Go All In: 2026 National Year of Reading
Dear Parents and Carers, As we move into 2026, we are excited to share that this has been designated the National Year of Reading. This year-long celebration, spearheaded by the Department for Education and the National Literacy Trust, isn't about schoolwork or exams—it’s about helping our children rediscover the sheer joy of a great story. The theme for the year is "Go All In." The goal is to show children that reading isn't just something they do in a classroom; it is a way to dive deeper into the things they already love. Whether your child is a fan of gaming, sports, music, or space, there is a book, graphic novel, or audiobook out there that speaks to their interests. The campaign reminds us that "if they’re into it, they can read into it," and that every form of reading—from a football programme to a digital comic—is a step toward success. We know how busy family life can be, but research shows that sharing a story for just 10 minutes a day can dramatically boost a child’s wellbeing and their confidence at school. You don’t need to be an expert storyteller to make a difference; simply sitting together and exploring a book, or letting your child see you reading your own book or magazine, sets a fantastic example. Throughout the year, there will be exciting events to look forward to, including a record-breaking World Book Day on March 5th and a music-themed Summer Reading Challenge titled "Read to the Beat!" Our local libraries will also be hosting free activities, from author workshops to interactive storytelling sessions. We invite you to join us in making 2026 a year of discovery for our children. Let’s help them find the stories that make them want to "go all in." For more resources and book recommendations tailored to your child’s hobbies, you can visit the official campaign website at goallin.org.uk. For our first challenge, I would love the children to send me some photographs of them reading their favourite story in their favourite place. Happy reading! Mrs Wilkinson
Reception: Helicopter Stories
Reception class have really been exploring pre writing skills. They have been learning to orally tell a story using adjectives and sentences. The children told a story about a dolphin called Charlie who was looking for a home. Luckily Bob the whale helped him to find somewhere to live in the ocean. The children acted the story out and did a wonderful job. Well done!
Year 1 English: We’re Going On A Bear Hunt
Today we started our new story “We’re Going On A Bear Hunt”. To help us to understand this story we went on a bear hunt around our classroom. The children used drama to act out different scenes such as swimming through the deep cold river and being stuck in the thick oozy mud. They also enjoyed saying sounds such as “splash splosh”. The children then had to sequence pictures into their books and write short sentences using time conjunctions.
Year 3 - Class Worship -Celebrating the National Year of Reading 2026
During our class worship today, we explored the National Year of Reading 2026, a UK-wide campaign organised by the Department for Education and the National Literacy Trust to encourage people of all ages to read for pleasure. We reflected on how only 1 in 3 children currently enjoy reading in their free time and discussed the campaign’s theme, ‘Go All In,’ which promotes exploring everything from comics and magazines to audiobooks and websites. We learned that reading different genres, such as mystery or science fiction, can help us build problem-solving skills and imagine new worlds, while also improving our well-being and empathy. Charlie read out the prayer as we reflected on how reading helps us understand different experiences, including those found in the Bible and other important texts, ensuring no one is left out because of who they are. As we look toward the future, we remember that reading is a powerful tool that opens doors to new ideas and helps us understand the world around us.
Year 4 - English: Performing Haikus
It’s been a super busy start to the Spring term in Year 4! In English, we have been analysing the structure of haiku poetry and modifying poems to fit this structure. We finished off this short unit performing our modified poems to the rest of the class, with a focus on the use of intonation and expression to convey the theme of the poem.
Reception: Reindeer Food
Santa and his elves left Reception class a very important job. He asked the class to make some reindeer food. The children had to listen to instructions and follow them step by step to make sure they could all make magic food to help the reindeer fly. How exciting!
Year 3’s Young Authors levelling up their writing
We’ve just finished our class version of The Last Bear, and the writing is looking fantastic. The Year 3 authors have been busy "levelling up" their sentences by using expanded noun phrases to describe the icy Arctic and adding fronted adverbials to make their story openings really exciting. They’ve also included subordinate clauses to add extra detail and making sure their speech punctuation is great to help the characters' voices come through. They writers have used their purple pens to edit and improve every sentence. It’s been brilliant to see their work become so much more descriptive and exciting!
Year 6 - Mary Poppins
As part of our English unit on Mary Poppins, the children created their own chalk-art pieces, taking inspiration from the Match Man’s illustration style. Using descriptive language, setting features and visual imagery, the children designed imaginative playground scenes filled with detail and creativity. These visuals will now act as a stimulus for writing, helping the children develop a new narrative episode that imagines an exciting day out for Mary Poppins.
Author Visit to KS1 and Year 3: Janek Puzon
We had a special visit from an author this morning, Janek Puzon. He read his new book “Dean the Baked Bean and his Karaoke Machine”. It was about a baked bean who loves singing on karaoke. The children sat amazingly whilst listening to him read the story and enjoyed it. They also asked some fantastic questions such as: How many books have you written? Do you enjoy being an author? Where do you write the books? How do you write a book? Which is your favourite book that you have written? We are very excited for our delivery of his books to our school library!
Year 1 English: Ordering a Recount
In English, we have started to plan to write a recount on the events of the Great Fire of London. We have learnt lots of new terms such as chronological order, time conjunctions and past tense. Today, we stuck in the pictures for our recount in chronological order and wrote the correct time conjunctions next to them.
Year 3 Meet Author Janek Puzon
Today, the children had the pleasure of meeting an Janek Puzon an author. He read out loud the story Dean the Baked Bean and His Karaoke Machine. This picture book tells the story of Dean, a small but mighty baked bean who doesn't quite fit in with the rest of his tin. While all the other beans are content to sit quietly in the sauce, Dean has a big dream and an even bigger voice. The central themes are: Embracing individuality: Learning that it's okay to be different from everyone else in your "tin." Following the reading, the children engaged in a Q&A session, by asking about the author's journey, his creative process for generating new ideas, and the role of his illustrators. He concluded by mentioning that his works are available on various platforms, including on Amazon. The children are super excited about getting hold of one of his books which will be available at our school library soon. They were particularly fascinated to learn about the editing and proofreading process (which they recognise from using their purple pens), understanding how crucial it is to polish a book before it's published.
Year 4 - English: Roman Vocabulary
To start our new diary unit in English we explored a range of primary and secondary sources in order to build a bank of Roman vocabulary. The children will be writing in role as a Roman soldier describing a typical day at the start of the Roman invasion of Britain.