We want to make sure that every child at Oakdale is a successful reader. To do this, we continue to ensure that your child has daily reading lessons. Your child is likely to be more successful if you are able to support them in ensuring that they practise reading daily at home.

The more often your child reads at home, the more confident and successful they will become.

Each week, a selection of books will be sent home for your child to read:

1. ‘A building confidence’ book (that is matched to their current reading level) Sometimes, these may seem easier than books they are used to reading. Pupils need to be able to read all of the words in these books so that they see themselves as a confident reader. Sometimes, this building confidence book may be an e-book. This book may be accessed by the Oxford Owl website. Instructions on how to access the school Oxford Owl account are attached below.

2. ‘A love to read’ book This book is chosen by pupils from the class or school library. This should be a book that pupils are excited about and that they are looking forward to reading. They may sometimes need to read their ‘love to read’ book with someone else.

3. ‘Phonic sounds’ + ‘learning pack’ (for some children) Some pupils may need support in learning particular sounds/letter and word recognition. These may be different for each pupil. They need to be practised daily to help them progress with their reading. This would be best practised for 5 minutes a day. Pupils will be reassessed every 6 weeks and an updated learning pack provided to take home.

Once your child has read, please ask them to make a note of the title and page number of the book they are up to in their homework diaries. This will need to be signed by you, and then will be checked by all class teachers in school each Monday. If your child has read at least 3 times a week, they will be entered into a weekly prize draw to win a book. If your child has not, you may start to see this sticker in their homework diary (see below). This is to act as a reminder that we would like them to read daily, but as a minimum 3 times a week. 

If you feel like your child would benefit from some extra help or guidance in choosing books that they find interesting or exciting, please speak to your child’s class teacher, or email the school office.

Thank you for your ongoing support in ensuring your child continues in becoming a confident reader.