Make your pupils’ last term of the year go swimmingly with some topical events to support your summer planning. With our handy Summer term calendar, you can explore key dates to celebrate and enrich your lesson planning.
Key dates in May
1st May: Labour Day – International Workers’ Day
- Explore how far workers’ rights have come by going back in time and experiencing what it would be like to work in a workhouse in Victorian Britain.
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May: Share-A-Story Month
- National Share-a-Story Month 2024’s theme is “A Feast of Stories”. A celebration of food, wondrous creations and authors talent in evoking all our senses through stories.
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6th May – 12th May: Children’s Book Week
- Celebrate some of the most beloved stories of all time with EYFS learners, such as Jack and the Beanstalk, Goldilocks, and Little Red Riding Hood.
- Meanwhile, KS1 classes can learn the importance of Full Stops & Capital Letters while they explore a series of jumbled-up fairy tales.
- KS2 can practise their SATs Reading skills by catching a thief and brush up on their SPAG knowledge by saving your kidnapped brother.
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8th May: VE Day
- To mark the anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe, take your class back in time to the original VE Day and explore what it was like during the Blitz in Britain. In our KS2 Relative Clauses Experience you can cross the channel and explore what life was like in Germany during World War II.
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9th Europe: Europe Day
- Celebrate “peace and unity in Europe” and revitalise the European dream by taking your Year 3 and Year 4 classes on some exciting missions. Save national monuments from evil villains in Spanish Greetings and French Greetings. In Spanish Animals and French Animals, you’ll have to use your language skills to recover a precious stolen bunny.
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12th May: International Nurses Day
- Shine a special light on the important role of nurses throughout history by exploring the lives, achievements and legacies of Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole.
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13-19th May: Mental Health Awareness Week
- Support wellbeing with active PSHE learning that teaches through sound, story and movement. Embed social and emotional learning with 12 PSHE Experiences including Healthy Relationships for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
- Develop emotional regulation and articulation with the Feelings Experiences for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
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18th May: International Museum Day
- Take a trip to the National History Museum in London and explore the complexities of bullying in KS1 Anti-Bullying Experience.
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- Explore different museums around the world with IMD’s interactive map
19th May: Death of Prime Minister William Gladstone
- Experience the difference Gladstone’s reforms made to the lives of ordinary people in Victorian Britain.
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20th May: World Bee Day
- Meet lots of different Minibeasts and make some of your own with our Recap, Create & Play resource for EYFS.
- Team up with Winston, a pollinating bee from Jamaica to save a rare talking plant in your garden in KS2 Plants.
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20-24th May: Walk to School Week
- Teach EYFS classes about how lollipop people help children cross the road safely as part of our People Who Help Us Experience.
- Learn about other modes of transport and take a trip by bus, bicycle, car, ferry and hot air balloon in our EYFS Transport Experience.
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21st May: Mary Anning’s Birthday
- Time-travel with Mary Anning to the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and defeat Professor Bodgit’s dino-monster wreaking havoc in London. Jump into the past in KS2 Dinosaurs.
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22nd May: National Numeracy Day
- Build confidence and demystify maths by putting it in real life contexts. To launch your class on an adventure with pirates, fight corruption in Mumbai or save passengers on the Titanic, try out KS1 Number Bonds, KS2 Decimals, KS2 Fractions and KS2 Mental Maths.
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18-26th May: World Orienteering Week
- Develop your orienteering skills, using a map, directions, and a compass to save your sister from a dragon in KS1 Maps.
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29th May: National Biscuit Day
- Make a gingerbread man with your grandpa and learn The Gingerbread Man song as part of our Traditional Tales Experiences.
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Key dates in June
3-9th June: Child Safety Week
- Find out about adults who keep us safe in EYFS People Who Help Us.
- In our Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 Online Safety Experiences, learn about the dangers of the internet and how to keep yourself – and others – safe.
- With our KS2 Anti-Bullying Experience, your class can explore the impact that cyberbullying can have on them and others.
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5th June: World Environment Day
- Help KS1 and KS2 pupils understand topics like pollution, global warming and deforestation by bringing them to life within the classroom.
- Travel to the source of the Indus River, explore the impact of human behaviour on the environment around the world in KS2 Climate Crisis and KS1 Habitats, or learn how droughts happen in Water Cycle.
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6th June: Empathy Day
- Explore the effect other people’s actions can have on our emotions with the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 Feelings Experiences and grow emotional literacy in your school.
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8th June: World Ocean Day
- In our brand new KS1 Experience, visit the major oceans and seas on your quest to help Vylka, the talking polar bear, back to her home.
- Dive under the sea, sail the high seas with pirates, or learn about beach safety in Seaside with your EYFS class.
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8th June: Invasion of Lindisfarne
When you cross over to England in a longship you discover some of your fellow Vikings are more intent on pillaging than settling alongside Anglo-Saxons. Can you help bring about peace? Immerse yourself in history in our Vikings Experience.
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12th June: Anne Frank’s Birthday
- Explore the treatment of Jewish People during World War 2 in our KS2 Relative Clauses Experience and celebrate Anne Frank’s contribution to writing and history.
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10-14th June: Healthy Eating Week
- What makes a balanced diet? Discover how food affects us by exploring the inside of the human body in our KS1 Healthy Living Experience.
- After your Aunt has been captured by the Rock Monster Queen of another planet, you’ll need to learn what food Humans need to survive so you can save her.
- Help EYFS learn about how food is made in On The Farm or The Gingerbread Man.
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15-22nd June: Drowning Prevention Week
- Meet a lifeguard and learn about water safety with your EYFS class in People Who Help Us.
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- Water safety education resources – Royal Life Saving Society
14-19th June: Hajj
- Complete Hajj with your new friend Maany and visit Mecca in our KS2 The Five Pillars Experience.
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17th June: World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
- In our Water Cycle Experience, you go on an epic journey through the water cycle when your well runs dry. Will you be able to solve the drought in your village?
- Explore what human actions contribute to desertification and drought and how we can make a change in KS1 Habitats, KS2 Rainforests and KS2 Climate Crisis.
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16th June: Father’s Day
- Save your father when the ice caves crack, trapping him and your brother under the ice in the Arctic.
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17-23rd June: Refugee Week
- The theme for Refugee Week 2024 is “Our Home”. Looking at everything from places we gather to share food to our home planet earth. Discover resources and how to plan your own event.
20th June: Summer Solstice
- Explore the seasons and celebrate the longest day with our Summer Experience for EYFS and our Seasons Experience for KS1.
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21st June: National Writing Day
- Fire up your pupils’ imaginations for National Writing Day and develop their creative writing using our brand new product Story Starters.
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22nd June: National Windrush Day
- Discover the Windrush 100 network which strives to celebrate and commemorate the Windrush and work towards a fair and equal Britain.
27th June: RSE Day (Relationships and Sex Education Day)
- Understand the importance of kindness and empathy. Learn how to be independent as well as be able to ask others for help in KS1 Healthy Relationships.
Explore the concept of healthy and unhealthy relationships as you find yourself at the centre of a tricky friendship triangle in KS2 Healthy Relationships. You’ll also learn about power and control within relationships and the emotions involved.
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30th June: Anniversary of the Roman Invasion of Dorset
Join the Roman army in Colchester when your dad is taken prisoner by Boudicca’s army in KS2 Roman Britain.
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Key dates in July
Summer Reading Challenge
- Familarise your EYFS with some of the most beloved stories, such as Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Goldilocks, and The Gingerbread Man.
- Inspire KS1 classes by launching them into a series of jumbled-up fairy tales in Full Stops & Capital Letters.
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4th July: Secondary School Induction starts
- Our Transition Experience can help your Year 6s get used to the new things in secondary school (e.g. subjects, form tutor, a large campus, making friends), as well as provide strategies and organisational tips to cope with the new challenges.
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14th July: Bastille Day
- Visit France this Bastille Day and put your pupils’ knowledge of French Greetings and French Animals to the test on the adventure of a lifetime.
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18th July: Nelson Mandela Day
- Honour the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela on his birthday and reflect on his values and principles to make a positive impact in your own communities.
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18-17th July: South Asian Heritage Month
- Travel the river Indus with its source in the Himalayas and its delta in Karachi, Pakistan in our Rivers Experience.
- Experience the central story of the Ramayana first-hand and understand how Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists celebrate Diwali today (e.g. with rangoli, candles, sweets).
- Learn more about the central beliefs and practices of Muslims in our KS2 The Five Pillars Experience.
Use your Decimals knowledge to save your home in Mumbai from the dastardly plot of a property developer.
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20th July: Apollo 11 Moon Landing Anniversary
- Soar through the solar system in now>press>play’s EYFS Space Experience.
- KS1 pupils can take “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” as they learn about the life and achievements of Neil Armstrong.
- On their Mission to Mars, KS2 students can learn about the science behind gravity, moons, meteorites, and more.
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24th July: National Marine Week
- In our brand new KS1 Experience, visit the major oceans and seas on your quest to help Vylka, the talking polar bear, back to her home.
- Dive under the sea with your EYFS and discover the underwater creatures there, sail the high seas in Pirates, or learn about beach safety in Seaside.
- Immerse your KS1 below the surface of the sea in Habitats and learn about how creatures adapt to their surroundings.
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30th July: International Day of Friendship
- Learn about the importance of friendship, kindness and helping others in KS1 Superheroes and KS1 Healthy Relationships.
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We hope you find this a useful planning resource for mapping key dates across the summer term. If you’re interested in trying now>press>play in your school, you can book a free trial through our website.
