Reading
There is no such thing as a child who hates to read; there are only children who have not found the right book.
Reading is at the heart of all learning at Philip Southcote. Reading sessions take place every day from Year 7 all the way through to our Sixth Form, as well as in our Southcote Centres. All staff focus on the development of literacy and reading within every subject across the curriculum. Creating passion and enjoyment for reading is key in order to enable all young people to progress in every subject.
In order to fully develop as readers, our learners must read both at school and at home. With this in mind, we continue to work hard to increase links with our families so they feel confident to support their young people at home with reading.
We hope you will find the resources here useful and, as always, value your feedback. If you would like to see any other resources or links, or just have some questions regarding reading, please do contact us directly.
Hannah Wood: Head of Reading (hannah.wood@philip-southcote.surrey.sch.uk)
Louise Cooper: Deputy Head (louise.cooper@philip-southcote.surrey.sch.uk)
What is phonics?
This link is for an information booklet about phonics written by the Department for Education for parents and carers:
Useful links to support reading at home
https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/bookfinder/
The Book Trust Bookfinder will help you discover a range of children's books. You can choose an age range and then pick as many themes as you want. This then provides you with a list of books and book reviews to help you choose the best book for your young person.
https://literacytrust.org.uk/parents-and-families/
The Literacy Trust provides milestones, tips, fun resources and advice to help parents and carers support their children’s literacy development.
The team at Oxford University Press has created a library of activities and resources for every stage of the reading journey.
https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/
A great resource to find books that your young person will love. You can browse by age, as well as looking through recommended reading lists of both fiction and non-fiction books.
Easy and useful tips about how to encourage young people to read and start enjoying it.
Reading challenges
We have monthly reading challenges across the school. Students can win merits and prizes by entering. You can support your young person at home by helping them to choose an appropriate book each month and then sending their book review to Miss Wood!
Here are the monthly reading challenges for 2022-23:
Reading Help Sheets
At Philip Soutchote, we have two group reading sessions, two independent reading sessions and one Book Club session per week. Below, are the Help Sheets created for staff to support the Group and Independent reading sessions. These provide an insight into what we are doing in school. They are also useful to parents and carers at home as they provide a range of questions you could ask whilst reading to your child or listening to them read.
Parental Engagement Session
Below is a recorded version of the presentation that was delivered to parents and carers in March 2023. It includes some information about how we teach reading, phonics and other ways to support at home.
As always, if you have any questions about reading, please do not hesitate to contact us directly or write a note in your child's diary.
