Do join in, stay connected and above all, stay safe as times change for us all.

Lucy Rodriguez-Leon

We’re still working on Parent Book Chat Videos and an accompanying poster with Macmillan, have plans for a Reading Hunt and a new partnership with the Reading Agency … so watch this space!

These invitational Reading Challenges have proved very popular! Key though is sharing - on the school’s -or another platform as this helps connect readers and builds community. This photo is a Moorlands Academy pupil reading in every room at home! Feel free to encourage sharing on the OU padlet too!

Megan and Emma, respectively a year 2 BAED and an ITE tutor combined forces to make this one!  Thanks! Prizes for the 5 most engaging ones uploaded by July 10^th here. We believe a teacher one is on the way!

Our curated digital favourites with visuals so children can CHOOSE! This is key to fostering motivation, so do pass on.

Do join this 10-part series led by ace pairs of TRG leaders and Higher Education Partners! Tuesdays  8-9 pm, focused on widening repertoires and enriching RfP pedagogy! Our thanks to all 21 folk involved who came to meetings and mapped this out!

The Summer Reading Challenge is digital this year, and the theme is all around funny books, happiness, and having a laugh – exactly what many of us need right now! Do encourage children to participate.

Do join in, there are new Empathy short stories, toolkits and events on the day! Also do share the team’s Family Activities Pack. Covering the day's themes - Read, Connect, Act – they can be done in any order, with just paper and pencil. Download the pack for free and enjoy!

Island-based publisher Cranachan has launched this, illustrated anthology of poems and stories for children aged 8-12 called Stay at Home! Poems and Prose for Children in Lockdown. Free!

This Example of Practice documents how Fairholme Primary organised a Book Exchange to ensure children’s and families’ access to books and other reading materials recently. However, the impact was broader; the initiative facilitated informal book blether amongst children, parents and staff (at a safe distance) and led to plans for whole school RfP events during lockdown.

Before lockdown, class read alouds were a firm favourite in Sadie’s Y6 class; a survey revealed the children found these enjoyable and relaxing. This Example of Practice details how Sadie continued such reading aloud remotely and developed an online space for children to ‘book blether’ and interact. Participation was volitional, yet significantly, the overwhelming majority of children joined in.

Open to everyone interested in enriching their RfP knowledge and practice. Do join - you’ll be welcome!  Share, chat and connect! 

I was delighted when Eve Vollans invited me to join this diverse group which includes TAs, student teachers, teachers (primary and special), a mum, a head and more! Their commitment to the children’s RfP and each other was impressive. Thanks!

At our virtual meeting we shared our activities supporting RfP during lockdown and teachers enthused us with work on CLPE’s Reflecting Realities report and a class Book of Dragons inspired by Jackie Morris’ Tell Me a Dragon. To see the class’s fabulous work of art read here…

We have been meeting to share ideas, resources and book recommendations. This was an invaluable way of focussing our time away from school, we’re also using WhatsApp for more regular communication. This is a great time to develop reading communities and teachers’ knowledge of children’s fiction.

This month we hear from John Dougherty, a well-loved and hilarious children’s author, poet and songwriter, best known for the Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face series of books, the Zeus stories and many more.

Richard Charlesworth introduces picture books and graphic novels that create an emotional response in the reader.