- Reminder about buy back and the value of a subscription with the SLS
- Updates on our Picture Book Award 2024/2025
- Forthcoming Webinars and Book Chat for the Spring term
- Pupil Premium Funding and how to benefit from our 25% discount on books purchased
- More news from the world of books and libraries
It was lovely to see so many headteachers at the West Sussex Primary Leadership Conference last week and hear how each individual school benefits from subscribing to the Schools Library Service.
“The selection of books was amazing! I was really impressed with the mixture of fiction and non-fiction books. The quality of the books was great, the children were asking us to read the stories again and again”.
 West Sussex Schools Library Service provides cost effective access to high quality resources and expertise to support literacy, learning and reader development. In addition to the regular refreshment of book collections and provision of inspiring, diverse and quality texts, your school will also benefit from
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Virtual author events
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CPD webinars and training
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25% discount through our book purchase scheme
- Termly project loans and regular mobile library visits.
- Book lists and a monthly book chat group
- Ready-labelled books for Accelerated Reader
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Professional support and advice
To purchase your SLS SLA for 2024/25 please visit the SLS website.
Share the latest SLS newsletter with your team or contact the SLS team SLS@westsussex.gov.uk to find out more.
Calling all participating schools. We hope you are enjoying reading and sharing the books in the shortlist for this year's Picture Books to Shout About! award. Some of you will have attended our successful virtual author events in the week beginning Monday 20 January. If you were one of those schools we would love to hear any feedback, so when you vote don't forget to tell us what made the Picture Book Award special for you.
Voting has now closed and we are busy preparing for the announcement of the winner, which will take place on World Book Day Thursday 6 March 2025.
It's not too late for schools who would like to request Project Loans for the spring term. Project Loans can be requested via our online Project Loan form where you will be prompted to select the public library of your choice for collection. If you have made a request but have not heard anything or would like to enquire further about Project Loans, please call us on 01903 704828 or email and we will be happy to help.
The West Sussex SLS CPD programme for 2025-26 will be available in the summer term.
Coming up this term we have:
SLS Primary Book Chat - books to share and inspire!
"Teachers are the best people to promote a love of reading because children, particularly young children, care what their teachers think about the stories they read aloud. If teachers show they love the story, the children are likely to respond in the same way. However, this does not mean that teachers should choose only the books they loved as children." DfE Reading Framework 2023
Participate in this exciting networking opportunity to talk about children's books. See some of the new titles the SLS has in stock at the moment and share best practice when looking for books to use in class or for planning.
Sign up for the links to our informal book chats via MS Teams on:
Tuesday 18 March 2025 3.45 - 4.45
The Schools Library Service webinar for the Spring term is available to register for now. Taking place on:
Tuesday 25 March 3.45 – 4.45 (MS Teams)
Webinar – Managing your School Library
An interactive webinar suitable for primary school librarians and those who have responsibility for the school library. Featuring practical advice and support on how to maximise your time, identify your needs and delegate tasks to manage your library collection effectively.
Do you have some unexpected funds available and need books to help your pupils catch up and settle back in this term? The Schools Library Service can provide: ·
- Books at all reading levels (including on Accelerated Reader)
- Books to encourage growth mindset, empathy, resilience and wellbeing
- Books to support changes in the curriculum, and enhance the diversity and inclusivity of the school's collection.
- An extensive range of new quality rich text books, both fiction and non-fiction, as featured in our regular Book Chat webinars.
The Schools Library Service Book Purchase Scheme gives a 25% discount on book cover price and our professional help with book buying if required. In addition, our web pages have numerous booklists providing book recommendations. For further details, contact the Schools Library Service on 01903 704828 or e-mail sls@westsussex.gov.uk
West Sussex Library Service is turning 100 years old and we are planning a year filled with events and activities to mark our birthday.
At the heart of the centenary celebrations will be an exciting virtual reality project and we’ll be bringing VR headsets to your local library during the year.
This project, possible thanks to National Lottery money awarded by Arts Council England, will celebrate books and our library history in a very special way.
We will have a variety of centenary-inspired events taking place in libraries, so keep an eye out for what might be happening at your local library during the year.
We want you to be part of the celebration too and will be asking for your memories of using our libraries.
Information about all the things going on will be available on our library website, on our social media channels or just pop in and ask at your local library.
West Sussex Record Office – new Queen Elizabeth II resource packs available to download
The Record Office have recently uploaded two new, free-to-access resource packs to the WSRO Services for Education page, both concerning Queen Elizabeth II’s work in West Sussex. The packs are image rich, featuring photographs and documents spanning Queen Elizabeth’s reign, from 1952 – 2023, including her various Jubilees and local responses to her death. To access the resources, visit the Services for Education page.
AM/12/3/4 Embroidery by members of Angmering’s Women’s Institution, to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation, 1953
The Record Office continue to offer in-house literacy and numeracy workshops to small groups of students, which include a tour of the strongrooms and the chance to look closely at some of historic documents, and can also visit your school with local history workshops, which can be based on your local area or on a range of themes. Visit the Services for Education page for more information or contact the Record Office to find out more.
PH 32405 Photograph of newspapers marking the death of Queen Elizabeth II, 2023.
 In all previous years of the study, it has seen a year on year increase in the percentage of books published with representation of racially minoritised groups. However, this year shows a worrying decrease with representation falling from 30% to 17% of books.
it is vitally important that all children have a broad range of books in which they can both see themselves and those different from themselves. A decrease in output from publishers means that the pool of stories and non-fiction is more condensed which could lead to a narrowing of the depth and breadth children have to choose from.
Children's poet and author, Michael Rosen, will be joining The Childrens Bookshow for an inspiring event of poetry broadcast live into your classroom. Michael will perform some of his poems, talk about the importance and joy of poetry and give tips on how to start writing your own.
Date: Thursday, 6th March 2025
Time: 11:30 am
Duration: 45 minutes
Age range: Key Stage 2
Tickets: FREE
To book tickets for this free event sign up here:
Please do not contact the Schools Library Service about this event. This is an external event organised by The Children's Bookshow. For any enquiries please contact:
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