Newcastle Libraries can offer schools a wide variety of resources, activities and advice. Please see below for details of our services and for further information please contact Jen Brown, Jan Dumbell or Judy Zajac on 0191 2774100 or email information@newcastle.gov.uk.
The latest news from the children's team can be found on the Newcastle Libraries blog. You can also view our events calendar below and for library wide news subscribe to our popular e-newsletter.
The Newcastle Collection website has several teacher packs on subjects concerning the history of Newcastle such as crime and punishment, the Quayside, medicine and the civil war. Access the Newcastle Collection resources.
The children’s reading group collection was created to support Newcastle
Libraries' own reading groups, but it can also be borrowed for free by schools. Within the collection we have a range of different titles, suitable for different reading levels. There are multiple copies of each title which are available for you to reserve and pick up from a Newcastle library of your choice. View the reading group stock.
For further information contact the children's team on 0191 2774100 or email information@newcastle.gov.uk.
This award winning website is closely linked to the school curriculum and provides children aged 5 to 12 with a fun way to learn. There are hundreds of activities covering 12 subject areas with games, challenges, creative ideas for making music, art and story writing and plenty more to explore.
The website is available via subscription but can be accessed for free in any Newcastle library. Alternatively children can use Grid Club at the homework club every Tuesday from 5pm - 6pm in City Library or every Thursday from 5pm - 6pm at East End Library.
We have a range of online resources which you can use with children and young people in school and which they could use for homework at home. All sites are available via the online resources page. They will need a library ticket to be able to log on to the following subscriptions:
The Early Years Library Loan Service, located at Walker Library, is a free service we provide to nurseries, playgroups, parent and toddler groups and childminders who require more than 20 books or who look after children with special needs. A box of resources can be issued and then changed termly. These are sent to and collected at a library branch, which is specified by the nursery / playgroup / school etc. Materials available include:
View the events calendar above for details of the following:
During the school holidays there are free events and themed activities in all Newcastle libraries. All activities and events are free.
Most libraries hold regular reading groups for young people of all ages. There's also a creative writing group which is run by New Writing North.
Most libraries hold regular arts and crafts clubs for all ages where children can try out card making, knitting, painting and other crafts.
For 12 - 16 year olds
Children can be involved in initiatives such as the Summer Reading Challenge, the Juice Festival and the Northern Children's Book Festival. Volunteers have added experiences to their Record of Personal Achievement and some have volunteered as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award and the Certificate in Community Volunteering.
For 16 - 25 year olds
For those aged 16 to 25 they can record your volunteer hours on V Inspired, the national volunteering site for young people. It's great for adding to a CV.
The forth annual Children’s Literature Conference will take place at City Library on Thursday 29 March 2012. The day will explore the important role of literature in the primary curriculum and will be a unique opportunity to share practice whilst celebrating the work of Newcastle schools engaged in developing a whole school approach to literature.
The key note speaker, Dr. Kim Reynolds, Professor of Children's Literature at Newcastle University, will discuss evolving literary representations of the family, and afternoon workshops will offer ideas on how to develop the practice.
For more information or to book a place please contact jen.brown@newcastle.gov.uk or phone 0191 2774100.
All colleagues who work with primary aged children in Newcastle and the North East (e.g. teachers, teaching assistants, librarians, children’s centre staff and other practitioners) are welcome to attend.
Delegate cost: £50 for full day session, lunch provided.
The Summer Reading Challenge is a national, annual scheme that encourages primary aged children to continue to read during the summer holidays. The challenge for the children is to read six books of their choice during the summer holidays. The children simply join at their local library. Three stages to the adventure give a sense of progression and certificates are awarded to the children who complete the challenge.
What Newcastle Libraries can do to help you with the Summer Reading Challenge:
Children can join up to the Summer Reading Challenge in all Newcastle libraries. Activities take place from late July to early September in every library. These are advertised on the Newcastle Libraries blog, on the events calendar and in the Newcastle Libraries e-newsletter. For more information on being involved in the Summer Reading Challenge contact Jen Brown on 0191 2774100 or email information@newcastle.gov.uk.
The Juice Festival, Newcastle-Gateshead's award winning festival for children and young people is back for the fourth year. Packed full of events that celebrate the creativity of young people, this year's will run from 19 - 30 October so look out for more details on the Juice Festival website.
The National Young Readers’ Programme is the national programme that the National Literacy Trust uses to motivate disadvantaged children and young people to read for pleasure. This project helps children to acquire the skills they need to develop as a reader, from knowing how to choose a book that engages them, to where they can find books once the project is over.
Newcastle Libraries runs this programme in partnerships with Starbucks, schools and children's centres in Newcastle every year. This involves library staff visiting the chosen venue and running activities, stories and book choosing sessions. Children in the scheme also have the chance to visit the library, as well as choosing books for themselves which are bought for them to keep. These books can often be the first books that they have ever owned for themselves. If you work with disadvantaged children and would like to be involved, please get in touch.
This is an annual event which has now been running for 28 years. It is the largest free children’s book festival in Europe. Libraries across the region organise and run the festival which takes place for a fortnight in November. There is a Gala Day celebration at the end of the fortnight which is hosted by a different authority each year and involves author / illustrator workshops, book sales and activities.
This year the Gala Day is being extended to run over 2 days on the 19 and 20 November making it a Gala Weekend at Benfield School in Newcastle. The authors confirmed for the weekend so far are Korky Paul, Steve Cole and Lydia Monks.
Newcastle Libraries organise a programme of author / illustrator visits to schools and libraries in Newcastle during festival fortnight. The cost of an author/ illustrator for a day is £ 290. For further information please contact: Children & Young People's team on 0191 2774100 or email information@newcastle.gov.uk.
Newcastle Libraries may be able to organise for a bus of children from your school to be taken to the Gala Weekend (a cost will apply).
Class visits can be arranged with any Newcastle Library and can include curriculum tie-in and snapshot of library skills. These can be a regular or one off sessions, where bulk loan of library stock can be arranged for each class. To set up a free visit, please get in touch with your local library.
If you would like an author / poet or illustrator to visit your school, but you don’t know who to book or how to go about it, Newcastle Libraries can offer you advice. We have a number of good partnerships with different authors, as well as ‘The Reading Agency’ who can broker author visits with libraries and schools. Below are a number of authors / poets and illustrators who we work with regularly and who we can
recommend:
Please get in touch if you would like our advice in booking an author session or if you would be interested in bringing your class/school for an author session in the library. Phone 0191 2774100 or email information@newcastle.gov.uk.
We also have visits from children's authors and illustrators at libraries throughout the year so please see the keep up to date section above to find out who's coming. Author sessions at the library are free.
Coming soon.
Page last updated: 16 March, 2012
