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Important update from TheSchoolRun

For the past 13 years, TheSchoolRun has been run by a small team of mums working from home, dedicated to providing quality educational resources to primary school parents. Unfortunately, rising supplier costs and falling revenue have made it impossible for us to continue operating, and we’ve had to make the difficult decision to close. The good news: We’ve arranged for another educational provider to take over many of our resources. These will be hosted on a new portal, where the content will be updated and expanded to support your child’s learning.

What this means for subscribers:

  • Your subscription is still active, and for now, you can keep using the website as normal — just log in with your usual details to access all our articles and resources*.
  • In a few months, all resources will move to the new portal. You’ll continue to have access there until your subscription ends. We’ll send you full details nearer the time.
  • As a thank you for your support, we’ll also be sending you 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep.

A few changes to be aware of:

  • The Learning Journey weekly email has ended, but your child’s plan will still be updated on your dashboard each Monday. Just log in to see the recommended worksheets.
  • The 11+ weekly emails have now ended. We sent you all the remaining emails in the series at the end of March — please check your inbox (and spam folder) if you haven’t seen them. You can also follow the full programme here: 11+ Learning Journey.

If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you for being part of our journey it’s been a privilege to support your family’s learning.

*If you need to reset your password, it will still work as usual. Please check your spam folder if the reset email doesn’t appear in your inbox.

Best interactive book websites

Boy looking at computer
Stories are so much more than simple words on the printed page, as these websites demonstrate. Your child will be able to hear favourite authors talk about their work, enter the world of Harry Potter (what House will the Sorting Hat select for them?), play games based on classic books and find out more about some of their favourite characters. Log on to look around – then go back to the books and read more!

The Story-Makers Show

View free webcasts of Jacqueline Wilson, Quentin Blake, Eoin Colfer and other best-selling authors discussing their work and answering children’s questions on The Story-Makers Show (previously known as Puffin Virtually Live). You'll be able to access creative writing lessons from your favourite authors and draw along with legendary illustrators! Wherever you are in the world, The Story-Makers Show gives you the chance to learn from your heroes.

Wizarding World

There will be no more new Harry Potter books, but if your child is a fan they’ll love J.K. Rowling’s online experience Wizarding World, built around the stories and featuring new content from the author herself.

You can explore the series and characters, follow the story and compete for the Pottermore House Cup – all for free. The scenes and sound effects are fantastic, and there are badges to unlock, galleons to find and potions to make… enjoy!

For younger children, J.K. Rowling’s Stories is a new interactive section on her website for younger readers to discover and explore the different imaginary worlds of her children’s fiction.

Booktrust

Stories, rhymes, poetry, competitions and book-themed games... the Booktrust website is a treasure trove for bookworms. We love the Bookfinder, the themed booklists for children (looking for ghost stories? Detective stories? Books with strong heroines or books about space?), the quizzes and the interactive storybooks.

StoryCloud

StoryCloud is a collection of online stories to read, listen to and download from children’s story centre Discover. You can choose to read or listen to each of the stories, then look for surprises and challenges in the pictures. Or why not be inspired to write a story of your own?

YouTube

Yes, really! YouTube is packed with bookish content; subscribe to children's publishers' channels for book trailers, story readings, author interviews and lots more. Channels we love include Puffin Books, Abrams Books, HarperCollins Children's Books,

Storyline Online

US children’s literacy website, Storyline Online, streams videos featuring well-known actors reading children’s books alongside lovely illustrations. Readers include Kristen Bell, Viola Davis, Chris Pine, Lily Tomlin, Kevin Costner, Annette Bening, James Earl Jones, Eva Longoria and dozens more, and all the books are free to watch / listen to.

Toppsta

Toppsta is a book recommendation website just for kids, powered by parents' and children's reviews. Find your next unputdownable read by browsing by age, author, illustrator or series; review books yourself or win one of the latest releases. Toppsta is completely free to use and packed with ideas for your next trip to the library!