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Primary School children to receive a free commemorative book

Children in state-funded primary schools across the United Kingdom will, from mid-May, begin to receive a free commemorative book to mark Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.

Designed as an official once-in-a-lifetime commemoration of the Platinum Jubilee and written in collaboration with royal experts and historians, the book will tell the story of a young girl, Isabella, visiting her Great Granny Joyce who tells her about the Queen and this year’s Jubilee.

In the story, Isabella sifts through Great Granny Joyce’s treasure box of souvenirs, which act as introductions to the contents of the book. These include recent and historical events across the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, inspirational people, landmark innovations and inventions, and a selection of the best art, design, and culture.

The book will also include famous quotes from the Queen, facts on the coronation ceremony, content on the lives of famous Commonwealth figures such as Nelson Mandela, notable kings and queens and a timeline of Queen Elizabeth’s life.

The Queens Platinum Jubilee

The book will also help children understand how the four nations came together as one United Kingdom, including details such as Owain Glyndwr’s rebellion against the English in 1400 to take the title of ‘Prince of Wales’, on the journey to the Queen’s reign which continues to this day.

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said:

Queen Elizabeth II is the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee and Her Majesty’s dignity, commitment and grace continues to inspire people all over the world.

Millions of children will soon receive their own commemorative Jubilee book, celebrating and showcasing the Queen’s incredible living legacy. I hope all our pupils are as excited as I am to read about Her Majesty’s amazing life and the people and events that have shaped history during the last 70 years.

‘Brilliant bookmarks’ from the Reading Agency are to be distributed with every book, to support and encourage reading for pleasure amongst children at school and over the summer. The book is also featured within the National Literacy Trust’s Platinum Jubilee Royal Reading Challenge.

The book goes on private sale from 23 June.

Schools can expect to hear from the Department for Education (in England) or DK Books (in Northern Ireland) in the coming days about delivery details, and those in Scotland and Wales should already have had information on how to place their book orders.

The book was commissioned by the UK Government and is being published by DK Books. It has been designed for a reading age of 9 to 10 years but will be accessible to all primary school age children, for example if parents, carers or teachers read with them.

It forms part of the wider programme of events and activities planned for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, including a concert, street parties, and an extra bank holiday for the Jubilee weekend itself from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 June 2022.

The link to the original article can be found on GOV.UK.

Free Jubilee teaching resources

With all the upcoming excitement and an additional Bank Holiday it is easy to forget that many parents and supply teachers do not have the time to find additional resources. Many shops are selling wonderful charts and craft sets but they can be expensive.

Here we attempt to help you locate free and inexpensive resources if you are a teacher, teaching assistant or parent.

  1.  TES  have many resources on their website, some you do have to pay for although there are many for free. The free resources include lesson plans, discussion points, facts about the queens reign, design a crown and even games suitable for EYFS. Some of these free resources will be perfect to send home for parents to use.
  2. Twinkl the much-loved website has over 2000 resources suitable for teachers and parents and many of them are free. they include bunting templates, word searches, reading guides, party invitations, fingerprint flags and much much more.
  3. The Eden project have created a set of resources especially for The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Take a look at The Big Jubilee Lunch themed lesson plans for Key Stages 1 to 4 

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