Class Visits

READING CLOUD TROPHY

JANUARY WINNER

This week in the library INDIGO class were awarded the  READING TROPHY.

INDIGO class read the most eBooks & listened to the most eAudiobooks on our 

READING CLOUD in JANUARY.

Did you know that there are over 4000 eBooks and 600 eAudiobooks to choose from? 

There are over 400 comics, graphic novels, manga and magazines.



Log-on today and help win the trophy for your class.





It is Children's Mental Health Week from 5 to 11 February 2024, with the theme of My Voice Matters. We have been reflecting during class sessions this week on emotions, what they are, how to share them so that we can strive to be happy and healthy.

Reading is a great way to relax, be happy and confident.

Year  2 sharing 'A Book of Feelings' by Amanda McCardie

Chinese New Year

The Year of the Dragon

Saturday 10th February

It is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. Each year is represented by an animal and this year it is the dragon.

🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉

Classes are sharing books about the Chinese New Year.


🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉🐉



We shared news from the 

BIRTHDABOOK CLUB

We thank all the children who have joined and donated a book to our library in the last few months.

ANNA – Amber – Where’s My Teddy? – Jez Alborough

ASHER – Emerald – The Adventure of Super Diaper Baby – Dav Pilkey

VIKTOR – Amber – Supertato: Mean Green Time Machine – Sue Hendra

OLIVER – Ruby – Evil Pea Rules! – Sue Hendra

FRANCIS – Orange – Pumpkin Soup – Helen Cooper

EOGHAN – Yellow – Tom and the Island of Dinosaurs – Ian Beck

GABRIEL – Pearl 

ALEJANDRO – Violet – The Boy Who Saved A Bear – Nizrana Farook

EDIS – Orange – Supertato: Mean Green Time Machine – Sue Hendra

MYLO – Blue – Sparks – Ian Boothby

JESSICA – Indigo – The Boy Who Met the Whale – Nizrana Farook

ANNELIESE – Yellow – Isadora Moon and the Shooting Star – Harriet Muncaster

MAIA – Gems – Poles Apart – Jeanne Willis

RHYS – Sapphire – Tom Gates: Excellent Excuses – Liz Pichon

AYHAN – Pearl – How to Catch a Star – Oliver Jeffers

SOFIA – Blue – Horrible Science – Nasty Nature – Nick Arnold

HABIEL – Yellow – Amelia Fang and the Barbaric Ball – Laura Ellen Anderson

ABIGAIL - Orange – Errol’s Garden – Gillian Hibbs

SORAYAH – Indigo – Arsenic for Tea – Robin Stevens

LIZA – Tanzanite – Once Upon A Crime – Robin Stevens

JANSEAN – Violet – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – J.K.Rowling

BLOSSOM – Emerald – The Boy Who Got Accidentally Famous – David Baddiel

ELISHEVA – Sapphire – Rose Gold and Friends – Alice Hemming

ELKANAH – Amethyst – The Wild Robot - Peter Brown

ELISAVETA – Orange – Luna Loves Dance - Joseph Coelho

JACK – Diamond – Dogman Twenty Thousand Fleas Under The Sea – Dav Pilkey

ALEXANDER – Amber – Poems Aloud - Joseph Coelho

LUCAS – Red – Little Rabbit Foo Foo – Michael Rosen

MAYA – Red – Rain before Rainbows – Smriti Halls

Thank you!





WELCOME BACK!

Timetable Changes

Each class has a weekly session in the library. Every child has an opportunity to borrow a book each week and return it on their library day to borrow another.

Please make sure that your child returns their library book each week.


TUESDAY –Gems/Pearl/Tanzanite/Indigo/Amber/Orange/Yellow

WEDNESDAYDiamond/Ruby/Red

THURSDAY Green/Emerald/Blue/Sapphire /Violet/Amethyst


LOST or DAMAGED BOOKS 

If a book is lost or damaged please either replace it or contact the school office to arrange payment of £5 on ParentPay.


Please do not hesitate to contact the school librarian if you have any questions relating to the library at the following address: office@st-josephs.islington.sch.uk

📕📕📕📕📕📕📕📕📕📕📕


Christmas

This week in the library we have been celebrating the Christmas season. We have been sharing the Advent story along with some fun Christmas stories with the children.


Amber Class enjoyed 'The Animal's Christmas' by Aileen Urquhart. A nativity story brought alive by the animals who were there. What did Sarah the Spider, Daniel the Donkey and Khalid the Camel notice? How did they feel? 

Gems Class

 The library Christmas tree has been decorated with special stars for our literary Advent Calendar.

Each star has an image of a popular children’s book on the reverse side so that we have a suggested read for each day of Advent.

The children are having fun turning over the stars on our Advent Calendar to reveal our daily book suggestion. 

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄



Magazines, Comics, Graphic Novels and Manga 

Copies available to borrow from our school library 

and digital copies to read on our READING CLOUD.

This week we have been reminding children of all the wonderful array of reading material in our library.

MAGAZINES & COMICS

The Week Junior

National Geographic Kids

The Phoenix

GRAPHIC NOVELS

Asterix

Tin Tin

Dogman

Bunny Vs Monkey

MANGA

Pokemon

Kirby

Yuzu The Pet Vet

Yo-Kai Watch

Manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan.

Ava - Indigo Class - demonstrating how to read manga

Manga stories are read from right to left and from top to bottom. The narrative is contained within frames called koma. So, to read a page of manga, you start with the koma in the top right-hand corner and you end with the koma in the bottom left-hand corner.


The Library is open at lunch times.



Timetable
School Year 2023 - 2024


WEEKLY CLASS LIBRARY SESSIONS


  • Borrow books
  • Share stories
  • Learn library skills
  • Celebrate book events

Books are borrowed for a week and returned to the library during class sessions for exchange or renewal.
Years 5 & 6 can borrow 2 books each week.

Lost or damaged books can either be replaced or a fee of £5.00 paid on ParentPay.

We collect all books before Christmas, Easter and Summer holidays.

📚📚📚📚📚📚📚



Anti-bullying Week

Monday 13th – Friday 17th November

The theme is Make A Noise About Bullying


&

World Kindness Day

Monday 13th November

We have been focusing on the theme of kindness this week during our library class  sessions. Sharing stories about friendship and kindness and reminding children why  being kind to others and ourselves is important. The children were keen to give examples of how to be kind around school such as holding open doors, helping teachers in the classrooms and playing inclusively in the playground.

Be Kind!

🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂


This week in the library classes have been enjoying the last sunny days of the year and enjoying the fabulous new outdoor space and reading chair.

🌞🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🪑🌞






 

Classes have been sharing poetry to celebrate

National Poetry Day which was on Thursday 5 October.

National Poetry Day is an annual celebration that encourages everyone to make, experience and share poetry. 

🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞





With the new view it seems as if the library has been picked up and put in a green field.
🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

Welcoming Nursery to the library!

During their library session this week the children enjoyed their teacher's lively reading of 
'My Sister is an Alien' by Rachel Bright.


Every child who returned their library book was able to borrow a new one.
Please remember to return library books every Monday.
📚📚📚📚


WELCOME BACK!

Each class has a weekly session in the library. Every child has an opportunity to borrow a book each week and return it on their library day to borrow another.

Please make sure that your child returns their library book each week.

MONDAY – Pearl/Gems

TUESDAY – Amber/Orange

WEDNESDAY – Yellow/Diamond/Ruby/Red

THURSDAY – Green/Emerald/Violet/Amethyst

FRIDAY – Blue/Sapphire/Tanzanite/Indigo

 

LOST or DAMAGED BOOKS 

If a book is lost or damaged please either replace it or contact the school office to arrange payment of £5 on ParentPay.

Please do not hesitate to contact the school librarian if you have any questions relating to the library at the following address: office@st-josephs.islington.sch.uk

📕📕📕📕📕📕📕📕📕📕📕



RETURN BOOKS


The Summer 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞
holidays 
are nearly here and 
it's time to return books borrowed from our school library!

Please try to return all library books by 
Friday 14th July.

THANK YOU!

STAR READER

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

STAR READER

Certificate.

          Mylo - Emerald Class

WELL DONE!

Keep up the good reading and you could be the next one to receive a

STAR READER award.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

BIRTHDABOOK CLUB

We have more books donated by our children to the library to celebrate their birthdays!

🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂

JULIETTE – Sapphire – Isadora Moon and the New Girl – Harriet Muncaster

EMMA – Indigo – Skandar and the Unicorn Thief – A.F.Steadman

LUCAS – Pearl – We’re going to find the Monster – Malorie Blackman

NELLIE – Yellow – Middle School Dog’s Best Friend – James Patterson

PIERLUIGI – Yellow – Twins in Trouble -Zoe Antoniades

ANOUSHEH – Yellow – The World’s Worst Children I – David Walliams

SKY-REIGN – Amber – Family and Me! – Michaela Dias-Hayes

RONNIE – Indigo – Middle School: Save Rafe – James Patterson

MIRA – Ruby – This is Me – George Webster

EVANGELINE – Amber – Isadora Moon Goes Camping – Harriet Muncaster

EVANGELINE – Orange – Look Up – Nathan Byron

BRANDON – Yellow – World’s Worst Children 3 – David Walliams

DEBORAH – Indigo – Twins – Varian Johnson

ADRIANNA – Ruby – What the Ladybird Heard on Holiday – Julia Donaldson

ISABEL – Pearl – Undersea Cleaning Spree 

Thank you

&

Happy Birthday!

SUMMER READING CHALLENGE 

Ahead of this year’s SUMMER READING CHALLENGE our

Nursery and Reception classes enjoyed a free virtual event with the

Body Coach, Joe Wicks.

They were treated to a fun workout and a reading of Joe’s new book, Burpee Bears. This session was a great opportunity to discover the incredible impact that reading and exercise can have on children’s wellbeing.

Thank you

to 

The National Literacy Trust

GET ISLINGTON READING

a three-year project with 

The Reading Agency & Islington Library Service

Find out more at 

https://literacytrust.org.uk/communities/islington/

 #GetIslingtonReading

Our school is working with the National Literacy Trust and The Reading Agency and Islington Borough Council to make Islington a borough of happy, confident readers.


Summer Stories
🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞

This week in the library classes have been sharing stories about summer.

Amber Class joining in with rhymes from 'Wriggle and Roar' - Julia Donaldson &
Nick Sharrat

Orange Class listening to 'The Rhyming Rabbit' by Julia Donaldson
A selection of books on summer themes of flowers, bees and picnics.
⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘
Lunchtime in the library
😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋

Our library is busy at lunch time.
Children come to find a quiet place to read and share stories with their friends.
📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖

BIRTHDABOOK CLUB

We have more books donated by our children to the library to celebrate their birthdays!

JULIETTE – Sapphire – Isadora Moon and the New Girl – Harriet Muncaster

LUCAS – Pearl – We’re going to find the Monster – Malorie Blackman

EMMA – Indigo – Skandar and the Unicorn Thief – A.F.Steadman

LUCAS – Pearl – We’re going to find the Monster – Malorie Blackman

NELLIE – Yellow – Middle School Dog’s Best Friend – James Patterson

PIERLUIGI – Yellow – Twins in Trouble -Zoe Antoniades

ANOUSHEH – Yellow – The World’s Worst Children I – David Walliams

Thank you

&

Happy Birthday!

This week in the library children will be focusing on celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary as it is Refugee Week. This year the theme is compassion

WINDRUSH DAY

Thursday 22nd June

Today marks the 75th anniversary of Windrush Day. This is a day to celebrate the arrival of the Empire Windrush in Tilbury Docks, Essex, on 22 June 1948. The ship carried 1027 Caribbean people who had come to the UK to help rebuild the country after the Second World War.

We will be sharing these books with children during this week’s library sessions.

On the Move: Poems About Migration – Michael Rosen

Kind: A Book about kindness – Axel Scheffler

All are welcome – Alexandra Penfold

Refugee – Alan Gratz

The Windrush Child – Benjamin Zephaniah

Swallow's Kiss - Sita Brahmachari

Paddington – Michael Bond

The Proudest Blue: the Story of Hijab and Family – Ibtihaj Muhammad

My World Your World – Melanie Walsh

Refugees and Homelands – Louise Spilsbury & Toby Newsome

Here we are – Oliver Jeffers


Class Sessions 
have been held outside on the library patio so the children could enjoy 
a good story 
and some good weather. 



Junior Librarians
have been hard at work making sure children visiting the library at lunch time 
know how to use the library and can find books independently. 


Diversity rules!

A new display focusing on authors and writing from across the globe.


📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚

BIRTHDABOOK CLUB

We have more books donated by our children to the library to celebrate their birthdays!

🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂

ZAKARIYA – Orange – One Springy Morning – Nick Butterworth

MAGGIE – Ruby – Walking with My Iguana – Brian Moses

VIR – Amber – Commotion in the Ocean – Giles Andreae

AADHYA – Emerald – Zoe’s Rescue Zoo: The Playful Panda

AVA – Emerald – Zoe’s Rescue Zoo: The Cuddly Koala

MARY – Red – My Dad is a Grizzly Bear – Swapna Haddow

CASSIE-ROSE – Pearl – The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle

ASTA – Pearl – Stick Man – Julia Donaldson

THEO – White – Father Christmas Comes Up Trumps – Nicholas Allan

JAMIE – Ruby – The Guffalo – Julia Donaldson

ANAIAH – White – Supertato – Sue Hendra

FRANCIS – Red – You’re called What? – Kes Gray

OLIVER – Pearl – Commotion in the Ocean – Giles Andreae

MILO – Diamond – The Broken Leg of Doom – Pamela Butchart

SEBASTIAN – Emerald – Varjak Paw – SF Said

RUARI – Orange – Mad about Dinosaurs – Giles Andreae

EDWARD – White – Dinosaur Roar – Paul Stickland

SOPHIA – Orange – Splash – Claire Cashmore

ELENA – Sapphire – Murder Most Unladylike – Robin Stevens

ANTONIO – Pearl – I Love Me – Marvyn Harrison

LEO – Amber – Jabari Tries – Gaia Cornwall

BIANCA – Orange – A Superpower like Mine – Dr Ranj

AMARA-RENEE – Orange – Wanda’s Words Get Stuck – Lucy Rowland

CLAUDIA – Ruby – Magnificent Millie – Kate Daubey

GEOVAN – Red – Bee’s Sneeze – Lucy Davey

MAXIMILIAN – Pearl – Animal Explorers: Toby Deep-Sea Diver – Sharon Rentta

MIQUEL – Tanzanite – The Hound of the Baskervilles – Arthur Conan Doyle

ANA – Pearl – Happy Easter Baby Shark – John Bajet

SEBASTIAN – White – On Sudden Hill – Linda Sarah

EDMUND – Emerald – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – J.K.Rowling

ALFRED – Amber – The Whale Who Wanted More – Rachel Bright

MAYA – Pearl – The Koala Who Could – Rachel Bright

MAIA – Little Gems – Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit – Lorna Scobie

GENEEN – Little Gems – That’s My Flower – Alice Hemming

EVA – Pearl – The Way Home for Wolf – Rachel Bright

Thank you

&

Happy Birthday!

STAR READER

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 We have presented the following children with our new

STAR READER

Certificate.




James - Diamond Class



Blossom - Diamond Class



Cairo - Green Class



Christa - Green Class


Athena - Blue Class


WELL DONE!

Keep up the good reading and you could be the next one to receive a

STAR READER award.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


Celebrating

KING CHARLES III

Coronation

6th May 2023

 👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑

This week in the library the children are learning about our future King, Charles III 👑

We have been sharing the book

‘Our King Charles: His remarkable Journey from Prince to King’ by Eleanor Grey & Rose Gerrard


Did you know the King was the first royal heir to attend school? And that his favourite animal is the chicken?

The children have been discovering the fascinating journey through King Charles III’s life. Understanding his early years as a prince, learning about his charity work and discovering what will change now Britain has a new monarch.

We are all King and Queen for the day!





Congratulations

👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑

SPRING has sprung at the Library!

Classes have been enjoying stories of new life and growth in the natural world.


Our Nursery classes were really excited to share their library books at home.


Don't forget to return your library book so that you can borrow a new one.

See you next week!


Classes were celebrating our Book Fair success
during library sessions this week.

Diamond class

We had a fantastic BOOK FAIR in our bright and spacious New Conference Room. 
Every class had a chance to visit the Fair to listen to new stories, browse and buy books.
All the children were excited as it was like having their very own Bookshop in school.


CONGRATULATIONS

Together we raised nearly £2,500.00 which means we have 
nearly £1,500.00 to spend on new books for our library.

NEW BOOKS

We have already received our first delivery of new books.


THANK YOU!



We are at the 

BOOK FAIR




This week in the library we will be sharing stories with the children on the 
Children's Mental Health Week theme - Let's Connect.


Healthy connections with our family, friends and communities can support our sense of wellbeing and books on this theme can help us achieve this.


Amber and Orange classes enjoyed the interactive book

'How are You Feeling Today? by Molly Potter.


They had some fun acting out their feelings and then finding out 
tips for dealing with them from this book.



Celebrations!

Emerald & Green Class shared stories about the 
Chinese New Year 
in this week's library session.

Brielle - Emerald Class

Thank you to the children who did the reading this week

with clear and expressive voices.

🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

BIRTHDABOOK CLUB

We have more books donated by our children to the library to celebrate their birthdays!

MARY – Red – Nibbles – Emma Yarlett

MAXIMILIANO – Emerald – Little People, Big Dreams: Bruce Lee

SOFIA – Orange – Grummpycorn – Sarah McIntyre

JACK – Orange – The Leaf Thief – Alice Hemming

EVANGELINE – Amber – Supertato – Sue Hendra

ENITAN – Violet – Taylor & Rose Secret Agents – Katherine Woodfine

DEBORAH – Indigo – Dairy of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway – Jeff Kinney


ELISAVETA – Ruby – We’re Going to find the Monster – Malorie Blackman

ELISHEVA – Green – Pizazz vs the New Kid – Sophy Henn


ELKANAH – Tanzanite – Me and Mister P – Maria Farrer

THOMAS – Amber – When a Jelly had a Wobble – Michelle Robinson

MYLA ROSE – White – Supertato Evil Pea Rules – Sue Hendra


MORGAN – Diamond – Milo’s Monster – Tom Percival

AMELIA – Amber – When Jelly had a Wobble – Michelle Robinson

CHIARA – Yellow – Zoe’s Rescue Zoo: The Lonely Lion Cub – Ameilia Cobb

BEATRIZ – Yellow – RSPCA: Little Lost Hedgehog 

Thank you

&

Happy Birthday!

STAR READER

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 We have presented the following children with our new

STAR READER

Certificate.



Anne-Marie - Violet Class


Lily-Rose - Amethyst Class


Anna-Josefina - Yellow Class


Habiel - Amber Class



Archie - Orange Class


WELL DONE!

Keep up the good reading and you could be the next one to receive a

STAR READER award.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


STAR READER

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 We have presented the following children with our new

STAR READER

Certificate.



Emma - Indigo Class

Asuadoba - Indigo Class

Emanuela - Sapphire Class

Giancarlo - Blue Class

Casper - Green Class

Oliver - Emerald Class

WELL DONE!

Keep up the good reading and you could be the next one to receive a

STAR READER award.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐




Library skills

During class visits this week to the library we are teaching the children some essential

library skills depending on their year group.

Nursery using book marks to find picture books.

How to find picture books, fiction books and non-fiction books.

Finding Fiction Books

These are arranged on the shelves in alphabetical order, by the Author’s surname. For instance books by authors called ALCOTT will come before ones by authors called BLUME, CLARK, FOREST or SEWELL.

Year 4 - finding fiction  books

Finding Non-Fiction Books

All non-fiction books are arranged by subject, using a system called the Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme. Each subject is given a number and all the non-fiction books have their subject number on the spine – so books on a particular subject will be found together on the shelves – e.g. Dogs at 636.7 and Music at 780. 


Year 4 - finding non-fiction books

Year 3 - finding non-fiction books



Welcome back to school!


Nursery Class

Science Books

Every week children borrow a book from our school library.
Children are very excited to share their books.
Please take some time to read it and return it to school on their weekly library day.



SCIENCE Books

We have been showing the children our new Science book displays and encouraging them 
to borrow a book from this area to help grow their knowledge of Science.







Year 2 sharing fun and interactive science-themed poetry book
'Zim, Zam, Zoom'


We shared news from the 

BIRTHDABOOK CLUB 


We thank all the children who have joined and donated a book to our library over the last year. 

CLAIRE – Pearl – Maisy Goes to the Museum – Lucy Cousins

ATTALIA – Little Gems – Maisy Goes Camping – Lucy Cousins

ALEXANA-BELLE – Pearl – Maisy Goes by Plane – Lucy Cousins

AVA – Emerald – The Girl who stole an Elephant – Nizrana Farook

AMARA-RENEE – Red – Maisy Goes to Hospital – Lucy Cousins

HARRY – Violet – The Christmasurus and the Winter Witch – Tom Fletcher

RUARI – Ruby – Look Up – Nathan Bryon

JEAN-YVES – Green – Football Superstars: Hazard Rules – Simon Mugford

ALEKSANDRE – Red – Maisy Plays Football – Lucy Cousins

MAXIMILIANO – Diamond – Football Superstars – Simon Mugford

AVA – Diamond – Phoebe The Fashion Fairy – Daisy Meadows

ANASTASIA – Indigo – The Explorer – Katherine Rundell

EVANGELINE – Red – Hello, Pepi Nana! – Andrew Davenport

ANASTASIA – Indigo – The Explorer – Katherine Rundell

MILA – Pearl – Maisy, Charley and the Wobbly Tooth – Lucy Cousins

ALFRED – Red – Maisy’s Christmas Eve – Lucy Cousins

EDMUND – Diamond – My Headteacher Is A Vampire Rat! – Pamela Butchart

MARY – White – Girls Can Do Anything – Caryl Hart

SADIE – Green – Anisha: Accidental Detective – Serena Patel

MILO – Orange – The First Hippo on The Moon – David Walliams

CHIARA – Amber – The Colour of Happy – Laura Baker

LUCA – White – Worrysaurus – Rachel Bright

SOPHIA – Ruby – While We Can’t Hug – Eoin McLaughlin

HAVANA – Orange – All Are Welcome – Alexandra Penfold

MATILDE – Indigo – Secrets of a Sun King – Emma Carroll

THEO – Ruby – Supertato – Sue Hendra

EVANGELINE – Red –The Fairytale Hairdresser and Cinderella – Abie Longstaff

NAIMA – Ruby – Supertato: The Great Eggscape – Sue Hendra

LUCAS – Orange – Happy in our skin – Fran Manouhkin

AMARA-RENEE – Red – The Fairytale Hairdresser and Rapunzel – Abie Longstaff

ARCHIE – Red – Supertato: Run, Veggies, Run! – Sue Hendra

ANTHONY – Diamond – Football Superstars: Van Dijk Rules – Simon Mugford

PIERLUIGI – Amber – Supertato: Evil Pea Rules – Sue Hendra

CHEN YZABELLE – Indigo – The Beast of Buckingham Palace – David Walliams

ANOUSHEH – Amber – Ruby’s Worry – Tom Percival

COLONEL – Diamond – Frankie’s Magic Football:The Great Santa Race – Frank Lampard

MAXIMILIANO – Diamond – Football Superstars: Aguero Rules – Simon Mugford

MORGAN – Orange – We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – Rosen & Oxenbury

MARY – Pearl – Spot Goes to the Farm – Eric Hill

EMMA – Sapphire – The Dragon in the Library – Louie Stowell

CECILIA – Indigo – The Midnight Gang – David Walliams

AISHA – Saphire – Pugs of the Frozen North – Philip Reeve

JAMES – Amber – Frankie’s Magic Football:Frankie Vs The Pirate – Frank Lampard

FRANCESCA – Sapphire – RSPCA: Tiny Goat in Trouble – Mary Kelly

ALBA – Blue – Dragon Legend – Katie & Kevin Tsang

ALEJANDRO – Indigo – Pax – Sara PennyPacker

SOPHIE – Red – Superworm – Julia Donaldson

FLORENCE – Ruby – Peppa Meets the Queen

GIORGI – Violet – Dragon City – Kevin & Katie Tsang

SOLOMON – White – Zog – Julia Donaldson

EOGHAN – Amber – Ninja Kid: From Nerd to Ninja – Anh Do

ANYA – Green – RSPCA: Lamb All Alone – Kate Davies

ANNA – Ruby – Maisy Goes to Nursery – Lucy Cousins

AYO – Orange – Rainbow Magic: Fern the Green Fairy – Daisy Meadows

HABIEL – Amber – Sky the Blue Fairy – Daisy Meadows

CHRISTIAN – Green - Frankie Vs. The Rowdy Romans – Frank Lampard

CHIARA – Diamond – Saffron the Yellow Fairy – Daisy Meadows

JEAN-YVES – Sapphire – Middle School: The Worst Years – James Patterson

MAXIMILIANO – Emerald – Ninja Kid 2 – Anh Do

MABEL – Amber – Sky the Blue Fairy – Daisy Meadows

EDOARDO – Orange – Christopher Pumpkin – Sue Hendra

DANIELE – Amber – First Hippo on the Moon – David Walliams

ATTALIA – White – Ten Little Pumpkins – Rosie Greening

MILO – Yellow – The Storm Whale in Winter – Benji Davies

SOFIA – Emerald – Rescue Zoo: The Talkative Tiger – Amelia Cobb

SORAYAH – Blue – Pizazz – Sophy Henn

NATHANIEL – Orange – The Pumpkin Who Was Afraid Dark – Michelle Robinson

IMOGEN – Violet – Moon Juice – Kate Wakeling

BLOSSOM – Diamond – Little Owl Needs a Home – Sue Mongredien

JOAQUIN – Emerald – Charlie Turns into A T-Rex – Sam Copeland

Thank you! 

Donate a book in honour of your child's birthday and help our school library to grow.

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏



🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

The Christmas tree has gone up in the library.

It has been beautifully decorated by the Junior Librarians.


Edmund- Emerald class

The rest of the library has been covered in tinsel!


This week we have been sharing Christmas stories with classes in the library.

‘The Snowman’ by Raymond Briggs

is the outstanding favourite.

Children usually crying out for it to be read at each library visit.



We have also been reminding children that they can keep reading over the holidays either by borrowing book, eBooks and eAudiobooks from the local library or from our online Reading Cloud.

We are encouraging everyone to join in with the Winter Reading Challenges at their local library. 

Islington Libraries Winter Reading Challenge Poster

Green class 

Keep reading over the holidays!


🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅


STAR READER

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

 We have presented the following children with our new

STAR READER

Certificate.

Congratulations

Amilio – Tanzanite Class for reading ‘Children’s Book of Mythical Beasts and Magical Monsters’.

Amilio - Tanzanite Class

Frankie – Indigo Class & Tommy – Indigo Class for reading the entire ‘Football Heroes’ series we have in our school library.

Frankie - Indigo Class

Thomas - Indigo Class

WELL DONE!

Keep up the good reading and you could be the next one to receive a

STAR READER award.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY

&

WINTER READING CHALLENG

This week during our class sessions we have been talking about joining our local library and the Winter Reading Challenge.

Our local Islington librarian, Raksha Agheda, came into school this week to give the children a presentation on joining their local library and the Winter Reading Challenge. She dropped in on our weekly assemblies and also came into classes.



Did you know that every child at St Joseph’s can join Islington libraries as our school is in the borough of Islington? You can also join a library near to where you live. So, find out which borough you live in.

It is FREE and you can join as soon as you are born!

To join the Winter Reading Challenge. you need to read books from the library.

Step 1: Join your local library

Step 2: Join the Winter Reading Challenge

Step 3: Borrow books

Step 4: Read 4 books

Step 5: Get awarded a certificate

And it is FREE!

Go along to the library, join, borrow books and find out about all the other fun activities that are on.

 


This week during their library session Nursery classes were
learning about rhyming words and listened to their teacher reading 
'The Rhyming Rabbit' by Julia Donaldson

We shared news from our 
BIRTHDABOOK CLUB

We welcomed a new member, Attalia, from White Class, who chose from the 
Birthday Book Box
'Ten Little Pumpkins' by Rosie Greening 
to donate to our library.



Thank you!

Donate a book in honor of your child's birthday and help our school library to grow.




 NATIONAL POETRY DAY


Thursday 6th October

COMPETITION

Emerald  and Green Classes during their class visit to the library 

shared some of the winning poems that are now on display.

Antek - Emerald Class

Rhys & Emily - Green Class

We had our own poetry competition to celebrate. Children in Years 3 to 6 wrote poetry on the National Poetry Day theme of ‘The Environment’. 

The best poems from each class were selected and the winners where given a prize of a poetry book or a book voucher for the Book Fair.

#
CONGRATULATIONS
to the winners!





WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY

Monday 10th October

Pearl & White classes shared a Big Bright Feeling book 

'Meesha Makes Friends' by Tom Percival. 

It is an affectionate look at the ways of making friends.

White class

Pearl class

🔖🔖🔖🔖🔖🔖🔖🔖🔖🔖🔖

We have put #Take10toRead bookmarks around the library.



During class visits children played 'Hunt the #Take10toRead bookmark'

and then read for 10 minutes.


📚📚📚📚📚📚

Throughout the week we will be encouraging children, teachers and parents 

to drop everything and READ! 






POETRY
We are sharing poems as part of every class session 
in the library.

Our Poetry Tree

Nursery & Recepetion  classes enjoyed poems from 
'Wriggle and Roar' by Julia Donaldson & Nick Sharratt



Year 4 & Year 5 classes listened to lively recitals of poems by 
Edward Lear and John Godfrey Saxe
from 
Poems to Perform - Julia Donaldson 


Year 1  classes were delighted to listen to Mr Murry reading 
'On The Ning Nang Nong' by Spike Milligan from 
'The Puffin Book of Nonsense Verse'.

📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖🕮

Remembering Our Queen

Elizabeth II 

This week we shared books on the Queen and her life.


👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑👑

#TAKE10TOREAD

During library sessions this week we are taking the time to read for 10 minutes.

Reading for at least 10 minutes a day is good for your well-being.



Our booknook is a very popular place 
to #Take10ToRead

📚📚📚📚📚



HOW TO USE THE LIBRARY


This week the children have been learning why we have two important rules to follow to keep our Library a relaxing space to enjoy a book or two!

BE QUIET

BE TIDY

To help keep the books in alphabetical order and the library tidy we have useful and colourful bookmarks. This way everyone helps to keep the library tidy and organised so that books can be found easily.

Year 1 - demonstration of how to use the bookmark

Also, they have been learning how to choose books in the library using our helpful five-finger rule.




 WELCOME BACK!

Each class has a weekly session in the library and every child has an opportunity to borrow a book. Please could you make sure that your child returns their library book each week on their library day so that they can either renew it or borrow another book.

 

MONDAY – Pearl/White/Amethyst/Violet

TUESDAYYellow/Diamond

WEDNESDAYAmber/Orange

THURSDAY Indigo/Tanzanite/Ruby/Red

FRIDAY Green/Emerald/Blue/Sapphire

 

If a book is lost please either replace it or contact the school office to arrange payment of £5 on ParentPay.

Please do not hesitate to contact the school librarian if you have any queries relating to the Library. 




This week our class sessions are outside. 


We are enjoying our special reading patio beside the library with benches, beanbags, bunting 
and colourful sun umbrellas.


Nursery

Year 2


Year 3

Reception


Perfect combination of reading and sun.
🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞



The Queen's Platinum Jubilee 2022

 

To celebrate the Queen's Platinum Jubilee


this week in the library we are sharing with the children

 facts about Queen Elizabeth II and stories about Queens.

Nursery listening to 'Queen Victoria's Knickers' by Jackie French

Orange class listening to fun facts from 'Elizabeth II's Reign' by Jacqui Bailey

Did you know that Buckingham Palace is the Queen's official residence and it has 
78 bathrooms!! 
The children had fun guessing the number of bathrooms - 
Anaiah was close guessing 79!

Mabel - Red class - Queen for the day!


A beautiful day at the library for Year 3 classes listening to stories
about our Queen from our new books to celebrate the Jubilee.
Green Class and Jubilee books






Monday 9th - 13th May

This week in the library we are reading books to celebrate
MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS 
&
joining in with the National Literacy Trust  #Take10ToRead 
as part of #GetIslingtonReading campaign.


Tanzanite Class
Orange Class

Amber Class


The Worrysaurus by Rachel Bright & Chris Chatterton 
is the perfect book to help every anxious child from Nursery to Year 6 
let go of their 
fears and feel happy in the moment.

White Class Library visit

😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄

POETRY
We are sharing poems as part of every class session 
in the library.

White Class

Nursery Classes enjoyed poems from 
'Wriggle and Roar' by Julia Donaldson & Nick Sharrat


Amethyst class

Year 6 classes listened to a lively recital of 
'The Jumblies' by Edward Lear 
read by Mr Morrissey
from 
Poems to Perform - Julia Donaldson


Emerald Class

Year 3 classes were delighted to listen to Mr Forbes reading 
'On The Ning Nang Nong' by Spike Milligan from 
'The Puffin Book of Nonsense Verse'.

📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖📖🕮




We have been enjoying books from the 
Supertato series as part of our
SUPERHEROS topic.

The children absolutely love them!


Reception class

🦸🦸🦸🦸🦸🦸🦸



Virtual Author Event

As part of the GET ISLINGTON READING initiative 

children in KS1 have been enjoying a virtual author workshop. 

Wednesday 23rd March

LEMN SISSAY & GREG STOBBS

Author & Illustrator 

of

Don’t Ask the Dragon 


Orange & Amber  and Diamond & Yellow classes joined author and illustrator duo Lemn Sissay and Greg Stobbs for a storytelling draw-a-long exploring their picture book Don’t Ask the Dragon. Alem is going on an adventure, it’s his birthday and he’s looking for somewhere he can celebrate it. Maybe the bear, the fox or the treefrog know where? Just DON’T ASK THE DRAGON. This book explores friendship, belonging and inclusion


Orange Class

Children and teachers really enjoyed the fun and interactive presentation.


In this week’s class visits to the library we have been sharing more books that have been recommended by The Reading Agency’s READING WELL for children programme.

Mr Murray reading 'Alphabreaths: The ABCs of Mindful Breathing' by Christopher Willard 

Amber Class doing mindful breathing

The books on the Reading Well list have been specially chosen to help understand our feelings and cope with life.

For more information ask at your local library

https://www.islington.gov.uk/libraries-arts-and-heritage/libraries

or visit

reading-well.org.uk




This week in the library we have been focusing on Children’s Mental Health Week.

Amber Class listening to 'The Colour of Happy' by Laura Baker

This year's theme is Growing Together.

Growing Together is about growing emotionally and finding ways to help each other grow.

We have been sharing with our children some of the books recommended by
The Reading Agency’s
Reading Well initiative.

Follow this link to find out more about the Reading Well books.

Reading Well Booklists


We have received 3 free sets of the Reading Well books for our library.

Thank you to the GET ISLINGTON READING project.



GET ISLINGTON READING invited us to the virtual event with actress and author

TAMZIN MERCHANT

Tuesday 25th January 

Year 4, Year 5 

Tamzin Merchant introduced the children to the magical worlds of 'The Hatmakers' and 'The Mapmakers'.
The children discovered the inspiration behind her books and had fun making their own magical hat.



Come along and borrow one of the copies of 'The Hatmakers' given to our school library by 
GET ISLINGTON READING

BIRTHDABOOK CLUB

Welcome to all the children who have recently joined our Birthday Book Club and donated a book to our school library.


EOGHAN – Red – Mad About Mega Beasts – Giles Andreae

ALEJANDRO – Sapphire – Mr Penguin: The Catastrophic Cruise – Alex T. Smith

ALBA – Emerald – Wigglesbottom Primary: The Shark in the Pool – P. Butchart

TIFFANY – Amethyst – Sam Wu is Not afraid of Space – Katie & Kevin Tsang

RONNIE – Red – The Tale of Mr Jeremy Fisher – Beatrix Potter

ATTALIA – Little Gems – Mr Mistoffeles: The Conjuring Cat – T.S.Eliot

COLIN – Amethyst – Future Friend – David Baddiel

MYLO – Diamond – King Flashypants and the Creature from Crong – Andy Riley

AURORA – Yellow – Isadora Moon:Goes to a Wedding – Harriet Muncaster

MILO – Amber – Supertato: The Night of the King Veg – Sue Hendra

ROISE – Yellow –Horrid Henry: Up, up and Away -Francesca Simon

AVA – Ruby – Dogger’s Christmas – Shirley Hughes

ZAKARIYA – Red – Emily Brown and Father Christmas – Cressida Cowell

AMELIA – Red – Maisy Goes to the City – Lucy Cousins

SOFIA – Red – Dear Father Christmas – Alan Durant

MALACHI – Ruby – The Christmas Eve Tree – Delia Huddy

AMBER – Ruby – Maisy’s Goes on a Sleepover – Lucy Cousins

DARA – Pearl – Pip and Posy: The Christmas Tree – Axel Scheffler


MIQUEL – Blue – Sam Wu is Not Afraid of Space – Katie Tsang

HIBEN – Ruby – Maisy Goes on Holiday – Lucy Cousins

NAIMA – Ruby – The Leaf Thief – Alice Hemming

DYLAN – Emerald – The Accidental Secret Agent – Tom McLaughlin

MIGUEL – Violet – Planet Omar: Incredible Rescue Mission – Zanib Mian

JOAQUIN – Diamond – Ravi’s Roar – Tom Percival

IMOGEN – Tanzanite – Shoe Wars – Liz Pichon

EVANGELINE – Red – Tilda Tries Again – Tom Percival

LENA – Amethyst – The Night Bus Hero – Onjali Q. Rauf

BLOSSOM – Orange – Maisy Goes to the Cinema – Lucy Cousins

ENITAN – Tanzanite – Black Powder – Ally Sherrick

ELENA – Green – 101 Poems for Children – Carol Ann Duffy


ELISAVETA – White – Maisy Goes to Nursery – Lucy Cousins

ELISHEVA – Yellow – Maisy Goes to the Bookshop – Lucy Cousins

ELKANAH – Blue – Oliver and the Seawigs – Philip Reeve

BRIANNA – Blue – Nothing to see here Hotel – Steven Butler

BEATRIZ – Amber – Maisy’s Sports Day – Lucy Cousins

TIFFANY – Orange – Maisy Goes to the Library – Lucy Cousins

MARGOT – Pearl – Meesha Makes Friends – Tom Percival


🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈


Christmas

The Junior Librarians have been busy decorating the library for the

Advent season.

Lucy, Tosca & Julia - Amethyst Class

 

 Amethyst Class made some amazingly creative Christmas stars for our literary

Advent Calendar.

Each star has been beautifully decorated and an image of a popular children’s book has been put on the back so that we have a suggested read for each day of Advent.

The star for 25th December was especially made by Amethyst class teacher, Mr Morrissey. Who did not want to be left out!

The children are having fun turning over the stars on our Advent Calendar to reveal our daily book suggestion.

 

Merry Christmas

&

keep reading over the holidays.

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄


Author Visit
YINKA RABIU
Monday 6th December

Morgan - Orange Class

This week in the library we were sharing Yinka Rabiu's trilogy of stories called 'The Wonderful World of Morgan Mingle and Bear Bandit'. The three stories, 'The Trip to the Park', 'At the Pool' and 'The Sleepover', are about the endearing friendship between a boy and his dog. The boy is based on the author's godson, Morgan, who is in Orange Class. Yinka was inspired to write in order to contribute to the diversity movement in the world of children's books.

The children in Year 1 are looking forward to meeting Yinka Rabiu next week. She will becoming in to give the children a exciting presentation of her books including a reading and a draw-along. 

More information about the author can be found on the following website: www.thewonderfulworldmmbb.com
📕📕📕📕📕📕📕





White class

Nursery children come to the library each week on a Monday morning
for story time and to choose a new book to borrow.

Well done Nursery who listened quietly to this week's story 
'Astro Girl' by Ken Wilson-Max.
A delightful story about space travel and being inspired by
our parents.

Pearl Class

A very special calm moment in the school day!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐



BIRTHDABOOK CLUB

Welcome to all the children who have recently joined our Birthday Book Club and donated a book to our school library.


MASON – Red – Mad About Dinosaurs – Giles Andreae

AMELIA – Red – Macavity: The Mystery Cat – T.S.Eliot

HABIEL – Ruby – What the Ladybird Heard at the Seaside – Julia Donaldson

HIBEN – Ruby – I say Ooh You Say Aah – John Kane

NAIMA – Ruby – Things I Like – Anthony Browne


🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈


This week in the library we have been learning about READERS’ RIGHTS.

Daniel Pennac and Quentin Blake have designed a poster called ‘The Rights of the Reader.

1.     The right not to read

2.    The right to skip

3.    The right not to finish a book

4.    The right to read it again.

5.    The right to read anything

6.    The right to mistake a book for real life

7.    The right to read anywhere

8.    The right to dip in

9.    The right to read out loud

10.  The right to be quiet

We have put the poster up around the library so that we can all read, understand and respect it.

Tanzanite class

Remember reading is for pleasure and we should all be able to read at our own pace and in our own way.

📘📘📘📘📘📘📘



This week in the library we have been talking and reading about how we can look after our mental health and one of the best ways is to read for at least 10 minutes a day.

Nursery Class

Year 2 class


The children have been joining in with #Take10ToRead initiative launched by the National Literacy Trust and the Reading Agency and delivered by Get Islington Reading.

Year 6 class

Year 6 children enjoyed 10 minutes of their library session reading in their 

favourite relazing library spot.



Make it a daily habit to READ.


National Poetry Day


We were celebrating poetry and rhymes all this week in the library.

Reception classes had fun singing on long to the well-known

‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm’. We even had animal finger puppets to bring it to life!


Well done Reception!



Year 3

This week Emerald and Green classes went upstairs in the library to visit the non-fiction room.

The children were given a lesson on how to find and use non-fiction books in the library. They learnt about the Dewey number and colour code system for shelving books under subject. They also learnt about how to find information easily when reading a non-fiction book by using the contents and index pages. We also talked about the very useful glossary page that provides definitions for words found in the text.


We played a game using our Dewey library rug with the children having to choose a subject and call out the number and colour. They really enjoyed it and they are on the path to being independent library users.


There is a topic shelf in the non-fiction room displaying non-fiction and fiction titles for Year 3, 4, 5 and 6’s termly topics. 

📚📚📚📚📚📚

Year 1

Spanish Corner

This week in the library Orange and Amber classes went upstairs in the library to visit the fiction and non-fiction rooms. 

Amber Class

The children were really happy and excited to see our new Spanish Corner with a selection of fiction and non-fiction books. Several children borrowed one of our new easy-to-read English and Spanish books.




SUMMER READING CHALLENGE



The Summer Reading Challenge is back and it’s all about Wild World Heroes celebrating nature and how to look after our world. It is starting in a public library near you on 10th July and encourages children aged 4-11 to read 6 books over the holidays.

 

Orange Class


This week we talked to the children about how to join in and how important it is to keep reading over the summer.

Our children are really excited to join in and we will be sending home soon details of how to join in with special starter packs.

Every child who joins in will be awarded a certificate and medal when we are back in the autumn.

Tanzanite Class

It is so easy to help your child join in either at your local library or online.

 

1.     Join your local library online or visit your nearest library

Islington:
Haringey: -
Camden:

2.    Register now for the Summer Reading Challenge either in your local library or online

 https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk

3.    Read 6 books – borrow books or download eBooks and audiobooks

4.    Collect your certificate and medal in school in September

 

Go to https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/ to find out more and help keep your child reading over the Summer. 

It’s free and fun!

 📙📘📗📕

More Free Online Resources to keep your children engaged with reading over the summer holidays:

https://wordsforlife.org.uk/virtual-school-library/ 

https://www.booksfortopics.com/storytime-online


📙📘📗📕 

 

BIRTHDABOOK CLUB

 

Welcome to all the children who have recently joined our Birthday Book Club and donated a book to our school library.

 

BEATRIZ – Ruby – One Springy Day – Nick Butterworth

JULIETTE – Yellow – Claude at the Palace – Alex T. Smith

YOSTENA – White – Traction Man – Mini Grey

SOPHIA – White – Shark in the Park – Nick Sharett

MAXIMILIANO – Amber – Shark in the Park – Nick Sharett

EMMA – Emerald – First Term at Malory Towers – Enid Blyton

GABRIEL – Pearl – The Very Best Sheepdog – Pinny Grylls

ALFRED – White – That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown – Cressida Cowell

AURORA – Orange – Tad – Benji Davies

THANK YOU! 

EUROS 2020

Year 5

This week the Euros have come to our school library and everyone is excited to get hold of one of our new books on Football Heroes.


Tanzanite Class celebrating the Euros

Who’s your hero? KANE, NEYMAR, HAZARD or RONALDO.

Read about their exciting life stories from the playground to the pitch.

⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽



WINDRUSH DAY

Tuesday, 22 June

A special day to remember when around 500 people from the Caribbean arrived at Tilbury Docks in Essex in 1948 to begin a new life in England. We remember and applaud the contribution British Caribbean communities have made to all aspects of our society.


We have some very interesting books in the library on the Windrush generation and we shared them with the children during their library visit this week.

Green Class

The Story of the Windrush by K.N. Chimbri combines historical fact with real inspiring stories from the Windrush Generation.

Emerald Class

Coming to England by Floella Benjamin tells the true story of Baroness Floella Benjamin: from Trinidad, to London as part of the Windrush generation, to the House of Lords. Coming to England wasn’t at all what Floella had expected. An inspiring story of the triumph of hope and determination

🛥🛥🛥🛥🛥


Father's Day

Sunday, 20 June

Father's Day is a holiday celebrating fatherhood and we have been reading stories about fathers and grandfathers to the children this week. 

Nursey

The children also enjoyed sharing their favourite stories about their own fathers, grandfathers and even uncles.

Reception

These are just some of the books we have in our library about fathers and grandfathers:

Just Like My Dad by David Melling

My Dad by Steve Smallman

My Dad by Anthony Browne

My Grandpa is Amazing by Nick Butterworth

👨👴👨👴👨👴



&




'Katie in London' by James Mayhew was this week's library book.
The children are learning all about our country and our European neighbours. 
And what better place to start but by a visit to London.
The children were able to share their own experiences of visiting London
from Buckingham Palace to Tower Bridge.

We are all looking forward to jumping on a big red bus and seeing more of London this summer! 
🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌🚌


&
&

This week is Refugee week. 
It is a festival to celebrate the contributions and resilience of refugees all over the UK and especially our Islington communities. 
We have many books fiction and non-fiction on Refugees in our library and we have been sharing some with our classes this week.

Refugee is a
a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster
.
Year 5

'Refugee Boy' by Benjamin Zephaniah 
'The Journey' by Francesca Sanna

To discover more about activities such as the Little Angel Puppet Theatre's digital shadow puppetry workshop based on 'The Journey', by Francesca Sanna, and more books on the subject follow link

We also shared a story with children called
'Coming to England' by Floella Benjamin 
It is a true story of Baroness Floella Benjamin who came from Trinidad to London as part of the Windrush Generation who were invited to England.
It demonstrates the difficult experience of moving home from one country to another
even if you have chosen to move and you are not a refugee. It is an inspiring story of courage and determination.

Year 2


Year 3

Why not find out about your own family background and 
celebrate your achievements.
👏👏👏

QUIET PLEASE

A reminder that the library is a quiet space for reading.


Year 3 set a great example this week when their teacher , Miss Lopez, 
settled the children into their library session with some relaxing Mindfulness breathing exercises.

Well done!




As the sun was shining we were able to enjoy our lovely patio with benches, sun umbrellas
and our new summery beanbags.



The children helped decorate the area with cut-out 
bees and butterflies.



As the topic this term is Ancient Egypt we read Laurie Krebs' 'We're Sailing Down the Nile'.
We learnt about the Gods and Goddess of Ancient Egypt as we travelled down the mighty Nile.



Diversity Books

This week we introduced the children to the wealth of books we have in the library that 
celebrate diversity and inclusivity.

It is important for children to be able to identify with characters in books and with authors 
from diverse cultures. 

Some of the books we talked about were:

'Planet Omar' - Zanib Mian - a series starring a Muslim boy with a huge imagination. The author 
grew up in London and had a passion for writing as a young girl and felt that characters from all minorities were missing from books.

'The Fastest Boy in the World' - Elizabeth Laird - all about a boy-runner from Ethiopia

'The No! Car Spotter - Atinuke - a story that tells about the life of a smart boy in an African village.

'Coming to England' - Floella Benjamin - an inspiring true story celebrating the Windrush generation.


Albie in Blue Class was excited to borrow 
'Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet' by Zanib Mian

For more information on diversity children's books and how to access Islington public libraries follow this link

ENJOY!

During the library session this week the children were reminded about our 
BIRTHDABOOK CLUB
&
we all gave a round of applause to Sara - Blue Class
who joined the club and donated 
'The White Giraffe' by Lauren St John
to the school library.


THANK YOU!




This week we were celebrating Friendship
We read 'Friends' by Kim Lewis in which Sam and Alice learn that being 
friends is all about cooperation and forgiveness. Don't worry it ends happily!

Joseph in White class 

BIRTHDABOOK CLUB


Maxi in Amber Class  
joined the Birthday Book Club and 
donated 'Shark In the Park! ' by Nick Sharratt 
to our school library.

THANK YOU!


Well done to all the children who visited the library today

Amber Class were excellent. They lined up quietly and held their library books carefully.

What stars!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐




&


This week at the library the sun was shining and we could finally 
enjoy reading on our library patio 
using some of our 
lovely new summery bean bags.

Diamond Class

The children enjoyed listening to 
'I Love Holidays' by Anna Walker
and sharing all the fun things they can do at the beach.

Build sand castles
Play in the sea
&
eat sand sandwiches!!


Green class


Green class

JUNIOR LIBRARIANS

Our Year 3 Junior Librarians
have been doing a fantastic job of monitoring 
the library. They have been busy helping children choose books and 
making sure our library is left neat and tidy.

Shayla & Emily - Emerald Class

Emanuele & Bethany - Green Class

The Junior librarians were given a 
World Book Day Token
and a
Bookmark.

Thank YOU!



Amethyst and Violet Classes have been busy 
reading and writing reviews of their favourite books.


Year 4 Junior librarians, Albie and Sara, spend
their lunchtime helping children to choose books.

Year 6 are inspiring all our children to 
read, 
learn 
and relax.

'Reading Changes Lives'.



LIBRARY SKILLS

We played Library Detectives today when Blue 
and Sapphire classes visited the library.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: To find a library book.


INSTRUCTION: All fiction books are shelved alphabetically under the 
author's surname. To find a book by the author, David Walliams, 
you need to search under the letter W.


TOOLS: Each child was given an image of a book cover and

then sent off to find the book.


RESULT: Each child found their book.


MISSION: A SUCCESS!
We are independent learners.

A fun way to learn how our library works.

Well done to all!



LIBRARY SKILLS

We played Library Detectives today when Green 
and Emerald classes visited the library.

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: To find a library book.


INSTRUCTION: All fiction books are shelved alphabetically under the 
author's surname. So if you want to find a book by the author, David Walliams, you need to search under the letter W.


TOOLS: Each child was given an image of a book cover and 
then sent off to find the book.


RESULT: Each child found their book.


MISSION: A SUCCESS!
We are independent learners.

A fun way to learn how our library works.


Thank you to our Year 3 Junior Librarians - Shayla, Emily. Emanuele & Bethany - 
who helped everyone.


Well done to all!




Wonderful Women in History

This week's library session for Diamond and Yellow classes was
devoted to sharing the story of Mary Seacole's life. 


The children really impressed with their knowledge of 
Mary Seacole. She was a nurse and 
entrepreneur born in 1805 and a role model for our children.

'Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History' by Vashti Harrison
This is a fantastic book with inspiring stories of female figures.
⭐⭐⭐




Reception classes are learning all about Africa so we read
'Handa's Noisy Night' by Eileen Browne. It is the sequel to Handa's Surprise and is a warm, funny
story about night time with a cast of nocturnal animals.
The children enjoyed sharing what they knew about bats, owls,
ant-eaters and wolves.

Every week the children take home a book from the library to enjoy.

Remember to return your library books each week so you can get another one on 
your library day.

⭐⭐⭐



Tanzanite and Indigo classes enjoyed writing some book reviews on 
our new 'Write' wall during their library visit.






⭐⭐⭐

Junior Librarians


Harry and Riccardo, two Year 5 librarians, learnt the important process for
preparing new books for the library.

Step 1
Books are given a barcode 
Step 2
Books are stamped with the St Josephs label
Step 3
Books are covered with plastic jackets
Step 4
Books are scanned into the Reading Cloud
Step 5
Books are put on the shelves ready to be borrowed


Well done!




MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK

In this week's library session the children and teachers shared 
thoughts about feelings.

We read 
'My Many Coloured Days' by Dr Seuss


The book takes the reader on a journey through many different moods using colours.
Some days you feel sort of brown, like a bear, "you feel slow and low, low down". But then you have a happy pink day and you just want to jump.

The children shared the colours that make them happy.
Pink made Havana in Red Class happy as it was the colour of
her favourite dress.



MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK

This week during the library session Amber and Orange classes joined in the 
TAKE 10 TO READ CHALLENGE



The children all agreed that reading helps you to
relax
learn
&
feel good.


The best time to read is at bedtime.
Let's make it a daily habit!










This week the children were introduced to a new character,
Nibbles; a little monster whose favourite thing is to eat books! 


A fun and interactive book called 
'Nibbles: The Book Monster' by Emma Yarlett



It was a perfect opportunity for the children to share 
their thoughts on how to treat a book and happily everyone
said they were to be 
READ.

The children all agreed that a library is no place for Nibbles!!




&


St George's Day
Friday 23rd April


St George's Day in England remembers St George, England's patron saint. 
According to legend, he was a soldier in the Roman army who killed a dragon and saved a princess.

There are many books on the legend of St George in the school library and Miss Lopez shared one with 
Green Class during their library visit.




&

Book Tips!



To help in choosing a book to read.

This week in the library Year 4 & 5 learnt about a few ways to help when choosing a book. 

  • Ask a friend
  • Ask a teacher
  • Ask a Junior Librarian
  • Use the 5 word rule - open the book and read the first page. If there are more than 5 words that you do not understand then it is probably too challenging for you.
⭐⭐⭐

READING AWARD


Congratulations!!

James in Blue Class won a special Award for exceptional reading.

James read 
'Oliver Twist' by Charles Dickens in one week. 

The classic is 545 pages long!
"It was fantastic", said James
What an inspiration to your class!


WELL DONE!




Mother's Day
Sunday 14th March

A day when we remember the women in our lives 

who have spent their lives caring for us.



This week in the library we have been sharing lots of books featuring mothers and grandmothers.

And we have been learning just how fantastic they are.




Children in Reception classes found out about all the things that a mother can do that
make her fantastic in  

Nick Butterworth's 'My Mum is Fantastic'.


A young boy describes the different ways his mother is special; she can paint like an artist, she can balance on a tightrope, she can swim like a fish, and most importantly she can 
mend important things like toys!!




happy mother's day💗


&

Today in the library Emerald and Green classes 

turned over our 10th and 11th stars to reveal 

'A Boy Called Christmas' by Matt Haig

and 

'The Parent Agency' by David Baddiel

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐



🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁



&


This week's Christmas story was
'Emily Brown and Father Christmas' by Cressida Cowell


It reminds us that Christmas is about

KINDNESS

and NOT
presents!

The children helped turn over the stars on our

Thank you!
🎁🎁🎁🎁

&

Advent Calendar


Ruby Class turned over our first Advent Calendar star to reveal our 
first book of Christmas - 'The Railway Children' by E.Nesbit.


Perfect book for a Christmas present!

🎁🎁🎁🎁

The Christmas tree is up in the library.

The Christmas lights were turned on by Reception classes.


Every child got to borrow a book and put a gold or silver bauble on the tree.


We read 'Christmas Crackers ' by Lynley Dodd and found out all about what happened when Slinky Malinki climbed the Christmas tree! 

NO CATS ALLOWED IN THE LIBRARY!!

🎁🎁🎁🎁

WELCOME TO OUR LIBRARY

Our Nursery classes filled the library with joy and excitement on Monday. It was their Dress-up day to celebrate Maths week. 

The children came dressed as professions that use Maths. So we had lots of Doctors, Scientists, Architects, Builders and Astronauts.

The children had fun sharing their ideas and aspirations and many found books to borrow on their chosen profession.

We have a fun series in the library called 'Busy People' which teaches children about important jobs, such as, firefighter, vet and teacher.



WORLD KINDNESS DAY
is celebrated annually on 13th November. On this day, we attempt to make the world a better place by celebrating and doing good deeds and pledging acts of kindness.

To help our children understand how important kindness is to our world we have been sharing stories on this theme.

100 Random Acts of Kindness Ideas
We ask the children what they could do to be kind.
Give a compliment.
Plant a tree.
Feed the ducks in the park.
Clean your room.
Give someone a smile.😃
Read someone a story.
Buy a book for the library
Birthday Book Club
Happy World Kindness Day!





Happy Halloween  




        

This week in the library we are being visited by witches, ghost and skeletons!

We are sharing some of the children's favourite halloween stories.


Watch out there are witches about!







This week children in Amber and Orange classes came to school
dressed as Superheroes.




We are all Superheros!

We have many Superhero books in our library which we are sharing with the children.


'Supertato' by Paul Linnet & Sue Hendra is their favourite.

Wishing everyone a Super(hero) half-term holiday!





BIRTHDABOOK CLUB

We have new books presented to our library by 
Dylan and Sorayah in Diamond Class 
and 
Tochi in Yellow Class


Welcome to our new members!




Black History Month
October is Black History Month. It's an opportunity to explore, discover and celebrate the many untold stories of incredible achievements and barriers to progress in past and contemporary history. 

&

World Mental Health Day
Friday 9th October


The children particularly liked the book
'KIND' by Alison Green

Imagine a World where everyone is kind. 

The children had lots of ideas of how we can make that come true.
-listening
-hugging
-sharing

⭐⭐⭐

NEW BOOKS



We are able to continue to grow our library thanks to the money we raise as a community in supporting our Book Fairs.

We will be sharing stories from our new books during class library sessions.

THANK YOU!






This week in the library we are celebrating Roald Dahl Day 
and sharing as many of his fabulous stories as possible!

Remember to share your favourite ones!



 &

This week in the library class sessions we shared funny stories on health and learning good habits.
The stories reminded the children about all the ways that they can keep themselves safe from illness.

Doctor Dog by Babette Cole
Daisy You Do! by Kes Gray
Dirty Bertie by David Roberts

The children knew that it was important to wash you hands.
They also knew that if you have a cold that you should always use a tissue to
CATCH IT, BIN IT, KILL IT!

Have a safe and relaxing weekend!
⭐⭐⭐

BIRTHDABOOK CLUB

Welcome to all our new members!

Harry - Year 4


ELIZABETH – Tanzanite – The Last Chance Hotel – Nicki Thornton
LIVIA – Orange – Shh! We Have A Plan – Chris Haughton
AISHA – Amber – Goodnight Everyone – Chris Haughton
MUHAMED – Blue – Evil Emperor Penguin – Laura Ellen Anderson
FLORA – Green – Isadora Moon: Goes on a School Trip – Harriet Muncaster
EDITH – Emerald – Isadora Moon: Has a Birthday – Harriet Muncaster
TIFFANY – White – A Dog’s Tale – Michael Rosen
ELISHEVA – Red – Tiddler – Julia Donaldson
ELKANAH – Yellow – The Storm Whale in Winter – Benji Davies
ROISE – Ruby – Rumble in the Jungle – Giles Andreae
EOGHAN – Little Gems – The Koala Who Could – Rachel Bright
JACOB – Amethyst – Fly Me Home – Polly Ho-Yen          
CHIARA – Pearl – Owl Babies – Martin Waddell
ELENA – Green – Florence and the Mischievous Kitten – Megan Rix

Rhea - Year 2
AVA – Pearl – Grandma Bird – Benji Davies
EDMUND – Ruby – The Bear and the Piano -David Litchfield
HAVANA – White – The Tale of Peter Rabbit – Beatrix Potter
HARRY – Sapphire – Winston and the Marmalade Cat – Megan Rix
ARTEMAS – White – The Storm Whale – Benji Davies
GIANCARLO LUIGI – Orange – Grandad’s Island – Benji Davies
ELIAS – White – Mad About Minibeasts - Giles Andreae
TAIWO – Orange – Horrid Henry Underpants Panic – Francesca Simon
KEHINDE – Amber – Mr Penguin & The Fortress of Secrets – Alex T. Smith

THANK YOU!




&

This week the children enjoyed listening to 
'Farmer Clegg's Night Out' by Peter Bentley.

An entertaining tale of farmyard fun.

The children helped to bring the story alive using our animal stick puppets.







This week during the library session children in Year 4 were
learning about how their school library works.

The Reading Cloud
Our digital library system means that each book and borrower has a bar code. Both the book bar code and the borrower bar code has to be scanned so that we know when the book has been borrowed and by whom.



The children all became librarians and had a chance to use the library scanner and issue their own books. 



Keep Reading
Happy Holidays!


&

This week in the library we shared the story
 'The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse'. 

This is a delightful story which tells of two friends who lead different lives, reminding us that there's no place like home.
We read the story aloud and the children joined in with the help of stick puppets helping to bring the story alive.





See you next week!







We have been celebrating Australia Day this week during our class library sessions.
The children came dressed in various animals that have their habitats in Australia such as Koala Bears and Kangaroos.

'The Koala Who Could' by Rachel Bright and Jim Field
We shared a story about a Koala who was too frightened to leave his tree and play with the other animals in the forest.


Alyssia in Ruby Class was dressed as a Koala and helped me read the story to the class. 
It was a lot of fun as she imitated the Koala and brought the story to life.


Thank you Alyssia!

⭐⭐⭐
Graphic Novels.
We now have a special area in the library dedicated graphic novels. 


We have 'Tin Tin', 'Asterix' and the 'Little People, Big Dreams' series among many others.

Next time you are in the library take a look at our growing collection of graphic novels.

⭐⭐⭐

'The Beast of Buckingham Palace'
by David Walliams
Has arrived in the Library.

David Walliams' brand new book 'The Beast of Buckingham Palace' is his most
epic adventure ever!
London is in ruins, the people are hungry, and darkness has fallen across the land.


Hurry if you want to be the first to borrow it!

⭐⭐⭐
BIRTHDABOOK CLUB

Welcome to all our new members!



RYAN-JO – Orange – Hansel & Gretel – Bethan Woollvin
ARCHIE – Pearl – Dig Dig Digging – Margaret Mayo
ELLA-GRACE – Sapphire – Claude on the Slopes – Alex T. Smith
ANYA – Red – Katinka’s Tail – Judith Kerr
FRANCESCA – Amber – Kind – Alison Green
ADAM – Indigo – Moonlocket – Peter Bunzl
CELINO – Violet – Inside Out & Back Again – Thanhha Lai
ALEJANDRO – Diamond – Magical Kingdom of Birds: The Sleepy Hummingbirds – Anne Booth
REECE – Blue- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul – Jeff Kinney
JASMINE – Diamond – Santa Claude – Alex T. Smith
PATRICK – Yellow – Zoe’s Rescue Zoo: The Puzzled Penguin – Amelia Cobb
LUCY – Blue – Top Marks for Murder – Robin Stevens
CAIN – Orange – A Book of Feelings – Amanda McCardie & Elmer in the Snow – David McKee
ELLIANA – Emerald – Lily and the Shining Dragons – Holly Webb
EVA RAE – Green – Eva the Adventurer – Elly Gedye
ARTHUR – Emerald – The World’s Worst Teachers – David Walliams
MAYA – Blue – Frostheart – Jamie Littler
FRANEK – Pearl – Oi Cat – Kes Gray
ATHINA – Green – Wigglesbottom Primary: The Toilet Ghost – Pamela Butchart
FRANKIE-RAE – Yellow – Amelia Fang and the Barbaric Ball – Laura Ellen Anderson
CHRIS – Amethyst – The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman
EMANUELA – Amber – Oi Duck-Billed Platypus! – Kes Gray
ANNE-MARIE – Green – Wigglesbottom Primary: Super Dog! – Pamela Butchart
EMILY MARIE – Red – Elmer in the Snow – David McKee
OSCAR – Orange – Madeline in London – Ludwig Bemelmans
NOEMIE – Tanzanite – Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls 2 – Francesca Cavallo
MARTHA – Sapphire & PATRICK – Yellow – Wigglesbottom Primary: The Classroom Cat – Pamela Butchart
ELEANOR – Tanzanite – The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland – Catherynne M. Valente
THOMAS – Diamond – Wigglesbottom Primary: The Magic Hamster – Pamela Butchart
NOAH – Emerald – Bunny vs Monkey: Book One – Jamie Smart
COLIN – Blue -My Evil Twin is a Supervillain – David Solomons
RHYS – Ruby – The Smeds and the Smoos – Julia Donaldson
IMOGEN – Green- Amelia Fang and the Unicorn Lords – Laura Ellen Anderson
FATIMA – Tanzanite – Wildspark – Vashti Hardy
MYLO – Red – Car, Car, Truck, Jeep – Katrina Charman
HERANI – Ruby – The Fairytale Hairdresser and Rapunzel – Abie Longstaff
MMASICHUKWU  - White – Runaway Train – Benedict Blathwayt
ETHAN – Pearl – To The Rescue! – Benedict Blathwayt
JASON – Blue – Baby Aliens Got My Teacher! – Pamela Butchart
MAXIMILIANO – Ruby – Mad About Trucks and Diggers – Giles Andreae
CASPER – Red – Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp – Carol Diggory Shields
LEO – Little Gems – Busy Day – Benedict Blathwayt
SORAYAH – Orange – I Love My Mummy – Giles Andreae
KY-MANI – Pearl – I am Bat – Morag Hood
DESTINY – White – Supertato – Sue Hendra
CLARA – Little Gems – Home – Carson Ellis
KATE – Tanzanite – The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle – Victoria Williamson
KAYLA – Pearl – Emily Brown and Father Christmas – Cressida Cowell
LUKE – Diamond – The House At Pooh Corner – A.A.Milne
TIFFANY – White – Now We Are Six – A.A.Milne
LIAM – Red – When We Were Young – A.A.Milne
TOSCA – Blue – Amelia Fang And The Memory Thief - Laura Ellen Anderson
MILO – Pearl – Winne-the-Pooh – A.A.Milne
JOAQUIN – Ruby – A Bit Lost – Colin Naughton
JESUS – ‘Baby Jesus is Born’ 
BLOSSOM – White - The Tale of Peter Rabbit – Beatrix Potter

Many Thanks!

⭐⭐⭐


JUNIOR LIBRARIANS


Primary School Library Assistant Application Form

The Role: Join the team running your school library – issuing and returning books using computer, shelving books, helping children using the library and library catalogue on ipad, tidying and promoting the library.
Qualities: Looking for children who are reliable, careful, friendly, and hard-working and love books. Need to be confident in using computers, good at alphabetical and numerical order as well as good listeners and communicators, and able to work one lunchtime a week.
Name:                                                            Class:

What would make you a great Library Assistant?



What makes reading so important?



Special interests:



Signature:                                                        Date:

Please give your application to the School Librarian: Mrs Rooney
⭐⭐⭐

Congratulations 

to our new 

Junior Librarians!


Applications have been completed and our Junior librarians for this term 
have been selected from our Year 5 and 6 children. 

Mondays
Charlotte - Tanzanite
Zoe - Tanzanite

Tuesdays
Alexandra - Indigo
Isla - Amethyst

Wednesdays
Christian - Lavender
Kate - Tanzanite

Thursdays
Joshua - Lavender
Kesanet - Violet

Fridays
Isabella - Indigo
Antony - Indigo

Duties:
1. Return and Issue books
2. Re-shelf books
3. Keep library tidy
4. Keep library quiet
5.Help children choose books

Well done and good luck!

⭐⭐⭐
CATHOLIC VALUES 
in our Library

The catholic values of GOODNESS and KINDNESS are nurtured in our library.



Our children are taught to:

BE RESPECTFUL
HELP EACH OTHER
BE KIND TO EACH OTHER 
& Books!

The children are encouraged to participate in charitable acts.
⭐⭐⭐
BOOK DONATIONS

We often have to remove books from our library in an effort to keep up-to-date and we look to ways of doing this responsibly. 
Often we give these books to our local charity shops or sell them at our Summer Fair to raise money for our school. 
However, recently we were asked by a parent if we had any books to donate to a school in Africa.
We were delighted to help.

Miss Ubani (mother of Callistus in Red Class and Assumpta in Sapphire Class) then organised for these books to be sent to the Elora Destiny International School in Nigeria.
It was fantastic to see children receiving our books and how pleased and excited they were.

It is good to be able to help schools and children in other countries and fulfill our mission of kindness and our mission statement:

"OUR FAMILY AT ST JOSEPH'S LEARNS, LOVES AND GROWS WITH GOD AT THE CENTRE".


&

What a Star

Kate (Sapphire Class) had a very generous and ingenious idea to donate her comics and graphic novels to a good cause. 

Kate and her brother, Alex, love the comic 'The Phoenix'
and have been reading it for years. They had a huge stack of comics that they had already read and they were keen to put this collection to good use. 

Kate discovered that a school in Aleppo, Syria, were in need of English comics and graphic novels. She was aware that for the people of Syria life had been particularly hard over the last few years and she wanted to help in anyway she could. 

So she organised to package and send her copies of 'The Phoenix' to Syria.



Well done Kate! 
We are so proud of you!





During our library class sessions this week children who joined the
Birthday Book Club 
presented the library with the book they had chosen to donate in celebration of their birthdays.

All the books are chosen by the children and recommended to their class as exciting reads.

Flora (Diamond) & Edith (Yellow)




Isabel - Sapphire Class


Tito - Indigo Class




Miquel - Amber Class





Tyler - Blue Class

James (Pearl Class)



Christian - Indigo Class

Ellie - Indigo Class

Thank you!

Parents & carers helping us to make our library the best it can be!




This week Year 2's trip to the library was not just about sharing a story! 

On a more practical note the children learnt how our library works. 

We use a online library management system called
 'The Reading Cloud'


You can access the library system via the school website: 
www.st-josephs.islington.sch.uk, or through the library blog.

The children understood that every book in our library has a code and that every child has a code.

TO BORROW A BOOK
1. Scan code in book
2. Scan code of child

Children had fun issuing the book they wanted to borrow.




Happy Reading Year 2!

Remember
All books are borrowed for one week.
Please return your book so that you can get a new one each week.




&


This week Nursery and Reception classes got a chance to see how their library works.

Some children had fun issuing their own books using our online library management system






Don't tell anyone otherwise, Mrs. Rooney, our librarian, will be out of a job!!
⭐⭐⭐

STICKERS!

All the children were given a sticker to thank them for visiting our library and for being such fabulous book readers!





Also, it might help to remind children to return their library books each week.

Nursery Class: Mondays
Reception Class: Tuesdays

See you next week in the library when you can change your books 

(but remember only if you return a book!)

⭐⭐⭐


LUNCH TIME IN THE LIBRARY

Children from Year 2 enjoying a shared moment in our
cozy reading nook.




"I love the library because you make your imagination bigger and learn lots of new words"
Elizabeth - Diamond Class

"I love Thursdays as it is our day to go to the library"
Heidi - Yellow Class






This week during the library sessions we have been reading stories that remind us
of the virtue of 
KINDNESS.

'Dogger' by Shirley Hughes tells a reassuring story of how a much-loved toy is lost and finally found again through the kindness of a family. It reminds us that helping someone spreads happiness.



'The Smartest Giant in Town' by Julia Donaldson is a lovely story showing clearly that helping others makes us all better people and part of a community.



The children shared ways in which they had been kind and ways in which they would be kind.


Reception Class


Remember be KIND!



&



As Father's Day is celebrated on Sunday 16th July 
we thought it was a good time to remind children about how 
important Fathers and Grandfathers are in our families.

We read the humorous and charming
'My Dad' by Anthony Browne
and 
'Grandad' by Rachel Elliot.


Mrs. Rooney, the librarian, visited each class to read stories to the children this week.

Pearl Class
White Class

The children enjoyed showing her their classrooms and all the great work
they have been doing.

Orange Class

Wishing you all a 
Happy Father's Day!


We have a new 
in the Library



 Come to the library and read some of the 
wonderful stories from the Bible.




Fill in a speech bubble about a story from the Bible and how it made you feel.

Children thinking and writing about stories from the Bible.
Library display of children's speech bubbles.

Join in!




NUMBERS DAY

We celebrated numbers this week in our library classes. 

Did you know there are lots of fun stories all that help with Maths?

Here are a few of them that the children liked.

'Ten Little Dinosaurs' by Mike Brownlow & Simon Rickety
'Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes' by Mem Fox & Helen Oxenbury


Counting to ten - Nursery Class

After our story the children spent some time choosing a book to borrow. 
They really enjoy this as we are lucky to have a wonderful collection of books.

Please return your book every week on your library day so that you can get a new one!

Have a good READING weekend!






&

This week we read from one of our favourite books
'A Bear Called Paddington' by Michael Bond.


The children had fun thinking of the names they would have if they were named after their place of birth. There were a lot of 'Whittingtons'!!

We have lots of new books in the library to share with the children thanks to funds raised by our Book Fairs.




This week during our library sessions children shared some of the books that they have donated to celebrate their birthdays as part of our Birthday Book Club.
Giulia - Amber Class - 'I Want My Hat Back' by Jon Klassen


Elkanah - Orange Class - 'Zoom, Rocket, Zoom' by Margaret Mayo


Ava Grace - Ruby Class - ' The Last Chip' by Duncan Beedie


Henry - Red Class - 'Emergency' by Margaret Mayo


Thank you to all Parents/Carers who have joined our Birthday Book Club and helping to grow our library.







To celebrate St George's Day this week in the library we shared with the children various version of the legend of St George and the Dragon.

'George and the Dragon' by Christopher Wormell
'George's Dragon goes to School by Claire Freedman






Please return all library books this week 
before the Easter Holidays.

Many thanks.








During our class visits to the library this week we are celebrating Mother's Day which is on 
Sunday 31st March.
We have been reading lots of stories about all sorts of mothers and children have been sharing their own stories about their mothers and what they are going to do to make their mothers feel special.

'My Mum' by Anthony Browne
'I Love Mummy' by Giles Andreae & Emma Dodd









Don't forget that every day is Mother's Day!




The children were really excited during this week's library session as we were showing off our incredible selection of new books. 
We are so lucky that we can keep our library up-to-date with the help of all the money we raise at our BOOK FAIRS.


 If football is your thing we have the 'Frankie's Magic Football' series and 'Girls F.C.' series to get you excited about the game off the pitch as well as on the pitch!
And 
 we have the amazing children's author, Cressida Cowell's, new series, 'The Wizards of Once'.
a magical fantasy set in ancient times.

&

BIRTHDAY BOOK CLUB


Milo and Albie - Yellow Class

THANK YOU 
for your fabulous book donations.

JOIN IN









We have some fantastic news.

On Wednesday 27th March 
Year 3 children have been invited to Highgate School to meet the famous children's author 
FRANCESCA SIMON


She is best know for her award-winning 'Horrid Henry' series.

Francesca Simon will be talking about her new book

and the is an opportunity to purchase signed copies.

We will be spending the next few library sessions dedicated to Francesca and her Horrid Henry!

EXCITING!



As this is Children's Mental Health Week we have been sharing stories about our feelings and how to keep positive.  We have a good selection of books for every year group in our library about emotions and how to deal with them.
We started off the class sessions by collecting smiles 🙂😊 from all the children so demonstrating how being happy is a powerful emotion and how smiling can help make everyone happy.





Wishing you all a smiley weekend!🙂😊




It's snowing this week so its a perfect time to come in from the cold and read a book in our lovely library. The children are so lucky that they have a charming cozy place to read on these cold, cold days.



During our class sessions this week we were reading from
'Big Bear, Little Bear' by David Bedford.

Little Bear longs to be as big and as fast as his mother. In the cold Arctic snow, Mother Bear shows the little bear cub what it's like to be grown up. It's fun, but maybe being small brings its own rewards too...
⭐⭐⭐

We also shared stories by the author, Polly Faber, who came to visit St Joseph's this week.
  Polly has written the well known series 'Mango & Bambang', Picking Pickle' and 'Grab the Rabbit'. 

Polly loved St Joseph's and meeting the children:

"...a lovely school and children and the LOVELIEST library - thank you so much for inviting me!"

FINALLY!

Please remember to return your library books each week on your library day so that you can get a new book and a STICKER!!




Monday
Nursery/Year 1/Year 6
Tuesday
Reception/Year 3 – Green Class
Wednesday
Year 4/Year 3 – Emerald Class
Thursday
Year 2/Year 5



Wishing you all a good weekend!





Its's chilly 
out there! 

So this week in the library class sessions we been enjoying stories about snow and bears. 


The children were reminded about how important it is to remember your manners especially to always say PLEASE and THANKYOU!

We have also been preparing for our special author visit from 
Polly Faber 
next week on Tuesday 29th January. 

She is coming in to talk to Reception, Year 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Her books are available on Parentpay and they will be personally signed by her on the day.

James (Yellow Class) read to the class a few pages from Polly's book
'Superstar Tapir', from the 'Mango and Bambang' series. 
Mango discovered that Bambang had never seen snow and as his best friend she felt it was her job to make sure he experienced the wonder of snow. 

Why not borrow the book from the library and find out what happens next. 
We have several of the 'Mango and Bambang' series in the library.

Well done to James! 
Fabulous reading!




The children have been having fun unwrapping more Christmas presents for the library.















Our library has our very own Advent Calendar counting down to Christmas with a selection of the children's favourite books.

As part of our Christmas celebrations during the class sessions the children will be turning over the advent stars to discover a new book every day.

Inspirational! 



 We also have a Christmas Present for the library which the children will be unwrapping to reveal a new book for our library every day from now until Christmas.

Many of the stories will be about the Story of the Nativity which we will then share with the children.
White Class visit
Sienna - Orange Class
Emerald Class

Emerald Class



This week during Nursery's library session we read our first story of the Christmas season.

'How Many Sleeps till Christmas?' by Mark Sperring

The children all joined in and we worked out that on Saturday it will be 24 sleeps till Christmas!!

Yipee!


The children know that they have to make sure that, unlike Pip in the story, they need to get to bed on time every night so that they will be able to be the first ones up on Christmas morning. Poor Pip slept in and his daddy was the first up!!

Early to bed, early to rise!



Sharing Poetry

Reading 'Comet' by Kate Wakeling

During their library session this week Year 4 had fun reading the poem 'Comet' by Kate Wakeling.
They had to try and read it as fast as they could as if they were the comet shooting through the sky.

It is a real tongue-twister!

Well done!





It was National Poetry Day on Thursday 4th October.
We have spent many weeks with classes from
Reception - Year 6
reading, writing and discussing poetry.

The children have been inspired by our visit from poet, 

Kate Wakeling.



Kate Wakeling spent the day touring the school and sharing her poetry with all classes.



'Moon Juice’ is her first poetry collection for children and won the 2017 CLiPPA (The Award for the Best Children’s Poetry Book). It is a delightful book. 

Borrow it from the library today! 

⭐⭐⭐

POETRY TREE


See just how excited our children are about poetry!!



BEFORE

AFTER





With the World Cup on everyone's mind, this week in the library the children from Year One helped read a football story. 

 'Football Factor' by Alan Durant and Andrew Chiu are a fun series about the game of football. We talked about football and the fun of supporting a team in the World Cup. The children shared their thoughts about this team sport and how it is just as important to enjoy the game as to compete and win.



We will all be cheering the winner of the World Cup whoever it is.
Good Luck!




During all the library class sessions this week we talked about 
joining in 
with the
Summer Reading Challenge 
over the holidays.



The children had an opportunity to ask questions about the challenge and they all know that there are only 3 steps.

1. Join your local library


2. Borrow and read 6 books


3. Collect your certificate and medal

oh and


4. Have Fun Reading!!
⭐⭐⭐


&


During this week's library session we concentrated on the running of the library and how our online catalogue works.


The children learnt that each book is allocated a unique code and each child has a unique code and when they are scanned together it means that the book has been issued.

After a little demonstration they got a chance to scan the books to either issue them or return them to the library.
Joshua, Henry & Tito using the library scanner (Sapphire Class)

"It was good to get to know how the library runs" said Joshua (Sapphire Class)

See you next week!

⭐⭐⭐



This week we read 'We're All Wonders' with the children. It is the unforgettable story of August Pullman, an ordinary boy with an extraordinary face.
It is an inspiring picture book based on the book 'Wonder' by R.J. Palacio and made for younger readers to understand the important message of kindness and acceptance. 
'We're All Wonders' shows the children what it's like to live in Auggie's world - a world in which he feels like any other kid, but he's not always seen that way.
Our children shared their thoughts about us all being unique and how it is important to show kindness to everyone.
It was an inspiring story for our end of school year.

⭐⭐⭐

The children were also reminded about reading over the Summer and many said that they would be joining the SUMMER READING CHALLENGE at their local library.



⭐⭐⭐
We have a few new additions to the library:

1. 'The Trials of Apollo: The Dark Prophecy by Rick Riordan  - the very exciting 2nd book in this new series. Make sure you read the 'Percy Jackson' and 'The Heroes of Olympus' series first though.
(Please note: 'The Trials of Apollo'  - Year 5 & 6 with parental permission)


2. 'Around the World in Eighty Days', based on the story by Jules Verne

3. 'Journey to the centre of the Earth', based on the story by Jules Verne

These are great classic adventure stories especially for Young Readers growing in confidence.

Borrow one today!





During this week's library session we continued with the theme of 'mini-beasts'. We read from the very amusing 'The Crunching Munching Caterpillar' by Sheridan Cain.

The children joined in with the story to make the sounds of the insects that the caterpillar met on it's journey to becoming a butterfly and we had fun finding out who had nibbled the corners of the book! 

The crunching munching caterpillar - of course!!

⭐⭐⭐

Another week of good sunny weather has allowed us to enjoy many library sessions outside.

Year 5 came to the library to change their library books and enjoyed some quality reading time outside. 


A very enjoyable afternoon reading!
⭐⭐⭐

This week's story was 'Farm' by Mary Novick and Jenny Hale. A lovely interactive lift-flap book introducing the children to the animals found on a farm. 

The children had fun guessing each animal and then making the sound or talking about what each animal did on the farm. 

The class favourite was the cat - meow!

⭐⭐⭐


WEEK NINE

Michael Morpurgo

'The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips' was this week's book.

This is an incredible tale of a deserted village, a lifelong friendship, and one very adventurous cat.

This week the book club was run by two of our junior librarians, Georgine (Violet) and Eadie (Tanzanite).




Firstly, they shared with the children their own personal knowledge of the author, Michael Morpurgo and his books. Then they introduced this week's book giving each child a turn to read and explaining any unusual words or phrases as they went along. One of these phrases was 'shouldn't let my tongue do the thinking for me' which they explained was a saying and meant that it was best to 'think before we speak'!

Thank you to Georgine and Eadie who did an incredible job.


Next week is the unseasonable 'Snow Tales' by Morpurgo!




This week when Yellow and Diamond class came to the library to change their books they were given a demonstration of how to use the scanner to issue their books. 
They learnt that every book in the library has a unique code 



and every child has a unique code and when they scan them together it means that they have issued a book.



Well done Yellow and Diamond class! 
Everyone is a librarian!
⭐⭐⭐

We read from the very delightful 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' 
as we are learning about mini-beasts. 

The children know the story so well so they joined in. 

This weekend see if you can spot some beautiful butterflies.

⭐⭐⭐

&

During the class sessions we have been reading extracts from the following books:

'The Family From One End Street' by Eve Garnett
'Stig of the Dump' by Clive King
'The Wild Beyond' Piers Torday

This is a good way to expand our reading knowledge and begin to read more widely.
Go ahead experiment!


⭐⭐⭐



WEEK EIGHT

Michael Morpurgo

'Mr Skip' was this week's book.


Believing in magic makes dreams come true...
Jackie dreams of having a horse of her own, one that will be the fastest on the estate, the fastest in all Ireland and the fastest in the world. Mum dreams of a little cottage in the country for her and Jackie to live in. What they get is a garden gnome that Jackie finds in a rubbish skip; one she lovingly repairs and paints; a gnome she calls Mr Skip. And Jackie soon discovers that with Mr Skip, anything is possible.

The children enjoyed reading from this book and sharing their thoughts on other stories that have similar themes such as 'Jack and the Beanstalk'. 

Can't wait for next week's story from Michael Morpurgo!
⭐⭐⭐


This week's story was 'Farm' by Mary Novick and Jenny Hale. A lovely interactive lift-flap book introducing the children to the animals found on a farm. 

The children had fun guessing each animal and then making the sound or talking about what each animal did on the farm.

1. The cow provided the milk
2. The hen laid the eggs
3. The pig rolled in mud
4.The dog rounded up the sheep
5. The cat chased the mouse!

Have a fun trip to the farm!

⭐⭐⭐

Matilde (Amber) helping with the reading

We managed to finish the story of 'Horrid Henry's Wedding'.
As was to be expected Henry as a Pageboy lead to a series of disasters.

1. He stood on Prissy Polly's gown and ripped it
2. He lost the rings by tossing them in the air like pancakes and they rolled into the drain
3. He ate so much of the wedding cake it collapsed.

Would you invite him to your wedding??


 
&



This week we held our school wide sports day which the children look forward to with great excitement.
It was a good occasion to read from Quentin Blake's 'All Join In'. We shared with the children the important message of everyone participating in all the activities at school so that that together we can all be the best that we can be.
The children particularly like the idea of joining in to eat the 'chocolate fudge banana cake'!!

⭐⭐⭐

WEEK SEVEN

Michael Morpurgo

'Tom's Sausage Lion' was this week's book.

Tom saw a lion strolling through the orchard with a string of sausages dangling from its mouth. He knows he saw the lion but no-one will believe him.

The children enjoyed reading from this book and meeting Tom's family. They found that they really could relate to Tom and how he felt when no adult will believe him. We talked about that feeling of empathy we have when we understand how someone else is feeling and how important this is. The children shared similar stories.
See you next week for another delightful Morpurgo story!

⭐⭐⭐
Outdoor Learning.
This week Red Class during their library session took to the outdoors.
Every child chose a book from the library and we all gathered on our picnic benches to read and share stories. 


⭐⭐⭐
A quick change of books for children in Yellow Class.
Happiness is getting a book from your school library!
Have a good weekend!



&


During our class sessions this week we continued reading from 'Horrid Henry's Wedding' by Francesca Simon. The children were very keen to find out what happened at Prissy Polly and Pimply Paul's wedding. They didn't think that it would be as wonderful as the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan especially with Horrid Henry as a Pageboy. This week he unsuccessfully tried to ruin his pageboy clothes: lilac ruffle shirt, green satin knickerbockers, pink cumberbund, white satin shoes with gold buckles!! 
Yuck!
Next week we will find out what else Horrid Henry is planning on to ruin Prissy Polly's wedding. 
⭐⭐⭐
Lunch Time
in the
Library

Time to explore the library

Time to read together

Time to share a story



Time to talk about a book

Time to help younger readers

Time to decide what to read next

Time alone with a book

A very busy reading week!

⭐⭐⭐


WEEK SIX

Michael Morpurgo

'Butterfly Lion' was this week's book.

A moving tale of a young boy growing up in Africa, and his lifelong friendship with a white lion. “All my life I’ll think of you, I promise I will. I won’t ever forget you.” Bertie rescues an orphaned white lion cub. They are inseparable until Bertie is sent to boarding school far away in England and the lion is sold to a circus. Bertie swears that one day they will see one another again, but it is the butterfly lion which ensures that their friendship will never be forgotten. 

The children enjoyed reading from the book and then we spent time predicting possible endings to the story.

This week with the children we talked about the author, Michael Morpurgo and we shared some interesting facts about his life.

1. Michael Morpurgo was born in St Albans in 1943
2.He went to boarding school, which made him very homesick
3. After school he joined the army, which he didn't like either. He left the army and became a primary school teacher in Kent
4.After 10 years he moved to a farm in Devon with his wife to become a full-time writer. A lot of his stories are set on farms
5. Sitting at a desk gives Michael backache, so he writes his novels sitting on his bed.
6. His favourite authors are: Robert Louis Stevenson (Treasure Island) and Ted Hughes (The Iron Man)
7. In 2003 he was Children's Laureate

See if you can find any other interesting facts about his life.
⭐⭐⭐

NEW BOOKS


'The Iron Woman' by Ted Hughes


'The Language of Cat' by Rachel Rooney

Bring and Buy
Sold my mother at the Summer Fayre
to a year 3 kid. Good buy.
Six quid. A bargain at half the price…
didn’t think twice, I swear.
Found a great mum going spare:
big boots, spiked hair—dyed pink.
So walked her back to mine. Like mates,
our footsteps fell in synch.

Borrow books and read on! 

⭐⭐⭐




&




This week we were promoting 'Walk to School Week' and encouraging children to walk rather than take the bus or car to get to school. 

Mo Farah's 'Ready, Steady, Mo!' was the perfect book to share with the children. It is a colourful and fun book showing many ways you can exercise whilst going about your daily tasks

"Run in your slippers, 
Run in your vest, 
Run in your onesie, 
Run and get dressed."


Mo celebrates winning his races with his gesture 'Mobot'. 
Walk to school and celebrate with your own unique gesture.

It's going to be a healthy week!

⭐⭐⭐

We read the lovely story 'I Love Holidays' by Anna Walker and the children shared all the things they like to do on holiday.

Go the the beach
Eat ice cream
PLAY!


Today the children helped me issue the books. 

It is fun and they learn how the library works.

Happy Holidays everyone.
Don't forget to READ!


⭐⭐⭐


WEEK FIVE
David Walliam's
'Demon Dentist' was this week's book.

"Strange things were happening in the dead of night. Children would put a tooth under their pillow for the tooth fairy, but in the morning they would wake up to find… a dead slug; a live spider; hundreds of earwigs creeping and crawling beneath their pillow.
Evil was at work. But who or what was behind it…?"
This week with the children we spent time looking at the way the author chooses to layout his story. We talked about how important the illustrations are to creating his characters. The children said that it helped them to understand how funny the story was.

We had fun reading the prologue aloud together and everyone understood that it was an introduction to the story to come.

Next Term - Michael Morpurgo 

Happy Half-term!


⭐⭐⭐



WEEK FOUR

David Walliam's

'Awful Auntie' was this week's book. 


Stella Saxby is the sole heir to Saxby Hall. But awful Aunt Alberta and her giant owl will stop at nothing to get it from her.

The children took it in turns to read and then talked about how they hoped that no one had an auntie like Alberta. We discussed how much the illustrations by Tony Ross really helped with comprehension and made the characters come alive.

See you next week!







To mark the occasion of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding this week we have been reading stories about weddings.

'The Scarecrow's Wedding' by Julia Donaldson

These are great stories not only about weddings 
but about how we should always choose to do the right thing. 
The children understood the message: 
Be Brave, Be Honest!
live happily ever after!
⭐⭐⭐


'Horrid Henry's Wedding' by Francesca Simon
Horrid Henry is up to his usual tricks. Will he ruin his cousin, Prissy Polly's wedding? It is lucky that he has not been invited to the Royal wedding on Saturday!!

We all wish Prince Harry and Meghan Markle much happiness!



🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂


&


The children were very keen for their library session this week as it was, not only, a chance to change their books, but to find out the conclusion of  Michael Morpurgo's  
'The Fox and The Ghost King'.


Last week we left the foxes when they had made the acquaintance of the ghost king and they were deciding whether they would dig a tunnel to lead the archaeologists to him. As foxes love to dig they helped him and the King (Richard III) was discovered and given a state burial in Leicester Cathedral.  Then the strangest thing began to happen! Leicester City began to win and they did not stop winning until they won the League. It was unbelievable! Had the Ghost King kept his promise to the foxes that Leicester City would win. Some people actually believed that it was the foxes who had brought good luck to Leicester and perhaps they were right!!


This story was based on fact as in August 2012, King Richard III was found under a Leicester car park, and a right royal turnaround in the Foxes' fortunes began, with their long-awaited return to the top flight, the Premier League, in 2014.

Coincidence or a touch of magic?!!

Thank you Mr Bhol for a fantastic recommendation.




If you liked 'The Fox and the Ghost King' why don't you borrow another book by the author, Michael Morpurgo or perhaps, if you would like to read a little more about King Richard III you could try, 'I Was There...Richard III' or 'Richard III: A Shakespeare Story'.

See you in the Library!





This week Reception classes went on a trip to the local Postbox to post some letters. 
On their return I went to visit them in their classroom.




We had fun reading a poem called 'The Postman' by Clive Samson and the children all joined in stamping their feet to the 
'Rat-a-tat-tat' sound of the postman knocking on a door to deliver his letters.

Well done!

⭐⭐⭐



&


There was great excitement this week during the library sessions for Years 3 and 4 as the children were eager to hear the next episode in Michael Morpurgo's fabulous book 
'The Fox and The Ghost King'.

Last week we left the foxes making their way home after their football club, Leicester lost to Chelsea. Whilst they hunted for worms (to cheer themselves up) they heard a man's voice coming from the ground below asking for help. He introduced himself to the foxes as the 'King of England' and not unnaturally the foxes were a little incredulous at first. However, as everyone knows, foxes are cunning so when the 'King' offered to grant them any wish in return for their help they agreed to dig a tunnel to release him.
Can they trust each other? 

We can't wait to find out next week! 



⭐⭐⭐



WEEK THREE

David Walliams

Billionaire Boy was this week's book. 


As it was such a lovely day we held the book club outside and gathered around a picnic table and we read Chapter 5 where Joe (billionaire boy) realises he has a friend he can trust in Bob. It is quite a sweet moment. The children talked about the importance of  trust in friendship. We also learnt the meaning of incredulity.
Incredulity (Noun): doubtful that something is true.


See you all next week!







Reception are off to the Post next week so I thought I would get them ready by reading from the 'Jolly Postman' by Janet & Allan Ahlberg We talked about how to send letters and what information we need on the envelope - name, address and stamp. 

We read a very funny letter from Goldilocks to baby bear apologizing for eating his porridge and breaking his chair and even inviting him to her birthday party. We talked about how it is important to say sorry when we do something wrong and try to make it up by doing something nice!

Happy Days!

⭐⭐⭐


&





This week for Year 3 and Year 4 class library sessions we have started to read from the fantastic Michael Morpurgo book, 'The Fox and the Ghost King', which has been recommended by Mr Bhol. The children were really intrigued to know what foxes and football have in common. Did you know that a fox is the mascot for the Leicester City Football Club? He even has a name, Filbert!
We can't wait for next week to find out what foxes and ghosts have in common!!

⭐⭐⭐

&

We celebrated St George's day recently so during the library sessions this week we listened to a variety of stories about St George and his dragon.
We particularly liked the one where the dragon is afraid of the mouse!!

'George and the Dragon' by Chris Wormell

See you next week!

⭐⭐⭐



WEEK TWO

David Walliams

This week we read from 'Gangsta Granny'.
The story opens with Ben, a little boy, being dropped off to stay with his granny so that his parents could go ballroom dancing. The children took it in turns to read and then we talked about how the author introduces the main character of the granny. We hear about her from Ben's point of view which is very negative  - "But Granny is soooo boring".  The children predicted that the author did this so that when we meet granny our expectations are low and then are surprise at her actions is so much greater. Very interesting and helpful in creating suspense in our own work.



See you all next week!


⭐⭐⭐

Image result for Book Club

We have launched a weekly lunchtime book club for children in Years 3 and 4.

We meet every Wednesday lunchtime in the library and share and chat about books.

Welcome to our Book Club

Emerald Class - Rachel, Chloe and  Anna.
Green Class - Isabel, Eleanor, Noemie, and Elizabeth
Sapphire Class - Grace K
Blue Class - Taylor, Stevie, Chloe

This term we are learning about the author, 
David Walliams
and his books.

WEEK ONE

This week we read from 'Mr Stink' and we all agreed it was hilarious.
Everyone got a chance to read and then we had a lively discussion about the character of Mr Stink and whether he was likeable or not. We all thought that it was a good that this was not a scratch 'n' sniff book!



Can't wait till next week!

⭐⭐⭐


































 




⭐⭐⭐






Football School Season 1: Where Football Explains the World


Illustrated by Spike Gerrell

 

A new series from two bestselling writers that teaches you about the world through football.

 

The first book is packed with awesome true stories, real science and fascinating facts and will make you laugh loads.

· When do footballers poo?
· Can you play football on Mars?
· What is a magic sponge?

You will find the answers to these questions and more in chapters on subjects such as history, geography, biology and maths. Illustrated throughout with hilarious cartoons and filled with laugh-out-loud gags this is the perfect book for any boy or girl who loves football. Your coaches at Football School, Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton, are journalists, broadcasters and award-winning science and sports writers. Their knowledge, enthusiasm and engaging writing make them the perfect team to teach you how to score with your head.
Categories: Non-Fiction
For readers aged: 7+





As it is Numbers Day on Friday 2nd February this week during our class library sessions we were celebrating stories and rhymes featuring numbers.



Ruby Class listening to 'Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes'

Red Class joining in with 'One, Two, Buckle My Shoe'


Noah - Amber Class reading Action and Counting Rhymes

Happy Numbers Day!

⭐⭐⭐





















We are reading fairy tales during our library sessions. 
So far we have read:

The Magic Porridge Pot
&
Jack and the Beanstalk


As many of the children know the story already they can join in and share their ideas about the characters and messages in the tales.



We will continue reading from our favourite tales through-out this term

Welcome back from the School Library




This week we have been reading Christmas stories to the children. 

We are so lucky that we have so many Christmas books in our school library. 
The children's favourite is 'Twas The Night Before Christmas', by Clement C. Moore.

A must-read on Christmas Eve.



Puffin Virtually Live Event

Year 5 tuned into the Puffin Virtually Live webcast for a spectacular drawing masterclass. 


The line-up: 
  • Adam Hargreaves - son of Roger Hargreaves, who continues his father's popular Mr. Men and Little Miss series of children's books, and this year has illustrated the Dr Men series
  • Nadia Shireen, picture book mastermind behind BumbleBear
  • Jeff Kinney, author and illustrator of Diary of a Wimpy Kid
  • Ali-A, who’s been inspired by his new graphic novel Game On!, illustrated by Alek Sotirovski
  • Malala’s inspiring new picture book, Malala’s Magic Pencil, illustrated by Kerascoët
  • R. J. Palacio, multi-talented author of Wonder, shares latest technology for creating book covers

Log-on and watch at:




These are some of the books that Year 6 are reading at the moment.


Why don't you borrow one of these titles next time you are in the library?
They all come highly recommended by Year 6.



Welcome back!

This term we will be reading stories during our library sessions on the theme of winter.
We started off with reading the lovely folk tale of 'Stone Soup' about hungry and weary travelers arriving in a poor village and how they all managed to create a hearty meal by sharing.
The children had lots of thoughts of how we could share to make our school a better place.



We all get to borrow a book out of the library for the week.
Don't forget to bring it back next week so you can get another book!

Enjoy!




To celebrate Black History Month this week Year 4 listened to the inspirational life story of Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States and the first black president. The children shared their knowledge about Obama and discussed Nelson Mandela, an incredible man who had been imprisoned for many years and in 1994 was elected president of South Africa. 



We have many books in our library on the inspirational lives of people like
Mo Farah
Malorie Blackman
Foella Benjamin
Martin Luther King

Take a look!





Reception come to the Library

We had a fun morning when our children from Reception visited the Library.

All the children joined in with the rhyme 'Animal Voices' from Julian Donaldson's book 
'Wriggle and Roar!

Each child gets to choose a book to borrow from the Library for one week. 


Please remember to return your library books each week on your library day and then you get to choose another one. 

Happiness!








 This week during their library session children from Year 5 were having fun celebrating 

As this year's theme is
 FREEDOM
the children had written their own poems and we had a fun recital in the Library.





There will be a prizes of £5 Book Vouchers for our November Book Fair.
The best poem on FREEDOM from each class in Years 3 - 6 will win a prize.

Final Day for entries for the COMPETITION is Thursday 5th October. 


Be Creative!
⭐⭐⭐

National Poetry Day



Join in with the COMPETITION for Years 3,4,5 & 6



⭐⭐⭐

Reading Lists 

The summer is a wonderful time to catch up on our reading. 


The Core Booklist has been published by The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) since 1996. 

Year 5 and 6 – Literature list

A greyhound of a girl by Roddy Doyle
Aesop’s Fables by Beverley Naidoo
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Carroll
Arthur, High King of Britain by Morpurgo
Bill’s new frock by Anne Fine
Boy in the tower by Ho-yen
Charlotte’s web by E B White
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales by Marcia Williams
Classic fairy tales by Berlie Doherty
Classic poetry by Michael Rosen
Clockwork or all wound up by Pullman
Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce
Danny Champion of the world by Roald Dahl
Fairy tales by Terry Jones
Floodland by Marcus Sedgwick
Fortunately the milk by Neil Gaiman
Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar
Goblins by Reeve
Goodnight Mister Tom by Magorian
Goth girl and the ghost of a mouse by Riddell
Greek Myths by Williams (comic strip)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone by Rowling
Howl’s moving castle by Wynne Jones
I was a rat! Or the scarlet slippers by Pullman
Journey to the river sea by Ibbotson
Little mouse’s big book of fears by Gravett
Love that dog by Creech
Madame Pamplemousse and the time-travelling café by Kingfisher
Michael Rosen’s A to Z the best children’s poetry from Agard to Zephaniah
Mortal Engines by Reeve
Noah Barleywater runs away by Boyne
One dog and his boy by Ibbotson
One thousand and one Arabian nights by McCaughrean
Phoenix by S F Said
Pig Heart Boy by Blackman
Rooftoppers by Rundell
Secret Friends Laird
Skellig by Almond
Sky Hawk by Lewis
Stay where you are and then leave by Boyne
Storm by Crossley-Holland
Street Child by Doherty
Tales of Hans Christian Andersen
The BFG by Roald Dahl
The dancing Bear by Morpurgo
The eye of the Wolf Pennac
The fastest boy in the world by Laird
The fire-eaters by Almond
The garbage King by Laird
The graveyard book by Gaiman
The green ship by Blake
The hobbit by JRR Tolkien
The Iron Man by Ted Hughes
The Lady of Shalott by Tennyson (narrative poem)
The last wild by Torday
London Eye Mystery by Dowd
The midnight fox by Byers
Mystery of the clockwork Sparrow by Woodfine
The no 1 car spotter by Atinuke
The Savage by Almond
The Unforgotten coat by Cottrell Boyce
The wolfwilder by Rundell
Wreck of the Zanzibar by Morpurgo
There’s a boy in the girls’ bathroom by Sachar
Tom’s midnight garden by Pearce
Two weeks with the Queen by Gleitzman
Varjak Paw by S  F Said
Wolf Brother by Paver
Wonder by Palacio

Year 3 and 4 – Literature list

Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears by Emily Gravett
My Funny Family by Chris Higgins
Who’s afraid of the big bad book? By Lauren Child
Fairy tale by Tony Ross
The fastest boy in the world by Elizabeth Laird
The BFG by Roald Dahl
Emil and the detectives by Erich Kastner
The borrowers by Mary Norton
Greek Myths by Marcia Williams
Aesop’s fables by Beverly Naidoo
Beware of the storybook wolves by Lauren Child
Danny Champion of the world by Roald Dahl
Seal Surfer by Michael Foreman
Lost happy endings by Carol Ann Duffy
Varjak Paw by S F Said
Charlotte’s web by E B White
The Iron Man (illustrated by Laura Carlin) by Ted Hughes
The Lion and the unicorn by Shirley Hughes
Into the forest by Anthony Browne
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
One dog and his boy by Eva Ibbotson
Earwig and the witch by Diana Wynne Jones
Storm by Kevin Crossley-Holland
Goth girl and the Ghost of a mouse by Chris Riddell
I was a rat! Or the scarlet slippers by Philip Pullman
Madame Pamplemousse and the time-travelling café by Rupert Kingfisher
Classic Fairy Tales by Berlie Doherty
Pugs of the frozen north by Philip Reeve
Demolition dad by Phil Earle
Oliver and the seawigs by Philip Reeve
The dancing bear by Michael Morpurgo
Angry Arthur by Oram
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
Asterix the Gaul by Goscinny
Bananas in my ears by Michael Rosen
Billionaire Boy by David Walliams
Your a Bad Man, Mr Gum by Andy Stanton
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl
Green eggs and ham by Dr Seuss
Hiccup: how to train your dragon by Cressida Cowell
Horrid Henry by Francesca Simon
John Patrick Norman McHennessy by John Burningham
Living with Vampires by Jeremy Strong
On the way home by Jill Murphy
Piggybook by Anthony Browne
Shhh! By Sally Grindley
Sophie’s snail by Dick King-Smith
Space race by Malorie Blackman
Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
The boy who cried wolf by Tony Ross
The cat in the hat by Dr Seuss
The day I swapped my dad for two goldfish by Neil Gaiman
Suitcase kid by Jacqueline Wilson
War and Peas by Michael Foreman
Who’s that banging on the ceiling? By Colin McNaughton
Willy’s pictures by Anthony Browne

Year 1 and 2 – Literature list

Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke
Bears don’t read by Emma Chichester Clark
Burger Boy by Alan Durant
Claude in the city by Alex T Smith
Dear mother goose by Michael Rosen
Farmer Duck by Martin Waddell
Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown
Foxy and the egg by Alex T Smith
Frog and the stranger by Max Velthuijs
George Speaks by Dick King-Smith
I will not ever NEVER eat a tomato by Lauren Child
Jamela’s Dress by Niki Daly
Katie Morag, Of course! By Mairi Hedderwick
Lion at school and other stories by Phillippa Pearce
Little old Mrs Pepperpot and other stories by Alf Proysen
Meerkat Mail by Emily Gravett
Mr Wolf’s pancakes by Jan Fearnley
Poems to perform by Julia Donaldson
Pumpkin soup by Helen Cooper
Rama and the Demon King by Jessica Souhami
The dark by Lemony Snicket
The diary of a killer cat by Anne Fine
The heart and the bottle by Oliver Jeffers
The jolly postman by Ahlberg
The magic finger by Roald Dahl
The man who wore all his clothes by Ahlberg
The owl who was afraid of the dark by Tomlinson
The pirates next door by Jonny Duddle
The Puffin book of fantastic first poems
The snail and the whale by Julia Donaldson
The Whisperer by Nick Butterworth
Tom’s sausage Lion by Michael Morpurgo
Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne

Foundation 

Aaaaarrgghh, Spider! By Lydia Monks
Alfie gets in first by Shirley Hughes
Anna Hibiscus’ Song by Atinuke
Avocado Baby by John Burningham
Bedtime for monsters by Ed Vere
Billy’s Bucket by Kes Gray
Biscuit Bear by Mini Grey
Blue Penguin by Petr Horacek
Can’t you sleep, Little Bear? By Martin Waddell
Christopher Nibble by Charlotte Midleton
Dogger by Shirley Hughes
Elmer by David McKee
George and the dragon by Chris Wormell
Harry and the bucketful of dinosaurs by Ian Whybrow
I love you, Blue Kangaroo! by Emma Chichester Clark
I’m a girl! by Yasmeen Ismail
Iris and Isaac by Catherine Rayner
Katie Morag delivers the mail by Mairi Hedderwick
Katie’s picture show by James Mayhew
Kipper’s birthday by Mick Inkpen
Lost and found by Oliver Jeffers
Oh No, George! By Christ Haughton
Otto the book bear by Katie Cleminson
Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
Peepo! By Ahlberg
Puffin Peter by Petr Horacek
Stanley’s Stick by John Hegley
Stomp, Chomp, Big Roars!here come the dinosaurs by Kay Umansky
That Rabbit belongs to Emily Brown by Cressida Cowell
The bog baby by Jeanne Willis
The Gigantic Turnip by Aleksei Tolstoy
The scariest thing of all by Debi Gliori
The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr
The  Way back home by Oliver Jeffers
There’s going to be a baby by John Burningham
What the Ladybird Heard by Julia Donaldson

Check out the website for more information:

www.clpe.org.uk/corebooks

⭐⭐⭐

Summer Reading!



It's too hot to read inside so we took the books out to our lovely sunny patio!
How lucky are we!

Have a good weekend - see you on Monday!


MATHS WEEK


It is Maths week and we will be having fun reading in the Library from our many stories with numbers at their heart.
Picture Books can really bring Maths alive for children especially when they get to interact with the story.

Here are some books that you may want to check out -
Puffin Peter by Petr Horacek
One Lucky Duck by Alison Maloney
Engines, Engines: An Indian Counting Rhyme by Lisa Bruce




The celebrate FATHER'S DAY on Sunday 18th June during the library sessions we have been reading books all about Dads and sharing all the special things we love about them

'My Dad' by Anthony Browne
'Peace at Last' by Jill Murphy

and Grandads!

'Grandad's Island' by Benji Davies




To celebrate Year 1's Victorian week we read from
'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland',
an 1865 novel written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll.
It tells of a girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar creatures.
It was written following a boat trip Dodgson took with the Liddell family in Oxford. Liddell's daughter, Alice, had asked Dodgson to tell them a story to liven up the trip.

Next time you take a trip think about making up a story to pass the time.

Enjoy!




This week in the library the children have been learning all about our patron saint - 

St George.


Once upon a time there was a brave knight called George. 


George attacked the dragon. He fought very bravely, won the fight and killed the dragon. George and

the princess returned to the village and everyone was very pleased that they would have no more

problems with the dragon.



Today, the story of George’s bravery is remembered and 
George is known as the patron saint of
many countries.



We read and watched different versions of the legend of St George; some funny and some sad.

                
                                                                       



 

Have you read all these books?














This week in the library all classes were celebrating poetry.

We were reading and performing poems from Julia Donaldson's brilliant book
'Poems to Perform'.

We are so lucky we have so many poetry books to choose from you our library.


The children were having so much fun play-acting and hunting for the rhyming words.
Now why don't you have a go at writing your own poetry.
It's as easy as 1,2,3!




This week in the Library
Quentin Blake
 is helping us with our counting.

We have been reading the wonderful 'Mister Magnolia' and 'Cockatoos'.


 Nursery and Year !have been enjoying counting the Cockatoos and helping me find their hiding places in the magnificent illustrations by Quentin Blake.
⭐⭐⭐


Aesop's Fables

This week in the library during our class sessions we have been having fun with Fables

The children have been listening to classic fables by Aesop and trying to guess the moral messages behind them.

The children also learnt a little about the writer.
Aesop was born in Greece around 620 BC and was a fabulist or story teller who wrote a number of fables now collectively known as Aesop's Fables. Many of the tales are characterized by animals that speak, solve problems, and generally have human characteristics and there is always a moral to be learnt.


The Lion and the Mouse - Do not judge someone by appearance.
The Frog and the Ox - Pride can be costly.
The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing - Pretending to be what you are no can bring trouble.


There are many books available that re-tell Aesop's Fables. Why not try one by Michael Morpurgo.

More to learn next week!

⭐⭐

Fairy Tales

January see Nursery classes enjoying the great fairy tale stories of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Pigs, Goldilocks and the Three Bears and many more.

⭐⭐

National Poetry Day



We were celebrating National Poetry Day this week in the library.
All class sessions had poetry readings from poems as diverse 'The Tiger' by William Blake and 'Macavity: The Mystery Cat' by T.S.Elliot and 'On The Ning Nang Nong' by Spike Milligan.


Puffin Books '100 Best Poems for Children', Chosen by children and Edited by Roger McGough is fantastic.


The children have been writing their own poetry which we are displaying in the library.

Come on in!




























                                         




















No comments:

Post a Comment