Reward Trip to Warner Studios

St Augustine's CE high school has taken students to the Warner Studios Tour in Leavesden for a few years now, and the trip has had such an effect on students reading for pleasure.

Students that are chosen for this trip, are chosen not on their reading ability but on their dedication and their perseverance to reading books, using the online reading plus program and excellent library behaviour. Our library encourages students to be independent readers.

We usually take our students in March or April after they have started in September. It's a good time because our new Year 7s are then accustomed to our school and acquainted to their reading lessons as well as using the library.

Students in Year 7 all have one lesson a week in the library and get to spend time choosing the right book, as well as using our online reading platform ‘Reading Plus’.

When we arrive at the studios, our students get to attend a workshop with the media staff in the education department from the Studios. This classroom experience is not open to the public and our students can be told some highly valuable information what’s currently going on at the studios.

Student get to see how the Harry Potter book series was turned into a film. They also see how script writers, set makers and all the people involved with the making of the movie get to put their ideas together and organise a storyboard.

On this year's trip I gathered some quotes from a few students on their experience:

‘It was really cool to actually see all of the costumes and models from the films’
‘I had been waiting for 3 years to go to the studios, it was far better than I thought it would be’
‘It was a life changing experience and I will never forget it.’

We put books at the heart of the school here and believe every child has the right to a range of experiences that inspire them to fulfil their lives.

By visiting the studios where the making of the Harry Potter movies was made, we can start to inspire students to enjoy the wonderful experience of reading.

Helping our Year 7s develop the habit of reading is such a gift, as it can only aid in their education as we believe that reading is a key to success.