Dear Parents,

This year Norbury Hall will be taking part in the Stockport Book Awards. The aims of the Book Awards are as follows:

·      to raise the profile of reading for pleasure
·      to offer children access to some of the best new fiction
·      to increase parents’, teachers’ and school librarians’ awareness of new fiction
·      to create a community of readers in Stockport by providing opportunities for children           to meet authors and providing a forum for reading and an opportunity to share books
 
The children will be in three categories for the award:
1.    Best picture book – for Early years and Key Stage 1
2.    Best read for Year 3 and 4
3.    Best read for Year 5 and 6
 
(See the attached book charts for each of the categories)
 
In the Early Years and Key Stage 1 category the children will be read three current picture books that have been shortlisted by teachers in Stockport who have read a much larger selection of new books. In the year 3/4 and 5/6 categories there are three fiction books that have been shortlisted that we ask the children to read. Once they have read the books the children will then be asked to vote for their favourite in their category. All children entering a vote will receive a certificate and will be entered into a prize draw firstly to receive book vouchers through school but as an ultimate prize they will receive an invitation to the Stockport Book Awards where they will receive a medal for their commitment to reading and will have the opportunity to meet the winning author in their category. This award ceremony will be held on Monday 6th July at Stockport Town Hall. The children will have roughly ten weeks to read their three books and all votes will need to be in by Friday 15th May so that we can announce the winners in the last week of term.

Children in the Early Years and Key Stage 1 category will read their books during class story time and will then be asked to vote in class. However, this is not possible for key stage 2 so we will be asking them to read their books independently. We have purchased multiple copies so that we can make as many as possible available to the children. Stockport libraries will also have additional copies to lend to the children. However, I have included a list of the books and their authors in case the children would like to purchase them themselves or receive them for presents for birthdays etc. The books are clearly highly recommended as good reading material.

In addition, the children also have the opportunity to take part in the art competition, where one lucky winner will win their height in books. Last year Norbury were very successful with this, and we had several winners and runners up from our school. The children will need to create a piece of art based on their favourite book in their category using any media, such as a painting, a collage, or a drawing. The children can complete their artwork as part of their home learning and bring it to me in school by Friday 15th May and I will enter it into the competition. Please can the children write their full name, class and the title of the book that the artwork represents.

We hope the children will enjoy participating in this year’s Stockport Children’s Book Awards and enjoy reading some fantastic books,
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Happy reading!
Bridget Adnett
English Lead / Deputy  Headteacher

​Book Fortnight has been a great success in school. The children enjoyed the usual excitement of dressing up as their favourite book character and we had some amazing entries for the competition. The reading den, Charlie Bucket’s house leading into the chocolate factory, allowed classes to come together in a cosy and calm environment for them to share a class read. The den always supports the overall theme for book fortnight and encourages a great deal of discussion around the chosen focus story which this year was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Read dating allows the children the opportunity to share books that they have enjoyed with their peers and learn about new books that may appeal to them.

​The children also enjoyed texts exploring the themes of hunger and the use of food banks. These texts allowed the children to develop their skills of empathy – putting themselves in the shoes of others. There was also great excitement around preparing food related to the themes in the books they were reading such as creating fruit lollipops, soups and pasta dishes. Key skills for food preparation were learnt and the children certainly loved the end products!  The children also learnt about the importance of food composting and how we can then use the compost in the summer term to support our outdoor learning projects.

The launch of Stockport Book Awards has now created a buzz around reading and the children are already discussing this year’s texts and bringing in art pieces that they have created in response to their reading. We look forward to this continuing over the coming weeks.
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Thanks to all the parents and carers who support Book Fortnight by providing costumes, support home learning competitions and spend time reading with your children on a regular basis – it does all really help to ensure our children develop a love of reading.

Dear Parents and Carers,

Book fortnight is a special two weeks in school designated to raising the profile of reading for pleasure and helping the children to recognise the importance of reading. Reading for pleasure opens up new worlds for our children. It gives them the opportunity to use their imagination to explore new ideas, visit new places and meet new characters. Interestingly, reading for pleasure also improves children’s well-being and empathy. It helps them to understand their own identity and gives them an insight into the world and the views of others.

This year, book fortnight will run from Monday 24th February and our focus for book fortnight is around hunger and food poverty. Through exploring books around these topics the children will have the opportunity to empathise with others and understand why it is important to eat a healthy balanced diet. We will be using Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a stimulus for this theme, exploring the characters and their actions in this story. We will also link our Design and Technology learning about food to this theme and the children will be designing, making and evaluating their own food creations!
 
Home Learning
In addition, during this fortnight, the children will also be involved in many other activities to promote a love of reading. For home learning we would like the children to create their own book character from a healthy fruit or vegetable. We would also like the children to write a label for their book character telling us who their character is and also displays their own name and class on it.