A DAY of fundraising with a literary theme by pupils and staff at a Chelmsford school raised more than £1,000 for charity.
Teachers and students at Hylands School dressed as characters from fiction and non-fiction books in exchange for a donations, while a raffle of book-themed cakes also boosted funds.
A total of £1,069.66 was raised, half of which will go to the World Book Day Organisation which provides reading materials for children in Tanzania. The other half is to be presented to a local charity yet to be decided.
Leena Dave, the school's literacy co-ordinator, said: "The aim of the day was to celebrate reading and there were a range of activities such as a 'live stream' about favourite authors and online book-based games.
"We also had a Drop Everything and Read session on the day. This was an idea introduced to the school in October whereby at the sound of a bell all our students and staff drop everything to read silently for 10 minutes.
"This has raised the profile of reading in our school as all our pupils now carry a book at all times and a number of our students are now reading more."
Neil Dunn, head teacher, added: "This is just a small part of the Hylands drive to promote literacy in our school."
