Welcome
Welcome to April’s edition of the Coleham Reading Newsletter! As always, we’ve had another month of inspiring Reading events here at Coleham Primary School, with events such as Shropshire Bookfest Award Ceremony and Year 4’s participation with Reading the Game.
In this issue, you’ll find a new selection of recommended reads for pupils of all ages, all of which take a nature inspired theme in honour of Sir David Attenborough, who on May 8th will be celebrating his 100th Birthday. I will also be sharing some new and engaging reading initiatives for parents to try at home, as well as a link to a National Reading Competition taking place over the summer. I hope this newsletter helps keep the love of stories alive and thriving in every corner of our school community.
Recommended Reads
In honour of David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday coming up, this months Recommended Reads are all inspired by nature.
EYFS
This series of board books will inspire a love of nature in even the littlest of animal lovers. With vibrant artwork printed on white board, robust easy-to-use mechanisms for tiny hands and a rhyming text with friendly animal facts, these are the perfect books to captivate curious little explorers time and time again.
In this first birds book, there are ostriches running across the plains, penguins diving in the sea, toucans perched on jungle branches and many more birds to discover and bring to life with the moving parts.
KS1
Hop, leap or bounce into Boing! for bug and mini-beast poetry fun and fascinating facts.
Find beautiful butterflies, ladybirds and dragonflies. Marvel at worker bugs, from tiny ants and busy bees to leaping grasshoppers and fleas. Discover mini-beast heroes – dung beetles, millipedes, spiders – and those amazing ‘pigs in space’, the tardigrades!
With 24 poems, including shape poems, riddles, rhyming poems and free verse, plus amazing and informative facts about each bug or minibeast on every page, the world of insects is brought buzzing to life, matched by Neal Layton’s witty colour illustrations.
LKS2
Antarctica is a place most of us will never visit – and it’s disappearing. Learn all about it before it’s too late.
Put on your parka and snowshoes and get ready to embark on a journey to the far, far south. You could hitch a ride on a Sno-Cat, explore the majestic icefalls, hunt for meteorites and marvel at migrating whales – or just stay in for a movie and pizza.
From colossal squids and active volcanoes to research vessels and cricket matches, there’s a lot more to the South Pole than just penguins and icebergs (though there are also a lot of penguins and icebergs). Learn how humans survive in the coldest place on Earth and discover what surprises await in this fragile and fascinating world.
Packed with hundreds of brilliant snippets of information, All About Antarctica is perfect for curious kids who love to ask lots of questions about the wonders of our world.
UKS2
Packed full of illustrations, exciting experiments – and even comic strips – That’s Life! encourages young scientists to start looking for the living things around them.Life is everywhere on planet Earth. Jungles, deserts, seas, plains, fields and forests – all of them teem with life but, amazingly, you can also find lots of living things hidden in your home, and even hidden inside you! Join Sherlock Ohms and his companions on a brilliant biological adventure, seeking out all kinds of life, including the life forms hiding in your own home!
National Share a Story Month
The whole of May is National Share a Story Month, run by the Federation of Children’s Book Groups. The idea is simply to share stories — through reading aloud, telling, acting out, or talking about books together. Heads up, there are usually events at libraries, bookshops throughout the month.
Its good to remember that “sharing a story” doesn’t always mean sitting down with a book. Telling a child about a book you loved when you were their age counts. So does listening to an audiobook together on a long car journey.
The National Share a Story Month guide from the Reading Chest has simple ideas for bringing stories into your home throughout May.
Reading aloud to children isn’t something you outgrow. Even confident readers benefit from hearing stories read with expression, rhythm, and someone there beside them.
Language blooms: When children hear stories read aloud, they absorb vocabulary, sentence patterns, and the music of language. It happens naturally, without any flashcards or worksheets.
Connection deepens: Sharing a story creates a moment of focused attention. No screens, no rush. Just you, your child, and a book. That’s powerful.
Imagination explodes: Listening to someone read fires up a child’s imagination more than watching images on a screen. They’re building the pictures in their mind.
It signals that stories matter: When you sit down to read together, you’re telling your child: “This is important. You’re important. This time together is important.”
Year 4 Kick Off with Reading the Game! ⚽
Year 4 pupils have been thrilled to take part in Reading the Game with Shrewsbury Town in the Community 🙌
This programme combines a love of football with writing and literacy, showing children that reading and writing can be just as fun and energetic as sport! ✍️⚽
Pupils got active and practised football skills while linking them to creative writing tasks.
Thank you to Shrewsbury Town in the Community for inspiring our pupils and helping them grow both on and off the pitch 🏟️💙
Bookfest’s Grand Finale
Year 5 have been busy devouring six brilliant new novels for Shropshire Bookfest and voting for their favourite like true critics— today the adventure continued at Theatre Severn for the big winner reveal. Wildlands took the crown, with author Brogan Murphy there in person to celebrate. Extra applause for Juliet, who scooped a prize in the Bookfest competition.
Summer Reading Challenge
Explore the Read to the Beat book collection!
This year’s official Read to the Beat book collection includes books about musicians, characters discovering music, sound science, cultural traditions, rhythm, storytelling through sound, breaking down barriers to music, creative expression and following your dreams.
Support your child in being inspired with their very own musical adventure with this year’s official Summer Reading Challenge book collection – take a look below!
Lots of these titles will be available for you to enjoy for free through your local library. Check out our handy page on how to find books.
Summer Reading Challenge
