This World Book Day, we wanted to do something that truly celebrated writing across our school. From our youngest pupils in Reception to our confident Year 6 writers, we aimed to show the journey of progress and creativity that develops year by year.
We chose to base our whole-school activity around the Pobble 365 prompt “The Messenger”, which offered a rich stimulus for imaginative and descriptive writing. Each class used the same image as a starting point, then took it in their own direction, creating a variety of independent stories that reflected their stage of writing development.
Using Pobble Across the School
Pobble’s resources made it easy to adapt the activity for every year group. For Key Stage 2, the story starter, word bank, sentence challenges and vocabulary provided plenty of depth to stretch and inspire our older writers. In Key Stage 1, pupils enjoyed looking at the picture and discussing who the girl might be, where she was going and what kind of world she came from.
The beauty of a Pobble prompt is that it offers a structured entry point while still allowing for creative freedom. Every teacher could tailor the approach to suit their class, while still maintaining a consistent theme across the school. This made it the ideal resource for a whole-school writing celebration.
Showcasing Progress
After writing, each class proudly displayed their work on classroom walls and shared areas. The result was a stunning showcase of effort, voice and progress. From simple sentences and phonetically plausible spelling in the early years, to carefully crafted paragraphs with rich language in upper primary, the journey of our writers was clear for all to see.
You could really feel the pride from the pupils. They took great care in their presentation and were excited to see their work displayed alongside others from across the school.
A Meaningful World Book Day
This activity brought our World Book Day to life. It gave pupils a shared focus while still allowing for individuality and creativity. It also reminded staff of the power of writing as a whole-school activity. Writing is not just for assessment or outcomes. It can be an opportunity for joy, purpose and expression.
Celebrating writing in this way has sparked ideas for future whole-school projects. It has encouraged us to continue finding moments where all pupils can write for a shared purpose and see themselves as authors in their own right.