Newbury primary school enjoys spellbinding Harry Potter night

Speenhamland School pupils dressed up as their favourite Hogwarts characters

SPEENHAMLAND School pupils had a magical time at their annual Harry Potter Book Night recently.

With a swish of a wand, the school hall was transformed into the Great Hall at Hogwarts, with house banners and candles hanging from the ceiling.

Some of the pupils’ favourite activities returned, including wand-making and a potions class, along with new activities such as dragon egg-making and creating bookmarks.

Pupils, dressed in black robes and red and gold scarves, ran through a brick wall to find Platform 9¾.

At the end of the event, the children were sorted into their houses by eating a cupcake and seeing what colour was revealed.

English lead Miss Greenwood, who organised the event, said: “This is the third time we have held our Harry Potter Book Night and each year the children thoroughly enjoy the magical experience.

“A favourite highlight for the children was the potions class, where they made weird and wonderful concoctions using ingredients such as Troll’s Snot and Ground Unicorn Horn.”

Year 4 pupil Jessie said: “It was very well organised and very appealing to me because it was fun.

“My favourite part was the fancy dress competition because I dressed as Buckbeak.”

Fellow year 4 pupil Flora said: “It was really fun because we got to make potions and I really enjoyed designing Dobby’s sock.”

There will be a 12-page World Book Day supplement in next week's Newbury Weekly News, featuring children from more than 45 schools across West Berkshire and North Hampshire dressing up as their favourite book characters.