During their schooling, all pupils will undertake some work which is in addition to that done in the classroom.

 

The Parents' Role

The parent can help their children by encouraging and supporting them, checking presentation, handwriting and spelling, supporting what has been learnt in class, listening to reading and following the guide for parents in the child's reading record book.

 

We encourage you to ensure your child completes their homework to a high standard to include school handwriting and we would welcome parent commentary in the homework books.

 

Guidelines for Reading

We want to foster respect for books and a love and an enjoyment in reading, a key lifelong skill that we hope all children will develop over time. The suggestions below are a brief guide as to how you can support your child.

 

Infants

We read for many different purposes for which we need to develop many strategies and skills.

Please consider the following when reading in different contexts with your child.

• Choose a suitable time and place to share and read together.

• Read to your children as often as is possible a wide range of reading material e.g. Nursery Rhymes, poetry, fiction, nonfiction etc. Don’t be afraid to repeat texts. All young children love repetitive phrases that they can join in and it aids their reading development.

• Allow them to see you as readers.

• Very important to make the experience pleasurable. Learning to read is a very complex skill, little and often is best!

• Talk! Talk! Talk!  Encourage the children to discuss pictures, the story, the vocabulary etc.

• Discuss title page, authors, illustrators. Develop key prediction skills e.g. What do you think the book is about? What do you think will happen next?

• Encourage children to use word building skills i.e. sounding out individual letters and blending letters together as well as the Look and Say method where children memorise key words.

• If you need further guidance please contact your class teacher.

• Aim to develop accuracy, fluency and expression over time taking note of punctuation as they read.

• Comprehension is key. Encourage your child to ask lots of questions and discuss text to ensure what is read is understood as we are reading for meaning.

• Ask your child their opinion about aspects of the book their likes/dislikes and ask the fundamental question, Why?

 

Juniors

We read for many different purposes for which we need to develop many strategies and skills.

Please consider the following when reading in different contexts with your child.

• Choose a suitable time and place to read together.

• Endeavour to make the experience a pleasure not a chore.

• Even if accuracy, pace and expression are mastered encourage children to read aloud for others and themselves.

• Explore the vocabulary choices.

• Discuss the text to establish a good understanding of the literal and beyond. Good comprehension skills are key.

• Skim a text quickly to gain an overall impression.

• Scan a section of text to find a particular item of information.

• Read appreciatively, recognising the writer's skill in using ideas, techniques and effects.

• Read responsively and actively when predicting the course of narrative, argument, or following a set of instructions.

• Discuss themes within the text.