Reading for pleasure
Our school environment is designed to promote reading and is one of the ways our teachers share their own love of books.
From our vibrant, enticing school library to our cosy classroom book corners, we give our children every opportunity to curl up, get comfy and become lost in a great book. Our Parent-Teacher Association, FOSS, have been wonderfully supportive in helping us pay for new furniture, books and décor so that our library is a really exciting place for the children to visit.
Our Year 6 librarians ensure the library is well organised and available during break and lunch times. Each class has a period of dedicated independent reading.
Teachers are happy to share their own collections and make recommendations to children. At the end of every day, from 3 to 3.15pm, teachers will read their class novel to the children. Children tell us they enjoy this as a relaxing way to wind down before heading home. The books are chosen carefully by the teachers, in collaboration with the children. We make sure we select the class novel from one of five categories, which are covered across the year: stories with rich lyrical prose; emotionally powerful stories; classical fiction; culturally diverse novels and poetry.
We also have our ‘Mystery Book’ scheme, where children wrap up a book in plain paper, write a clue as to the story on the front, and then place it in our collection basket for other children to borrow, re-wrap and bring back.
On the playground, we have our fabulous Reading Shed, which is brilliantly organised by a group of Year 5 boys. The Reading Shed was provided in memory of our late teacher, Janet Gorge, who was incredibly passionate about children’s reading. Inside the shed is Janet’s story chair, intricately carved, piled with cushions and there for children to enjoy.
Accelerated Reader is a scheme we use for children who have developed fluency in reading. This is a scheme which allows children to take a quiz after they have a read a book from our library. Every half term, the children are then given a range of numbers, which matches the books in our library to their reading level. As children develop fluency and comprehension, the levels go up. Children can also earn certificates for having read a certain number of words.
More information can be found here:
https://www.renaissance.com/2016/09/09/parents-guide-renaissance-accelerated-reader-360/
We know that some children prefer not to quiz, and that’s perfectly ok. We just want children to love reading. This is why we celebrate ‘Star Readers’ in assembly – these are children who have brought in a book from home, written a book review and spoken to their class about why they recommend it. They are awarded a certificate for having shared their love of reading and inspired their friends.
If you are looking for a great book to enjoy at home, take a look at the links below:
https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/bookfinder/
https://www.booksfortopics.com/reception
https://www.booksfortopics.com/year-1
https://www.booksfortopics.com/year-2
https://www.booksfortopics.com/year-3
https://www.booksfortopics.com/year-4
