There was a genuine buzz around Kingfisher CE Academy last week as pupils, families, and staff celebrated the school’s inaugural Literature Festival — a week-long celebration of storytelling, imagination, and the joy of books.
Special guest and local author Hannah Dosanjh, known for her illustrated book A Railway Town Called Swindon, made her first visit to the school, sharing her passion for Swindon’s industrial history and encouraging pupils to explore their local heritage through reading and writing. Hannah, also an advocate for Wroughton Library, described the children as “enthusiastic and full of great questions,” and hopes her visit will spark further curiosity this summer.
Pupils took part in a collaborative storytelling exercise where each child wrote a segment of a story before passing it on for a classmate to continue – a creative challenge that not only developed writing skills, but highlighted the power of shared storytelling.
Adding to the community spirit of the event, parents and carers were welcomed into classrooms to read with their children at the start of each day – a simple but powerful gesture that brought the love of reading into the school’s daily rhythm.
The week was rounded off with storytelling sessions, a family book quiz, and a book sale supported by Swindon’s own Bert’s Books – a local bookshop known for backing literacy events and local authors alike.
Julia Connell, the academy’s English and Reading lead, expressed her pride in how well the festival was received: “The first ever Kingfisher CE Academy Literature Festival has proved to be very popular and I am sure it will become a fixture of the school year.
‘Discovering and learning together so all can flourish’ is a line from the Bible (Psalm 1.3) and helps to define the underlying theme of the week which ties in so well with the overall ethos of the school.”
With the success of the festival and the enthusiasm shown by all involved, there’s little doubt this event will return – perhaps bigger and bolder – next year.
