The Letterbox Club www.letterboxclub.org.uk www.booktrust.org.uk

What is the Letterbox Club? An award-winning programme, which aims to provide enjoyable educational support for children who are looked-after aged 3-13. Each child is sent a colourful parcel of books, maths activities, stationery and other complementary materials once every month for six months, from May to October. Children are enrolled for the programme by participating local authorities or schools. The Letterbox Club supports over 11,000 children each year! The Letterbox Club is managed by Book Trust in partnership with the University of Leicester – it started with a small pilot in Leicester in 2003! Getting a parcel through the post is exciting for anyone and the Letterbox Club uses this excitement to encourage looked after children (LAC) and other children aged 3 to 13 to enjoy learning at home. The overarching aim is to enable children to make as much progress as possible in reading and numeracy, whilst addressing the underlying skills that sit behind this and encouraging a sense of shared learning with their carers. Parcels are usually sent from May to October to cover the summer holiday period, where there is commonly a dip in attainment, as well as to support a smoother transition to the next school year.

The Parcels There are six different parcel sets: Letterbox Purple – to support children aged 3-5 in the EYFS Letterbox Orange - children in Year 1, to follow them into Year 2 Letterbox Blue - children in Year 3, to follow them into Year 4 Letterbox Yellow - children aged 7-9 who are not yet reading independently. Letterbox Red - children in Year 5, to follow them into Year 6 Letterbox Green - children in Year 7, to follow them into Year 8 If LA’s or schools have child who is lower or higher ability, they can choose the parcel that will suit them most – we leave this up to the knowledge of the LA or school as they know the children The parcels do not have the ages/ year groups written on them for this reason. Each school/LA can request to see the contents of each colour to help them decide

More than just a parcel… Each child receives a letter explaining what's in their parcel, as well as letters from the authors of the books and extra items like bookmarks and writing activities! An independent panel is chosen to select the most appropriate and best-written, illustrated and designed books. The books selected include a mix of different genres to give the children access to a wide selection of material, including: fairy tales, classic and contemporary stories, picture books, novelty/joke books, poetry, non-fiction and audio books. Each year there’s an independent book selection panel, containing a mixture of professionals. Letterbox Club coordinators/ LACE workers/ librarians/ publishers/ carers/ care leavers etc. to ensure we gain a variety of views/ the best books are selected Books are selected that capture interest and imagination and that stimulate a dialogue between parent/carer and their young children, and also between children and their peers. “I thought WOW when I got the parcel because I have never ever had a package or a parcel in my entire life I am 10 years old” Shannon

Summary of benefits Increased involvement of children in their own learning Children and carers reporting increased confidence in reading and number Enjoyment for the child in receiving a series of personalised parcels Increased involvement of carers 1 1 The Letterbox Club : School of Education, Evaluation Report Full evaluation information can be found on the website: http://www.letterboxclub.org.uk/research-and-evaluation/ “I wish you could have seen his face light up when he came in from school and saw his parcel waiting for him to rip open – these parcels gave extreme and lasting pleasure.” (Carer of Year 5/6 boy)

The Letterbox Club aims to inspire a love of reading in children and young people Reading for enjoyment can have a range of benefits for children on their: Self- esteem and confidence The relationship between children and their carers Achievement in school “It has given us both quality time together. The books have made us laugh and giggle a lot!” Foster carer It’s important that carers/parents continue to support their child’s enjoyment of reading even when they start school, as this can have different wider benefits than focusing purely on a child’s reading skill. For example, it can have benefits for the relationship between carers and their children (Reading in foster families summary report available at: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/globalassets/resources/research/reading-in-foster-families-summary-report.pdf) Self- esteem and confidence (Stevens et al., 2008) Achievement in school (Hutton et al., 2015)

The Letterbox Club: Supporting you and your child to read together The items in the parcels are not homework – your child can choose what they want to use and how they want to use it. The Letterbox Club provides a range of genres, including fiction, non-fiction and activity books. Your child can own and enjoy reading the books at a pace that suits them. Quote from The Letterbox club in Wales Evaluation report, available here: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/globalassets/resources/research/the-letterbox-club-in-wales_2009-2011-3.pdf Carers and parents can support their child with activities related to reading, using the stationery in the parcels. Activities might include drawing their favourite character, their own version of the book cover, writing a book review, writing an extra chapter etc. The parcels can be used by the child on their own or shared with parents/carers, siblings and friends etc.

Spending t ten minutes a day reading with your child Here are some ways you can support your child to use the parcels: Spending t ten minutes a day reading with your child and talking about books can make a difference. The parcels can be a great way for you and your child to spend time together – reading together for just 10 minutes a day can make a difference. Encourage them to take a book with them for car or bus journeys. They can read wherever they like! You can support your child with activities related to reading using the stationery in the parcels. You might want to encourage your child to draw their favourite character or their own version of a book cover. If your child enjoys a particular book and wants to read it again and again, that’s okay.

For more information please contact: Letterbox@booktrust.org.uk Please add LA/school contact details if relevant