School Literacy Network

Motivate your class and help your pupils become confident, creative communicators by taking part in writing competitions, these allow them to write with a purpose and some also provide teaching resources too.

Many organisations, including us at the School Literacy Network, run these competitions to inspire young writers, give them a chance to share their work with an audience, and even win prizes.

Follow the accounts tagged below and visit the links in the comments to find out more. 🔗

BBC Teach Writing East Midlands Walker Books Taradiddle The Royal Mint Museum Hen Harrier Action Branford Boase Award Young Writers

Looking for recommendations for young readers who love funny graphic novels like Dog Man and Bunny Vs Monkey? Then click through to see some excellent books that were released recently(ish) and a few that are coming soon 📚💛

⭐Chicken Hill: Frozen Squirrel Rescue Mission by Beccy Blake, published by Bloomsbury Children's Books.
⭐Pablo and Splash: Viking Voyage by Sheena Dempsey, published by Bloomsbury Children's Books.
⭐Froggy: Autumn Antics by Paige Walshe, published by Flying Eye Books.
⭐InvestiGATORS: Weather or Not by John Patrick Green, published by Macmillan Children's Books.
⭐Unfairies: Death by Toad by Huw Aaron, published by Puffin.
⭐Supa Nova: Robot Takeover by Chanté Timothy, published by Nosy Crow.
⭐Tiny Hercules: Golden Cabbage Chaos by Jon Lock and Nich Angell, published by Macmillan Children's Books
⭐Boss Of the Underworld: Shirley vs Seven Deadly Dangers by Tor Freeman, published by Starboard.

Young fans won't have to wait too long to read their favourites ⤵️
In October, the latest Bunny Vs Monkey book by Jamie Smart, 'Day Of the Heroes', published by DFB Phoenix is coming out.
The next in the Dog Man series by Dav Pilkey 'A Sprinkle in Time' is published by Scholastic in November.

We all understand the importance of literacy and the power of reading. However, it can be hard to find the right book to engage pupils and build that love of reading - Primary Book Picks was created to make that a little bit easier. 📚💛

Read our latest news post for the summer round up of recommendations from teachers, library staff and literacy experts including classic titles you may have forgotten about as well as wonderful new books.

Next week is Play day - a national day to celebrate play coordinated by Play England, Play Scotland, Play Wales | Chwarae Cymru and PlayBoard NI. Find out more at https://playday2026.blog/

Are there any games you like to play at home or in school? We love a classic game of hopscotch, simple and fun. Let us know your favourites in the comments ⬇️

Save this post🔖

Exploring children's book awards winners and shortlists (or longlists if you have time!) is an excellent way to keep your book knowledge up-to-date and find brilliant titles to share in your setting.

Follow the links below to find out more about each award and when they are announced. Some, including the Carnegies, the Lollies and CLiPPA, even offer judging opportunities to pupils, teachers and schools.

Happy Reading! 📚

Before you run out of the school gates and switch off for the summer, join us in reflecting on an academic year filled with inspiration and shared learning across our network.

As always, our lively network meetings brought teachers together to share ideas and hear from expert guest speakers. This year also saw the launch of even more high quality teaching resources, all designed to save planning time and strengthen English provision in your settings.

Head to our website to read our SLN Year in Review 2025/26 and explore the highlights from the past year

Thank you for the your commitment and dedication to your learners. We wish you a fantastic and well-deserved summer holiday! 💛📚☀️

Here's what coming up on the SLN calendar for Autumn 2026, starting with free training from Into Film 📆🎥

Book your spaces today via our website. These online CPD training sessions are ideal for everyone involved in primary English teaching.

We've just received these great pictures of SLN poetry competition winners with well-deserved book prizes 💛

Thank you again to all the teachers and pupils who took part, you can read all the wonderful winning and shortlisted poems on our website.

Books from our partner bookshop Bookwagon Limited 📚

As the summer term draws to a close, we're reflecting on an academic year filled with inspiring conversations, practical support and a shared commitment to helping children become confident readers and writers.

This year's network meetings, including sessions with Ed Vere, Nick Sharratt, Matt Goodfellow, Emma Carroll and MC Grammar, have been filled with creativity, collaboration and shared learning.

We're already looking ahead to next school year, with sessions planned featuring authors, illustrators and educators including Botheredness HQ with Hywel Roberts, Jasbinder Bilan, Kim Hillyard, Leigh Hodgkinson and Neal Layton, alongside a free Into Film session exploring how stop motion animation can support literacy learning.

Thank you to everyone who joined a meeting, explored a resource, entered our poetry competition or shared ideas with colleagues this year ✨

Have you seen our latest blog posts full of tips on encouraging reading for pleasure this summer? With tried and tested initiatives direct from SLN member schools, useful links to share and our new FREE to download reading for pleasure resources.

Read more on our news page📰

Sign up as a free Basic member for introduction to what School Literacy Membership can offer you and your school.