World Book Day

This year our theme for World Book Day was ‘Make Your Own Book’ – this encouraged the children to be authors and write for pleasure. As well as this, children could participate in a book swap – books that had been read and were no longer in use could be brought in and swapped for something else meaning no books are left behind!

Writing – Class have been trying out some new ways to structure their writing this year. We have been using ‘Slow Writes’ and ‘DADWAVERS’ to really think about how we form paragraphs and start sentences in a variety of different ways. This has been really successful so far and has shown great impact on our writing. Eventually we will be able to use the ideas independently to effectively plan and write our own pieces.

Reading – This year we are trying to embed our Reading skills and understanding the different question types. We are using Ninja Vocabulary and Literacy Shed (VIPERS) to help us develop our knowledge and understanding

Reading at home– It is expected that EVERY child reads at home EVERY DAY. This is recorded in the children’s reading records so teachers can track this is happening. When your child reads, please ask them questions to ensure they are understanding what they are reading and not just the recall of words. It is important that children foster a love of reading and not see it as a chore. As well as listening to your children read it is important you model good reading habits to them by reading yourself and reading to your children too.

Just look at our AMAZING new reading area! Aren’t we lucky to have such a calm and enriching place to foster our love of learning. The children are absolutely loving our new Hobbit Hole.

Reading Spine

This year the teachers have been making a ‘Reading Spine’ for our school. They have carefully selected books that they think all children should read throughout their journey at St Andrew’s. This spine offers children exposure to a range of genres and authors…….and some really super fantastic books!