world book day is a pointless, costly pain in the arse for working parents?

[LumpenProletariat]

Does it make any difference to reading levels? As a solo working mum, I find it a total pain and costly too.

It's just another marketing exploitation.

Rosie why couldn't your child dress as a superhero for Halloween as they already had a superhero costume?

@Legoisthebest

Rosie why couldn't your child dress as a superhero for Halloween as they already had a superhero costume?

Because they already chosen a different costume, which we purchased before the school announcement.

@TheYearOfSmallThings

Plus it's irrelevant what you have (if it still fits) if the school announces on 28th of feb that they should come as a character from Matilda and just that.

I agree they should avoid restrictive themes. One year it was Julia Donaldson characters from specific books. There were lots of options for girls, but for boys it was basically Stickman, and it was too late to order one. DS went in looking like a poo with some leaves stuck on, and even then I had to buy a brown tracksuit, because who on earth would have one by choice?

@TheYearOfSmallThings this really made me laugh (although I’m sorry your son looked like a poo!). I bet he got loads of wear out of that brown tracksuit too…

I am very much in the “we have / can cobble together x, y and z costumes so which of those do you want to go as?” ignoring all the “but it’s not my favourite book” protests. Burglar Bill is a nice easy one and is one of the options for this year!

Rosie oh that makes sense.
Personally I wouldn't have bothered with the superhero costume and would have pointed out to the school that we don't own anything suitable. If more parents did that then schools might stop doing these dress up days or find a different way of doing it (ie have a Creative Day where the children make the costumes in school).

@tigger1001 of course people have different lifestyles but if you have children part of that lifestyle is finding time to do school stuff with them or paying the Nanny to do it. We have half termly projects (used to be weekly!). This one was something about the rainforests, the term before was dinosaurs, reception always end up making a castle. You just have to find the time to do some stuff with them surely?

[quote SleepingStandingUp]@tigger1001 of course people have different lifestyles but if you have children part of that lifestyle is finding time to do school stuff with them or paying the Nanny to do it. We have half termly projects (used to be weekly!). This one was something about the rainforests, the term before was dinosaurs, reception always end up making a castle. You just have to find the time to do some stuff with them surely?[/quote]
Your comment about the nanny might be your reality but it's not mine.

Quite frankly I didn't have time to shop for a dress up costume that would be worn once. It didn't enhance their education to wear it, and one of them hated dressing up anyway. I had zero inclination to do it and in some years no money to do it either. Especially for my eldest who would rather have went in school uniform than dress up.

For these who don't live and die by school events world book day just isn't in their minds months ahead of time. The school were not thoughtful enough to include it on their calendar either. Probably because they were reluctant to be seen to encourage it due to cost. They stopped prizes for it a number of years ago due to the pressure some parents feel about it. There were plenty years where it was only suggested a week prior that kids could dress up.

Thankfully world book day was the only day where they could dress up. They didn't do Roman/world war dress up days. So they understood the mood of most of the parents.

It appears I'm going against the grain here but I love fancy dress and dress up days. I am gutted that our school isn't doing it this year. They're having a focus on a specific, seemingly unrelated topic and linking it by saying that some stories are written about this.
No fancy dress, no take ins, no 'tell is about your favourite book'. DS is going to be gutted too as we spoke about WBD ages ago.

Your comment about the nanny might be your reality but it's not mine it's some people's reality, and only my fantasy alas.

Most or the loudest?

It was a ballache when mine were younger as they went to a school where many parents threw a lot of money rather than thought into that kind of event. If mine wanted to go as certain characters that needed a costume buying I did, but Harry Potter, Oliver Twist/Fagin, and the Baker who made the gingerbread man (apron, wooden spoon, cardboard cutout of a gingerbread man) were successful home made/charity shop ones, off the top of my head..

@SleepingStandingUp

Your comment about the nanny might be your reality but it's not mine it's some people's reality, and only my fantasy alas.

Most or the loudest?

Oh definitely the most! The loudest by far was these wanting prizes for dress up days and comments like everyone can make home made costumes...

The quiet ones were the ones who actually had to get the local minister involved to advocate for schools to be far more inclusive for all families including ones who were living in poverty, as they were far too embarrassed to say they couldn't afford the constant hand in pocket for all these events as they were using food banks to feed their children. Was incredibly heartbreaking and sobering to listen to. While we have had times where we couldn't afford costumes, we have been lucky enough not to need food banks.

Was interesting though when they cancelled dressing up for world book day - the very vocal minority were over social media where as the ones at school were delighted.

The whole local authority where I am are very big on keeping the cost of the school day down. That does mean limited trips as all must be strictly for education, so usually one per year per class. Limited dress up days and limited charity days too. Dress down days went from once a month to once a term.

@HaveringWavering

Luckily nanny is good with a needle and is making her outfit....

I really hope that is “nanny” as in grandma or you have just handed a massive load of ammunition to everyone who sees this as a class war!

Haha! Yes, grandma!

I remember my DD's first WBD. A lone pirate in a home made costume (from a book she really loved, The Pirates Next Door) in a sea of Spidermen and Disney princesses. Things got really stressful after that with an ASD diagnosis and a job to juggle and I just CBA anymore. Youngest went as Elsa several years on the trot, oldest refused to dress up as she found it really stressful. Oldest had highest reading age in the year on starting year 7.

Some parents on here just don't have any empathy to imagine that sorting out a dressing up costume could be the last straw for some people who are already stressed out, exhausted and/or broke.

I obviously shouldn't have had kids if I don't like making fancy dress costumes. I hadn't realised it was a requirement as my mum who was at home full time until I was 12 never had to engage in this bullshit when we were growing up. I would say we had more time for fun in our school day than children do today. Much more freedom and time to play. Less homework and less pressure.

www.worldbookday.com/2021/09/world-book-day-2022-announcements/

World Book Day official website. Crammed with free resources, events and activities - not to mention a free book for every child. Fuck all about dressing up; that's not what WBD is about or for. If your kids' school is getting it wrong, take it up with the school. But WBD does some great work and it's a shame to see it being sneered at here, mostly by parents whose kids do actually have access to books at home.

Our kids school have done PJ's and your favourite book for this day recently. So much better.

My son is very excited for world book day as it's his birthday. He is excited to have a big fancy dress party with his friends

It's fun for the kids. Doesn't have to be costly.

Don't be a miso!

It's a shame @tigger1001 that their answer to being I nan area of deprivation was to reduce opportunity rather than looking at how they could subsidise opportunities. Esp when do much can be done for the price of bus fares or a coach.

@User0610134049

My yr6 is asking me to keep her home on world book day because she’s anxious about dressing up. But she knows if she goes in school uniform she’ll stick out,

She has some long denim dungarees, can anyone think of a character that she could be wearing those? Or another one that wears sort of normal clothes? The books she has genuinely enjoyed lately have been hunger games, wimpey kid, Mallory towers

Daisy, from the Daisy and the Trouble With... books. According to my DD, dungarees and yellow T-shirt or top in Nick Sharratt's illustrations.

Daisy and the Trouble With Dressing Up?!!

My children are very "meh" with the whole world book day/other numerous dress up days. It always seems to be a colour we don't have. A recent day was 'wear something yellow'. My ds has nothing yellow in his wardrobe. This resulted in another dash to a supermarket at 9.30pm to buy a t shirt.

I hate all this dress up rubbish. I'd rather pay £100 to the school at the beginning of the school year on the promise that they didn't have to wear a pugsy tshirt, onesie day (we hate onesies), Xmas jumper, World book day, t llew Jones day, urdd day, stand up to bullying wear red day, house colour sports day, dress up in colours of a countries flag day (we always have the complicated colours gold/red etc), st David's day and Easter bonnet.

Can't they just go to school in uniform?

When mine started primary a couple of the PTA went round and said "we have a wear something red for red nose day, a crazy hair day, and a world book day every year that's it." which was very helpful.

One year all of year6 turned up on WBD and red nose day in a variety of red and white stripey tops and did where's "not-Wally".

Secondary was better, they only did this stuff in Y7, in Dds year for it they all turned up in dressing gown and slippers with a diary (Bridget Jones), even the boys.

Just to add, I have 3 children so this pain is in triple....

@SleepingStandingUp

It's a shame *@tigger1001* that their answer to being I nan area of deprivation was to reduce opportunity rather than looking at how they could subsidise opportunities. Esp when do much can be done for the price of bus fares or a coach.

But the school didn't have the money to fund the coaches themselves. It's not ideal but that's the reality. School budgets get squeezed to an inch of their lives. It's exaggerated by the fact we are rural so buses are always expensive. Parent council funded the buses for the existing trips and couldn't stretch any further.

The whole "cost of the school day" was a local authority wide thing not just our school.

And that's the thing. We are not in a deprived area. That's why the parents who think nothing of buying costumes at a moments notice struggle to grasp that not everyone can afford it.

It's not just deprived areas that have people using food banks.

It's free. Lots of free costumes on Facebook and at the school..just a fun way to encourage reading. My dd very excited by it. Her costume cost £0. It was donated. No one buys anything