Rand Park Primary celebrates World Book Day

Rand Park Primary School embraced the magic of literature as they celebrated World Book Day with a vibrant event where children dressed up in the hats of their favourite book characters.

The English Intermediate and Senior Phase HOD, Premela Naidoo, expressed her enthusiasm for the event. “We want to try and encourage good reading habits with children. We know how important reading is and they should already be exposed to reading by their parents before they enter school. We have picked up so many problems in Grade 4, where children are unable to recognise words and read with understanding. It’s a problem all around South Africa. So, we started this programme to encourage reading from a young age.”x

Parent Tina Parag explained the importance of celebrating World Book Day. “The kids could all come to school with a hat of their favourite book character. So, we had The Cat in the Hat, Harry Potter, and Willy Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The main objective for us running this day was to promote reading within the school because a lot of children go to grades 4 and 5 and still don’t know how to read, so we are trying to make sure that the kids have the fundamentals from grades 1 and 2 so that when they go to the higher grades, they know how to read.”

The celebration comes at a crucial time for South Africa, where the literacy rate remains a pressing concern. According to recent data from the 2021 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study [https://pirls2021.org/results/relative-achievement/], 81% of primary school learners in South Africa cannot read with basic understanding, underscoring the urgent need for initiatives that promote literacy and a culture of reading.

In an age dominated by social media and movies, Naidoo highlighted the implications of children favouring these mediums over reading. “A decline in reading habits can have negative effects on academic performance and personal development. Now everything is on the television and children do not have to imagine anything, but when reading a book, they have to imagine it and be creative which helps them when they write stories. Reading with comprehension also helps them in their other subjects.”

Naidoo explained that the first step to building positive reading habits starts at home. “Parents should start reading books to children because reading to them has a different vocabulary compared to when you speak to them. Reading to children exposes them to a different way of writing and sentence construction. It also helps build their imagination and comprehension and also helps them speak fluently.”

To promote reading, Rand Park Primary School has begun taking proactive steps to revitalise its library into a vibrant hub for literary exploration. Plans are underway to renovate the space. Parag said, “From the whole book day, we have decided to upgrade our library. We will be getting new books, furniture, and paint all with the help of sponsorships and donations. We want to make the library beautiful for the children; we want them to go in there and have a place where they want to read.”

Related article: Trinity House hosts Interschool Orchestra Festival

Trinity House learners conduct practical investigation with copper nitrate

The King’s School learners celebrate Valentine’s Day in style