That's Wizard! A Blackpool primary school celebrates 25 years of Harry Potter magic

A little sprinkling of Harry Potter magic is heading to the Fylde coast.

Our Lady of the Assumption Primary School was picked for a magical literacy project to mark the 25th anniversary of Harry Potter.

The school will be sent an enlarged copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone that the kids can write in, and pass on to another school.

The book arrives in May, and will have space for the kids to fill with their own wizard-themed drawings, poems, and stories.

The school on Common Edge Road is one of 25 schools in the country that were asked to take part in the Miles of Magic: Harry Potter Book Relay.

They were picked due to their enthusiasm and dedication to literacy in the school - after taking part in a book club last year.

Teacher Candice Heim-Sarac from Our Lady of the Assumption said: “I’m a huge Harry Potter fan so I think they just knew I’d really get on board with this.”

She even arranged for pupils to dress as their favourite little wizards and witches on Friday 11th February, to celebrate the occasion.

They also exchanged pencils for magic wands for a virtual class at Harry Potter studios with Jonny Duddle, the illustrator of the Harry Potter 2014 book covers.

The school also received a Harry Potter trunk of goodies - including a copy of the book for each pupil, a school resource from Warner Bros (the production company behind the Harry Potter films), a printed copy of the new Miles of Magic Reading Challenge.

Candice said:“We are thrilled and feel extremely lucky to be taking part in the Harry Potter Miles of Magic event. The trunk opening was a very exciting moment, for all of us, and we cannot wait to get started with our Reading Challenge and the Book Relay!”.

Pupils at the school also said: “We were all so excited when the trunk was delivered to our school,” and “We’re so excited to get stuck into it.”.

The project was organised by the National Literacy Trust and Bloomsbury Publishing. Stephanie Wood, Get Blackpool Reading Manager at the National Literacy Trust, said: “We are so excited to be teaming up with Bloomsbury on this project to celebrate 25 years of Harry Potter! The books have inspired so many children – and indeed parents – in Blackpool and across the UK to find a love of reading which is so vital to supporting literacy development.”