Teach Primary Issue 18.4

Pupil poverty A charity that gives away free school uniforms saved parents across Kirklees almost £1m last year. Huddersfield-based Uniform Exchange helped 10,188 children in 2023, donating more than 92,000 items of clothing. Founder Kate France says it’s proof of how badly this frontline service is needed at a time when the average cost for a full primary school uniform is £287. Thousands of people donate outgrown clothes and shoes to Uniform Exchange each year via dozens of drop-off points from which the charity collects, cleans and redistributes items to families in need. Each year, Uniform Exchange prevents 50 tonnes of school uniform needlessly going into landfill in Kirklees, and so many pieces of clothing are now collected that anyone can apply for free school uniform to help reduce waste. www.teachwire.net | 9 I N EVERY I SSUE Look ahead | Book ahead Q & A Abig book boost A charitable initiative from Bookshop.org has provided reading support to over 1,000 families in need. The Read It Forward campaign, in partnership with BookTrust, ran throughout February. Bookshop.org donated 10 per cent of the sales of each children’s book sold via their platform (bookshop.org) to BookTrust, who are the UK’s largest children’s reading charity. The campaign received backing from a raft of high-profile children’s authors. Louie Stowell, bestselling author of the Loki: A Bad God’s Guide series, said “It was great to see the impact of the Read It Forward initiative, with children’s authors, publishers and independent bookshops sharing the recommendations for a really diverse range of children’s books.” Lizzie Catford, director of children’s books at BookTrust, said “The money raised will help over 1,000 children from low-income backgrounds access books to support, or perhaps even start, their reading journeys.” Andy Griffiths Author of the phenomenally successful Treehouse series 1.Why did you start writing children’s books? As long as I can remember, I’ve written humorous short stories, poems and cartoons to amuse my friends and family. In my late twenties, I became a high school English teacher and, for the first time, met students who had no connection to, or love for, reading or writing. I instinctively began writing short humorous pieces for them to demonstrate the wonderful freedom of the imaginative world and to model the many possibilities of self-expression – and pure mischievous joy – of writing for themselves and their friends. 2. Youwere once lead singer ina punk band.Howdid you bring that spirit to your books? I fell in love with punk rock’s irreverent spirit from the moment I discovered it. Loud, raw, direct, confronting and often funny – I mean, what’s not to like? It blended perfectly with the spirit of anarchic fun and fearlessness I was always searching for in the books and comics I read, as well as the spirit I was trying to express in my writing. 3.Why did youdecide to end the Treehouse series? Well, every book has 13 chapters, Jill has 13 flying cats and Edward Scooperhand’s ice cream parlour has 78 different flavours, which is multiple of 13…As we approached the 13th book, I realised that this would be the perfect place to end the series and let Andy and Terry sail off into the sunset (or zoom out into the universe). The 169-Storey Treehouse: Monkeys, Mirrors, Mayhem! by Andy Griffiths, illustrated by Terry Denton, is out now. *smf.co.uk/publications/investing-in-the-future of primary teachers think their pupils have adequate financial skills 1% FATHER’S DAY Show some appreciation for dads on 16th June with these craft and literacy activities from Teachwire. They’re all FREE to download at tinyurl.com/tp-Dads PRIDE MONTH Celebrate in style this June – and learn about the struggles LGBTQ+ people face – with this roundup of the best KS2 resources. tinyurl.com/ tp-TW-Pride