A PRIMARY school has entered the record books after a wave of reading washed over its classrooms.

Albourne Church of England Primary School brought in World Book Day in style by opening its new library in the same week pupils and staff found out they had beaten the record for the most people taking part in a book quiz.

Pupils were put to the test in the reading quiz by quizmaster and Year 5 teacher Amy Sheppard on February 22 to be a part of the 6,388 across the country writing their name in history, smashing the previous record of the amount taking part in a mass quiz by nearly 4,000.

It was the perfect way to finish the week off after dozens of Harry Potters, a head teacher dressed as a robber, a deputy headteacher as an Oompa Loompa and teachers as Medusa and pirates celebrated the opening of a new library on Thursday.

Headteacher Alison Sturgeon said: “It’s a haven for our pupils to come and read books and it encompasses our commitment to English at the school.

“The children now have more control over the books they take home and we can offer them a much more diverse range to help inspire them.

“There are far too many people to thank for making it a reality.”

Chairman of governors Matthew Cutress was given the honour of cutting the ribbon and recalled the time he brought his daughters to the school when they were five years old. They were now in their 30s.

Deputy headteacher Gemma Richardson said: “We’ve got around 2,000 books here now and reading is vitally important at Albourne.

“The library was a bit of a dumping ground beforehand, so to now have a safe place to come and read is fantastic for our pupils.”

Dominika Knotkova-Hanley, editor of the school’s newspaper The Termly Tree, has 262 books of her own at home and has read more than 300 books at the tender age of 10.

The opening of the new library was particularly exciting for her, and she cannot wait to add more titles to her impressive collection.

She said: “It’s great for the school because we didn’t really have a proper library before.

“Now we have a stocked one, it’s magnificent, and we have more books which will help so many people get into reading.”

Benjamin Williams, 10, from Year 6 was really pleased with the new library and classmate Fabio Ceccarelli, 10, said: “There were always lots of books suitable for Year 2 and Year 3 pupils, but now we have a massive choice too, which is really helpful.

“We can just go there to the library and read – it’s great.”

When The Argus visited the school in The Street, Albourne, near Hassocks, the classrooms were awash with children and teachers in fancy dress portraying their favourite book characters.

Ella Filardo, 11, from Year 6, said: “I know it’s going to be popular in the school and people like to read.

“We have lots more books now.”