Pupils at Seaton C of E Primary School left uniforms at home for a wear-your-pyjamas-to-school day.

Every schoolchild came into class dressed in onesies or pyjamas for what they called, ‘Pyjamarama day 2021.’

Teachers changed their curriculums around to facilitate and focus on the importance of reading in day to day life.

The school has always partaken in World Book Day and was forced to do it at home with lockdown restrictions, but this event was something slightly different.

Laura Fergie the English lead, said: “We do events like this to try and help many different charities. In this instance it was with The Book Trust.”

As the largest children’s reading charity, The Book Trust reaches millions of children across the UK with books, resources and support.

The children brought in £1 each to help go towards the charity.

Laura added: “It was through the The Book Trust that we decided to arrange Pyjamarama 2021 and its to help all children have a book and bedtime story and the charity also provide books to disadvantaged children, so we thought we had to get involved.”

Class 5C had a reflective English lesson yesterday by studying ‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse', the bestselling illustrated book written by Charlie Mackesy.

The pupils discussed at length the key themes and messages throughout the story and how they could apply the wisdom to their day-to-day lives.

They each looked at one of the many illustrations in the book and wrote a paragraph explaining how they could make a difference in the world.

The book is a favourite for headteacher, Mrs Amanda Dickinson, suiting all ages and also allows for some creative talks to happen.

Laura, said: “With the year that we’ve had and the current climate it’s just a very good discussion starter to talk about change and think differently with everything that’s gone on.”

She added: “It’s been a really lovely day. They’ve all loved the book. Some of them had read it before but others hadn’t.

"We’ve been using BBC Sounds where the author reads it himself and gives extra information on the stories. So we were listening to that while reading it and picking out favourite comments and quotes.

“We’ve also been using the book for drama, artwork and creating our own quotes for mental health awareness.”

The classmates, all cosy in their pyjamas, were given plenty of time to carry out their own independent reading during the day, either in class or outside in the gardens.

Many schools in the region and elsewhere carry out pyjama days to remind children of the importance of reading.

Speaking about the importance of literacy in the world and in teaching Laura, said: “I think because literacy covers such a broad stretch of skills and ideas – you’ve got spelling, handwriting, reading and writing – all these key skills that you need in any other subject and that you need to communicate your feelings in order to communicate fully with others. It’s all about communication.”