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In this newsletter:
- Thomas A Becket Infant School shortlisted for SLA 2025 Enterprise of the Year Award!
- Invite us to your conference or hold your conference with us
- Request your autumn term Project Loans now
- New edition of the Codebreaker Index forthcoming
- Announcement of registration for the (2025/2026) PBTSA award
- Year 6/Year 7 transition collection - on the Mobile Library
- Summer Reading Challenge: Story Garden
- More news from the SLS team and world of books and libraries.
Last year Thomas A Becket Infant School identified a new spacious area in the heart of the school to locate their library and, led by a project team, fundraised £10,000, with the support of the PTA, Governors and school staff.
With the help of the local community, they assembled a team of volunteers, received donations of time and resources from local companies, and maximised the use of West Sussex Schools Library Service to create, The Shore, a vibrant and engaging library named after Teaching Assistant, Miss Shaw, who passed away during 2024.
As a result of the success of the project, Thomas A Becket Infant School has been nominated for the SLA 2025 Enterprise of the Year award. The school is quoted as saying: “The library is already a lasting legacy of what a community can achieve when it comes together and works together and this nomination highlights the kindness, hard work, determination, and dedication of everyone who contributed their time, energy and resources to our school library. We could not be prouder!”
Did your Business Manager spot us at the Business Manager's Conference on Thursday 26 June?
The SLS team had a fantastic day talking to Business Managers from subscribing schools across West Sussex at the 2025 School Business Managers Conference on Thursday 26 June. If you would like to find out more about the service and what we provide please email us:
Now is the time for schools who would like to request Project Loans for the autumn 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.
West Sussex Schools Library Service is excited to share the revised and updated Code Breaker!
The Code Breaker is a simplified subject index (based on the ten main categories of the Dewey Decimal Classification Scheme) and is an easy way for pupils to find information books in your school library.
To introduce the updated Code Breaker, we would like to invite you and your team to attend to a FREE webinar: Codebreaking and Classification: effective ways to organise your school library.
The webinar will focus on effective ways to organise your school library, including classification systems and different ways to use the Code Breaker with your pupils.
The Schools Library Service will be hosting this webinar on:
Tuesday 16 September 3.45 - 4.45pm
and
Thursday 18 September 3.45 - 4.45pm
Both days contain the same content; you will only need to register for one of the days. Course bookings are made via the Services for Education website. You will need an account to book this course. Please speak to your School Business Professional or email sls@westsussex.gov.uk if you are having difficulty accessing this training.
Each subscribing school will receive five copies of the revised Schools Library Service Code Breaker and two A3 Code Breaker posters as part of the Schools Library Service SLA.
Please contact a member of the SLS team if you have any questions and we look forward to seeing you at the webinar!
West Sussex Schools Library Service Picture Books to Shout About! award aims to:
- Develop pupils’ visual literacy, critical thinking, and listening and speaking skills through the sharing of books and discussion
- Promote and develop positive attitudes to reading and reading for enjoyment
- Increase staff knowledge of the best new picture books
The Picture Book Award for 2025 2026, which begins in the second half of the autumn term, is now open for registration. Participating schools will receive a minimum of two copies of each of the four shortlisted titles and access to the West Sussex Picture Book Award portal full of electronic resources to support schools in championing the four shortlisted titles. The winner, as voted for by the participating schools, will be announced on World Book Day 2026.
This year you can purchase the Picture Book Award packs on the Services for Education website. Purchase will need to be made by your School Business Professional:
Take a look at some of fantastic titles we've put together for our Year 6 pupils to read, building up to, and during, their transition from primary to secondary school. A mix of non-fiction and fiction titles (including graphic novels); offering glimpses into what is to come, hints and tips and school tales - from overcoming nerves at a new school to challenging yourself to achieve big things.
Many titles have previously been in our main collection and so may already be on your bookshelves, now available to you with easily identifiable yellow dot spine labels. There's something for everyone to support their big move.
As well as transition, topics covered by the collection include: friendship groups, adjusting to change and dealing with the big emotions associated with settling into a new school.
Ask when you have your next termly exchange, either through the exchange profile which is emailed to the school contact or when you receive notification of the day and time for a visit from the Mobile library. If you have any questions please email us:
The Summer Reading Challenge started in all West Sussex libraries on Saturday 12 July and runs until Saturday 13 September, celebrating a love of reading and the great outdoors.
For those to whom the Summer Reading Challenge is new: children all over the UK can sign up online or in their local public library to record their reading over the summer holidays and collect stickers and a certificate before they return to school in September. The scheme is free and open to 4 - 11 year olds, and in West Sussex there are options for under fives. This year we have also created 'Extra Mile Reading Quests' to help make the challenge more fun and accessible for everyone.
Recent research shows that only 1 in 3 children and young people now enjoy reading, a drop of 33% since 2005 (Clark, et al., 2024)
If you want to make the most of this free national reading scheme you could:
- Share the Story Garden video to classes before the summer break
- Encourage children to choose books they will enjoy, perhaps linked to a particular hobby or interest
- Suggest different formats, such as audiobooks, comics or dyslexia-friendly books
- Hold a celebration assembly in September for children who have taken part in the Summer Reading Challenge
- Offer merits or house points to children who bring in their certificate to show you in the autumn term
Visit the Summer Reading Challenge website to find out more.
More news from the SLS team and the world of books and libraries.....
Any UK state primary school without an existing library space can apply for the 'Libraries for Primaries' programme – the National Literacy Trust aren’t restricted geographically as in previous years. Contact the National Literacy Trustfor more information.
Don't forget this summer, the Teacher's Reading Challenge will be running from 25 June to 31 October, encouraging teachers, librarians, and education staff to explore children’s literature and develop reading-for-pleasure pedagogy that transforms school communities.
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