Bedlington Primary School St Bede's have been celebrating World Book Day through poems

The aim of World Book Day is to encourage children to read for pleasure, and encourage them to develop a love of literature which they carry through to adulthood.

And this week youngsters at the Bedlington school, which is a member of the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust, have been exploring the work of popular poets before performing their favourite poems to their classmates.

Therese Worrall, head teacher, told the News Post Leader: “Our focus for World Book Day was poetry performance.

"Each class chose some poetry to explore throughout the week, with the children looking closely at the structure of the poems and then practising so that they could perform to parents on the school yard at the end of World Book Day.

“We looked at how books can help us to escape into so many different worlds, how poetry helps with creativity, and how performing it allows us to appreciate the power of words in sharing our feelings.

“Celebrating World Book Day in this way showed how everyone could be involved and the true meaning of the day could be shared within our school community.”

A handful of the poets explored included Michael Rosen, Paul Cookson, Brian Bilston and Julia Donaldson.

The event was not the first time the school focused on literacy, after celebrating National Storytelling Week from January 30 to February 5.

Mrs Worrall said: “During National Storytelling Week, we had a theme of ‘We are all Storytellers’, and the children all became storytellers for each other, as well as surprise storytellers visiting classes, which included parents, sports coaches, music teachers, the caretaker and office staff all getting involved to share stories with the children.

“Everyone had a great time and, most importantly, the children were able to enjoy stories to help them develop the habit of reading for pleasure.

“St Bede’s Reading Leader, Mrs Claire Hart, and English Leader, Miss Claire Clark, have been instrumental in developing plans for these events.

“They help to bring English alive for the children.”