With as much comic capering as we could possibly manage, Heath Mount celebrated Word Book Day 2025. 

This year's theme was 'Illustrators': a broad theme which celebrated the role of illustration in story-telling. For pupils in Years 5-8, World Book Day marks the end of a two-week investigation where we explored the comic and graphic novel format.  Pupils in Middle School learnt about the structure of a Dennis the Menace cartoon, whilst Upper School pupils studied Shaun Tan's The Arrival - a powerful graphic novel that does not use words.

Key to our learning was the idea of 'intention': considering how an illustrator's choices affect the readers' understanding of the text. Isabella (Year 7) enjoyed the unit, explaining, 'I learnt that graphic novels have many transitions and that the picture styles can tell you a lot about the characters and the story.'  At the end of the unit, pupils built their own illustrated stories, structuring their narratives carefully to communicate clearly with their readers. 

As part of their exploration, pupils took part in a reading café, selecting books that deserve a spot on our next reading list. 

On World Book Day itself, the school was brimming with excitement as we came together to celebrate our love of reading. As always, the day began with the World Book Day Assembly for the Prep School. This was a chance to show off our costumes and also an early opportunity to show our House loyalty in a fast-paced drawing game. 

The House Challenge also included solving eight fiendish puzzles hidden around the school that the pupils had to work together to solve. We were delighted to see so many pupils taking part in the challenge across Lower and Main School. 

As an extra challenge, members of swim squad attempted to read the short story 'Lion and the Mouse' whilst swimming!