Reading Homework

At Norton Hill, all students in year 7, 8 and 9 will have a reading homework set on the Google Classroom every other week. They are expected to read for at least 30 minutes and complete this Google Form as evidence.

If students need any book recommendations, please speak to their English teacher or a librarian. You can also look at our recommended book list.

In this section you will learn about:

Why we set reading as homework
The role of parents, and how we support them
How we ‘assess’ the homework

Why we set reading as homework

At Norton Hill, we see reading for enjoyment as an important part of students becoming active readers in school.

By setting reading as a homework, it allows us to support and challenge students to become more fluent, confident readers.

Each week, students will be expected to read for at least 30 minutes. (Some students will want to join ‘the millionaire’s club’, and read for 10-20 minutes each day - which will build up to 1 million words a year.) Their English teacher will ‘check in’ on how students are progressing once a fortnight, via their reading lesson and reading log - building a picture of how strong a reader each student is.

Reading Weeks

Throughout the year Reading Weeks are set (dates below). Parents will receive an email at the start and end of the week with a link to fill out a reading log for their child's reading. Students are expected to read for 30 minutes every evening that week and the homework will also be set on the Google Classroom.

The dates for 25/26 are below:

Year 7

Term 1 - w/b 20 Oct

Term 2 - w/b 24 Nov

Term 3 - w/b 5 Jan

Term 4 - w/b 16 Mar

Term 6 - w/b 6 July

Year 8

Term 1 - w/b 22 Sept

Term 1 - w/b 20 Oct

Term 2 - w/b 24 Nov

Term 3 - w/b 5 Jan

Term 5 - w/b 18 May

Term 6 - w/b 6 July

Year 9

Term 1 - w/b 22 Sept

Term 1 - w/b 20 Oct

Term 2 - w/b 24 Nov

Term 5 - w/b 20 Apr

Term 6 - w/b 29 Jun

Term 6 - w/b 6 July

The role of parents and how we support them

By setting reading as a regular homework, this takes the argument out of encouraging reading. We provide strategies for parents to engage with the reading of their child via information we send home, and the Library Newsletter. When a parent shows interest in a book a child is reading, it usually encourages the child to continue.

How we assess the Reading homework

As part of the reading lesson, their reading is assessed across each term using a reading tower. Their homework will contribute to this by increasing how much they read, and their general confidence and fluency. The tower indicates whether a student is ‘REACHING’ the expected reading level for their age group, based on their fluency of reading, comprehension of what they have read, and number of books completed. We can then judge if a students is 'DEVELOPING’ towards this expectation, or ‘MASTERING’ it.

This is different from the Reading Age we collect from reading tests, as it involves the English teacher in a professional judgement, which can take other factors into account, such as recent illness; or a students willingness to read widely despite issues with reading more complex language.

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