SENDSCOPE’s Reading Commitment

  • SENDSCOPE is committed to reading across the curriculum.
  • We will strive to seek out every opportunity to improve standards in reading.
  • We will encourage reading for pleasure.
  • We will enable pupils to read in depth across a wide range of subjects, deepening their knowledge and understanding across the curriculum.
  • We will work with other schools, our local library and other organisations to promote reading as a life-long skill.

Ten top tips to support your child when reading at home – Gov.Uk

  1. Encourage your child to read
    Reading helps your child’s wellbeing, develops imagination and has educational benefits too. Just a few minutes a day can have a big impact on children of all ages.
  2. Read aloud regularly
    Try to read to your child every day. It’s a special time to snuggle up and enjoy a story. Stories matter and children love re-reading them and poring over the pictures. Try adding funny voices to bring characters to life.
  3. Encourage reading choice
    Give children lots of opportunities to read different things in their own time – it doesn’t just have to be books. There’s fiction, non-fiction, poetry, comics, magazines, recipes and much more. Try leaving interesting reading material in different places around the home and see who picks it up.
  4. Read together
    Choose a favourite time to read together as a family and enjoy it. This might be everyone reading the same book together, reading different things at the same time, or getting your children to read to each other. This time spent reading together can be relaxing for all.
  5. Create a comfortable environment
    Make a calm, comfortable place for your family to relax and read independently – or together.
  6. Make use of your local library
    Libraries in England are able to open from 4 July, so visit them when you’re able to and explore all sorts of reading ideas. Local libraries also offer brilliant online materials, including audiobooks and ebooks to borrow. See Libraries Connected for more digital library services and resources.
  7. Talk about books
    This is a great way to make connections, develop understanding and make reading even more enjoyable. Start by discussing the front cover and talking about what it reveals and suggests the book could be about. Then talk about what you’ve been reading and share ideas. You could discuss something that happened that surprised you, or something new that you found out. You could talk about how the book makes you feel and whether it reminds you of anything.
  8. Bring reading to life
    You could try cooking a recipe you’ve read together. Would you recommend it to a friend? Alternatively, play a game where you pretend to be the characters in a book, or discuss an interesting article you’ve read.
  9. Make reading active
    Play games that involve making connections between pictures, objects and words, such as reading about an object and finding similar things in your home. You could organise treasure hunts related to what you’re reading. Try creating your child’s very own book by using photos from your day and adding captions.
  10. Engage your child in reading in a way that suits them
    You know your child best and you’ll know the best times for your child to read. If they have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) then short, creative activities may be the way to get them most interested. If English is an additional language, encourage reading in a child’s first language, as well as in English. What matters most is that they enjoy it..

You can read more about this here…
10 top tips for parents to support children to read – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Recommended Reading

Forbidden to leave her island, Isabella dreams of the faraway lands her cartographer father once mapped.

When her friend disappears, she volunteers to guide the search. The world beyond the walls is a monster-filled wasteland – and beneath the dry rivers and smoking mountains, a fire demon is stirring from its sleep.

Soon, following her map, her heart and an ancient myth, Isabella discovers the true end of her journey: to save the island itself.

Age 9 – 12 Years

Winner of the Branford Boase Award. Budi’s plan is simple.

He’s going to be a star. Budi’s going to play for the greatest team on earth, instead of sweating over each stitch he sews, each football boot he makes. But one unlucky kick brings Budi’s world crashing down. Now he owes the Dragon, the most dangerous man in Jakarta. Soon it isn’t only Budi’s dreams at stake, but his life.

A story about dreaming big, about hope and heroes, and never letting anything stand in your way.

Age 9-12 Years

A story about finding friendship when you’re lonely – and hope when all you feel is fear.

Twelve-year-old Matthew is trapped in his bedroom by crippling OCD, spending most of his time staring out of his window as the inhabitants of Chestnut Close go about their business. Until the day he is the last person to see his next door neighbour’s toddler, Teddy, before he goes missing.

Matthew must turn detective and unravel the mystery of Teddy’s disappearance – with the help of a brilliant cast of supporting characters.

Page-turning, heart-breaking, but ultimately life-affirming, this story is perfect for fans of Can You See Me, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and Wonder.

Age 9-12 Years

1832 – a period of English History that never happened. Good King James III is on the throne and the country is ravaged by wolves which have migrated through the newly-opened Channel Tunnel. When Sylvia and Bonnie (both orphans) fall into the hands of evil Miss Slighcarp, they must use all their wits to escape unscathed – for the governess is more cruel and merciless than the wolves that surround the great house of Willoughby Chase.

Ages 9-12

It is Midwinter’s Eve, the night before Will’s eleventh birthday. But there is an atmosphere of fear in the familiar countryside around him. Will is about to make a shocking discovery – that he is the last person to be born with the power of the Old Ones, and as a guardian of the Light he must begin a dangerous journey to vanquish the terrifyingly evil magic of the Dark.

A play that builds schema for later Shakespeare Playscript ‘Romeo and Juliet’

Kevin and Sadie just want to be together, but it’s not that simple. Things are bad in Belfast. Soldiers walk the streets and the city is divided. No Catholic boy and Protestant girl can go out together – not without dangerous consequences . . .

Ages 12+

You can find further KS3 book recommendations here…

Books to support well-being

Phonics

What is phonics?

Phonics is a way of teaching children to read quickly and skilfully. They are taught how to:

  • Recognise the sounds that each individual letter makes.
  • Identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make such as ‘sh’ or ‘oo’; and
  • Blend these sounds together from left to right to make a word.
  • Children can then use this knowledge to decode new words that they hear or see.

How can you support your child with phonics?
Decoding is the ability to apply your knowledge of letter-sound relationships, including knowledge of letter patterns, to correctly pronounce written words. They segment. Understanding these relationships gives children the ability to recognise familiar words quickly and to figure out words they haven’t seen before.

Encoding is when they use the above to translate the letters and sounds into a word. They blend.

The more confident pupils become with decoding and encoding, the more fluent their reading becomes.

Therefore, it is vital that you enunciate phonemes correctly. Videos to support you with this can be found here…
Phonics How to pronounce pure sounds Oxford Owl – YouTube
Articulation of Phonemes – YouTube

Remember that:

Subtitles are a great way to get children reading whilst they are watching their favourite programmes and there is evidence to suggest that this supports reading progress. Check out the videos that demonstrate this here…

Sandi Toksvig asks the nation to ‘Turn On The Subtitles’ – YouTube
Turn On The Subtitles animated message