a favourite, as was Pippi Longstocking with her gravity-defying hair. Amber from The Midnight Gang and Mildred Hubble, a.k.a. The Worst Witch, also proved popular.
Matthew O’Reilly, Head of Juniors at St Mary’s School, Cambridge, said: “As a father of three young girls myself I thought it was really important to get some amazing female role models into the school to inspire the girls to keep improving their reading and writing skills. As a school we encourage our girls to be creative in their thinking, to broaden their imagination and to aim high.”
Take a look at some of the brilliant costumes!