Literacy

Perhaps not surprisingly, one of the side effects of lockdown has been the huge pressure on the mental health of our children. Charities like the NSPCC and its Childline service have counselled thousands of children struggling to cope with the current situation. At the same time, schools are trying to …

The much-loved and biggest UK children’s book publisher, Puffin, which in 2020 celebrates its 80th birthday, is now re-planning events to take authors, illustrators and stories directly into children’s homes. Initiatives include a daily Puffin Storytime, a Puffin Podcast series, an online book festival – the Puffin Festival of Big …

In response to school closures across the UK, the National Literacy Trust has today launched a free comprehensive online zone for parents seeking ideas and guidance for activities that will engage their children at home, whilst also benefiting their reading, writing and language development. Family Zone [literacyfamilyzone.org.uk] is a one-stop …

From the 13th to the 16th of May 2019, key stage 2 children across the country will be sitting their more rigorous Year 6 SATs tests. Darryl Keane from Learning by Questions has worked in education for 10 years and during his time as a teacher, he marked the key stage 2 SATs …

Penguin and the National Literacy Trust have teamed up to launch a free teaching resource inspired by Michelle Obama’s bestselling memoir, Becoming, to boost secondary students’ literacy skills, leadership abilities and confidence: literacytrust.org.uk/becoming. Literacy levels and confidence amongst England’s young people is worryingly low. Last year, a third (36%) of …

Children’s author, TV presenter and singer Alesha Dixon, has been named this year’s judge of the Explore Learning Writers’ Awards.  The competition, now in its 11th year encourages children from across the UK to get their imaginations going and write a 500-word story in the hope that they will be …

Bestselling author James Patterson is to donate £50,000 to help schools fund books for classrooms and libraries. In collaboration with Scholastic UK Book Clubs, Patterson’s Big Book Giveaway will make over £25,000 available to schools and teachers in both the autumn and spring terms of this school year. 100 schools …

Children from primary schools in Merseyside have been experiencing a unique safari-themed outdoor learning adventure as part of a special project to get more children excited about reading whilst encouraging them to learn and connect to the natural world around them. The initiative was organised as part of a collaborative …

Shakespeare Schools Foundation (SSF) has been awarded the Grant for Young Artists in the 30th anniversary year of The Praemium Imperiale. Awarded by the Imperial Family of Japan on behalf of the Japan Arts Association, the global arts prize includes five categories not covered by The Nobel Prize – painting, …

Children aged five to 15 across the country are being invited to enter the Dragonfly Tea Story Competition, with book vouchers and a prize-giving at one of the UK’s leading book festivals on offer to the winners. 2018 marks the fourth consecutive year the Berkshire-based tea company has teamed up …