Upper KS2

This beautifully understated and haunting story brings a piece of mining history to life. The ever-present ocean and inevitable pattern of life in a mining town will enthral children and move adult readers, as a young boy wakes up to the sound of the sea, visits his grandfather's grave after lunch and comes home to a cosy dinner with his family, but all the while his mind strays to his father digging for coal deep down under the sea.
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When eleven-year-old Georgie befriends an eccentric retired scientist, she becomes the test subject for a thrilling new experiment: a virtual-reality 3D version of the future.
But then a deadly disease threatens the life of every dog in the country and Georgie’s beloved dog, Mr Mash, gets sick. And that’s only the start of her troubles.
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Alex Rider is back in this brand new, explosive mission in the number one bestselling series. In this adrenaline-fueled, action-packed adventure, Alex Rider is trying to get his life back on track after the traumatic events of his last mission. But even Alex can't fight the past ...especially when it holds a deadly secret. Click image for resources

Set in an all too believable near future when many parts of England are submerged in water and people drift into gangs, divided due to the scarcity of resources, especially food. Zoe has been left behind on an island which used to be the city of Norwich and discovers a boat which she wants to use to try and find her parents. She has to cope with human cruelties and frailties but the story ends on a note of hope.
This is a free teaching sequence from the CLPE

Roger McGough’s collection is an invitation to be excited about poetry and not be limited by the world: ‘Let your imagination/Feed on the fantastic/Let it move like quicksilver/Stretch like elastic.
The poet plays with language, form and ideas – not just with poetry but with pineapples too – ‘fearsome as a hand grenade’!
As the title suggests, food is a subject often chewed upon throughout the collection whether it’s the fate of a chip summed up in English and French, the difficulty of finding a rhyme for sausages or the delicious variety of ingredients that can be baked in a poetry pie.
This is a free teaching sequence from the CLPE

When Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim get on board the London Eye, he turned and waved before getting on. After half an hour it landed and everyone trooped off - but no Salim. Where could he have gone? How on earth could he have disappeared into thin air?
Since the police are having no luck finding him, Ted and Kat become sleuthing partners. Despite their prickly relationship, they overcome their differences to follow a trail of clues across London in a desperate bid to find their cousin. And ultimately it comes down to Ted, whose brain works in its own very unique way, to find the key to the mystery.
Find above a set of resources shared by a Year 6 teacher

Imagine if, on an ordinary day, war came. Imagine it turned your town to rubble. Imagine going on a long and difficult journey – all alone. Imagine finding no welcome at the end of it. Then imagine a child who gives you something small but very, very precious...
When the government refused to allow 3000 child refugees to enter this country in 2016, Nicola Davies was so angry she wrote a poem. It started a campaign for which artists contributed drawings of chairs, symbolising a seat in a classroom, education, kindness, the hope of a future. The poem has become this book, movingly illustrated by Rebecca Cobb, which should prove a powerful aid for explaining the ongoing refugee crisis to younger readers.
Teaching ideas from the CLPE

The Boy at the Back of the Class is a child’s perspective on the refugee crisis, highlighting the importance of friendship and kindness in a world that doesn’t always make sense. A perfect class read for KS2
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