THE atmosphere was magical at St Mary's C of E Primary School, Fownhope when witches and wizards of all ages attended breakfast and assembly to celebrate World Book Day.

With Harry Potter music and wands at the ready pupils and family attended a Hogwarts themed breakfast provided by the on-site kitchen with Bellatrix Lestrange's sausage baps, Sirius Black's bacon baps, Dobby's toast and jam and Dumbledore's croissants served with Harry, Ron and Hermione's favourite tea, coffee and fruit juice.

In a special assembly for parents and pupils the children looked at different types of books they could buy with World Book Day tokens, took part in creative writing sessions and all took a bow to show off the many exciting costumes representing the children's favourite books new and old from Harry Potter to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

"Learning should be fun so we welcomed children to Hogwarts for World Book Day;" said head teacher, Mr Milne, dressed as Dumbledore "We want children to be inspired to read, to enjoy reading. Reading allows children to achieve their potential in all subjects. After a very delicious breakfast by the on-site kitchen we had a special assembly for pupils and parents where pupils could get involved. The rest of the day was focused around reading, both fact and fiction. Reception Class played in the sand, with fairy castles and dinosaurs to invent their own stories and older children looked at writing techniques."

"My children were so excited. By the time I got up that morning they were already washed, dressed and ready to go to school for breakfast. It's brilliant the way the school inspires the children." added parent, Katherine Stedman.

Keri Meredith, with children in preschool and school said "It was really lovely that everyone was together and enjoying breakfast. What's also nice is that Klara who runs the kitchen saw how much people appreciate her cooking."

Kate French, who also has children in preschool and school added "There were fabulous characters and plenty of colour."

The school has a strong focus on reading with visiting authors, weekly reading competitions and book rewards for daily reading at home.