Nearly 2000 children smash world record for biggest reading lesson ever

Children gathered on Patcham High School playing fields in the rainy conditions as they set the new Guinness World Record for the world’s largest reading lesson with 1,803 children joining in from five different schools.

Youngsters aged from four to 16 from Patcham High School, Patcham Junior School, Patcham Infants School, Carden Primary School and Westdene Primary School all joined the fun.

New children’s laureate Chris Riddell, author of children’s hits The Edge Chronicles and Goth Girl, was on hand to help lead the lesson, which included extracts from one of his books.

He said: “I am a parent and I have seen firsthand how transformative reading can be and I am anxious to make sure our children obtain the right literacy level.

“Equally important is learning the pleasure of reading and becoming a reader – it is a very special thing.

“By reading for pleasure you find out about different worlds, you learn about empathy and there are all sorts of things within the reading experience which are perfect for developing one's imagination.”

He added: “There is something very important with schools where you have a really good library at the centre of a school – it is a haven for kids to sit and enjoy books within a busy curriculum.

“Even better, there are trained school librarians whose job it is to put the right book in front of the right student.”

The previous world record was 1,495 pupils at Pope Elementary School in Cypress, Texas – set on April 25 last year.

Jenny Hewitt, event organiser and English coach at Patcham High, said the event “thrashed” the previous record as for thirty minutes children read an extract from Mr Riddell’s Goth Girl and then discussed and explored the story.

She said: “Someone once said books are uniquely portable magic and I think magic happened on the field yesterday.

“It was a typical drizzly British day but the enthusiasm and commitment of the students made it magical.”