Regularly practising key reading skills will significantly develop your child's reading ability and improve their chances of success at GCSE across a range of subjects.

We recommend that your child reads at least 5 times per week for approximately 20-30 minutes each time. This will support them to reach our target that all students will read 20 books each academic year. Finding a quiet moment in their free time and a calm environment will support them in making good progress with reading.

Reading questions you might ask your child which support the key reading skills and active reading:

1. What can you tell me about the plot of your book?

2. How have the characters been described?

3. Where and in what time period is your book set? Why is this important to the story?

4. What is the genre of your book? What type of vocabulary, characters, settings and themes might you expect to find?

5. Why did (character) make that choice / behave in that way?

6. What is the most significant event in your book so far? What makes it significant?

7. Which character do you sympathise with most (or least)? Why?

8. Whose point of view have you been reading? Whose points of view are missing? What is the effect of missing those views out?

9. If you were to write the next chapter or a sequel to the book, what would happen? Why?

Please use the reading log to communicate with your child’s English teacher about reading.