Essex Year of Reading app
Reading for the whole family
At Anspear, we are thrilled to have been involved in the Essex Year of Reading campaign, launched back in February 2022. Though the campaign has now drawn to a close, its impact and mission to inspire a love of reading throughout Essex will continue.
Anspear played a pivotal role in developing one of the key legacies of the campaign: the Essex Year of Reading app. This free app hosts engaging and interactive reading materials for children and families, as well as valuable guidance for parents, caregivers, TAs and teachers.
Scan the QR code to download the free app, or click the button below.
Download the app
A platform for Essex stories
The app has served as a fantastic platform for storytelling, showcasing Essex’s writing and illustrative talent. We ran three writing competitions and received hundreds of entries from budding writers and artists, which you can now read on the app. The youngest writer was 4 years old and the oldest 87, a testament to the campaign's inclusivity.
Whether it's thrilling mysteries or thought-provoking poetry, these stories and poems provide wonderful opportunities for families, friends and schools to read together and perhaps even discover each other's work.
Support for local storytellers
The Essex Year of Reading placed a special emphasis on intergenerational reading and support for local storytellers. With the support of Essex County Council's Adult Social Care team, Joan Vicente (a care home resident living with dementia in Brentwood) was presented with a published edition of her poetry collection, which can also be enjoyed on the Essex Year of Reading app. The Essex Year of Reading also commissioned a collection of poems and artwork from young people in care across Essex. These poems showcase the unique perspectives and experiences of these young individuals.
Guidance for parents and school staff
The app includes a wealth of resources for families and educators to support children's literacy development and emotional resilience. There is even a selection of top-quality CPD resources for classroom teachers and TAs.
We invite teachers, schools, parents, caregivers and young people to ensure that every year can be a year of reading in Essex by enjoying one another's work, continuing to develop our practices and reading together as communities. By engaging with the app, families and schools can continue the momentum created by the campaign.
Join us in celebrating the joy of reading by downloading the Essex Year of Reading app!
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