QUARRY Bank Primary School pupils have had a World Book Day to remember despite the Covid-19 lockdown which has kept the majority of little ones learning remotely.

In pre-coronavirus times of normal, children would usually have attended school dressed as their favourite book character with teachers turning into Reading Robins and going classroom to classroom to read to youngsters.

There's also usually a whole school story sharing assembly.

But, due to the current lockdown and social distancing measures in place for the children of key workers still having face to face lessons, teachers have had to think outside the box to ensure World Book Day celebrations could still take place.

Thanks to a grant of £1,000 from Reverend David Hoskin, at Christ Church, and the trustees of the Quarry Bank Educational Trust - to support the school's reading provision this year - it was possible to book Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah Oliver to deliver live reading sessions to youngsters throughout the day. Resources and materials were also provided for children to take part in workshops studying the author's new book The Best World Book Week Ever.

Children at the school in Quarry Bank High Street were also provided with interactive resources to access hundreds of authors all over the world through a kind of Netflix for books scheme.

Cradley Heath based school photography company, Aperture Portraits, even put together a book hunt using the Aperture 360 Interactive School Tour.

Virtual books were placed throughout the school and children invited to virtually navigate through the building to locate them and then watch a video reading of the story on YouTube by clicking on a link.

Headteacher Alex Rawlings said: "It has been a fantastic way for school to celebrate reading but also to re-familiarise them with the school building and keep them connected in preparation for the reopening of school on Monday (March 8)."

To complete the day, children had a live Teams meeting with their teachers to discuss their favourite books and the experience they had throughout the day.

Mr Rawlings added: "The children love reading at Quarry Bank Primary School and making sure they can still have a great day and so that we can promote the love of reading truly has been a community effort and one that the children will certainly remember."

And as the day drew to a close, he said: "The children have had an amazing day talking about all things 'reading', from hearing from an author talk about her stories, sharing favourite books with one another over live Teams meetings, to taking a virtual tour around school hunting for books."

Anyone can have a go at the virtual book hunt by clicking on the link above.