Reading Newsletter

Dear All,

We have been overwhelmed with so many of the titles chosen by our children and adults in exchange for our Christmas movie night. Your generosity is hugely appreciated and it's been lovely to see lots of the titles being selected as home reads already. Thank you for supporting this event each year which helps us keep our libraries refreshed. 

There have been some lovely reading events in school this half term. On January 22nd, the children in Key Stage Two enjoyed a fantastic live lesson with the author Ross Montgomery, who has written over twenty children's books and won the Waterstones award for Children's Book of the Year for "I am Rebel". He talked to us about how his ideas for stories begin, how he uses maps to help develop his plot and he read the opening of his new book "Small Wonder". This had us all gripped and you can see some more of his books on the book recommendations tab at the top of this page. He was so engaging to listen to and Macaws class even had their question read out and answered during the live Q&A session!

Lower Key Stage Two had a magical day on Tuesday 3rd February when they celebrated Harry Potter Day. They have been reading the first book "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" in their English lessons and the whole story was brought to life in a fabulous immersive day. The children dressed up and made wands and learnt choreographed wand routines, they made spells, had a visit from a selection of snakes and had lunch in the Great Hall!  It was a fun-packed day and they are now even more excited for their trip to the Harry Potter Studios next week. 

We are really looking forward to some exciting reading events which we are planning for World Book Day next half term on Thursday 5th March. 

• This year, children can come into school in their pyjamas or dress up as their favourite book character.

• We are running a competition where children can create a model of a book character out of lego or cardboard. Please send these into school from Monday 2nd March onwards so we can display them in  the hall over the week.

• The Reading Ambassadors are organising a book swap on Thursday 6th March - books for this can be sent in to school after half term so if you are having a half term declutter please think of us!  The books will be at the front of the main entrance on World Book Day and we would love it everyone could donate a book and take a book.

• We are also looking forward to opening our doors to you at the slightly earlier time of 3:00pm to allow you to come in and share a book with your child. A Google form will go out in due course where you can express an interest in our parents and carers 'Stop, Drop and Read' event; we were delighted with the turnout from this last term. 

Alongside all these events, continued daily reading is vitally important for all of our children whether they are still learning to decode and are on their road to fluency or are competent readers and are continuing to widen their vocabulary and enjoy reading for pleasure. Please support your child to read for pleasure by engaging in reading itself with them or book chat as regularly as you can. Coram Beanstalk is a reading volunteer charity who we continue to use in school to read alongside small groups of children and promote a love of reading. They have shared some guidance to hep you support your child at home. You can access these via the links below. 

Finally, please open the tab at the top of the page to find this half term's book recommendations and scroll further down this page to enjoy our reading community choices and photos.

Happy half term reading everyone!

Kind regards,

Mrs Smith and Mrs Francis

Reading Community

Find out what our families are reading together at home.