More than 14 teams from schools across Devon came together last week to take part in the Budleigh Literary Festival Schools Quiz, celebrating children’s books, reading and a shared love of literature.

This was the first year that Cornerstone Academy Trust schools have taken part in the quiz, with pupils from across our seven schools joining teams for an afternoon of questions, collaboration and book-themed challenges.

Each team included one representative from each Key Stage 2 year group, selected by their teacher for their excellent knowledge of books and reading.

The six-round quiz tested the children’s knowledge of a wide range of children’s literature. Alongside questions about familiar favourites, the children had to identify characters, make connections and work together to reach their answers. One round even challenged them to guess a character from the hat worn by the quiz host!

Our pupils worked brilliantly as teams, with different children bringing their own areas of expertise to each round. Their knowledge ranged from Winnie-the-Pooh and Bunny vs Monkey to Norse mythology, showing just how broad their reading interests and knowledge have become.

The quiz was a fantastic celebration of reading, literature and teamwork, and all of our pupils represented their schools exceptionally well.

A special congratulations goes to Team Countess Wear, who achieved an impressive third place in the competition. As well as receiving some exciting literary goodies for taking part, the team helped secure a wonderful bundle of new books for the Countess Wear school library, generously donated by authors appearing at this year’s festival.

We can’t wait to see the new books arrive and discover what our pupils will choose to read next!

Reading across Cornerstone

Opportunities such as the Budleigh Literary Festival Schools Quiz are part of our wider commitment to developing a love of reading and children’s literature across Cornerstone Academy Trust. Through our school libraries, dedicated library teams, English teaching and enrichment opportunities, we encourage children to discover new authors, explore different genres and develop reading habits that can last a lifetime.

A huge well done to all of the children who took part and represented their schools so brilliantly. We look forward to returning to the Budleigh Literary Festival Schools Quiz next year!