Literacy Hive resources
Literacy Hive is an online platform designed to make it easier for teachers to discover literacy resources. Founded by Sian Hardy, a children’s book specialist with over 25 years of experience, Literacy Hive offers an organised library of existing literacy resources. With a user-friendly interface for finding materials related to primary and secondary education needs, it aims to be a one-stop support for literacy, helping to reduce the amount of time educators spend searching the web.
Finding it difficult to quickly locate useful resources, Hardy came up with this teacher-timesaving solution. Literacy Hive sources and organises literacy resources from a diverse range of providers, enabling busy teachers to more easily and quickly find resources that suit their purpose. Literacy Hive signposts these resources, allowing educators to discover materials that best fit their classroom requirements.
With Literacy Hive, teachers can find resources based on specific areas of literacy, or more defined topics such as supporting EAL students or those with special educational needs and disabilities. The resources cover all age groups from EYFS to KS5. There are also filters to find resources for particular regions in the UK and different price points, including free resources. The website encourages exploration and browsing—allowing educators to find ideas and materials they might not have otherwise encountered.
Newsletter and blog
In addition to the listings, Literacy Hive offers a newsletter and blog that keeps users up-to-date on all new developments. Literacy Hive also supports continuous professional development by listing a variety of reading and writing CPD courses and providers.
Literacy Hive also has books and authors at its core. There are extensive links to book recommendations, book lists, and access to book review sites—including the School Reading List website—to help educators build inclusive and representative school libraries. For educators working with struggling or reluctant readers and writers, Literacy Hive signposts resources and interventions.
Literacy Hive was born out of a desire to make it easier for literacy teachers to find resources. On the website Hardy says, “While there was a wealth of support available, finding it could be a time-consuming business.”
Literacy Year
Literacy Hive’s Literacy Year calendar presents, month by month, events, challenges, and competitions to capture the interest of young readers and writers. The Literacy Year links educators to a range of useful resources and activities to help enliven students’ literacy experiences throughout the school year.
This calendar is a free resource. Updated regularly with links to a myriad of literary events and resources, each entry on the calendar includes details about the event, relevant booklists, online author events, and other resources to help schools and libraries make the most of each opportunity.
Among the many filterable resources in Literacy Hive’s The Literacy Year are themed special days, weeks, and months. For example, there’s Anti-Bullying Week in November, World Book Day in March, and the Summer Reading Challenge. Each entry for the event offers educators materials, further reading, and ideas to make these themed events relevant and useful in school.
Book awards are also promoted, including the Branford Boase Award—which identifies and promotes new writers—and the CLiPPA (Centre for Literacy in Primary Poetry Award), the only UK award for published poetry for children. The Literacy Year calendar also features a range of writing competitions, including the 500 Words Competition for primary school children and the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award for older students. The calendar details a range of author events, including large-scale literary events, online opportunities to learn about authors, and open-access online workshops.
Filterable by Key Stage, region, and type of resource, Literacy Hive and The Literacy Year make it easy for heads of departments and coordinators to find suitable whole-school and classroom events. Enlivening literacy throughout the school should now be an easier task!
Highly recommended for teachers and literacy coordinators—visit the Literacy Hive website and the Literacy Year resource pages.
