Reading Newsletter November and December 2020 What a wonderful first half term we have had! It has been brilliant having the whole school back and having conversations with children about what they are enjoying reading. In the midst of this pandemic and with so much uncertainty ahead, I have recommended a small selection of books to support children with any worries or anxiety, and to promote their mental health and wellbeing. Books can be a wonderful opportunity to open up discussions about feelings and concerns with children, as well as what they are feeling happy and optimistic about, too! Also in this edition are details about our reading schemes/processes, school library use, how to get involved with next half-term’s reading newsletter, a helpful reading map and exciting dates/events. In January and February, you can look forward to book recommendations from children and staff, VIPERS bookmarks by Miss Cavell and an author spotlight. Miss Williams (Assistant Head and English Lead)
Source: Children and young people who usually get less than the recommended 9 hours sleep on a school night are more likely to feel that worries get in the way of school work (32% vs 22%), according to a survey of over 1100 1011 year-olds and 13-15 year-olds, carried out by Place2Be in 2019.
Book reminder Reading scheme books
Accelerated Reader
Reading journals
Children accessing our Letters and Sounds phonics programme are given two books (each Friday) matched closely to the sounds that they have accessed/are currently learning. These books are collected in the following Friday and quarantined before becoming available for reissuing. Those children less reliant on decoding and sound-talking have access to the Accelerated Reader programme. They undertake a quiz to identify their Zone of Proximal Development and can then choose a suitable book from this level. Once the book has been read, children can complete an online quiz to check their understanding. When pupils are ready to change their book, they are able to do so. These are checked once a week by a member of staff in your child’s bubble. Where a child has read 5 times, they are issued with 5 Dojo points to celebrate this achievement.