In 2026, Westbourne House joined the National Year of Reading 2026 campaign, celebrating the joy of shared stories.
From Reception to Year 8, pupils and staff have been diving into books together, discovering new favourites, sharing loved tales and even seeing teachers take on unexpected reading adventures!
"Shared reading with a teacher is one of our foci for the National Year of Reading 2026, and our teachers have reviewed books such as: Northern Lights, Boy Underwater and Everything You Need to Know About Snakes: And Other Scaly Reptiles."
Miss Williams, Head of English
Read the full Library Newsletter
Spin the wheel: picking our reading partners
It was too exciting for words when we played ‘Spin the Wheel’ in assembly to find out which pupil would choose a book for a teacher or member of staff to read and review!
The first of the live reviews in assembly was for Annie in Reception, who chose the book Angelina and Henry for Mr Fisher, Deputy Head, to read. Mr Fisher surprised himself and he is now a fan of Angelina Ballerina - he “thoroughly loved reading it.”
Year 1 teacher, Mrs Rich, teamed up with a Year 7 pupil to review Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Head of Boys’ Sport, Mr Hanley, read a Year 5 pupil’s choice, the graphic novel, Amulet - The Stonekeeper’s Curse.
World Book Day
When we took the class registers on World Book Day, we had a lot of new pupils: Harry Potter, Count Olaf, Darrell Rivers, Sherlock Holmes, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, the Grand High Witch, Jack Sparrow, Captain Pugwash, Toto the Ninja Cat, Spiderman, Thing 1, Bertie Wooster, Little Red Riding Hood and Tintin amongst many!
World Book Day involved our entire community: our teachers reviewed our Prep School children's favourite books, our parents and grandparents talked to each other about the books they loved, and our youngest pupils and oldest pupils read together and discussed their favourite book characters.
"The children and staff all made a fabulous effort with their costumes - some very original indeed! Keep reading! It’s lovely to hear everyone sharing the stories they love and discovering books they have never read before!"
Miss Williams
Traitors
Inspired by the hit TV show The Traitors, our pupils took part in an exciting book-themed challenge that put their detective skills to the test.
In our version, pupils at the round table had to introduce a favorite book in two sentences, only the Traitors had chosen a book they hadn't actually read! The Faithfuls had to uncover their identities by asking questions and analysing clues during discussion. The activity encouraged children to ask thorough questions.
Full of suspense, teamwork and lively debate, the game created a real buzz around reading and proved how well the classmates know each other's reading habits as they guessed the Traitors correctly!
"The children know each other's reading habits sufficiently well that it was hard for the Traitors to hide, but there were some very devious choices designed to throw the Faithfuls off the scent!"
Mrs Mallin-Jones, School Librarian
