Reading

Reading gives children access to the curriculum, to new and diverse worlds to explore, to information and knowledge and to opportunities well beyond the academic.

We have enhanced our reading material with a clear and progressive reading scheme which caters for all children in the school.  At the parent workshop today we went through this scheme and the associated expectations.  If children are to achieve their potential they need to be able to read fluently and with good understanding.   Bug Club allows the school to systematically check progress against age expectations in all four elements of reading (fluency, understanding grammar and vocabulary and application).  The books available are modern and engaging and build vocabulary throughout the stages.  We expect therefore children to be reading their Bug Club book when they are in school so that teachers can be confident about what children know and understand.  The early Bug Club books are all phonetically decodable allowing early readers to apply their known phonics as well as applying their sight vocabulary (another key skill).  As children move through the stage the vocabulary becomes increasingly more difficult, as do the story structure and contexts of the reading material.  In order to keep children’s interest there is a variety of text types, including non-fiction, graphic novels and comics and newspaper type layouts.  Bug Club also offers some comprehension tasks to support parents with children’s understanding of the texts.

Children have brought home a Bug Club online login.  This login allows children access to Bug Club via a website.  The online site has the same texts as the hard copies (so there are no excuses for not reading).  Some of the texts also have a text to speech version included so that children can listen and follow along.  We know that for busy parents this is a very welcome support to ensure that children are reading regularly.  If you do not have access to a laptop, phone or other device, please speak to the office as we may be able to support.

Finally, Bug Club is not the only reading material available.  There are two other supplementary schemes in school; Collins Big Cat and Oxford Reading Tree.  These will be used to support children and ensure a variety of reading material if they need to remain on a colour.  Children also have access to a well stocked library four lunchtimes per week.  During this time they can be supported in finding reading material that interests them.  We want children to read as much as possible so although we want them to read their Bug Club book regularly it should not be exclusive.  If children love finding things out there is plenty of non-fiction material in the library that they can borrow.  If they love Jacqueline Wilson, Terry Pratchett, David Walliams or even Jane Austen or Charles Dickens, we have the material available and want to encourage children to read.

Reading is important, it is a very big key to success and opportunity.  If you are unsure of anything to do with reading please ask your class teacher.  If we know what the barriers are we can help to address them.  This can include providing vocabulary flash cards, devices for online reading or simply encouragement to try a different genre.

Attached is the powerpoint shared with parents.  We look forward to continuing to read with you and your child.