In The Loop

Issue 23 September 2026 Reg. Charity 1176987

After a blistering summer in which the children were not even allowed to fill their paddling pools and our gardens baked to a crisp, it’s time to fire up enthusiasm, go back to school and help stoke youthful imaginations again. We have two events in the offing to pique your interest - and more being planned. There are also new regulations to note regarding safeguarding and mobile phones. TNRP would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the one and only Dolly Parton who gifted more than 332 million books to children through her wonderful Imagination Library - a truly great philanthropist who understood how dreams can grow through the power of reading.

Keep That Phone Out of Sight!

The Government’s safeguarding document Keeping Children Safe in Education will be updated again on September 1st. It is now an explicit expectation that we don’t have mobile phones out in school - even to check the time or to time the minutes spent per child - so please remember to keep your phone out of sight at all times while in school.

James Mayhew: A Celebration of Childhood Reading A Celebration of Childhood Reading

Award-winning author and illustrator of A Symphony of Stories, James Mayhew, has very kindly agreed to host an evening of story-telling in aid of TNRP. The event promises to be a visual and aural feast. Tickets are available from The Book Hive website https://www.thebookhive.co.uk/events/

We’ll be treated to a very unique experience: James will narrate and draw on an easel live in front of you, accompanied by music from violinist Caroline Speca and pianist Will Fergusson. James’ “illustrated concerts” are highly educational, critically acclaimed… and enormous fun! All proceeds from public ticket sales of this event will function as a donation, going directly to TNRP. Contact The Book Hive for your free ticket.

Made possible by the generosity of the Assembly House Trust. Huge thanks, too, to James Mayhew and The Book Hive for organising this on our behalf.

Wednesday 28th October
In the Music Room at The Assembly House
Doors 6:30pm for a 7:00pm start
Adults £12 | Children £2 | TNRP Volunteers FREE
The event will run for approx. 1 hour, with time for book sales and signing afterwards.

How to Motivate Reluctant Readers (13 Tips Included)

Supporting Reluctant Readers

Come and join us on Saturday 19th September. Refreshments on arrival at 2pm.

Dave Jones, from the School of Education, UEA, together with former teacher and early years’ specialist, Gill Holland, will be looking at building relationships with reluctant readers to promote reading success.

Please note that this workshop has a new venue: Chapelfield Methodist Church, Chapelfield Road, Bristol Terrace, Norwich NR2 1SD

To book a spot, please RSVP info@thenorfolkreading project.co.uk

Anywhere Book Club (@anywherebookclub) • Instagram photos and videos

New Reading Resources from the Anywhere Book Club

Thanks to an incredibly generous donation from The Mercers’ Company we are able to provide a number of book boxes with accompanying user-guides for our volunteers’ schools.

These carefully-chosen books - 6 books and 6 guides in each box - are intended to enrich the reading experience, nurture grammar and vocabulary and inspire young minds. ABC founders Natasha Morgan and Saskia Sims will also be hosting a live workshop for our volunteers in Norfolk at some time in the near future. Our online webinar with ABC was a huge success with those who were able to log in. A recording of this can be watched on our website -

https://www.thenorfolkreadingproject.co.uk/resources-and-videos/

We will be delivering the book boxes in batches over the next academic year and we also have a few boxes that can be collected at the September workshop.

Thompson Adventure Book Trail

Big thanks to Jean Wagner and the folk at Thompson for arranging such a fun day on Thompson Millennium Green at the start of the summer holidays. Former children’s laureate Chris Riddell entertained everyone with drawing and storytelling, books were read aloud, cakes were eaten, book-cover art was judged, a literary trail was solved and there was a Bear Hunt complete with a very furry bear chasing children screaming in delight. Thank you for raising money for TNRP too!

Need More Stickers or Bookmarks?

Please contact Michelle Elliott at: miche.elliott1960@btinternet.com

and she will post them to you.

Don’t Forget Your Annual Update

We don’t know who is still in school if you don’t tell us - so this is a gentle reminder to do your annual update on the Portal. You should have received an email about this or you can go directly to the Portal via the grey button on the website homepage. Any problems - just drop us an email.

info@thenorfolkreadingproject.co.uk

Happy Volunteering!

Posted Tue 15th September 2026 (23 hours ago)