SUPPORTING YOUR CHILD WITH READING
Although your child will be taught to read at school, you can have a huge impact on their journey to becoming a fluent reader by continuing their practice at home.
There are two types of reading book that your child will bring home:
- A reading practice book. This will be at the correct level for your child. They should be able to read this fluently and independently to you.
- A reading for pleasure book. This book has been chosen by your child from their class library. It is within their reading range using our colour-banded system, so they are able to either read it out loud to you or read it to themselves independently.
The expectation is that your child will read/share one or both of these books every day - little and often practice helps to develop their reading fluency and comprehension, and a life-long love of books and reading. In order to encourage this and the children's independence, those children who successfully record five reads in a week will be rewarded with a raffle ticket. At the end of each term, two raffle tickets will be drawn and each child with a winning ticket will receive a book-related prize!
Your child’s book(s) and their reading record need to be brought back to school every day.
Reading practice book
This is a book that your child has already read at school and has been carefully matched to their current reading level. If your child is reading it with little help, please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading.
At home, please use the ‘book chat’ questions and ideas to support your child with their prosody (expression and intonation) and comprehension (understanding). This is why it is important for parents/carers to hear their child reading aloud.
Please indicate each read in your child’s reading record (this could be a comment or just a tick).
When listening to your child read the book, remember to give them lots of praise – celebrate their success!
The expectation is that by the end of Year 4 most children should have progressed from the practice book and will only be bringing home a colour-banded book from the class library, a reading for pleasure book. Care is taken to assist children in choosing suitable books and learning how to choose books.
Reading for pleasure book
In order to encourage your child to become a lifelong reader, it is important that they learn to read for pleasure. The reading for pleasure book is a book they have chosen independently to be enjoyed at home. It is within their reading range using our colour-banded system, so they are able to either read it out loud to you or read it to themselves independently.
Please remember that you shouldn’t always expect your child to read alone - read to or with them. When listening to your child read, remember to give them lots of praise – celebrate their success! If they can’t read a word, read it to them. After they have finished, talk about the book together. Discuss the story, predict what might happen next, use different voices for the characters, explore the facts in a non-fiction text.
Please indicate each read in your child’s reading record (this could be a comment or just a tick).
You can find out more about how to support your child to learn to read on the Reading section of the English Curriculum tab of our website. Everybody-read-leaflet-for-parents.pdf
- Regular reading (at least five times a week with an adult acknowledging this in the reading record)
- Spellings – your child may have an individual spelling list which is accessed through Google Classroom and updated frequently.
- Maths homework will also be set on Google Classroom. This homework will meet the requirements of the KIRF’s (Key Instant Recall Facts) for the term.
- Times Tables homework will also be set in order to develop the children’s knowledge of multiplication facts.
Some terms there is also a task-based homework – this will be posted on Google Classroom. If you find that homework is a struggle for your child then please contact us immediately.
If you have any questions or information to share with us relating to your child's class work or friendships then please email us at sapphire@alfriston.e-sussex.sch.uk. The emails are checked after school every day. If there is an urgent matter, please phone the school office.
PE
Our PE sessions are on Monday and Friday afternoons. The children will need their P.E kits in school on those days but are advised to have them in school all week.
Planning, preparation and assessment time
The weekly planning, preparation and assessment time takes place on Wednesday afternoons when the children will be taught by Mrs Nickalls.
