Sheffield school welcomes children’s writer David Baddiel for grand opening of new library

Westfield School took to Twitter last month to invite the 55-year-old author to celebrate the opening of its brand new Vikki Orvice library.

After accepting the invitation David, who was in Sheffield for the annual Off The Shelf literary festival, attended the school on Monday, October 21, where he met with students and cut bunting made of old books to officially open the centre.

Headteacher Joe Birkbeck said: "We saw that David was coming to Sheffield for the Off The Shelf festival and thought - why don't we ask him to pop into Westfield and open our new library?” he said. “So we tweeted him and were amazed when he replied to say he'd be here.”

The secondary school in Beighton hosted numerous fundraising events in an effort to raise money to build the new library.

After initially raising £4,000 it won an additional £1,000 after taking part in the Schools Challenge run by the Sheffield Star and Hallam FM Cash for Kids.

Mr Birbeck added: "It's really made our day. After so many months of hard work, raising the money for the new library, it's been great to celebrate with David joining us. Lots of the students know him from his books and, of course, 'Three Lions on a Shirt'. It's such a boost for everyone to have an author just drop in like this. It shows our students that they are valued, that reading and books are valued - and also that writing can be a proper job."

"Improving literacy is a priority at Westfield. We know that if students love reading, then it boosts their achievement in all subjects; it's the key to success right across the curriculum. But it also opens up students' minds to the world, so our library is going to be a relaxing place where they can delve into books and learn about the world around them.

“As adults, we often turn to literature to help us make sense of the world, and we want our young people to benefit from this too."

Speaking at the ceremony David Baddiel said: "Children have been incredibly great readers of my books. I really enjoy writing for them and the feedback I get from them, and the sense that I am, in some small way, encouraging kids to read. I do think reading is a brilliant thing - which is why I think this library is a brilliant thing.

“And I really do hope that you get the money that you need to buy as many books as you can - as many as your students are prepared to read."

Westfield School also welcomed journalist Ian Ridley who was married to the late Vikki Orvice – a Sheffield-born sports journalist and former Westfield student who the library is named after.

During his speech, Ian said to the students: "Don't forget - Vikki was from Halfway, she was from Sheffield, and she was just like you. You too can go on to achieve great things, just like she did. She would have been so honoured to have Westfield's library named after her."

Mr Birbeck added: "We are so proud to name the new library after Vikki. She is such an inspirational role model for our students, having risen to the very top of sporting journalism and achieved so much in a world traditionally dominated by men. We honour her memory with the library and hope that it will inspire our students to go on and follow their dreams, just as she did".