World Book Day 2026
Preparations underway for annual celebration of reading for fun
Staff and students at Norbury High School for Girls are looking forward to World Book Day on Thursday 5th March, with this year's celebration set to coincide with the National Year of Reading 2026, a new initiative from the Department for Education.
As well as free book tokens courtesy of World Book Day, with a range of items available to purchase from £1, there will be assemblies, competitions and a special guest. Form time activities will include music from MC Grammar, audiobooks and jigsaw puzzles.
Students will be invited to create a response to a sentence starter in the form of a story, essay, poem, speech or piece of art/research with a prize for the winning entry in each key stage. Meanwhile, the library will host 'A Wonderfully Wonky Day', featuring a raffle, prizes, 'mystery book borrowing' and an opportunity for students to create their own 'wonky words'.
The school will also be hosting Caroline Druitt, an artist and writer currently based in south-east London.
Caroline, who was raised in Rutland ("by the woods with a pet deer called Boy") facilitates workshops and runs popular creative writing and poetry clubs at a variety of schools in the capital. She tutors children and young adults privately among other interests.
Caroline’s poems have been published by And Other Poems, Lucent Dreaming, New River Press, The North Magazine and commissioned by Apples and Snakes. She has been long-listed for the Outspoken Prize for Page Poetry, shortlisted for both The Bridport Prize and the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award and commended in the National Poetry Competition.
In April 2024, Caroline's short play Apricots featured as part of a showcase at Hackney Empire. Caroline is a 2025/26 London Library Emerging Writer who, with support from Arts Council England, is currently working on her first collection of poetry.