A Week Filled with Stories for World Book Day 2026
World Book Day 2026 has been celebrated in style in Paddington, with five events involving 248 pupils from six local primary and secondary schools taking place between 4 and 6 March 2026.
Our book-based week began at Edward Wilson Primary School, where 25 Vodafone colleagues spent the day completing Miscue Analysis reading assessments on children in Years 1 – 6.
Miscue Analysis is a tool for understanding the strategies children use when reading. It can help teachers to understand how easy or difficult children are finding their reading and identify where extra support may be needed. Between the volunteer team, 105 pupils were assessed using the technique and strategies can now be put in place to help strengthen children’s reading fluency. Each assessment took 30 minutes per pupil, a considerable period of time during a pressured school day, making this an invaluable volunteer contribution.
We would like to thank all of the volunteers for their warmth and support in working with our pupils in their reading assessments and hope they enjoyed their time at Edward Wilson. Their hard-work has ticked off a massive item on the to-do list and now gives us an opportunity to further improve reading standards at our school.
World Book Day itself on Thursday 5 March saw our volunteers transform from corporate colleagues to costumed characters; our favourites being Alice in Wonderland and Snow White!
At St Peter’s Primary School, 8 colleagues from Tapestry were special guests in a morning whole-school assembly - book-themed of course - before spending time reading one-to-one with pupils. This focused time sharing books helps nurture an enjoyment of stories and builds confidence. One-to-one reading was also the focus at Gateway Academy, where 40 pupils in Years 3 and 4 read to volunteers from Visa. This was the BID’s first volunteer event at the school and we look forward to returning over the spring and summer months.
Pupils from Essendine Primary School had an adventure outside the classroom, with an afternoon treat at The Point. Not only did the children enjoy sharing stories with reading volunteers from IQVIA, Stats Perform and Dun & Bradstreet; but they also got to celebrate World Book Day with pupils from Marylebone Boys’ School – a neighbour of The Point building. Bringing together primary children, secondary school pupils and BID member colleagues gave the afternoon a true community feel and everyone left full of smiles, clutching brand new books the school had been gifted.
The intergenerational theme continued into Friday, when nine pupils from King Solomon Younger Years Site visited Penfold Court, a residential care home and community hub for older people in Church Street. With the support of volunteers from pharmaceutical firm Taekda, the children spent the morning reading to Penfold residents and reminiscing about treasured childhood books. The room buzzed with conversation, laughter and enchanted faces; as everyone talked excitedly. The lucky residents were treated to a delicious three-course lunch prepared and cooked by Merchant Square, where conversations continued to focus on favourite books, authors and poems.
World Book Day is one day. We stretched our activity across a week, but the whole of 2026 has been designated the National Year of Reading by the Department for Education and National Literacy Trust. We are committed to continuing to deliver projects and activities which champion reading, so please get in touch if you’d like to be part of the story!