Solving riddles and identifying a group of teacher’s selfies on bookshelves were some of the many activities a secondary school celebrated World Book Day.

Student’s at Roding Valley High School in Alderton Hill, Loughton took part in several thought-provoking activities as well as dressing up as their favourite book characters.

The literature themed day is part of the school’s term time DEAR initiative, meaning ‘drop everything and read’, encouraging youngsters to read whenever they can.

Headmistress Sharon Jenner said: “We created the DEAR programme as we believe in the importance of reading not just for academic development, but also for relaxation and personal development.

“As such, World Book Day is an important event for us and just one of the ways we encourage learning by creating an inspiring atmosphere.”

Students were also challenged to a ‘shelfie’ (bookshelf selfie) competition, where they had to guess which photo belonged to which teacher.

A school favourite, the Where’s Wally riddle challenge involved pupils solving linguistic rhymes hidden across the school to win book vouchers and certificates.

Teachers also participated in a ‘Do it Now’ task at the start of each lesson, reading their favourite book before asking students to identify the underlying messages.

Science faculty deputy, Amy Wybrant, said: “I really enjoyed reading a section of an important book to my Year 11s.

“I chose to read the book ‘Legacy’, by James Kerr, which is, on the surface, about the All Blacks rugby team. Below the surface, it is about the important things sport and teamwork can teach us, such as the idea that we are never too big or too important to do the ‘small’ things in life.”