Back to school!

Teachers:

Back to school this week so time to get my ‘Whole School Reading’ head on. Whole School reading inset on Wednesday but ‘end of term me’ obviously had very little faith in ‘end of holiday me’ so training was mostly organised in July. As the new DFE Reading Framework came out just before the end of term, this will be an opportunity for me to ‘drip feed’ it to staff. Areas to cover in inset:

Reading aloud and how to choose book

The reading framework – teaching the foundations of literacy (publishing.service.gov.uk)

The importance of reading aloud to children cannot be stressed enough and it was therefore nice to see this recognised in the new framework document released at the end of last term (link above). Staff that I work with are very good at prioritising this so we now need to think about how we choose the books that we read. We will be using this grid from the framework as a starting point:

Lowest 20% of readers

It is an important part of my role as Reading Champion to ensure that we are working to remove the barriers to decoding and reading for pleasure for all pupils in school. As staff begin to get to know their new classes, they will be able to identify the readers who need additional support. We can then put our heads together to see what we can do for each individual child to remove the barriers to their enjoyment of reading. The progress of these children can then be tracked at Pupil Progress meetings.

Book corners/Library/Love of Reading

Book corners come in all shapes, sizes and themes and teachers are incredibly resourceful when utilising space to create enticing reading areas. The only consistent resources you will find in all of our book corners across the school are the design of the box labels (editable so that staff/children can decide on genres), and the list of 100 Recommended Reads from

The Reader Teacher | Children’s Books | Reads, Reviews & Recommendations

These recommended book lists are displayed in classrooms and sent home in contact books for parents to see. With regard to genres, I like to let the children sort the books in a way that suits them. Using the ‘Book Blanket’ approach, I let the children spread all of the books out on the floor and then they sort them into categories themselves, boxes are then labelled accordingly. As teachers we do like to ‘sort’ and ‘organise’ but by allowing children to do this, they have far more ownership over the choices they make. More information on using Book Blankets can be found here:

The Reader Teacher | Children’s Books | Reads, Reviews & Recommendations

The most exciting prospect for our children this year will be more regular use of our school library. Sadly, although this was opened by The Gruffalo just before the first lockdown, use has been rationed ever since to allow for quarantining. During our Deep Dive into Reading at the end of the summer term, many children mentioned their excitement at being able to borrow books again in this inspiring space.

Still to come

Over the next couple of weeks I hope to have recruited by new Key Stage 2 Reading Ambassadors, re-embed Active Reading (our approach to Guided Reading) and started my book clubs. Exciting Times!

Useful websites

alittlebutalot – Even if you’re little you can do a lot – useful reading blog

No Shelf Control | Mister Bodd (wordpress.com) – blog a newsletter detailing new books for KS1

CLPE | Centre for Literacy in Primary Education – resources and research

Under the Teachers section of this website can be found details of the Rivers of Reading approach and several book reviews.

Parents

Well where did the summer go? Back to school with new teachers, new classrooms and maybe even a new school. This brings excitement and apprehension for everyone – teachers included!

A constant through all of this will be books and reading. Teachers love to hear what children have been reading over the holidays, and don’t forget to let your the new teacher know if your child has been involved in the library Summer Reading Challenge.

I am often asked what books I would recommend for children and the following website has recommendations by year group (thus ensuring that they are age appropriate)

The Reader Teacher | Children’s Books | Reads, Reviews & Recommendations

If your child is stuck on a particular author but has exhausted all of their books, then maybe have a look at the ‘book match’ section of the website which will tell you which books are similar to a particular author.

It is vitally important that you hear your child read, even when they are in Year 5 & 6 when they might appear competent readers. Talking about what they are reading – and what you are reading, will set those life long reading for pleasure habits. At the start of the school year when routines are being set, try to find a regular reading time and place (teachers know that this is not always as easy as it sounds), and join the local library if you have not already done so. Borrowing books is free and a good source of old favourites and new ‘must reads’.

Still to come

Over the next couple of weeks I will signpost some websites to help you help your child read at home. There are book reviews for years 4,5 & 6 already on the parent section and more to come. Please get in touch if you have any questions about reading with your child.

And remember….

Keeeeeeeep Reading!