Our Philosophy:

As reading is a complex skill with many components, Brighton Avenue School has adopted a comprehensive and consistent approach to the teaching of these skills throughout the school. We believe that reading is a valuable and rewarding experience and that the importance of laying a firm foundation in this crucial area will allow children to access all areas of the curriculum successfully. We believe that success in reading opens doors to a world of knowledge. Reading is a very important life skill as well as being a source of pleasure, enjoyment and enrichment. At Brighton Avenue Primary School, we aim to equip children with skills that will enable them to access the curriculum and foster an interest in reading to enrich their personal and working lives. We encourage a love of reading from the minute our pupils start our school!

Our Aims:

Reading is a core subject within the National Curriculum. The principals of teaching Reading at Brighton Avenue Primary School are consistent with our school philosophy and take into account the National Curriculum Guidance for Reading. (See English Policy for further information). 

‘Pupils should be taught to read fluently, understand extended prose (both fiction and non-fiction) and be encouraged to read for pleasure. Schools should do everything to promote wider reading. They should provide library facilities and set ambitious expectations for reading at home.'  (2014 National Curriculum Programs of Study)

Phonics and Reading

The teaching of phonics and reading begins in our Early Years and continues throughout school. Our phonic teaching follows the Read write Inc approach. Our children are introduced to phonic books initially, closely matched to their phonic ability, and then as they mature as readers they move onto a range of books which are organised using the book banding system. The book banding system allows us to use books from a range of different published schemes. Once children have progressed through book bands, they access a range of texts that support their continued development.

Principles of Teaching Reading:

• To develop a love of books and reading.
• To develop reading strategies and skills: fluency, accuracy, understanding and response to different texts.
• To read and enjoy a variety of texts from a variety of sources: library, class book corners, ICT.
• To create a strong, embedded reading culture through a rich language environment within classrooms and the wider school environment.
• To deliver a structured and consistent whole school approach to reading.
• To recognise the value of parents / carers as essential components in supporting and developing children’s reading skills and love of reading.
• To rigorously monitor and assess children’s progress in reading and identify those who require extra support and intervene at an early stage.

 Akeeisha (Year 1)- I love visiting our school library to choose a book to take home for pleasure. I love reading to my mum and dad especially because they are teachers so I sometime pretend to be the teacher instead. 

Aiden (Year 1)- I loved taking the reading suitcase home and sharing a book with my mum. The hot chocolate and biscuits were very yummy as well. It was nice to flick through the book and look at what my friends had said about the other books they had read as well.

Ella (Year 2)- I loved our Reading Cafes in class where we got to share our favourite books with our friends whilst having juice and biscuits and explore a range of different genres. It was so much fun!

Teddy (Year 2)- I love having our class novel read at home time. My favourite one is Flat Stanley as it was really funny and he is a little bit clumsy like me!

Dahlia (Year 2)- I love having time to read for pleasure in the classroom. I love it when I can just lay there and get comfortable with the cushions and have some quiet time whilst exploring different books. 

Jarvis (Year 2)- I love being a Reading Champion and I especially enjoyed it when we went to read to children in Reception as I got to read to my cousin. 

Trang (Year 5)- I love going to Gateshead Library and taking part in different sessions with the library staff. I like being able to have choice from sooo many books!

Emily (Year 5)- I really enjoyed when we had the author Adeola Sokunbi into school as it was great to hear what inspires her to write her stories.

Eva and Niamh (Year 6)- We both love being librarians: it's great to be able to help the rest of the school find their favourite books easily and organise the books into categories.

Latest News

2024-2025

World Book Day

07.03.25

We've had a fun day celebrating World Book Day in our pjs! We have taken part in a range of different activities including; Masked reader, second hand book swaps, designing book covers, wordsearches, book hunts and so much more. Take a look at the fun we have had!

Reading Vending Machine

21.2.25

UKS2 have loved continuing to visit the Reading Vending Machine again this year. The children can receive book tokens for improvements with their reading, Reading Eggs assignments and completing book reviews! 

Reading Champions Competition Winners

14.02.25

A huge well done to everyone that took part in our Reading Champions competition. We had some fantastic entries and our reading champions found it really hard to decide who to choose as their winners. Finally, they all reached a decision and they chose .....

EYFS

1st- Albie

2nd Noah

KS1

1st- Kit

2nd- Adam

KS2

1st- Kristian

2nd -Drew

KS1 Reading Cafe

30.01.25

What a fantastic turn out we had for our second reading cafe on RWI. Thank you to all those parents/carers that attended and I hope you found it useful. The session began with a little introduction of how we teach RWI in our school and then I did a demonstration RWI lesson with a small group of children. Following on from this, was a chance for any questions to be asked and spending time with your child sharing a book. If you ever have any questions on how RWI is taught, please speak to a member of staff. For those parents that were unable to attend, I have attached the powerpoint and handouts. 

KS1 Reading

Autumn 2

Take a look at our amazing reading portfolios where we have been working on our retrieval and inference skills. We continue to enjoy taking the reading suitcases home and reading with members of our family. 

Lower Key Stage 2 Reading Cafe - 5th December 2024

A huge thank you to all of the parents/carers who joined us for our Reading Cafe this afternoon. We discussed what it means to be a Year 3 or Year 4 reader, how we can promote our love of reading and went through and example of a LKS2 reading assessment. Parents/carers had the opportunity to read with their children as well as have refreshments and join in with some mindfulness colouring in. We had a brilliant afternoon! 

Below is the PowerPoint for anyone who was unable to attend and would like to know more about Reading at Brighton Avenue. 

KS1 Secret Reader

18.11.24

We have been so lucky to have a few secret readers into our class this term and the children have absolutely loved it! Take a look at our photos!

Northern Children's Book Festival

Adeola Sokunbi

18th November 

This week, we had an author called Adeola Sokunbi come into school as part of the Children's Northern Book Festival. She is a writer-illustrator from London and she is an obsessive doodler and lover of fantasy stories. She also writes her own graphic novels. The children loved finding out about her inspiration behind becoming an author and drawing their own monster.

KS1 Reading

Autumn 1

We've had a really busy half term improving our reading skills by taking part in fun activities. We have been using our AF2 and AF3 skills to retrieve and infer information from a text. We have also had some children who have taken the reading suitcase home to share a story with someone with their family whilst drinking hot chocolate and eating biscuits. We had a visit to Gateshead Library where we chose a book to bring back to school to read for pleasure. Finally, we have had our first secret reader into school in KS1 and the children were so excited. 

Reading Champions Competition

22.10.24

Wow, wow, wow! We have had an unbelievable response to the reading champions competition! I have been absolutely blown away with the standard of the entries ... we definitely have some amazing artists and designers in this school. The reading champions had a very tricky decision of who to choose for our winners.  A HUGE congratulations to everyone that took part but our winners were ....

EYFS:

1st place: Jack

2nd place: Darcy

KS1:

1st place: Mina

2nd place: Beren

LKS2:

1st place: Ewa

2nd place: Himika

UKS2:

1st place: Drew

2nd place: Gul

'Secret Reader'

03.10.24

This half term, we have been trialling out something called 'Secret Reader' with the reading champions. This is an opportunity for parents/carers or a family relative to come into school and read a story, of your choice from home, to the children but as a surprise. The reading champions have loved this and have been so excited to find out who the next secret reader is. I was overwhelmed with the response from the reading champions parents/carers that I sadly had to turn away some parents as I couldn't squeeze them in. Therefore, we are opening this up to each class and will invite one parent/carer in every half term at a time suitable for you. If this is something you'd be interested in, please can you inform your child's class teacher so we can organise a suitable time. 

UKS2 Reading Cafe

Thursday 17th October 2024

On Thursday 17th October, we have a Reading Cafe for UKS2 parents! Please join us to find out different ways to support your child with their Reading, including SATS style questions, Reading Eggs and different question types.

Please find below the different documents that will be discussed during the meeting that will help support your child with their reading!

KS1 Reading Cafe 

26th September 2024

A HUGE thank you to the parents that attended the reading cafe this afternoon. I hope you all found it useful and has given you some more ideas of how to help your child at home with reading. It was so nice to see you reading alongside your children afterwards sharing stories and I know how much they also enjoyed spending time with you. Attached is the handouts and PowerPoint if you were unable to make it this afternoon but please if you have any questions about reading come and see me ... my door is always open 😀

Reading Champions Reading Cafe

13.09.24

For one of our first reading champions meetings, the reading champions wanted to share with each other their favourite books to help inspire each other with reading. We decided it would be nice to also have some biscuits whilst we did this! This has really helped the children as they are now aware of more authors they can help to promote in their classroom. We had a great time and we can't wait to do it again!

Reading Champions

06.09.24

Our new reading champions have been selected for this academic year and they are so excited to help share their love of reading with the rest of the school. Their role will be to help promote reading across the school, think of new initiatives to engage and to support reading, create newsletters and organise reading competitions. We can't wait to see what this year holds! 

School Librarians 

05.09.24

We have some new school librarians for this academic year and they will be in charge of looking after our school library. These girls have already shown what great role models they are for our school and we know they will help to support and promote reading whilst keeping our library tidy. A HUGE thank you from us all ... you will be AMAZING!

Latest News

2023-2024

KS1 Reading

15th July

This half term, we have continued to develop our reading skills in class by participating in a range of different discussions linked to the different AF strands. The children are loving this way of reading and have made so much progress this term. We are so proud. The children have continued to enjoy taking the reading suitcases home and sharing books with their family. Take a look at the work we have produced. 

_{UKS2 Reading}

_{Thursday 23rd May}

_{A huge well done to UKS2 for your hard work with reading over the last half term and the biggest well done to the UKS2 children who have been chosen to receive a book from the vending machine! It has been great to see your amazing answers to a range of challenging texts, including our eyes-on-book: Freedom!}

KS1 Reading

23/05/24

We've had another busy half term in KS1! The children have loved reading outside at lunchtimes and playtimes now the weather has been much better. They have enjoyed sharing books with their friends and have been excited to tell others about what they have read. During our reading lessons, the children have continued to develop their retrieval and inference skills looking at different texts. Finally, the reading suitcases continue to be a huge hit! The children love spending time with their family at home and reading alongside them whilst enjoying biscuits and hot chocolate. 

KS1 Reading Cafe

09/05/24

A HUGE thank you to the parents/carers that came to our 'Reading Cafe' today. It was so lovely to see you all and hopefully you enjoyed and found useful the demonstration RWI session. Please find attached below the handout that was given along with the PowerPoint. If you have any questions, please feel free to come and speak to me.

KS1 Reading Opportunities

Spring Term

It’s been a busy term in KS1 for reading and we’ve had lots of wonderful opportunities to read. We have taken part in reading cafes, visited Gateshead Library to meet an author, Paul Cookson, completed our reading portfolio and also taken home the reading suitcase. When we met Paul Cookson, he shared some of his poems which we loved and he was so funny.

Story Shoebox Competition

16.02.24

A huge well done to Adam in Y1 who has won our Story Shoe Box competition. He clearly put a lot of time and effort into his design. It was certainly very difficult to choose from all the entries we had. In second place we had Julia in Year 2 and in a close third, it was Kexin, also in Year 2. Finally, in joint fourth, we had Elsa and Estell, both in Year 2. Well done to everyone who took part!

All of the shoe boxes will be kept in our library for you all to look at. Keep your eyes peeled for the next competition which will be running after half term.

UKS2 Reading Journals

12.02.24

During reading sessions in the Spring 1 term, UKS2 have been exploring the features of Greek Myths before enjoying role playing a range of the different mythical characters from Theseus and the Minotaur! UKS2 have also enjoyed looking at discussion texts based on the topic 'Should Animals Be Kept in Zoos?', where the children have looked at Rob Laidlaw's book Animals in Captivity, as well as the classic environmental book Greenpeace. Then the children explored both sides of this challenging question, before drawing their own conclusion! 

Friday 2nd February 2024

SATS Cafe

Today, we had a SATS cafe for Year 6 parents to find out more about SATs week! Parents were given some different strategies they can use to support their children prepare for their SATS tests in May and shown some of the typical style of reading questions that the children might be asked. For example: 'Find and copy a word that means...', 'What evidence in the text supports the idea that zoos are bad?' and 'What impression do we get about the main character? Find evidence from the text to support your idea.'

KS1 Reading Cafe

Monday 22nd January 2024

A HUGE thank you to those parents that attended our second reading cafe of the academic year. It was so lovely to have you all there and to share with you how to support your child when writing a book review. Hopefully, you found the session useful and supportive and have taken some ideas away from it. Please see the attached PowerPoint if you were unable to make the session. 

Book Vending Machine

21.12.23

Today, has been an exciting day as we have had our VERY first children be awarded their books out of the vending machine. They were so excited to choose which book they wanted. A HUGE well done to these children for completing the different reading challenges and the child who was awarded for staff's outstanding reading reward. 

Reading Champions Competition

20th December 2023

This half term, the Reading Champions set a new competition where the children had to design a new book cover and title. We had so many amazing entries and the Reading Champions found it really hard to decide who the winners were. Below is list of our amazing winners and photos of them with their prizes. 

EYFS

1st- Camilla K

2nd -Ada L

KS1

1st- Billie A

2nd-  Julia P

LKS2

1st- Shanaya A

2nd- Ewa E

UKS2

1st- Stephanie S

2nd- Eva D

KS1 Reading Portfolios

15th December 2023

This half term, we have been busy during reading creating our portfolios. The children have really enjoyed reading 'Marge and Charge' and have been able to make some good inferences based on the story. We have also been focusing on fairy tales and the children have been able to retrieve information from a text to answer questions. Take a look at how amazing they look. 

Reading Champions

08.12.23

Today, the 'Reading Champions' have been busy reading to children in EYFS and KS1. They all really loved it and interacted well with the children. They can't wait to visit again!

UKS2- New Reading Journals!

27.11.23

In UKS2, we have started to create a whole class reading journal to document some of the amazing activities that we have been doing in Reading lessons to improve our vocabulary, knowledge of techniques authors used to build up tension and why authors use different layout devices for different audiences! Take a look at some of our amazing ideas below...

Alan Windram (Author)

Monday 20th November

This afternoon, we have had the pleasure of welcoming Alan Windram author of 'One Button Benny' into our school to deliver a workshop. He was AMAZING! The children really enjoyed dancing along to silly songs and reading two of his books. Some of the children also had the opportunity to buy a signed copy of his book. What a fantastic afternoon we have had!

Book Vending Machine

Monday 20th November 

It's OFFICIAL!!! The book vending machine has been officially opened this afternoon by Alan Windram author of 'One Button Benny' and our AMAZING reading champions. Thank you again to everyone who made this possible ... we can't wait to see children be awarded these books.

KS1 Reading

25th October 2023

The half term, the children have had a visit to Gateshead Library and some children have had the chance to take the reading suitcase home. The children have loved learning about the different authors this half term and enjoyed our class readers. 

'Look Who Got Caught Reading' Competition

Tuesday 24th October

A HUGE thank you to everyone who took part in the Reading Champions first competition. The reading champions took a lot of time debating which entries deserved to come 1st and 2nd place in the different key stages. Take a look at the results below and look at their amazing photos ... there are certainly some interesting places where people were caught reading! Keep a look out for future competitions!

EYFS

1st place- Charlotte (Nursery)

2nd place- Beau (Reception)

KS1

1st place- Emma (Year 2)

2nd place- Alfie (Year 2)

LKS2

1st place- Keira (Year 3)

2nd place- Fedoro (Year 4)

UKS2

1st place- Elnis

UKS2 Reading Cafe

12.10.23

A huge thank you to the parents who attended the UKS2 Reading Cafe! We hope that you found it useful finding out more about the AF strands we focus on in UKS2, typical SATS reading questions and some of the different reading strategies you can use at home to support your child's reading comprehension. 

Please find attached a copy of the Powerpoint below and some useful resources for you to use at home.

Reading Champions

13.10.23

Today, we had a reading cafe for the reading champions where they had the opportunity to bring in books from home and share them with the other children. We had biscuits and juice and the children are now inspired to read different books from different authors. We can't wait for our next reading cafe!

Book Vending Machine

Wednesday 11th October 2023

All the children are so excited as the book vending machine has finally arrived. We are so pleased with the design and we can't wait to start using it. The 'Reading Champions' will be doing the grand opening of the machine when we have finished filling it up with different texts.

LKS2 Reading Cafe

A huge thank you to all of the parents and carers who came to our Reading Cafe this afternoon. It was amazing to see so many of you enjoying books with your children. Despite the technical difficulties, we hope you gained a good understanding of what Reading Eggs can offer your child to support them in their reading development. We have attached the handouts in case you would like to revisit anything we discussed this afternoon. 

School Librarians! 

Here are our 2023-2024 school librarians! They are excited and ready to go with organising the library and sharing the love of books around Brighton Avenue!

Monday 2nd October 

KS1 Reading Cafe

A HUGE thank you to the parents/carers who attended our first ‘Reading Café’ this academic year. Our first session, I shared a range of reading activities and how to get the most out of Reading Eggs with your child. Following on from this, there was a chance to access our school library and share a book with their child whilst having some refreshments.

Wednesday 19th July

Book Vending Machine

As you are aware, we raised lots of money during our sponsored read in March. We have been working hard on coming up with different logos, quotes and pictures of characters to put on our book vending machine. We have now sent these to the artist so he can now work his magic on creating our vending machine. We can't wait to see it. Take a lot at a few of our designs. 

Latest News

2022/2023

17th April 2023

UKS2 Reading in the Spring term!

Take a look at some of the fun with reading UKS2 have got up to over the Spring term, from visits to Gateshead Library, World Book day to author visits and reading cafes! Take a look at some of the fun below!

Thursday 30th March 

KS1 Reading

This half term, has been super busy and the children have had lots of opportunities to take part in a range of reading activities. The children have continued to enjoy taking the reading suitcase home and reading for pleasure with their family as well as a visit to Gateshead Library. The children particularly enjoy taking part in reading cafes in the class with their friends and sharing their favourite stories. What fun we have had!
 

World Book Day 

Thursday 2nd March

We’ve had such a lovely day to celebrate World Book Day. The children all came dressed to school wearing pyjamas and were some were snuggled in their dressing gowns. There has been so many different activities going on across the school including; making beds for goldilocks, masked reader, book scavenger hunts, reading cafes, testing the temperature of porridge and so much more. We have had such a lovely day!

Gateshead Library w/c 06.02.23

This week, UKS2 have been visiting Gateshead Library. As part of the library sessions, we have been focusing on AF6! We had the opportunity to write a book review based on the books we have been reading. We also had the opportunity to get new books from the library to read during the rest of the Spring term! 

KS1 Reading Cafe

31st January 2023 

A HUGE thank you to all the parents/carers that came to our KS1 Reading Café this afternoon. We had some lovely positive feedback in regards to how useful it was to watch a RWI lesson and learn how to support your child at home. After, the children then spent time with their parents/carers reading books from our school library whilst drinking juice and easting biscuits. 

KS2 Reading

Joseph Seigal

What a great afternoon KS2 had listening to Joseph Segal reading some of his amazing new book Yapping Away! The children loved listening to some of his poetry and had some good laughs along the way. KS2 enjoyed finding out what inspired him to write and become a poet!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwaUqDxE-NQ

KS1 Reading

22/12/22

The children have continued to love taking home the reading suitcases. They have had so much fun sharing the stories with their family whilst having some treats. Take a look at the fun we have had!

Friday 2nd December

KS1 author visit

On Friday 2^nd December, KS1 were fortunate enough to welcome Elizabeth Green, an author, into our school to share her new book with the children. Her new book is called ‘The Adventures of Detective Dopeyworth’ and looks to be a brilliant read! During the session, she shared how she came up with her ideas to write the book and how the pictures were illustrated. The children also had the opportunity to buy a signed book. It was great having an author into school, we all really enjoyed it. 

KS1 Gateshead Library

Monday 28th November

We had our first visit to Gateshead Library this afternoon and the children became book detectives. They had to find different pictures or words in each book. They learnt how to find non-fiction books using a book catalogue finder and I was really impressed at how good they were. We then all got to choose one book to take back to school to read for pleasure. We had a great time and we can't wait to visit again! 

UKS2 Reading book Bags

Autumn term 22

UKS2 have loved taking home the Emoji Reading book bag over the Autumn term. The children have really enjoyed writing about their favourite books and have written some amazing book reviews to share with the class. They've also particularly enjoyed having a hot chocolate and biscuits whilst reading at home! Take a look below at the amazing reviews! 

KS1 Reading Suitcases

21st October 2022

We have had so much fun taking the Reading Suitcases home this half term. The children have enjoyed sharing their stories with their teddies whilst having hot chocolate and biscuits. Take a look at some of the photos.

UKS2 Reading Cafe!

19.10.22

This week, UKS2 enjoyed taking part in a Reading Cafe! We enjoyed reading some of the new books we have for UKS2. As part of the session, we created some reading cafe menus with recommendations of new books!

We can't wait for the Autumn 2 reading cafes!

KS1 Reading Café 

Tuesday 18th October

We’ve had such a fun morning at the year 2 reading cafe! It was so lovely to have the opportunity to sit with our friends and share biscuits, juice and fruit while sharing a book. There was so many books from comics to novels to non fiction to picture books. We’ve been inspired to read more!

Key Stage 2 - Virtual Author - Robin Stevens

14th October 2022

Robin Stevens, author of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize winning and bestselling MURDER MOST UNLADYLIKE series joined us virtually in the classroom this week. Robin introduced us to her brand-new series THE MINISTRY OF UNLADYLIKE ACTIVITY. Robin shared her tips and tricks on how to write the perfect murder mystery as well as the inspiration behind her new team of detectives. We also got the chance to put our own sleuthing skills to the test, like any good detective!

UKS2- Gateshead Library

w/c 10th October 2022

UKS2 visited Gateshead Library this week! It was so nice to be back again after not being able to visit for so long due to Covid-19! During the library session, we learnt about the Dewey System that is used in a library for organising books. We then completed a Book Bingo game where we had the opportunity to explore lots of different books in the library. We then finished off the session by choosing a library book to take back to school. 

KS1 Virtual Author 

13th October 2023

Today, we had a virtual lesson online with Liz Pichon, author-illustrator of the much loved ‘Tom Gates’. We took part in a doodle along and were lucky enough to have her read part of her brand new story: Tom Gates happy to help. We came away feeling very inspired. Take a look at some of our fantastic doodles we did under Liz’s instruction.

LKS2- Reading Cafe

Wednesday 12th October 2022

A huge thank you to all of the parents and carers who came to the reading cafe on Wednesday. We were so pleased to have you back in school to share our love of reading and to give you tips and advice into how you can help your children with their reading at home. Please look out for the next Reading Cafe which will be happening in the Spring Term. 

Tuesday 11th October 2022

UKS2 Reading Cafe

Thank you to all the UKS2 parents who attended the UKS2 Reading Cafe today! It was great to see you in school and talk about reading!

In the session, we discussed some of the different strategies that parents can use to support their child with reading during Year 5 and Year 6. We also discussed in detail the different assessment strands we focus on in reading and discussed some of the different questions parents can ask to check their child's understanding of texts they have read. After this, we discussed the reading expectations during Year 6 SATs tests and parents were provided with some different tips to support children in the preparations for their end of KS2 SATs. We finished off the session having some time reading some of the amazing library books! We look forward to meeting again for the Spring Reading Cafe!

If you need any more tips for supporting your child, please speak to your child's class teacher or Miss Turner (Year 6).

Tuesday 4th October 2022

KS1 Reading Cafe

We had our first KS1 Reading Café today and it was so lovely to have parents back in our school again! It was a fantastic turnout so thank you so much to the parents that were able to make it. I shared different strategies to help support your child with reading and how reading is promoted within our school. The children then had the opportunity to share with their parents/carers a book and enjoy some quality time. All handouts have also been uploaded to the website so if you need any further advice please speak to either the class teacher or myself. Look out for the next Reading Café in Spring 1, we can’t wait to see you again!

Virtual Author (Julia Donaldson)

KS1

Friday 30th September

We had a virtual visit from Julia Donaldson this week and she shared one of her stories with us called 'The Baddies'. She also introduced her illustrator, Axel Scheffler, who showed us how to draw the characters for the Gruffalo! We had a great time trying to draw our own pictures of the Gruffolo. 

School Librarians

Monday 26th September 

The new school librarians have been elected for the new academic year and they are very excited to take up their important roles. These children have shown they have a passion for reading and would like to share their enthusiasm with the rest of the children in the school. They will be in the library most lunchtimes to ensure it looks appealing to our children and selecting new books for our library. We can't wait to see the positive impact they make! 

Reading Suitcases

KS1

Monday 12th September 2022

We are so excited to be able to send home the reading suitcases again! Our children, are looking forward to snuggling up with their teddy whilst drinking hot chocolate and eating some biscuits. Once the children have read the books, they will be writing a book review and sharing it with the rest of the class. We look forward to hearing about the books you have chosen! 

KS2 Reading Shed

Take a look at the new, revamped reading shed! The KS2 children can't wait to use this on a yard, during lunchtimes and during reading for pleasure times!

Saturday 8th October, Central Library, 11am

Gateshead Library are giving you a chance to meet an author for FREE! Tom Palmer has written many exciting books including the 'Football Academy' series and this would be an amazing opportunity for your child to participate in workshop and listen to snippets of his new book. Details are below of how to get tickets to the event! We hope you can go and we can't wait to hear all about it back at school! 

Join multi-award-winning author Tom Palmer as he talks about his new book and life under war time occupation Free, book in advance, suitable for ages 9+. 

Tickets: gatesheadlibraries.eventbrite.com | t: 01914338420

Latest News

2021/2022

Calling all Gadgeteers! This summer, kids across Gateshead are encouraged to discover the amazing science and innovation that's all around us.

The Summer Reading Challenge 2022 begins in Gateshead's libraries and online on Saturday 9 July. The Challenge takes place every year with the aim of motivating children aged 4 to 11 to keep reading over the school holidays, helping to build their skills and confidence whilst keeping them entertained.

This year's theme is Gadgeteers, created in partnership with Science Museum Group. Through free packs available from all Gateshead libraries and online resources, participants will be inspired to appreciate and understand the science behind their interests - from fashion and technology to cooking and music.

The challenge will feature amazing books and the chance to win some awesome rewards including an exclusive MakerPlace workshop for up to six people, worth £100. There's also plenty of activities planned across Gateshead including:

• Super Summer Coders: Take part in interactive, hands-on computing projects and learn how to code your own games, animations and more.
• Make a Ring Wing Glider: Create and race your gliders inspired by NASA designs. See which design will fly the furthest and win the prize.
• Spy Science Coding: Learn the art of spy craft as you create cyphers, programme code and test your memory skills.
• Rocket Mice and Catapults: Create and make your catapult and rocket mouse.
• Big Bang Science: Try some fizzing, popping hands-on experiments.
• Draw with Liz Million: From skateboarding scientists to rusty rabbit robots.

As part of the programme, Gateshead Libraries are thrilled to welcome Nick Arnold, award-winning author of the Horrible Science series. Nick will be bringing his live science show to the Caedmon Hall at Gateshead Central Library on 16 August and pre-booking is essential, with tickets available now.

The full list of events and activities is available at gatesheadlibraries.eventbrite.com.

The Summer Reading Challenge is presented by The Reading Agency and funded by Arts Council England. Find out more and sign up at summerreadingchallenge.org.uk.

Book club 22.07.23

On behalf of myself and Hazel, we would just like to thank all the children that have attended book club this year. The money that has been contributed towards the fee for this club has gone directly back into our school library. The children who have attended the club have had their say on what books they would like to see in our school library. They have then been able to share these with their friends. Take a look at the books below which you'll see in our school library in September! Miss Brown

A huge well done to all the children who took part in the Easter Reading Project. It makes us so happy to hear that the love of reading is continuing at home and the children are keen to share their passion for books. Congratulations to Niamh, Eva and Gregor who have been awarded prizes for their incredible Reading Art Projects. Niamh's gingerbread house looked good enough to eat! Eva created a 'Garden of Reading' which contained lots of different books and Gregor mad a Diary of a Wimpy Kid model including characters and cheese!!!! Amazing work you three! We couldn't be prouder! 

Reading Poster Winners!

Thursday 3rd March 2022

Over the holidays, we asked the children to participate in a reading poster competition if they wished to. We had some AMAZING posters which are now proudly on display in our library. Each child won a £10 Waterstones gift card to buy themselves some new books. We can't wait to hear what books they buy!

World Book Day 

Thursday 3rd March 2022

For World Book Day 2022, we all had lots of fun wearing our PJs and having lots of discussions about books. The children across the school participated in 'The Masked Reader', Virtual Author sessions, second hand book swaps, reading cafes (with juice and biscuits ... yum, yum!) and lots more exciting activities. Take a look at some of the fun we had across the school below.

Book Club

17th February 2022

This half term, we have ran our very first book club and what a HUGE success it has been. The children have absolutely loved it and can't wait to go to it again next half term. With the money that the children paid to attend book club, they were able to go on a shopping spree and purchase books they would like to see if the library. Once they arrived, the children that attended book club then went around the school to share with the rest of the children the purchases we have made. 

School Librarians

16th February 2022

We have some exciting news ... we have four new school librarians. These children are going to be in our library every lunch time and they are going to be thinking of some exciting ways we can promote reading in our school. 

Book Club

Spring 1

This half term, some children in key stage 2 have been enjoying coming along to book club after school on a Tuesday. The children are all absolutely loving it! They are getting to experience new genres of books and suggest books to their friends. Take a look at some of the photos to see how much fun we are having!

3rd December 2021

KS1 Virtual Author

Nick Sharratt

Today, we had the chance to participate in a virtual author session with Nick Sharratt who has written Shark in the Park. The children got to hear his new story Oh no! Shark in the Snow! which they loved and they got to draw some pictures. It was a great session!

Reading for Pleasure

21st October

Throughout the school, the children have enjoyed the different opportunities to read for pleasure. They have visited the school library, virtual author sessions and reading for pleasure time both inside and outside. Take a look at some of the photos to see how much our children enjoy reading for pleasure. 

Reading Suitcases- KS1

20th September

In KS1, the children have been enjoying choosing and reading books for pleasure from the reading suitcases during their play and lunch times. The children have been making themselves cosy by using the cushions and been reading along with their friends. The children are very excited to choose the next set of books to go in the suitcases. Take a look at some of our photos!

Latest News

2020/2021

The Summer Reading Challenge launches 10th July

Gateshead Library

#SummerReadingChallenge #WildWorldHeroes

Children across Gateshead are being encouraged to go wild for reading this summer by joining the hugely popular annual Summer Reading Challenge, taking place at all Gateshead Council libraries from 10 July until 4 September.

The Reading Agency have teamed up with the WWF in developing the theme for this year's challenge, which is 'Wild World Heroes', featuring illustration by award-winning children's author and illustrator Heath McKenzie. It is aimed at encouraging children to engage in fun reading activities focused on real world environmental issues, such as climate change, wildlife decline, plastic pollution, and deforestation.

To join the excitement all children need to do is visit any library across Gateshead at least three times throughout the summer holidays and borrow at least two books. Each time they will be rewarded with a free prize:

Aged 5 to 11 years:

• First visit - Wild World Heroes themed collectors' cards and stickers 
• Second visit - A book and pencil
• Third visit - A certificate of completion.

Aged Under 5 years:

• First visit - Wild World Heroes themed collectors' cards and stickers
• Second visit - A book and additional stickers
• Third visit - More stickers and a certificate of completion

Books from an Author

11th June

We were very lucky to receive some free books from an author in the post! We will really enjoy looking through the books! A huge thank you to Liam Murphy.

Virtual Author Session

11.06.21

Dapo Adeola

The children in KS1 enjoyed listening to another author during a virtual session. He shared his book 'Hey you!' with the children and then answered a range of questions. It was a great interactive session!

22nd May 2021

Puffin World of Stories

Brighton Avenue Primary School had an amazing delivery of 300 books from Puffin World of Stories! We loved seeing some of the children's reactions to some of the new books in school. Take a look at some of our favourites! 

Virtual Author Session

21.05.21

The children in KS1, were very lucky this week to have a virtual author session with Swapna Haddow (author) and Dapo Adeola (illustrator). They read their book called ‘My Dad is a grizzly bear’ and then they talked about the process it took to write and illustrate the pictures. It was a very fun and interactive session!  

Thursday 4th March 2021

World Book Day 2021

For World Book Day 2021, it was a little bit different as some children were in school and some children were learning virtually. However, this didn't stop us all having lots of fun wearing our PJs and having lots of discussions about books. Children across the school took part in the World Book Day 'Share a Story' and enjoyed finding out about some of the World Book Day books they can buy using their vouchers. Children enjoyed taking part in scavenger hunts and book related tasks! Take a look at some of the fun we had across the school below.

Thursday 26.11.20

David Almond

Year 6 had a great virtual author session this week featuring the well-known Newcastle author: David Almond. David read a short extract from his new book, which some of us have ordered and can't wait to read. David gave us all some tips about becoming future authors!

Tuesday 24th November 2020

Chitra Soundar- Author

KS1 and Year 3 were lucky enough to have an author session with Chitra Soundar who is an Indian-born British author and storyteller. She has published more than 30 books and is inspired by the rich heritage of epics and folktales from India as well as India's natural beauty. The children all really enjoyed her session.

Thursday 19th November 2020

Year 5 had a fabulous session with Ross Montgomery today. He talked through his books and we even got to listen to an extract from his new book! He also talked about why he became an author and what inspires him to write!

Tuesday 17th November 2020

Anna James - Author

Year 4 were able to take part in a live Q and A with Anna James! Imagine a magical book shop with doors to different worlds: if one day your favourite book character came out of their book to chat… if they invited you to wander into their story… what would you do? We joined Anna as she revealed the world of Pages & Co, reveled in the true magic of getting lost in a good book, and read from her latest book in the series Tilly and the Map of Stories

Friday 13th November 2020

Guy Bass- Author

On Friday 13th November, Key Stage 2 had the pleasure of taking part in a virtual reading session with GUY BASS! Guy Bass read some poems and some extracts from some of his own books. He also revealed that Skeleton Fingers might be getting turned into a movie! We can't wait to find out when this will be released. 

Thursday 12th November 2020

Alan Windram- Author

As part of the Northern Children's Book Festival, the children in KS1 had the opportunity to participate in a virtual session with Alan Windram. He is the author of four children's picture books including the 2019 BookBug Picture Book Prize winning One Button Benny. The children listened to both of his books and participated in a range of practical activities. The children all had lots of fun! Some of the children have also bought books from him and they can't wait to get their signed copies delivered to the school. 

Monday 11th November 2020

How to support your child with segmenting

After the success of our Reading cafes last year, it is such a shame we are unable to continue with these at this present time. Therefore, I have decided to make some videos to help support your child with segmenting (learning how to spell). Please watch this video and if you have any questions, please speak to a member of the KS1 team. If there are any further videos you feel would support you at home, please speak to either your child's class teacher or Miss Brown. 

Monday 11th November 2020

How to support your child with blending

After the success of our Reading cafes last year, it is such a shame we are unable to continue with these at this present time. Therefore, I have decided to make some videos to help support your child with blending (learning how to read). Please watch this video and if you have any questions, please speak to a member of the KS1 team. If there are any further videos you feel would support you at home, please speak to either your child's class teacher or Miss Brown. 

Best of Bensham

£250 grant

October 2020

We have been fortunate to secure a £250 grant from Best of Bensham to buy new books for our amazing children. We are very grateful for this money and this will help to ensure that all of our children have access to books to continue their love for reading and broaden their vocabulary. A huge thank you to this community project from all the staff and children at Brighton Avenue!

Latest News

2019-2020

World Book Day

Friday 6th March 2020

Wow! What a fantastic the day the children have had dressed in their pyjamas and dressing gowns for World Book Day. The day begin with an assembly by Seven Stories where they shared a few of their favourite books and a bit of background knowledge about Seven Stories itself. Then all the classes have taken part in different activities including second hand book swaps, scavenger book hunts in the library, making book marks, sharing their favourite stories and participating in workshops run by Seven Stories. All the children have had a fantastic day!

Seven Stories Visit

Tuesday 25th and Friday 28th February 2020

A selection of children across EYFS, KS1 and KS2 were given the opportunity to go on a trip to Seven Stories. Whilst they were on the trip, they got the opportunity to look around the exhibitions and participate in a workshop. More importantly, they went to spend money in the book shop to buy books for our school library. The children loved looking at all the books and they are excited for when they arrive in school. The children had a fantastic day!

Parents' Reading Café 

Year 5 and Year 6

04.02.20

Today, we held our reading café for our Year 5 and Year 6 parents.. The session began with Miss Turner delivering some ideas for how parents can help support their children with their reading and build up positive reading atmospheres at home. Parents gained a better understanding about the types of questions they can ask to support their child's reading understanding. Miss Turner discussed the impact that reading has upon children's writing and how parents can help support their children prepare for their Year 6 SATs. The parents had the opportunity to complete some reading tasks with their child and ask any questions.

 If you were unable to attend the parents workshop, please look for the documents given in the information for parents section on this page. 

Parents' Reading Cafe

KS1

Tuesday 21st January

Today, we held our second reading cafe for our KS1 parents. We had another fantastic turnout and the children really enjoyed sharing books with their parents. The session began with Miss Brown delivering a Y1 guiding reading lesson based on inference. Parents gained a better understanding about the delivery of a guided reading session and the different resources and questions they could ask their child to further their learning. Then, we discussed how to re-read books for fluency over seven days. The next reading cafe will be during the Summer term we look forward to seeing you! If you were unable to attend the parents workshop, please look for the documents given in the information for parents section on this page. 

Snuggle up with a book

Tuesday 7th January 2020

Today, our first children started their new exciting reading incentive. Each child, in each class will be given the chance to take either a book suitcase or book bag home and read a book with a younger sibling or adult whilst enjoying chocolate biscuits and hot chocolate. Each child was given the choice to choose a book in our fantastic new school library and once  they have finished reading the book, the children then have to write a book review. The children were so excited to be the first ones to take the books home; we can't wait to see what they produce. 

A visit from Guy Bass

Tuesday 12th November 

Today, we had a visit from Guy who is an award-winning author whose children's books series include Stitch Head, Spynosaur, The Legend of Frog, Dinkin Dings and Atomic! In 2010, Dinkin Dings and the Frightening Things won the Blue Peter Award for Most Fun Book with Pictures. Guy shared many memorable poems and a chapter from his new book, Skeleton Keys, in the most inspiring way. The visit from Guy was quoted by children in many classes as, "The greatest day in school." He left the children feeling truly inspired to read and to write and inspired many to be an author when they are older. The laughs and giggles and even tears of complete happiness echoed all around the hall today during his session. After his talk, he then spent time signing and illustrating every book… with humour and a smile on his face.. In the words of the children, "He was awesome!"

School Library

During lunch times, the children have the opportunity to go to our school library and read books for pleasure with their peers. We have four Y5 children who have become librarians and these children read stories to the younger children, help children choose books and arrange different activities for the children to do in the library. The children love spending time in our library and exploring what different books we have on offer. 

Story Time

Monday 4th November

Welcome back to story time where you will find Mrs Jackson reading 'Room on a Broom' by Julia Donaldson. Please join in with the repeated rhymes! We hope you enjoy the story as much as Mrs Jackson's two daughters do!

Book People Bus

Wednesday 10th October

Once again, we had a visit from the Book People Bus and it was a big hit like the last time! The children loved going onto the bus and looking at the books to find the best book they would buy. We raised another astonishing £1,370 from the event where we receive 15% commission to buy books for our school. Thank you to all your support once again to make this event so successful! It will be back again on Tuesday 21st April 2020 so get saving your pennies!

Welcome to story time! 

Monday 8th October 2019

Stories play a vital role in the growth and development of children. The books they read and the characters they get to know can become like friends. It's also good for children to understand that books are a useful source of information and that good reading skills are important for success in their future lives.

Sharing stories, talking and singing every day helps your child’s development in lots of ways.

Reading and sharing stories can:

• help your child get to know sounds, words and language, and develop early literacy skills
• learn to value books and stories
• spark your child’s imagination and stimulate curiosity
• help your child’s brain, social skills and communication skills develop
• help your child learn the difference between ‘real’ and ‘make-believe’
• help your child understand change and new or frightening events, and also the strong emotions that can go along with them.

The teachers within Brighton Avenue School will be reading different stories which you can access during the school year. Keep checking back to see who who is reading a new story and let your teachers know about any of your favorite books!

Our first story time is with Mrs Jones who will be reading Monkey Puzzle. We hope you enjoy it!

Parents' Reading Cafe

Tuesday 1st October 2019

On Tuesday 1st October, we held our first Parents' Reading Cafe where we invited the parents into our school for a workshop on how to help and encourage their child to read at home. It was a very successful event and the children also joined their parents to spend time reading a book in our new library. Take a look at some of our photos!

Gateshead Library

Week commencing 23rd September

We are so lucky that we have Gateshead Library on our door step which each class visits every half term. Whilst the children are on their trip to the library, they take part in a range of activities including book reviews, finding books in the library using the catalogue, identifying the difference between fiction and non-fiction books and the list goes on! The children are lucky enough to listen to different books which the librarians bring to life. Each child then has free time in the library to read for pleasure and choose their own book which they can bring back to school to read in their free time. Take a look at a few of our photos from our recent visits. 

Foyle Foundation Grant

Amount awarded £5,000

Friday 20th September

At the end of last academic year, Miss Brown applied for a Foyle Foundation Grant to improve our school library. On Friday 20th September, we recieved a letter to say that we had been successful and awarded £5,000 to spend on new books for our library. As you can imagine, all the staff and children are so excited to have been awarded this amount of money and the children have been having their say on what books they would like to see in our library. Miss Brown has already started the shopping spree and we are awaiting our first delivery from Usborne books. The children and staff can't wait to get their hands on the new books as we all love spending time reading for pleasure. A huge thank you to the Foyle Foundation!

Latest News

2018-2019

Sponsored Read

Monday 29th April

During the week commencing Monday 29th April, the children were set a challenge at Brighton Avenue to participate in an Usborne sponsored read. The children had to read as many different types of text, for example, books, comics, magazines, newspapers, menus, websites, recipes, poems, leaflets, instructions – anything with words whilst getting as much sponsorship as possible. The children went above and beyond our expectations and raised £1,000! As we raised £1,000, we received an additional 60% of which we raised to buy new books for our school library. We are so proud of the children and thank everyone who sponsored the children. The children spoke to me during pupil voice about different books they would like to see in the library which we have been able to spend this money on. We are so happy we are being able to update our school library and can't wait for the children to get their hands on the new books! Happy reading!

Book People Bus

Tuesday 19th March 2019

We had a very special visit from Lee and the Book People Bus. As we are trying to encourage children to read for pleasure, there was no better opportunity then getting on the bus to purchase new books. Each class paid a visit to the bus throughout the day and were able to buy new books to read at home and in school. There were a wide variety of fiction and non fiction books available for the children to choose from and as a school we spent £1,342 on the bus and received 15% commission back for these purchases. The children were so excited by the event and have asked during Pupil Voice for the bus to come back again. Therefore,the next visit from the Book People Bus will be Wednesday 9th October 2019 so start saving those pennies! Thanks for your continued support and we can't wait for the next event! 

World Book Day

Friday 8th March

Today, we celebrated World Book Day where the children were able to dress up as their favourite book character. The day started with a parade around the hall where everyone danced along to the music. One boy and girl from each class were able to choose a book for best dressed character. After the parade, children were invited to swap their second hand books with their peers which they all thoroughly enjoyed. The rest of the day was spent participating in a range of activities to design a book cover for their classroom doors. The effort everyone put in was fantastic. A great day was had by both staff and children. To see more pictures please visit the class pages.