Honley Junior, Infant and Nursery School are more excited than usual for World Book Day 2024!

This year their World Book Day activities will not only include a visit from the Huddersfield Giants players but also launch their brand-new school reading initiative, ‘Read for Life’.

Spearheaded by Assistant Headteacher Miss Wilkin and with the invaluable support of local business, Valli Opticians, and Friends of Honley, Junior, Infant and Nursery School (FOHJINS) the primary aim is to create a culture of ‘reading for pleasure, reading for life’ across all year groups within school.

Inviting Huddersfield Giants into the school will provide an inspiring opportunity to allow children to read with the players whilst sharing their love of books. The players are looking forward to sharing their favourite childhood stories and will no doubt create memories for the children to last a lifetime!

Lisa Darwin, CEO of Huddersfield Giants Community Trust said ‘ We are excited to support World Book Day this year at Honley JI&N School. By using the power of sport, our players are looking forward to meeting up with the school and help to inspire the children by sharing their own journeys and experiences. We are proud to use sport and the badge as the vehicle, to help drive the new reading initiative ‘Read for Life’

The sponsorship support of Valli Opticians is invaluable to the longevity of the project. ‘Read for Life’ will provide opportunities for all pupils, regardless of age and ability to engage in books, competitions, clubs and events, whilst also supporting the professional development of teachers and supporting parents in their child’s reading journey.

Moin Valli, owner of Valli Opticians, said, “We are delighted to support one of our local schools in this unique way. We are aware that a child’s eye health and vision is directly related to their enjoyment of reading, which inevitably impacts their attainment. As a company, we are passionate about raising awareness of eye health and supporting the educational journey of children in our community, and we believe the ‘Read for Life’ Initiative at Honley Junior, Infant and Nursery School aligns perfectly with this value.”

With World Book Day activities well underway at Honley JI&N, throughout the week the pupils will have enjoyed blind date with a book, a link up with their local library in Honley Village, a visit from the Huddersfield Giants and an invitation to dress up for World Book Day as their favourite character.

Miss Wilkin commented, ‘ At Honley JIN, we recognise that reading is the keystone to learning and the earlier we can encourage children to develop a love of reading, the better. This is a wonderful opportunity to enhance  our provision and the activities  happening in school this week  are the just the start of our plans. Such generous financial and practical support from Valli Opticians will help us further our vision of ‘Love for learning, learning for life, life in all is fullness’. We cannot wait to share with you our wonderful plans for our ‘Read for Life’ project and inspire our pupils on their reading journey.

‘We give special thanks to both Friends of Honley, Junior, Infant and Nursery School and the Honley Business Association, who continue to support the school with such enthusiasm and passion. We are looking forward to the future and exploring the many ways our pupils can benefit from links with the local community.’