World Book Day plants seeds of inspiration in Chestnut Park pupils

​Pupils at the newly-opened Chestnut Park Primary School on Brigstock Road in Croydon took another step in their educational adventure last week when they took part in World Book Day for the first time.

​Children at the school, which is currently housed on a temporary site before moving to its new permanent home on St James Road in September, took part in a wide variety of themed activities, including dressing up as popular children’s characters such as Mr Bump, Gerald the Giraffe and Little Red Riding Hood.

They also constructed books of their own and were filmed in role, talking about their character, before showing their films to the rest of the class.

“As a brand new school, there’s a real sense of excitement amongst the staff and children about everything we do being a new experience, and that certainly applies to something with as much room for fun, creativity and imagination as World Book Day,” said Chestnut Park’s head teacher Esther Brooks.

“It was a chance for the children to demonstrate how much they’ve already learnt in the school’s first two terms, and we’ve had wonderful feedback from parents about the children’s levels of engagement and enthusiasm for the children’s progress since they started school”.

Chestnut Park, which opened its doors for the first time in autumn 2015, is a member of the GLF Schools group, a Surrey-based multi-academy trust which runs schools ranging from new-build primaries to long-established secondary schools in four counties across the south east of England.

“As an educator, World Book Day is the sort of project you really look forward to, because the only limit on it is the limits of the imagination of the children you’re teaching – and our pupils certainly got into the spirit of it and acquitted themselves superbly. We’re always welcome to more children coming and joining our school family, and I think events such as this are a great platform for showcasing the work we’re doing here at Chestnut Park, and the ambition we have to ensure all our children ‘Dream, Achieve and Inspire’.”