Reading at Whytrig
At Whytrig Middle School, we strive to promote a lifelong love of reading and are proud of the reading culture we have within our school. We want to create curious, independent and fluent readers in order to prepare our pupils for every stage of their education and future.
Reading Challenge
The Reading Challenge is a fun, attractive and accessible way of promoting reading for pleasure. We have carefully chosen 10 texts for each year group from a range of genres, authors, subjects and cultures and challenge all pupils to read as many as they can through each academic year. The texts have been specifically chosen to develop reading stamina, widen pupils' reading experience and foster a love and respect for reading and books. The Reading Challenge books for each year group are displayed around school and on specially designed pages in pupil planners. Books are discussed in assembly via 'Book of the Week' and also in form time 'book talk' sessions. Prizes are awarded to pupils who complete the challenge. Previous prizes have included book tokens, signed books and an ice cream party!
Accelerated Reader
We continue to use Accelerated Reader to monitor and manage pupils' reading progress. A parents guide to Accelerated Reader can be found by clicking the link below.
Parents Guide to Accelerated Reader
Supporting Reading at Home
Reading at home is a great way to build confidence, boost imagination and support learning across all subjects. When students read regularly outside of school they develop stronger vocabulary, better focus and a deeper understanding of the works around them. At Whytrig, we encourage our pupils to read for pleasure and are always exploring new ways to develop and extend their reading. Some children read extensively and habitually with little or no encouragement needed. Some children need a little more support.
How can Parents support reading at home?
- Encourage your child to read - just a few minutes a day can have a BIG impact. 20 minutes is optimum.
- Read aloud regularly - read to your child every day - make it a special time: a cosy place; enjoy a treat; add funny voices to bring the book to life!
- Encourage choice - follow their interests and look beyond stories: magazines, poetry, non-fiction, comics, recipes, online blogs.
- Read together - read as a family, read the same thing, read different things and share your experiences.
- Create a comfortable environment - relax, get calm and get cosy.
- Use your local library - not just books but ebooks and audiobooks
- Talk about books - share what you read, what you think about it, how you feel when you read it.
- Bring reading to life - try a recipe from the book, play and pretend to be the characters, explore the background of the story.
- Make it active - acting, activities, design your own cover/movie poster.
- Let it suit them - read for as long as they can keep it up; read what excites and interests them; read at a time that works best for them.
It is never too early - or too late - to enjoy reading with your child, whether you're reading aloud together or reading the same book separately, taking time to talk about the story - its plot, setting and characters - can make a big difference.
Make sure your child always has their reading book in their school bag and sign the planner weekly to agree that reading has been completed.
The following YouTube video from Oxford Education gives some useful information for parents to help struggling readers.
Useful Information to support struggling readers