World Book Day: Staff surprise Epinay School pupils with impressive 101 Dalmatians costumes

Staff at Epinay School, on Nevinson Avenue, in South Shields, combined forces to give pupils a big surprise as part of their World Book Day celebrations.

Around 40 members staff dressed up as Dalmatians, with headteacher Chris Rue taking on the role of Cruella de Vil - or in this case 'Rue-ella de Vil'.

The surprise was unveiled to children during an assembly on Friday morning (March 8) and Chris has explained to the Shields Gazette where the idea came from.

He commented: "Basically I have my daughter to blame for all of this.

"She is a teaching assistant apprentice at the school and she has never been part of a World Book Day before so she suggested the idea using the twist on our surname, Rue.

"She then shared the idea with the management team and because of that, I was inundated with requests from staff asking if we could do it.

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"All of the staff chipped in and helped dress me up as Cruella, they managed to get the costume together for me and even did my makeup.

"Every World Book Day, our pupils always make a big effort with getting dressed up so it was great for the whole staff team to also get involved.

"I can't thank them enough for making it a very special day."

Chris also explained that events like World Book Day and making it fun for pupils is a big part of the school's philosophy in making reading fun for pupils.

He added: "Reading for our pupils is very difficult and we have put a big emphasis on their reading development over the last few years.

"We want to show them that reading isn't something which is boring but something that is fun and be really interesting.

"That is why things like World Book Day and making a big effort for it is really important, we want them to have as much fun with it as possible."