Schools’ Programme
Every year more than 11,000 school children from 70+ schools across the borough of Merton and South London attend events or take part in projects focused on literacy, run by Wimbledon BookFest and support by our Principal Education Sponsor, University of Roehampton.
This year, we are pleased to be supporting the National Year of Reading, starting with our Guinness World Records event with NYR Ambassador MC Grammar.
Our 2026 Young Writers Competition will be launched in March. See here for more details.
Here’s a snapshot of activities schools can access as part of our Word Up! Schools’ Programme. To find out more email Fran Baxter at [email protected]
“The quality of the authors is second to none [and] the genuine response from the children all reading their books after the event is astounding… I am a firm believer that reading for pleasure underpins everything at primary school and your events are vital in helping us engage children and promote this message!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!“– Local Teacher
1. Author Events
What better way to inspire a life-long love of reading than to give children the chance to see and hear first hand from the writers who have brought the stories and characters to life?
Our Author Events will take place during our Autumn Festival, open to local primary and secondary schools.
In the last few years, we have welcomed authors including Children’s Laureate Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Sir Lenny Henry, A.F. Steadman and MC Grammar.
Watch Sir Lenny sum up his World Book Day highlights in the video opposite.
Read full blog post here2. Young Writers Competition
Wimbledon BookFest’s Young Writers Competition is open to all schools across south London and Surrey. Children have 500 words to shape a poem or story on a theme set by us.
Every child that is shortlisted by their school will receive a certificate. Competition winners will be invited to a prize giving, receive a goodie bag of books and have their work published in Wimbledon BookFest’s Anthology of Stories and Poems. One overall winner will win an iPad.
The 2026 Young Writers Competition will be launched in March.
You can read the 2025 Anthologies here.
Watch poet Sophia Thakar read My Name is 2020 by Jonathan Esenga – our winner from 2021.
Learn more3. BookFest Academy
BookFest Academy is a skills development programme for young people aged 16-19 based in Merton or Wandsworth. In 2025, we welcomed 30 students from across 10 local state schools.
Students have the opportunity to learn more about the creative industries, gain work experience at our Autumn Festival and practice their journalism skills by writing these reviews of events they attended and have their work published.
You can read their published work and find out more about BookFest Academy below.
READ MORE
4. Writing Workshops
Writing workshops regularly form part of our year-round School’s Programme, giving students the chance to learn from acclaimed authors and gain confidence in their own writing and creativity. Recent authors include Eve Wersocki-Morris and Nathanael Lessore.
Contact Fran Baxter at [email protected] to find out about school visits or stream bestselling author Caroline Lawence’s writing workshop delivered at Wimbledon Bookfest in the video opposite.
5. Sixth Form Open Day at the University of Roehampton
Wimbledon BookFest is proud to have the University of Roehampton as its principal education partner. As well as student volunteers, the University’s academics facilitate and speak at workshops and festival panels.
Working with the University’s outreach team, Wimbledon BookFest also organise sixth form open days that happen in the summer term focused on the needs of students in Year 11-13 exploring options and further education opportunities. Last year, we held a special one-off event for over 500 local sixth formers – the UK School’s Launch of Jacinda Ardern’s memoir. A panel of students asked Jacinda questions on leadership, climate change, mental health and more.
Find Out More6. Sixth Form and Student Volunteering
Wimbledon BookFest volunteers help our small team make events happen! Work includes checking event tickets, stewarding families to their seats, assisting with book sales, helping authors with book signings or even being part of a student press team.
We particularly encourage sixth form students from local schools and students from the University of Roehampton to join us and get involved. To find out about opportunities, email Fran Baxter at [email protected]
Five benefits of being Wimbledon BookFest volunteer:
- Find out more about book trends and the publishing industry first-hand
- Get to listen to talks from authors you love – for free!
- Discover new writers
- A great experience to add to your CV
- Get a bespoke BookFest t-shirt for your wardrobe
Donate to support events for schools here!
Every year the Festival enables over 10,000 school children from 100+ London schools to take part in projects run by Wimbledon BookFest focused on literacy. If you’d like to support our work, you can donate below.
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Events for Schools
Author Talks – Library
Competition
