As you will recall from the Presentation of Learning before the Easter break, we launched our ePlatform with students, giving them access to hundreds of books on their devices..
The next step with this is for us to launch our Accelerated Reader programme. Students have already completed a Star Reader test so that we were able to establish a reading level for every student.
Reading is a key focus at XPG as it is not only the first building block to allowing students to access their learning but it also plays a significant role in their life chances and their wellbeing. Studies have shown that ‘those who read for pleasure have higher levels of self-esteem and a greater ability to cope with difficult situations. Reading for pleasure was also associated with better sleeping patterns’.
We are also looking to build habits for life as it has also been found that ‘adults who read for just 30 minutes a week are 20% more likely to report greater life satisfaction’.
Accelerated Reader is a nationally proven programme which encourages students to choose and read books at an appropriately challenging level and to take quizzes online to check their understanding and to develop their vocabulary. The feedback from each quiz is used to motivate students to make progress, to help students set personalised reading targets and to achieve their full literacy potential.
At XPG, we expect students to be reading their accelerated reader book for 20-30 minutes a day. This is monitored weekly and students are held accountable for this by Crew Leaders.
We really need your support with this to ensure that your child is able to get the most out of this programme and allow them to fully access our enriching curriculum. To be good learners, students need to first be good readers.
To support you, I have attached a link to a website which allows you to search for books by AR level. This allows you to either check the reading level of a book that your child may want or allow you to search by reading level if you wish to buy them a book that will support their AR progress. “The aim of the Accelerated Reader programme is to develop reading skills. They can also be used as part of wider reading for pleasure, and we would still encourage students to read for pleasure widely in addition to their AR book.”
We are asking that you support us by monitoring your child’s reading, ensuring they are reading their accelerated reader book (which may be on ePlatform or a physical book they have borrowed from our in-school library) and reminding them to complete their daily reading.
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