St Joseph's School staff dressed up as their favourite book characters. Photo / Alyssa Smith
St Joseph's School staff dressed up as their favourite book characters. Photo / Alyssa Smith
Princesses, the Queen of Hearts, a Wimpy Kid and the Cat in the Hat were just some of the many characters looking forward to a day of learning at St Joseph’s School in Stratford last week.
The school hasn’t suddenly increased its roll, however - the characters were actually pupils and staff in disguise, dressed up for the school’s book week.
There was plenty of magic in the air, with several students and house elves from the wizarding world attending the muggle (non-magical) school on the day.
You're a wizard: Sophie Franklin (12, Hufflepuff student), Delwynn Goble (Gryffindor student), Noah Webb (13, Ron Weasley), Harry Willis (10, Harry Potter), Thiemo Hanne (11, Ravenclaw student), Nevaeh Strode (9, Hermione Granger) Garrett Peach (8, Harry Potter), Travis McDonald (8, Gryffindor student), Kaitlyn Buckland (9, Dobby), Lilly Robinson (6, Hermione Granger), Jahkyda Thomas-Nicholls (8, Moaning Myrtle). Photo / Alyssa Smith
Kaitlyn Buckland, 9, dressed up as Dobby the house elf. She says the Harry Potter books are her favourite to read.
“My favourite character has to be Dobby. I even have a sock, so I spent the day as a free elf.”
Nevaeh Strode, 9, dressed up as Harry Potter’s best friend Hermione Granger. She says just like Hermione, she also loves reading.
“I read a lot of books, just like Hermione. She’s my favourite character because she’s smart and also a female lead character.”
Harry Potter was first introduced to the muggle world 26 years ago, and the series is still a favourite with young (and old) readers today, as reflected by plenty of pupils dressing up as students from Harry Potter’s school house, Gryffindor.
The other houses (Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin) were also represented, with Thiemo Hanne, 11, spending the day as a Ravenclaw student. He came wearing a Ravenclaw shirt, track pants, his special Ravenclaw glasses and, of course, his Ravenclaw wizarding robes.
“I came today as a Ravenclaw student because that’s my house. I also brought along my pet owl, Jet.”
Heidi Maddox, Eva Gilmour, both 10, and Emily Henchman, 11, were the Powerpuff Girls for the day.
From left: Heidi Maddox, 11, Eva Gilmour, 10, and Emily Henchman, 11, were the Powerpuff Girls. Photo / Alyssa Smith
Heidi says the three wanted to dress in the same theme, and the Powerpuff Girls was the ‘perfect’ idea as there are three of them.
“My favourite has always been Buttercup. Eva came as Bubbles and Emily was Blossom. The Powerpuff Girls feature in a lot of books, and it’s also a good TV show.”
Principal Dave Smith was wearing a Mario costume on the day. He says it was good to see so many different book characters represented, showing the range of books and stories children enjoy.
“Tuesday was a fun day to lead into our book fair, something the pupils have been looking forward to. We had a massive amount of participation, and it’s good to see the kids so excited and happy about books. It was also interesting to see their favourite characters come to life.”
Image 1 of 13: From back, left to right: Kaylynn Pulman (12), Marnie Smith (13), Axton Hancock (8), Baxter Goble (8), Beaudy Oliver (6), Millie Goble (5), Lily Dettling (5), and Esme Oliver (22 months) were characters from Dr Seuss' Cat in the Hat. Photo / Alyssa Smith
