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NEWSBOARD
Free books for schools
Michael Rosen has been appointed as the new Writer in Residence at BookTrust, the children’s reading charity.
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The children’s author and performance poet is a long-standing champion for children’s reading and for many years he took his one-man show to schools across the country to enthuse children with his passion for books and poetry. Over the years, he has been involved in countless public campaigns to promote reading. In 2007 he became the Children’s Laureate, where he developed the Perform-a-Poem website in association with the London Grid for Learning. Michael is planning on using the residency as an opportunity to highlight the benefits and fun of reading with babies and toddlers. Michael Rosen said, “I am really looking forward to being
i nf ormation for Parents, Teachers an d arer c sNews Round Encouraging reading
children’s literacy charity
UK reads, together with their resident at BookTrust. We know that partner the circular economy helping children start life playing with bookseller AwesomeBooks, are asking schools to apply for free books for children living in poverty words, poems and songs is the perfect way to become a confident speaker and in their communities. driven by a writer. Under-fives soak up language and commitment to sustainability and we can help make that happen by sharing literacy, AwesomeBooks collects books with them. I want to do all I can to books destined for landfill and offer some ideas and inspiration to help repurposes high quality copies by carers, teachers and anyone who works reselling them or donating them with under-fives.”
to improve access to books and promote literacy, which means that no book is ever thrown away. They have pledged 30,000 high quality, pre-loved books to
UK reads, to support schools and children in disadvantaged communities. reading for pleasure is the single biggest factor in determining a child’s future success, but there are currently more than 413,000 children in the
UK who do not own a single book of their own. UK reads are on a mission to ensure every child in the
UK has access to free books and literacy support. All UK schools can go to www.ukreads.org/bookdrop to request free from UK reads for children without access to their own books. Go to www. ukreads.org for more information about UK reads and the work they are doing to end illiteracy in the UK.
each night a sleepy corner of the county is being turned into a march of the amphibians as hundreds of toads and newts make a perilous journey across a busy road to breed. This mass migration to the Woodland Trust owned Haddon Wood, near Castle Cary, has even led buses to stop and allow the toads to cross, and local truckers to change their route to protect the toads - who are being ably assisted by a team of committed volunteers. On suitable evenings, after dusk, the toad patrollers hop into action by sticking on their boots, donning hi viz jackets and, armed with torches, spend hours helping the toads across the road towards the woodland, to safety.
Croaky! March of the amphibians The toads are making an intrepid journey from spending the year in vegetation and damp areas - towards a specially created pond to spawn. The volunteers are out from sunset to 10pm on evenings when the weather is right - toads only launch their journeys when it is wet, and the temperature is higher than 5 degrees. The volunteers’ job is to encourage traffic to slow and aid the amphibians across the road from Alhampton. This migration of toads is a success story amongst a climate change and nature emergency.
Fly the flag for Somerset
The Somerset Day Community Interest Company celebrates Somerset and all it has to
offer by encouraging communities, organisations, businesses and individuals to celebrate the birthday up to and over the weekend nearest to Somerset Day, 11 May. They want everyone to relish in the stunning countryside, historic cities, abundant produce, amazing businesses, festival culture and rich heritage of the county historically known as ‘the land of the summer people’. You can join in living our heritage by taking part in the 2022 Trail Challenge – an interactive map with details of physical destinations to help you explore the County and celebrate organisations, communities and landmarks reflecting the present and future as much as the past. Go to somersetday.com/ for details.
Bath & West Show returns
AfTer an absence of two years, the Bath and West Show will be back on the Platinum Jubilee weekend, 2 to 4 June. to make it the best ever, organisers have listened to visitors and have blended previous favourite attractions with new celebrities. With lots of different animals to meet, demonstrations, games, a funfair and entertainers there are activities to appeal to all ages from the youngest members of the family to parents and grandparents and even the dog! See the website and our next
issue for more details.
Green grants to help schools
somerseT WAsTe PArTnershiP is offering up
to 50 grants of £500 to help schools on their Eco-School journey. This can go towards the first step on a tried and tested programme or progressing towards the ‘Green Flag’ status (see www.eco-schools. org.uk for details). Any school receiving a waste service from SWP is eligible to apply. The closing date for school applications is the end of may. Go to somersetwaste.gov.uk/ education for details of how to apply.
Walk for wellbeing
children across the country are asked to join in Walk to School week which takes place on 16 to 20 May this year, during Living Streets’ National Walking month. This year’s campaign focuses on the benefits of walking, showing pupils how being active helps improve their health, happiness and local environment. Families will be encouraged to walk, wheel, cycle, scoot or ‘Park and Stride’ for the whole week to see the big differences that come from small steps, from healthier and happier children to fewer cars outside the school gates. Each day, the #PowerUp challenge will take pupils through five levels: ‘Team Up’, ‘Defeat Danger’ ‘Boost Health’, ‘Save the Planet’ and ‘Lead the Way’. These daily missions will respectively teach them about the social, road safety, physical, mental, and environmental benefits of walking. Daily reward stickers and special reward badges are up for grabs at the end of the week for those who travelled actively every day. Go to livingstreets.org.uk/wtsw for details and to order classroom packs, containing resources for up to 30 pupils.
Drink tea - change a life
NothiNg stops a nation of tea lovers coming together over a cuppa! Small or large, at home or at work, even on a video call – you can make a difference by hosting a tea party for guide Dogs. they are celebrating on 22 April but you can hold your tea party any day and any way you like. hosting a party couldn’t be simpler, just sign up and decide where and when you want to host it. then check out your tea party pack, set up your tea party fundraising page and get the word out to all your guests. go to www. guidedoogs.org.uk/nationaltea-day/ to sign up; get your tea party pack and download free materials including posters and invitations; recipe cards; tips for going virtual, a Zoom background for your call and a tea quizz to add fun and help raise even more money for guide Dogs.
Turn your school into a biodiverse hotspot
Seedball are working with the bbC to deliver one million seed balls to school children as part of ‘The Green Planet’ TV series. However, due to the overwhelming response from teachers, all one million seed balls have been claimed.
