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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.

Roald Dahl Day: five ways to celebrate

Child in Willy Wonka costume BigStock
While there’s always a reason to enjoy and celebrate the amazing books that Roald Dahl wrote, make a special effort on Roald Dahl Day to organise phizz-whizzingly brilliant activities and scrumdiddlyumptious treats!

Get ready to enter the wonderful world of whangdoodles, snozzberries and whizpoppers! Here are some age-appropriate, fantabulous ideas to bring Roald Dahl's beloved characters and stories to life for your kids on Roald Dahl Day (celebrated every year on 13 September, which was the author's birthday).

Roald Dahl activities for Reception

Read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory out loud to your child, or listen to it together, then come up with your own Willy Wonka-inspired sweets.

A perfect introduction to The Twits is the House of Twits app: explore the Twits’ house, including the disgusting bathroom and filthy kitchen, poke Mrs Twit's glass eye and feed Mr Twit worms... there are loads of fiendish games to have a go at!

Roald Dahl activities for Years 1-2 (Age 6-7)

Help your child dress up as their favourite Roald Dahl character, and pretend to be that character for the day. For instance, your child can try to speak like the BFG, or remember all the adventures in the giant peach. On Dahlicious Dress Up Day schoolchildren all over the UK dress up as their favourite Roald Dahl characters to raise funds for Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity, which helps seriously ill and disabled children.

If you’re stuck for costume ideas, our no-sew Roald Dahl costume ideas are perfect for non-crafty parents!

Roald Dahl activities for Years 3-4 (Age 8-9)

Lots of Dahl’s books have been turned into films, so how about inviting friends to a Roald Dahl film party? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (either version), James and the Giant Peach, Fantastic Mr.Fox and Matilda are all great choices. 

Liven things up with a special Roald Dahl quiz – you can prepare questions, winners’ certificates and more or print out TheSchoolRun's Roald Dahl wordsearch. Oxford Owl also offer a selection of free Roald Dahl word-based activities from the creators of the Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary.

The videos on the Roald Dahl YouTube channel also offer costume and craft ideas and even refreshments recipes!

Roald Dahl activities for Years 5-6 (Ages 10-11)

If your kids already know the Roald Dahl books really well, bring the author himself to life by visiting the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire.

See the area Dahl lived and wrote in for more than 30 years, and take part in storytelling, craft sessions and special events scheduled for each month.

Roald Dahl activities for Year 7 (Age 12)

Set your children a challenge to see how many Roald Dahl books they can read in a week, especially if there are any titles they haven’t picked up yet. There are well over 40 books and short story collections – over 20 aimed at children – so there’s plenty to choose from! How about turning it into a way to raise money for Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity by getting friends and family to pledge a certain amount of money for each book your kids read?

Watch Puffin Virtually Live webcasts themed around Roald Dah's work

Puffin Virtually Live 2012:
Hosted by Michael Rosen, in conversation with Roald Dahl’s legendary illustrator, Quentin Blake.


Puffin Virtually Live 2013:
Hosted by Michael Rosen, former Children’s Laureate and author of children’s biography Fantastic Mr Dahl, in conversation with Roald Dahl’s daughter, Lucy Dahl, the inspiration for Matilda, finding out about the mischief and mayhem her father got up to at home and in the writing of his work. There is also a live performance of “Naughty” from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Matilda The Musical.


Puffin Virtually Live 2014:
Hosted by Helen Skelton, with a focus on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.


Puffin Virtually Live 2016:
Hosted by Naomi Wilkinson, featuring the cast of Matilda the Musical.


Puffin Virtually Live 2017:
A Quentin Blake draw-a-thon, hosted by CBBC Book-Club presenter Katie Thistleton.


Puffin Story Makers Show for Roald Dahl Story Day 2020:
The ultimate Roald Dahl guessing game, a draw-along, some r-r-r-revolting witcha-grams and an extract of The Witches, read by Stanley Tucci.


Photo credit: Quentin Blake illustrations from James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, published by Puffin books. © Quentin Blake