TalkforWriting have produced some wonderful home school booklets for each year group from Reception to Year 6. Each booklet is based on a different story and there are lots of fun reading, writing and speaking and listening activities to do. Please click on the following links to download:

Why not have a go at writing your own Lockdown Diary whist school is closed. This has been developed for use throughout the duration of the lockdown period and will help develop your child’s writing skills.

BookTrust is website with recommended booklists, categorised by age range and topic, including fiction and non-fiction. Family activities are included in the ‘Home Time’ section.

The Literacy Shed have resource packs available for children in KS1 and KS2 with tasks that are based on video clips on YouTube. Why not have a go at them, they are really enjoyable.

At St. Mark’s, we have used Pobble 365 for quite a while as a writing stimulus. A new image is published each day as a basis for creative writing. Story starters, questions and drawing ideas are provided.

If your child loves poetry, Poetry by Heart offers a wide selection of poetry covering different topics.

Watch Storytime with Nick; films of well-loved stories read by Nick Cannon, a trained actor, teacher and trainer and a wonderful storyteller. A new story will be added to the Ruth Miskin YouTube channel at 2pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week. They are ideal for Nursery, Reception and KS1 children. Storytime includes books by Tom Percival, Cressida Cowell, David Melling, Jeanne Willis, Judith Kerr, Oliver Jeffers and David Walliams.

Any type of reading is good for children and the website Audible currently has free access to reading material.

Your child will find some excellent information about a variety of books and lots of extracts to read on Love Reading 4 Kids.

Phonics is a way of teaching children how to read and write. It helps children hear, identify and use different sounds that distinguish one word from another in the English language. PhonicsPlay has lots of interactive games and resources, which allows children to practise their phonics daily.