English – Reading and phonics
EYFS, KS1
Really helpful guide from Oxford Owl, providing information for parents about the teaching of phonics. Includes definitions and audio guides about how to pronounce the phonemes.
Ages 5-12
This series of twelve creative, inspiring and interactive films from World Book Day have been created to inspire all students aged 5-12, whether they’re reluctant readers or aspiring authors and illustrators! Featuring a sensational line-up of authors and illustrators, including Cressida Cowell, Eoin Colfer, Matthew Syed, Francesca Simon, Matt Haig, Muhammad Khan and Katherine Rundell. Every film comes with free resources too!
EYFS, KS1
This BBC site is used by teachers but it has lots of very useful resources and ideas that you could use at home. There are animated tales to watch, audio stories to listen to, fun punctuation and spelling videos as well as ‘Supermovers,’ which get children to learn by moving about a lot!
EYFS, KS1, KS2, KS3
If you or your children need some help in finding their next book to read, this brilliant tool from Booktrust can help you find something they’ll enjoy.
All
Booktrust is the UK’s largest children’s reading charity. This is a link to all of their current competitions, with some great prizes on offer!
EYFS, KS1, KS2
Book Trust have now compiled all of their home learning resources into one part of their website. Here you will find links to quizzes and competitions, free online books, book themes-recipes, activities to print out and lots of author/illustrator-related fun! A brilliant one-stop shop.
EYFS, KS1
Child’s Play’s ‘Parent Zone’ has a activities and interactive games to help support reading for younger children.
KS1, KS2
Hamilton are providing free English teaching packs for each year group. The materials include lesson plans, text extracts and film clips, comprehension activities and stimuli for writing. There are currently two weeks’ worth of packs, with more to follow.
KS2
The Literacy Shed have produced a free reading comprehension packs for KS2 pupils. There’s a pack for each age group in KS2.
KS2, KS3
Researchify have six classic texts (Alice in Wonderland, The Wind in the Willows, The Railway Children, The Jungle Book, Peter Pan and Black Beauty) all available as PDF and Word files or as an audiobook.
KS3
Game Changers from the National Literacy Trust is a football-themed reading intervention for excluded Key Stage 3 students. Schools can sign up to receive the resources for free, print the workbooks and then send these out to families.
KS2, KS3, KS4, KS5
The Poetry by Heart completion deadline has passed but the website still has all the poems that children could choose to learn when taking part.
EYFS, KS1, KS2
The Oxford Owl website for parents has lots of free e-books grouped by age that parents can access.
EYFS, KS1
Mr Thorne is a UK teacher who publishes apps, YouTube videos and educational content to support reading. Mr T’s YouTube channel has over 600 videos teaching children (and parents!) how to read using phonics.
EYFS, KS1, KS2
The Oxford Owl site is widely used in schools but the website has always had a separate section for parents and carers. This has been updated to now include numerous links to home learning ideas, helpfully separated into individual year groups. There are also additional resources to accompany the daily BBC Bitesize lessons.
EYFS, KS1
The Letters and Sounds for School and Home YouTube channel, funded by the Department for Education, is releasing daily phonics lessons for children in Reception and Year 1. Presented by teachers, there are 12 weeks of lessons for the summer term to help children try to keep up with their learning.
EYFS, KS1, Year 3 needing support – Phonics
Free access for schools and parents using username: March20 and password: Home
Online games, worksheets and teaching ideas for all phonic phases.
EYFS, KS1, Year 3 needing support – Phonics
Free comics matching every phonic phase of Letters and Sounds. Really engaging, can be read online or printed. Would be helpful given that children are unable to change reading books.
KS1
This Website from OUP provides information about the content and structure of the check. It features a Word List Generator that enables you to create word lists tailor made to children’s phonics learning, as well as to generate example lists which reflect the style and content of the Year 1 phonics screening check.
All
Interactive poetry activities from Simon Mole for the national Literacy Trust
Ages 9-12
Read your way around with world with The National Literacy Trust’s Reading Miles Global Challenge. Children are rewarded with 500 reading miles for every 10 minutes they spend reading, either alone or with someone at home. They collect these reading miles in their special reading passport on their very own reading world tour – a whopping 33,000 miles (or 11 hours) in total! The challenge is split into seven journeys, each of which finishes in a ‘checkpoint city’ and is perfect for engaging families with their children’s reading. Downloadable resources are available to support it too.
EYFS, KS1, KS2
Reading Eggs Reading eggs supports each child’s learning by offering individual lessons. The online lessons allow your child to progress at their own rate, gradually building their reading confidence and rewarding them at every step of the way. There’s currently a free 30 day trial that parents can access. There’s a placement activity for each child, then appropriate books/questions/challenges are available to them.
EYFS, KS1
The Teach Your Monster to Read website and app encourages children to teach their own ‘monster’ character early reading skills, from matching letters and sounds to short stories. Free to pay online and available through the APP (Apple, Google and Amazon).
KS2
Reading Well for children provides stories and advice to support children’s mental health and wellbeing. Books have been chosen and recommended by leading health professionals and co-produced with children and families.
The booklist is targeted at children in Key Stage 2 (aged 7-11), but includes titles aimed at a wide range of reading levels to support less confident readers, and to encourage children to read together with their siblings and carers
EYFS
This website from the National Literacy Trust is aimed at parents of 3-5 year olds. It provides a wealth of activities and ideas to support children at home. Some are related to going outdoors but there are lots of indoor activities and suggestions.
KS2
The ever-popular David Walliams is reading an extract from one of his books every day at 11:00am. Titled ‘elevenses,’ the link is on his website.
KS2
Neil Gaiman (author of the fantastic Coraline; The Graveyard Book; Odd and the Frost Giants and The Sleeper and the Spindle, to name just a few!) is reading a selection of his books and making them available via his website
KS1, KS2
Words and Pictures to Comfort, Inspire and Entertain Children in Lockdown. This extraordinary collection of short stories, poems, essays and pictures has contributions from more than 110 children’s writers and illustrators, including Lauren Child, Anthony Horowitz, Katherine Rundell, Michael Morpurgo, Axel Scheffler, and Jacqueline Wilson. It’s completely free and can be read online.
All – Reading
Hundreds of books to read online in 30 different languages. You can filter for age group, genre, length of book as well as language. May be particularly helpful for EAL pupils.
EYFS, KS1, KS2
The free section of The Literacy Shed site contains lots of short films, organised into categories (‘sheds’). Most include teaching ideas, often with comprehension type questions and writing prompts.
KS3, KS4, KS5
Marquee.tv are offering a free 30 day trial, allowing you to access a host of previous productions from the RSC, National Theatre and the suchlike, along with behind the scenes interviews. A really good resource for any secondary students studying any of the available plays.
All
From the Education Endowment Foundation for parents on how to support home routines and in particular shared reading.