Reading into Writing: Blog items
Date: 7th Feb 2026 @ 7:39am
Year 3 Dive into Imagination with Author Dan Worsley
Our Year 3 students were treated to an unforgettable morning when the amazing author Dan Worsley visited to deliver one of his high‑energy storytelling workshops. From the moment he began, Dan’s animated style had every child completely hooked.
With his trademark enthusiasm, Dan transported the children straight to a mysterious, litter‑strewn beach. There, looming among the piles of rubbish, was a bizarre sea creature like no other. The children gasped as they imagined it's eight long, thick tentacles, crooked, jagged teeth, and a circular,red eye capable of shooting a laser beam. This strange creature devoured every scrap of rubbish it could find—but despite his helpful intentions, he accidentally frightened the local people, who chased him away. Without their unexpected helper, the rubbish quickly began to pile up again…
Dan’s storytelling not only captured the children's imaginations but inspired them to create worlds of their own. After the tale, the Year 3 pupils set to work sketching their own unique sea creatures, each more inventive than the last. They eagerly described what their creatures looked like, how they behaved, and what magical or monstrous abilities they possessed.
The classroom buzzed with creativity, laughter, and excitement. It was clear the children thoroughly enjoyed every moment of their workshop. Many left still chatting animatedly about their creatures—and they absolutely cannot wait for Dan Worsley’s next visit.
A huge thank you to Dan for igniting such imaginative thinking. We’re already looking forward to the next adventure!
Date: 6th Feb 2026 @ 4:03pm
We have been reading the story Lost and Found about a little boy and a penguin.To his surprise, the boy finds a penguin standing outside his door, and assumes the penguin must be lost. The boy is determined to help this sad and lonely visitor and sets off on an epic quest to help the penguin get back home.
Take a look at how we painted and collaged a penguin and wrote words about the story and it's characters.
Year 4 - R.A.P. with Alim Kamara
Date: 4th Feb 2026 @ 4:26pm
As part of National Storytelling Week 2026, our Year 4 pupils enjoyed an inspiring online workshop led by storyteller and rapper Alim Kamara. The session, delivered live via Zoom, was a vibrant celebration of music, rhythm and the power of storytelling.
The workshop formed part of the National Literacy Trust’s nationwide events for Key Stage 2, designed to help children explore how stories can be told through sound, lyrics and performance. During the interactive session, pupils learned how storytelling and rap can come together to create powerful narratives. They were guided through the process of shaping their own lyrics and experimenting with rhythm—discovering firsthand how words can come alive through music.
The event formed part of this year’s national theme, “Soundtrack Your Story”, celebrating how music can enhance storytelling and ignite children’s love for reading and writing. Supported by the National Literacy Trust and the National Year of Reading 2026, the workshop provided a rich opportunity for pupils to develop their confidence, creativity and enjoyment of literacy.
Date: 3rd Feb 2026 @ 4:23pm
Year 5 have moved on to exploring persuasive advertisements. They have applied their prior learning from persuasive arguments to the context of advertising. As a class, we have identified the similarities and differences between persuasive writing and advertisements, and have analysed the key features of a persuasive leaflet designed to encourage people to visit York. Pupils have examined how the features are used to influence the reader. Next, we will explore a range of other persuasive adverts to compare techniques and deepen understanding.
Year 5 - National Story Telling Week - R.A.P
Date: 3rd Feb 2026 @ 11:55am
Year 5 Celebrate National Storytelling Week with Alim Kamara
As part of National Storytelling Week 2026, our Year 5 pupils enjoyed an inspiring online workshop led by storyteller and rapper Alim Kamara. The session, delivered live via Zoom, was a vibrant celebration of music, rhythm and the power of storytelling.
The workshop formed part of the National Literacy Trust’s nationwide events for Key Stage 2, designed to help children explore how stories can be told through sound, lyrics and performance. During the interactive session, pupils learned how storytelling and rap can come together to create powerful narratives. They were guided through the process of shaping their own lyrics and experimenting with rhythm—discovering firsthand how words can come alive through music.
Throughout the 45‑minute session, Alim Kamara captivated the children with his energy, enthusiasm and creative approach. Year 5 particularly enjoyed collaborating on a class rap, using ideas shared during the workshop to craft imaginative verses that told a story with both meaning and momentum.
The event formed part of this year’s national theme, “Soundtrack Your Story”, celebrating how music can enhance storytelling and ignite children’s love for reading and writing. Supported by the National Literacy Trust and the National Year of Reading 2026, the workshop provided a rich opportunity for pupils to develop their confidence, creativity and enjoyment of literacy.
Year 5 thoroughly embraced the experience, and we are excited to continue building on their enthusiasm in our upcoming storytelling and creative writing projects.
Date: 2nd Feb 2026 @ 4:47pm
This week, we celebrated storytelling week with a visit from Dan Worsley. We had a special story-telling assembly where Dan told us a story using props to help him and showing his excellent imagination. In the classroom, we have enjoyed using props in the story-telling area to create our own stories as well as creating our own front covers and creative characters for our stories.
Year 1- The Girl with Two Dads
Date: 2nd Feb 2026 @ 4:42pm
Today, we began our writing journey based on the book 'The girl with two dads'. After we had read and discussed the story, we retold the story focusing on applying our learning so far to use time conjunctions, finger spaces, capital letters and full stops.
Year 6 - Story-telling webinar
Date: 2nd Feb 2026 @ 1:28pm
Year 6 Celebrate National Storytelling Week with Alim Kamara
As part of National Storytelling Week 2026, our Year 6 pupils enjoyed an inspiring online workshop led by storyteller and rapper Alim Kamara. The session, delivered live via Zoom, was a vibrant celebration of music, rhythm and the power of storytelling.
The workshop formed part of the National Literacy Trust’s nationwide events for Key Stage 2, designed to help children explore how stories can be told through sound, lyrics and performance. During the interactive session, pupils learned how storytelling and rap can come together to create powerful narratives. They were guided through the process of shaping their own lyrics and experimenting with rhythm—discovering firsthand how words can come alive through music.
Throughout the 45‑minute session, Alim Kamara captivated the children with his energy, enthusiasm and creative approach. Year 5 particularly enjoyed collaborating on a class rap, using ideas shared during the workshop to craft imaginative verses that told a story with both meaning and momentum.
The event formed part of this year’s national theme, “Soundtrack Your Story”, celebrating how music can enhance storytelling and ignite children’s love for reading and writing. Supported by the National Literacy Trust and the National Year of Reading 2026, the workshop provided a rich opportunity for pupils to develop their confidence, creativity and enjoyment of literacy.
We thoroughly embraced the experience, and we are excited to continue building on their enthusiasm in our upcoming storytelling and creative writing projects.
Date: 30th Jan 2026 @ 11:11am
Since returning from Christmas the children in Reception have been learning their new phase 3 sounds in thir daily phonics lesson. To help the children apply their learning they have had several opportunities during continuous provision practice reading and writing words containing the phase 3 sounds. Have a lok at our learning.
Date: 29th Jan 2026 @ 7:57am
This week, the children explored the story Julian Is a Mermaid, focusing on the message behind the text and its link to managing and challenging stereotypes. They discussed common stereotypes, such as the idea that girls can’t play football, and shared their own views and experiences. The lesson also developed Oracy skills, with a focus on probing, challenging, agreeing with, and building on others’ ideas. The children made links between these discussion skills and dialogue between characters in a playscript. They also discussed the importance of asking questions and using body language to show active listening and respect for others’ opinions.
Date: 29th Jan 2026 @ 7:32am
This week, we have been continuing with our book The Smartest Giant. Over the last couple of days we focused on using adjectives to describe some of the characters from the story. Then, we wrote our own sentences to describe the character we had chosen.
Date: 27th Jan 2026 @ 1:31pm
Date: 26th Jan 2026 @ 12:23pm
This week, we completed our class shared writes. Our genre is a setting description. We used our knowledge of the features of a setting description to write parts of a description then piece them together. We included similes, personification, a variety of sentence openers and powerful vocabulary.
Date: 23rd Jan 2026 @ 7:50am
This half term in Phonics, we have been focusing on alternative sounds for graphemes already taught. Yesterday, we were looking at alternative for 'ee' being 'ey'. We discussed how the 'ey' would typically come at the end of the word and the 'ee' and 'ea' would usually be in the middle to help us differentiate when spelling. We practised reading lots of words with the diagraph in before attemtping to applying our new knowledge to writing.
Date: 22nd Jan 2026 @ 8:14am
During our Reading into Writing lesson, the children explored Charlotte’s Web as part of our journey into playscripts. They acted out scenes from the story, bringing the characters to life through performance. The focus was on using voice effectively by projecting clearly, as well as developing body language and facial expressions to match each character’s feelings and personality. The children also practised following stage directions, helping them to understand how actions and movements are written in a playscript. This active approach supported their understanding of character, dialogue and performance, while building confidence and engagement.
Date: 16th Jan 2026 @ 10:23am
This week our story in Reading into Writing is 'The Smartest Giant in Town.' We began the week by reading and retelling the story and using our oracy skills to explain the key events. We have also been completing lots of story related activities in our provision and will continue to develop our understanding of the story over the next two weeks.
Date: 16th Jan 2026 @ 10:07am
Date: 15th Jan 2026 @ 7:51pm
Handwriting is a huge focus in Reception. To support some of our children who find handwriting and fine motor control challenging we have introduced a new intervention called Pegs to Paper. The intervention happens three times per week and is designed to help develop a more fluent handwriting approach focusing on pencil grip. control, movement and pressure. The children have thoroughly enjoed practicing with the specially designed pegs and boards and have been working hard to transfer these skills when writing in class.
Year 1 Retelling Lost and Found
Date: 15th Jan 2026 @ 2:48pm
For our final piece of writing this week, we have been retelling the story 'Lost and Found.' We have learnt about time words and how to use them in our writing to vary sentence starters and show the passing of time. We all tried very hard with our final piece of writing and were very proud of our results!
Date: 15th Jan 2026 @ 9:09am
Our Year 3 and 4 Reading into Writing class had a fantastic time practising their spellings in a creative way! As part of our Active Spelling intervention, pupils used dough to form letters and words, turning spelling practice into a hands-on, engaging experience. This fun approach not only helps improve accuracy but also strengthens fine motor skills and makes learning memorable. The children loved shaping their spellings and showing off their creations—what a brilliant way to combine movement and literacy!
Date: 13th Jan 2026 @ 4:07pm
Discovering the Stonewall Riots and Pride
This week, we explored an important part of history: the Stonewall Riots and the origins of Pride. It all started in June 1969 in New York City, when LGBTQ+ people stood up for their rights after years of unfair treatment. The Stonewall Inn, a small bar, became the centre of a movement that changed the world. People protested for equality and respect, and their bravery sparked the modern Pride celebrations we see today.
We learned that Pride is not just about colourful parades—it’s about remembering those who fought for freedom and celebrating diversity. Pride reminds us that everyone should be treated equally, no matter who they are or who they love.
After our research, we wrote non-chronological reports to share what we discovered. We included sections like:
- What were the Stonewall Riots?
- Why are they important?
- What is Pride today?
It was amazing to see how much history can teach us about fairness and standing up for what’s right.
Date: 13th Jan 2026 @ 2:18pm
Year 5 have been exploring the features of biased arguments in their writing. One key feature they focused on was rhetorical questions. The children learned how rhetorical questions are used to influence the reader and strengthen an argument. They confidently practised identifying rhetorical questions in texts and went on to successfully write their own, demonstrating a strong understanding of their purpose and impact.
Date: 9th Jan 2026 @ 11:01am
This week in Reception we have been reading the story 'Jack Frost'. As part of our learning we have been learning about the season of winter. describing what it is like as well as spots different signs of winer outside in out garden. We have been introduced to lots of new vocabulary to describe the changes we have observed outside.
"The ground is frozen" Ava
"It is frosty and cold" Eliza
"The temperature is cold- the water have changed to ice" Noah
The children had the opportunity to create their own Jack Frost inspired winter scenes and produced some lovely pieces of writing linked to the story.
Date: 8th Jan 2026 @ 10:38am
Date: 8th Jan 2026 @ 9:19am
