School library resources
- School Library Association - UK based charity organisation offering support, resources and training to everyone involved in school libraries.
- Great School Libraries - website for Great School Libraries, a three-year national campaign to bring back libraries and school librarians to every school in the UK.
- CILIP - the UK's library and information association. CILIP members can join special interest groups, such as the School Libraries Group and the Youth Libraries Group, at no extra cost.
- Youth Libraries Group North West - regional division of CILIP's Youth Libraries Group. It runs free networking and CPD events across the North West, including Picture Books in the Pub, a group shadowing the Kate Greenaway Medal.
- Heart of the School - run by librarian Caroline Roche, the blog celebrates school libraries and librarians, and features good news stories, examples of best practice and useful advice for new practitioners.
Book reviews, awards and news
- Books for Keeps - online children's book magazine featuring reviews, articles and author interviews.
- Books for Topics - website offering curriculum-linked book recommendations for primary schools, as well as booklists to encourage reading for pleasure.
- BookTrust - the UK's largest children's reading charity runs a range of literacy programmes, including the free School Library Pack for secondary schools.
- Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) - UK based children's literacy charity working with primary schools. CLPE offers free access to hundreds of book recommendations and high-quality teaching resources through their Corebooks collection.
- The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Book Awards - news, archives and resources relating to the prestigious Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals, including information about how schools can shadow the shortlists.
- Down the Rabbit Hole - monthly podcast about children's books hosted by publishing insiders, Katherine Woodfine, Melissa Cox and Louise Lamont. Episodes feature studio guests, book reviews and interviews with leading authors and illustrators.
- LoveReading4Kids - one of the largest and most comprehensive websites for children's book reviews and recommendations in the UK. Reviews are handily divided into age and genre categories, with large sections devoted to reluctant readers and dyslexia-friendly books.
- Reading Agency - UK charity that promotes the benefits of reading among children and adults. Free resources, including discussion guides and activity packs, are often available.
- World Book Day - a fantastic range of free resources, including book extracts, reading lists and author masterclasses, for primary and secondary school students.
BBC Teach class clips
If you're after film resources to support curriculum topics, take a look at BBC Teach Class Clips. Here you'll find thousands of curriculum-linked film resources to help you deliver your lessons. These sit either on our YouTube channel, or in our Class Clips collection on BBC Bitesize.
eResources
eResources, offered by Cheshire libraries, contains links to many useful online resources all containing a wealth of information, including Britannica Online, Credo Reference and Newsbank. It can be accessed via Cheshire East and Chester West and Chester libraries website. You will need to be a member of Cheshire Libraries to access the resources.
Canal and River Trust education newsletter
You can now sign up to receive a free education newsletter from the Canal and River Trust. Produced termly, it includes free lesson plans, competitions, activities and resources to use in the classroom and on visits to your local canal or river. Sign up now to start receiving your termly newsletter.
Local studies resources
We sometimes get requests from schools for topics relating to the local area.
Unfortunately there are not many books published which will satisfy these requests, so we have put together the following useful links that will provide you with more information about the local area. You may also find the resources useful for topics such as the Victorians or the Tudors.
Local resources websites
- Cheshire Image Bank - a collection of digital images created from original material: photographs, postcards, prints slides and negatives. These are held at the Cheshire Archives & Local Studies, the Chester History & Heritage and in Cheshire Libraries.
- Picture Halton - the Halton Library Service Image Website.
- Cheshire Archives and Local Studies - Cheshire Archives collects and preserves historical records and the local studies collection relating to both the ancient and modern county of Cheshire, the diocese and the city of Chester. It also provides an archive service for the boroughs of Halton and Warrington.
- Cheshire Local History Association - as well as information on the history of Cheshire, the site provides a list of local history links, covering areas of Cheshire such as Middlewich, Northwich, Weaverham and Runcorn.
- Education Resources Association - ERA is a group of Heritage Education Officers based in Cheshire and the surrounding area. who meet together to share good practice and undertake training to develop skills. The ERA website provides information for all its venues, such as their curriculum specialities and overview for teachers to help you plan any visits.