The Big Book Quiz

The Big Book Quiz is an inter-schools’ reading competition aimed at encouraging children to read for pleasure. There is a set reading list of four novels and five children are allowed on each team. They can read any number of the four books. The more of the books that they read, the more quiz rounds they can be involved in at the event. The children are given approximately five weeks to read the books, depending on the date of their quiz event. The event will be hosted by a local school.

The primary school quiz is for Year 5 & 6 pupils and the secondary school quiz is for Year 7 & 8 pupils.

To learn more, have a look at the sections on the website aimed at: teachers, parents, children.

Calendar of Events

The Big Book Quiz will run twice a year for secondary schools. The first round of quizzes will take place between November and January where we will find the winners from the different areas. Those teams will go on to compete against one another to find an overall winner. For those teams who don’t make it through, we will start another round of the quiz in March to keep everyone reading something great.

The Big Book Quiz for Primary schools will only run once a year. The first round of quizzes will take place between November and January where we will find the area winners. Those teams will go on to compete against one another until we find an overall winner.

Hosting a Quiz - Primary School

There are huge benefits to becoming a host school for The Big Book Quiz.

• It is an amazing way to showcase your school to the local community.
• Your pupils and parents are on ‘home’ territory, which gives them a feeling of security and ownership of the event.
• Your school will enjoy great local press coverage to raise the profile of your school. The event will also generate fantastic photographs for your school’s promotional materials.
• The event is a perfect opportunity to allow some of your pupils to perform for a ready-made audience.
• The event could be catered by any pupils or parents who are enthusiastic amateur bakers
• It’s a great way to allow parents to get involved in school events: they could mark the quizzes and record the results.
• It could be a great way to raise money for charity or the PTFA.
• You will be given a £10 refund on your entry fee in order to cover any photocopying and postal costs.
• Your pupils and parents don’t have to go searching for the venue.

Hosting a Quiz - Secondary School

There are huge benefits to becoming a host school for The Big Book Quiz.

• It is an amazing way to showcase your school to the local community.
• Your pupils and parents are on ‘home’ territory, which gives them a feeling of security and ownership of the event.
• Your school will enjoy great local press coverage to raise the profile of your school. The event will also generate fantastic photographs for your school’s promotional materials.
• The event is a perfect opportunity to allow some of your pupils to perform for a ready-made audience: Performing Arts, Drama, Music, Theatre Studies, and Dance qualifications all have a performance element.
• The event could be catered by your pupils (Food Technology or Catering) or enthusiastic amateur bakers.
• It’s a great way to allow your year 11 prefects to show their value: they could mark the quizzes and record the results.
• It could be a great way to raise money for charity or the PTFA.
• You will be given a £15 refund on your entry fee in order to cover any photocopying and postal costs.

Responsibilities of the Host School

• Ensure enough markers are available to keep the quiz running smoothly (1 for every 2 teams with an adult to oversee).
• Photocopy the answer sheets, to ensure each team has one for each round.
• Arrange the tables and chairs in a suitable position for the quiz to take place. There should be one table and five chairs per team.
• Provide seating for parents.
• Ensure the questions are kept securely and not copied or recorded in any way.
• Ensure the questions are kept securely until the event begins.
• Return the question and answer sheets to The Creative Reading Company by post within three days of the event.
• Email The Creative Reading Company, within two days of the event, to report the name of the winning team and their school.
• Provide a quizmaster for the event.
• Nominate a judge for the event whose decision is final.

Responsibilities of The Creative Reading Company

• To inform the host school about the number of teams they can expect to attend the event.
• To send the questions to the host school, either via post or email the day before the event.
• To send all the relevant answer sheets (and other administration relating to the event) to the host school one week before the event.
• To organise the different rounds of The Big Book Quiz in a timely and efficient manner.
• To act as final arbitrator in the case of any dispute.
• To provide suitable promotional materials for The Big Book Quiz.

The Rules

1. No copies of the books are allowed on the table during the quiz.
2. The questions must not be opened until the quiz round is about to begin.
3. The questions must be returned to The Creative Reading Company upon completion of the quiz.
4. No written notes are allowed at the table during the quiz.
5. No mobile phone/iPod devices are allowed at the table during the quiz.
6. The questions must not be shared with any person outside of the host school.
7. The questions must not be copied or recorded.
8. The marking of the papers must be supervised by an adult.
9. The answer papers must be retained by the host school and returned to The Creative Reading Company.
10. The host school must report the name of the winning team to The Creative Reading Company within 2 days of completing the quiz.
11. Full school uniform must be worn at the quiz event.
12. Schools may not charge an entry fee, but they may ask for donations.
13. Schools may charge for refreshments.
14. It is the responsibility of the host school to ensure that the event runs smoothly. (See notes on hosting the event.)
15. All team members must sit at the table during all rounds of the quiz.
16. Nobody is allowed to leave the table whilst the answer papers are still on the tables.
17. Entry to the quiz is not guaranteed, unless full payment has been cleared.
18. The nominated judge’s decision on the night is final.
19. Any dispute must be referred to The Creative Reading Company within 24 hours of the event, with the understanding that all decisions by the company are final.
20. Only Y5 and 6 pupils may enter the Primary Quiz. Only Year 7 and 8 pupils may enter the Secondary Quiz.
21. The questions must not be shared with any pupil before the event begins.