Collins Schools

Books Like Us: Representing working-class realities in children’s books

Books Like Us: Representing working-class realities in children’s books

I’ve recently been working with some primary-age kids in Halifax and Wakefield on creative writing projects. I was born nearby in Doncaster.  Whilst I was browsing the phonics texts in one of the schools, it struck me that our particular...

6 min

Why reading, and reading about history, is important

Why reading, and reading about history, is important

2026 is the Year of Reading; something we should celebrate and embrace. Most people, after all, have at least an inkling of an idea that reading is good for us, and that it is something we should encourage young people...

4 min

Visibility of disabilities in children's books

Visibility of disabilities in children's books

By Sophie Kamlish  Growing up I clung to the characters in books I could identify with; Sophie from ‘The Sophie Stories’ by Dick King Smith (same name, brown hair, likes animals), Susan from Jacqueline Wilson’s Candyfloss...

4 min

Why Read On is perfect for upper KS2 reading

Why Read On is perfect for upper KS2 reading

Whole class reading is a time for teaching the skills of reading, such as prediction, inference, and retrieval. It is also a time where the class comes together to share a book. In these shared <a...

5 min

Keeping the reading spark alive in the primary-secondary transition

Keeping the reading spark alive in the primary-secondary transition

As an English teacher and children's author, you might imagine my thirteen-year-old son to be the world's biggest reader. That's not quite how things have turned out. It wasn't always this way - back in primary school, he loved reading.

5 min

A history of Big Cat, the UK’s leading primary reading programme

A history of Big Cat, the UK’s leading primary reading programme

Publisher Lee Newman discusses Big Cat’s evolution over the last twenty years, and reflects on why reading programmes are essential for children’s education, enjoyment and wellbeing.

7 min

Self-Acceptance and Body Image in ‘Beauty Spot’

Self-Acceptance and Body Image in ‘Beauty Spot’

‘Beauty Spot’ is a story about self-acceptance and building a positive body image. At eleven years old,...

5 min

Meet Joynina K. Jones – the funny, flawed diarist who can help students explore big feelings, illness and emotional growth

Meet Joynina K. Jones – the funny, flawed diarist who can help students explore big feelings, illness and emotional growth

Joynina Jones is opinionated, sometimes awkward and has more than her fair share of embarrassing moments too. But Joynina faces more than everyday school drama. She also has sickle cell disorder – a condition that affects her red blood cells...

5 min

Martin Luther King Jr: How the Boy at the Back of the Bus Changed the World

Martin Luther King Jr: How the Boy at the Back of the Bus Changed the World

Poet Antoinette Brooks, author and illustrator of story in verse ‘The Boy at the Back of the Bus’, delves into how Martin Luther King Jr’s teenage stand helped him change history.

4 min

The Goldilocks test: getting our poetry teaching ‘just right’

The Goldilocks test: getting our poetry teaching ‘just right’

It was a lively and energetic time in the Year 4 classroom. Towards the end of a unit on poetry, we had explored a huge variety of poetic devices and strategies. The working wall was plastered with the words SIMILE,...

6 min

How I wove my culture into my writing in ‘My Name is Miya’

How I wove my culture into my writing in ‘My Name is Miya’

By Mio Debnam  I love stories, and I’ve been reading and writing them nearly all of my life, but although I’m Japanese, because I grew up in Hong...

4 min

Celebrating Travelling communities in “Parade of the Pipers”

Celebrating Travelling communities in “Parade of the Pipers”

Growing up, I developed a fondness for the story of the pied piper. I was captivated by the narrative of an outsider who used their extraordinary talents to address a town’s dilemma. This tale resonated deeply with me, as...

2 min