Watford/Hertfordshire TRG – update from Chris Soul
The new Watford & Hertfordshire TRG led by Chris Soul enjoyed a second session exploring their understanding of teachers as readers noticing children as readers. There were lots of supportive conversations concerning raising the profile of Reading for Pleasure in their different school contexts.
Sheffield & Rotherham TRG – update from Steve Smith
We had our second meeting of the year in November where we discussed our recent reading, including a favourite picture book, and how to develop teacher knowledge of books. The box of freebies was really helpful with this as budgets are always tight so everyone was really happy to have new books to take away […]
OURfP Newsletter Live! 5th December
We are delighted to host another OU RfP Newsletter Live, a rapid-fire event dedicated to the latest in Reading for Pleasure. With Professor Teresa Cremin hosting, this virtual event will cover a range of useful topics to help you enrich your practice and nurture your pupils’ love of reading. Join us as we explore: Top […]
Wirral TRG – update from Melissa Colothan
We finally had our first Wirral TRG meeting this week! I am so pleased to welcome back so many of you that attended last year and we hope to welcome a few new recruits too. We look forward to the next one. We all brought our favourite non-fiction books of the moment for Non-fiction November. […]
Nottingham Trent University TRG – update from Lizzie Greeley
It was an evening of “firsts” for the Nottingham Trent University Teachers’ Reading Group on 24 October – the first time we had run a launch event and the first time we had met in a face-to-face format, having run our sessions online over the last couple of years. In the reception area of our […]
University of Plymouth TRG – update from Jo Hawkes
Children’s author Clare Helen Welsh joined the University of Plymouth Teachers’ Reading Group this week to talk about her extensive catalogue of wonderful texts, from fiction to ‘faction’ and even picture books with no words. She carefully explained her creative process and how, as an ex-primary teacher, she writes with children’s development in mind. She […]
University of Chichester TRG – update from Ruth Clark and Rebecca Webb
The University of Chichester Teachers’ Reading Group has launched for 2023-24, meeting in the lovely Classroom Resources area of the University library where it is very easy to find new books to share. We shared our recommendations using only one word (which was a challenge for most of us) and then we surveyed our knowledge […]
The Farshore Reading For Pleasure 2023 Award Winners
The Farshore Reading for Pleasure Teacher Awards 2023, in association with The Open University and the UK Literacy Association (UKLA), celebrate how teachers have found innovative ways to inspire reading for pleasure in the classroom. Each year since its launch in 2017, the awards have revealed the determination and passion of teachers to get children […]
The Branford Boase Award 2023
The Branford Boase Award was set up in memory of outstanding author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase of Walker Books, who both died in 1999, and is unique in honouring editor as well as author. Over its 20+ years in existence, winners and shortlisted authors include Siobhan Dowd, Meg Rosoff, Mal Peet, Philip […]
The Week Junior Book Awards 2023
https://www.theweekjuniorbookawards.co.uk 2023 sees the inaugural year of The Week Junior Book Awards sponsored by Bookily from National Book Tokens. Set up to “celebrate the brilliant world of children’s books and the talented people who create them.” They honour the authors, illustrators and publishers who inspire children to read for pleasure. The emphasis is on original […]
Sparks! School Book Awards 2023-2024
Originating in Kingston and Richmond and now in its fourth year and partnered by the OU, the Spark! School Book Awards are expanding their reach to any school in the UK. With a vision to “build excitement and enjoyment in reading in all schools”, children vote for the winners of the four main categories: Picture […]
Young Quills Award for Historical Fiction
Young Quills Award for Historical Fiction The Young Quills for Historical Fiction are book awards for authors writing historical fiction for young readers between the ages of 5 years though to young adult. Publishers apply to have the books considered for the awards, allowing the HA to create a longlist. The books are then sent […]
Bracknell Forest TRG – an update from Angela Jenkins
We were a small but mighty collective in our first year as members of a Teachers’ Reading Group in Bracknell Forest during 2023. Colleagues from primary and junior schools in Bracknell Forest and Wokingham took part and shared their impact in our final meeting of the year in June 2023. These were fabulous examples of […]
Clippa 2023
CLiPPA (Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award) is the only award for published poetry for children in the UK. A Schools Shadowing Scheme is available to promote the teaching of poetry in schools. To assist schools there are teaching resources for all the shortlisted books and videos of the poets performing their poems. There […]
Lollies – Laugh Out Loud 2023 Book Awards
The Laugh Out Loud Book Awards – known as the Lollies – are a celebration of the funniest books for children and the winners are voted for by children themselves! The award was set up by Scholastic UK in 2016, after the withdrawal of the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and is supported by BookTrust and […]
YA Book Prize 2023
The YA Book Prize launched in 2014 to award a YA title written by an author living in the UK or Ireland. Organised by book trade magazine The Bookseller and run in partnership with the Edinburgh International Book Festival where the winners were announced. The shortlist is selected by a team at The Bookseller and […]
The Yoto Carnegies 2023
The Yoto Carnegies are the UK’s longest running and best-loved children’s book awards, recognising outstanding reading experiences created through writing and illustration in books for children and young people. The Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing is awarded by children’s librarians for an outstanding book written in English for children and young people. The Yoto Carnegie […]
Spark! School Book Awards 2023
Originating in Kingston and Richmond and now in its third year and partnered by the OU these awards are expanding their reach to any school in the UK. With a vision to “build excitement and enjoyment in reading in all schools”, children vote for the winners of the three main categories: Picture fiction for early […]
UKLA Book Awards 2023
The only national book awards judged by teachers! United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) Book Awards are now in their 15th year. Teachers are looking for texts that can “enhance all aspects of literacy learning”. The process ensures they are able to share the books with their classes and discover what genuinely works with young readers […]
Children’s Book Award 2023
The Children’s Book Award is the only national award voted for solely by children from start to finish. Over 1,000 new books are submitted to be read and reviewed by local Testing Groups across the country. When the shortlists are announced voting opens on the website for any child or school to participate in. Usually […]
The Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize 2023
First awarded in March 2017, the Jhalak Prize and its new sister award Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize founded in 2020, seek to celebrate books by British/British resident BAME writers. The prizes are unique in that they accept entries published in the UK by writers of colour. These include (and not limited to) fiction, non-fiction, […]
English 4-11 Picture Book Awards 2023
Established in 1995, the English 4-11 Picturebook Awards are presented by the English Association to the best children’s picture books of the year. The winning books are chosen by the editorial board of English 4-11 journal for primary teachers published by the English Association and the United Kingdom Literacy Association, from a shortlist selected by […]
Oscar’s Book Prize 2023
Oscar’s Book Prize is an annual prize for the best under-fives book of the year. The prize is awarded in memory of Oscar Ashton and in partnership with Amazon and the Evening Standard. Details of previous winners can be found here http://www.oscarsbookprize.co.uk/winners. The Oscar’s Book Prize 2023 shortlist is as follows: Billy and the […]
The British Book Awards 2023
First launched in 1990 and now run by The Bookseller, the British Book Awards seek to showcase and celebrate the best books, the best bookshops and the best publishers. Nicknamed The Nibbies, they are unique in recognising that a book’s success is not down to just one factor. It is the author’s creative genius, it […]
Ely, Cambridge TRG – update from Kathryn Brereton
Hello from the Ely, Cambridgeshire group! This is the 4th year running our group. We switched to Zoom during lockdown and have continued in this format as this works well with Cambridgeshire’s geography. TRG members are currently working on developing pupil voice, improving home-school involvement and widening book collections. We have also enjoyed sharing this reading scrapbook (created […]
Children’s choices for recreational reading: not just fiction!
This study focuses on young readers’ independent reading behaviours and explores their preferences, selection processes, and rationales for their choices. Whilst not a recent study, the findings push back against the arguably accepted norm that fiction predominates, nudging us to find out more about children’s real preferences. The questions could valuably be used in your […]
Scottish Borders TRG – update from Emma McGilp
We’re a new TRG in the Scottish Borders and love coming together face-to-face to share our passion for children’s books and how we promote reading for pleasure in the classroom. In our recent meeting we discussed non-fiction and how we as teachers can value it more, through our library and classroom displays and how we […]
South Lanarkshire Secondary TRG – Update from Susan Brownlie & Michael Wilkie
In what is a very busy term for secondary colleagues, our 4th session focused on independent reading time, poetry & non-fiction. We heard from guests Helen Bradshaw, a previous TRG participant who leads the English, Drama and Literacy Faculty at Strathaven Academy, and Jennifer Horan, a Community Librarian who is also Chair of CILIP Youth […]
Stirling TRG – Update from Carol Ann Neil
Our brand-new Stirling OU TRG is up & running! Meetings have been full of reading for pleasure enthusiasm, vibrancy and support from each and every member. We have a shared passion for promoting RfP in the primary classroom. Our focus on improving outcomes for learners is supported by rich collaboration, discussion and a commitment to […]
Burley Woodhead English Hub TRG – Update from Sarah Scott
The Burley Woodhead English Hub TRG loves to make text recommendations. At each meeting, we share our favourite texts focusing on a different genre each time but there are so many to remember! We use our Padlet platform to record these recommendations so we can easily refer back to these tempting texts. We can respond […]
OU RfP Newsletter Live! 21st February
We are delighted to have hosted another successful OU RfP Newsletter Live, a rapid-fire virtual event dedicated to the latest in Reading for Pleasure. With Professor Teresa Cremin hosting, this virtual event covered a range of useful topics to help you enrich your practice and nurture your pupils’ love of reading. Top Texts – the best […]
Nottingham TRG – Update from Julie Doyle & Amy Greatrex
At our recent meeting, the Nottingham TRG members shared their graphic novel recommendations for all year groups. This led to a reflective discussion about some of our children bringing in their graphic novels from home to read at playtimes, in class and to show their friends. We decided the children are leading us to notice […]
University of Chichester TRG – Update from Ruth Clark
It was dark and rainy night in January when the University of Chichester TRG met to discuss Reading for Pleasure Pedagogy, but our regular members turned up with lots of books, enthusiasm and smiles. We met in the Classroom Resources teaching collection in the University library which is an inspiring place to talk about our reading […]
Sheffield & Rotherham TRG – Update from Steve Smith
We recently had our third meeting with teachers attending in person and via Zoom. It was great to see everyone and to hear about what has been happening in their schools to develop reading for pleasure. We brought and shared some graphic novels and talked about what we’ve been reading to our classes and for ourselves. We have […]
Swindon & Wiltshire TRG – Update from Rowena Lucas
Swindon and Wiltshire TRG is thrilled to be running for a second year and to welcome back new and previous members to our group! Some of our members are also involved in the UKLA Teacher Book Awards this year so we are very busy! In the first term, we shared ‘new and bold’ as well as ‘old but gold’ books and […]
Worcester TRG – Update from Claire Martin & Helen Mackinnon
In our Worcester TRG, we loved looking at the A-Z of authors in the first term. This actually got quite competitive between members! Our group has been very lucky to have Sharon Lannie from the University of Worcester join us for our meetings. She brings a wealth of knowledge of books. At the end of term, we […]