Eltham Hill School in Greenwich, London, will receive £10,000 of books for its school library. In addition to the books, it will receive £10,000 worth of library furniture from school library designers BookSpace for Schools. The winning schools were chosen by judges headed by internationally bestselling author James Patterson, who founded the prize with £50,000 of his own money in 2015.

The second prize winner, three runners-up and two highly commended schools share another £15,000. Schools had been creatively challenged to respond to the question ‘Where Does Your Reading Take You?’ in any way they wanted. Eltham Hill School responded with a whole school campaign which saw pupils write hundreds of postcards about reading to their friends, family, favourite writers and fictional characters, which were brought together in the publication of a book.

Amy Lloyd, Learning Resource Centre Leader at Eltham Hill, says winning will transform how the school, rated Outstanding by Ofsted, perceives its library: “Reading is central to everything we do, but these new resources will really bring a new energy to reading. Winning the World Book Day Award highlights our commitment to reading across and beyond the curriculum. We’re hugely grateful to James Patterson and BookSpace and we are already seeing the results of their generosity. All these new books on this wonderful new furniture – it has transformed our library.” The school visited Foyles Bookshop and GOSH Comics in London to spend their money. “For students who were involved in choosing the books and designing the new space, the process has been a real life-changer, we can’t wait to see the effect on the whole school when we unveil the new books.”