23 rd April was World Book Day. This date has become firmly established in Schools` calendars as the biggest annual event promoting the enjoyment of books and reading.

This year, San Anton School decided to go a step further, and instead of devoting just one day to this event, a full week of activities across the whole school was planned. These activities involved every student from the 3 year olds in the Pre-grade classes to the 16 year olds in the Senior Sector. Teachers and Staff were also interviewed about their favourite book.

For the first event on Monday 21 st April, , Mikiel, Agenda Kids Club`s popular mascot visited the Junior Sector together with Storyteller Rita Antoinette Borg. Children and teachers were thrilled at the sight of the friendly giant dog and his companion. After much excitement, and many photos, Ms Borg proceeded to read “ The Gruffalo” by Julia Donaldson and “ Dear Zoo” by Rod Campbell to the eager Grade One Students. At the end of this activity the children were given activity sheets related to the stories, stickers promoting reading and books in general, and a certificate of participation.

Meanwhile, upstairs the Grade Fives were busy creating their Class Atlas. This consisted of a worksheet where each class had to note down the topographical details of their classroom. The Classroom`s width, height, number of chairs, doors, windows, subjects they study etc had to be taken into consideration. At the end of the activity, they realised that they had created an Atlas of their classroom.

Simultaneously, the Grade Seven students were being treated to a very interesting talk by Mr Joe Attard about the process of publishing a reference book. Mr Attard, who happens to be the School`s Property Manager, is one of the local authorities in Maltese flora and fauna and his talk proved to be a stimulating experience for all.
The following day, saw the same students participate in a Short Story Competition. Noel Tanti, the School`s Librarian visited the class and explained the rules of the competition, after which the students had an entire lesson in which to write their own original story.

Local children's illustrator Marisa Attard also visited the school and conducted a workshop in the School Library with the Grade Five Students. This proved to be a huge success as the children were awed at Ms Attard's dexterity with her pen and were very keen to try their own illustrations. The library was transformed into a hive of activity as children posed, sketched and giggled at each other's drawings.

On this day, the Write-A-Story activity kicked off as well. This is a highly original activity consisting of a big book with the beginning of a story about a frog named Sklamby written by Noel Tanti, the School`s Librarian. Starting from Grade 0.1, the book is currently working its way through all the classes in the Junior Sector, and each class has to read the story so far, add its part and pass it on to the next class. Thus, in the end, this will be an original story written by the entire Junior Sector.

On Wednesday 23 rd April, local author Trevor Zahra visited the school. He is undoubtedly the most prolific of children's authors and well-loved by readers of all ages. It was quite an honour to have him over to speak to the Grade Nine Students The latter, in collaboration with Mr Noel and the Maltese Department, had prepared a surprise for Mr Zahra. A number of students stayed after school hours and filmed a trailer for Zahra`s Fuklar Qadim u Bnadar Imcarrta, a book they are presently studying in class. Mr Zahra was extremely pleased with this and congratulated everyone involved on doing a great, original job.

Later on, the Grade 6s where treated to a Story Telling Session with Ms Vicki, the Head of San Anton School. Having an English Literature background, she chose a beautiful and challenging story written by Malorie Blackman, that dealt with bullying. The children were absorbed in the story throughout the entire session and one could tell that they were hanging on to her every word.

During break a book sale was organised to give the children the opportunity to purchase age-appropriate reading books recommended by the Librarian, which had been supplied by Merlin Library. This proved to be an enormous hit as the stand was literally stormed by children, eager to buy a book. All students left the stall with a satisfied grin and an exciting book clutched in their hands.

Thursday the 24 Th April kicked off with the Grade Six`s Poetry Competition.

The students had one lesson in which to write their original poem., which was then collected by the class teacher. The best one of the lot was awarded a prize.

Meanwhile, Vicki Anastasi was conducting a workshop for our students` parents. She used her own experience both as a mother and as an educator to share strategies on how to get children enamoured with books and reading. The parents found this extremely helpful and their enthusiasm was obvious during the group exercises. At the end of the workshop, all parents were given a children`s reading book donated by Merlin Library.

A couple of hours later, Ms Vicki was once again on the centre stage as she read a story to the Grade 11s, choosing a thriller by Ray Bradbury. It was a very intense experience and all students were kept on tenterhooks throughout the story.

On the last day of World Book Week, the school in general and the Grade 10s in particular were given a very special treat. Merlin Library chose San Anton School to launch a week-long tour by authors Simon Bartolo and Lorrane Vella, who where over from Luxembourg. Their book “Wied Wirdien” hit the bookshops that very day and is the second book of the first ever Maltese fantasy trilogy – “Il- Fiddien.” It was a very special moment as their previous book, “Sqaq l-Infern,” had sold over a thousand copies in a couple of days. With the appropriate props the School Library was transformed into a scene from this book, complete with Gingo the cat.

It was a momentous occasion and a television crew from TVM`s cultural program “ Meander” were also present to film the event.

Next came Spot the Dog. The latter is a very popular and much beloved character amongst the younger students of the Junior Sector. Merlin Library had kindly supplied the school with a number of Spot the Dog beanies, together with a certificate of adoption. Each Grade 0 and Grade 1 class teacher was presented with their own Spot the Dog to keep in class. He has since become their class mascot and accompanies them on adventures through stories.

Last but not least on the agenda were the Grade four`s. Each class came to the library and participated in a bookmark workshop. Mr Noel explained the purpose of a bookmark, and then proceeded to give each

Student a blank bookmark. Each child was encouraged to design the bookmark, to depict scenes from their favourite book. Each child was also given a World Book Day minibook courtesy of Merlin Library.

Besides the above activities, there were other sessions being held throughout the school. The French and Italian departments organised book reviews and book author projects which are at the moment are being displayed in the School library. The English and Maltese departments, on the other hand, had short stories and fairy tales, currently also being displayed.

In order to ensure that our students cultivate the values of solidarity, and awareness of others` needs,a Readathon was also organized throughout the Junior Sector . This further encourages reading amongst our students whilst creating reading opportunities for children in Africa

A Readathon is an activity that brings students together with family and friends to encourage reading and to build literacy skills. It proves to be a fun, exciting journey for all participants as they are currently reading their way through the Readathon Sheet whilst raising funds for Book Aid International.

Book Aid International is a charity that promotes literacy in developing countries by creating reading and learning opportunities for disadvantaged people, in order to help them realise their potential and eradicate poverty

It was an eventful week packed with activities and it was clear that this week-long event proved to be a great success.

“ We are satisfied that whilst promoting reading and a love of books, we managed to involve the whole School community in these activities, be they students, staff or parents, whilst also tapping into the charitable aspect, and creating reading opportunites for other children,” commented Mr. Noel and Maria Pia Galea – Head of Administration - the co-ordinators of the week