This year we are launching a drive to promote reading across the school in partnership with parents and carers.
We are very aware that parents are a child's first and main educators. There's plenty of research which shows how important parents are for their children's learning and development. Where parents are involved in their children's learning, children do better at school.

One of the best things parents can do to support their children is to read together at home. This starts with babies. Parents who introduce their babies to books give them a head start in school. It continues as children grow, with reading aloud, sharing books and much loved bedtime stories. Research shows that parental involvement continues to be important well into the teenage years and even into adulthood. The home-school agreement states parents/carers will ‘support my child with homework & other home learning opportunities and listen to my child read’.

We want to encourage every child in the school to read regularly and often and we have a large number of ideas to support this. Launching this term (Spring 2012) will be the following:

• Every newsletter will have a small section devoted to reading

• Extend range of newspapers & magazines taken in school

• Reading reward raffle – three pupils names will be selected at random every Friday – if their reading record/planner shows evidence of having been heard read by someone at home on four separate occasions in the past week they win a book.

• Reading assemblies – staff and pupils will discuss their favourite book or a current book they are reading.

• After school phonics session for parents to develop an understanding of letter names, sounds and blends and how reading is taught and promoted across the school

• World Book Day – 1st March 2012 – activities/ dressing up – day of reading – author visit – book fair – more details to follow.