Every year, the Primary School at the International School of Samui joins a global celebration of literature, illustration and the joy of reading on #WorldBookDay. This annual event was initiated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on 23rd April 1995.
In support to this, the United Kingdom started their annual charity event every year in March which aims to give every child and young person a book of their own.
As a school that follows a British ethos, our teachers actively drive the love of and engage all
pupils in the value of reading. #WorldBookDay is never undervalued at ISS and all the children in the school regale in the challenge of bringing to life their favourite literary characters.
There has been worldwide studies and research which substantiate the power of reading and this achievement within schools is a determining factor for academic success. Children’s literature and books play an essential role in developing children’s academic engagement and imagination giving them life-long tools to expand their knowledge and focus.
There's something heart-warming about seeing the Little Red Riding Hood or a special Unicorn carrying their school bags into the campus. And there is always an excitement to see which characters our students and teachers have picked out.
This year, it looks like the most popular book character was from the Princess Pony series. Our girls from Reception also turned up in their beautiful fairy-tale gowns.
Our Robin Hoods were convincing, and probably more popular than usual, given that our primary school production in May is fully focused on Peter Pan and his amazing adventures.
But there are also very unique and interesting characters that were introduced to us. Leo (year 5) choose an iconic Thai character called Kwan Fah Nha Dum from the ancient Thai fairy-tale.
Grisha (year 3) dressed up as one of the great Russian book characters and Mrs Andrewartha dressed up as Precious Ramotswe from the book "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" written by the popular British-African writer, Alexander McCall-Smith.
In the morning, the whole primary school got together for a parade of creative costumes and their teachers awarded the most two beautiful, realistic and creative costumes to each class.
Congratulations to the following students:
Nikita and Leo (Rec)
Dennis and Ivan (Y1)
Miron and Pluem (Y2)
Saskia and Artem (Y3)
Bibi and Tao (Y4)
Nongyhok and Maxim (Y5)
Nelson and Alex B (Y6)
Through a range of different activities over the course of the day, the children created, imagined, discovered and experienced books in a whole new way! We've put together a short video of this special March event, watch it here: