There was plenty of excitement around Bunclody Community College this week as we celebrated Roald Dahl Day with a very special Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-inspired Golden Ticket hunt.
Inspired by one of Roald Dahl’s best-loved stories, in which Willy Wonka hides five Golden Tickets in chocolate bars, BCC students were challenged to keep their eyes open and search the school for five Golden Tickets of their own.
The hunt certainly created a buzz around the school, with students eagerly searching corridors and classrooms in the hope of finding one of the elusive tickets.
Our lucky Golden Ticket finders were Dylan Bailey, Shannon Meyer, Tiernan Kearney, Emilia Lynan, Matt Boggan, Killian Levingston and Patrick Dunbar.
The activity was a fun way of bringing one of Dahl's most famous stories to life. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory remains a wonderful example of how imagination, humour, mystery and a sense of adventure can draw young people into reading. The official Roald Dahl teaching resources also use Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to develop literacy skills, including vocabulary, creative writing, finding evidence in a text and newspaper writing.
While chocolate was certainly part of the attraction, the Golden Ticket hunt also highlighted an important point about literacy: sometimes a little excitement and curiosity can encourage students to engage with books and reading.
Prizes and incentives can provide an initial reason for students to pick up a book, take part in an activity or explore an author they might not otherwise have considered. From there, the hope is that the reward becomes secondary to the enjoyment of the story itself.
A Golden Ticket hidden somewhere in a school corridor may seem like a small thing, but it can create curiosity, conversation and a reason to think about a book. Recent school literacy activities have similarly used Golden Tickets and small rewards to create enthusiasm around reading and encourage students to discover more books.
At BCC, our Roald Dahl Day celebration was therefore about much more than chocolate. It was about stories, imagination, curiosity and the simple pleasure of getting lost in a good book.
And, of course, finding a Golden Ticket along the way didn't hurt either!
Congratulations to all of our lucky ticket finders – and well done to everyone who took part!