Supporting Your Child
One of the most frequent comments that we hear from parents is that they would like more information as to how they can help their children at home. This page is designed to provide all of the key information that should help, no matter which year group your child is in. One of the most frequent comments that we hear from parents is that they would like more information as to how they can help their children at home. This page is designed to provide all of the key information that should help, no matter which year group your child is in.
Reading
Reading is not just a great way to support your child at home, but also a fun way to spend time with your child. Children across the school have reading books that are sent home for parents to read with them. However, we would also encourage parents to read more widely and for enjoyment. Whenever your child reads something that they enjoy, they receive positive reinforcement that this is something to do for fun.
The Book Trust offer some excellent tips on reading with your child.
https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/tips-and-advice/reading-tips/
Do you have any recommendations?
This is a question that we are often asked as teachers. There are a huge number of high quality children's books to read but it can be something of a minefield to choose one that is at the level of your child's reading and is also appropriate for the year group. Below are our list of recommended reads for each year group. Of course, this is not an exhaustive list but we feel that it is a great starting point for you.
Further below is our progression map, which tells you exactly what we teach in Reading for each year group.
| Name | |
|---|---|
| English Reading Progression Map.pdf | Download |
Phonics
An important part of reading, particularly early reading, is the use of phonics. This is the study of knowing the sounds that letters and groups of letters make. The synthetic phonics scheme that we use at school is called Little Wandle and the reading books that children use are linked to the phonics that they know. As parents, you can help your child's progress by supporting phonics at home. However, in order not to confuse your child it is vital that you use the exact sound (phoneme) that the letters (graphemes) make.
Please see the link for more information about our phonics.
https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/
Programme Overview
Phase 2 sounds taught in Reception Autumn 1
This Phase 2 sounds taught in Reception Autumn 1 video is designed to be shared with families by schools using Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised.
Video of Phase 2 sounds taught in Reception A https://youtu.be/shlSQrleibs
Phase 2 sounds taught in Reception Autumn 2
This Phase 2 sounds taught in Reception Autumn 2 video is designed to be shared with families to help them to support learning at home.
Video of Phase 2 sounds taught in Reception A https://youtu.be/tKUEQFXXfYY
Phase 3 sounds taught in Reception Spring 1
This Phase 3 sounds taught in Reception Spring 1 video is designed to be shared with families to help them support the learning at home.
Video of Phase 3 sounds https://youtu.be/wxRMoHynvy0
How we teach blending
This How we teach blending video is designed to be shared with families by schools using Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised.
Video of how we teach blending https://youtu.be/9Y9KM4Jwer8
A quick guide to alien words
This Alien words video is designed to be shared with families by schools using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised complete phonics programme.
Video of how we teach alien words https://youtu.be/i2Q2Hat2CZg
How we teach tricky words
This Explanation of tricky words video is designed to be shared with families by schools using the Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised complete phonics scheme.
Video of how we teach tricky words https://youtu.be/Pz1btyNd5sM
Writing
If you ask most experts what the single most important thing that you can do to support writing would be, they would all answer to encourage your child to read. Reading builds a depth and range of vocabulary as well as introducing children to new turns of phrase, sentence structure, spellings, grammar and so much more. This is why, at Blue Coat Primary School, we place so much emphasis on reading.
However, there are additional ways that you can support your child. Many of you will be used to practicing the weekly spellings with your child. This is important and it is also important to practice the spelling of some key words and tricky words over time. To help in this regard, we would recommend looking at the National Curriculum word lists. These are shown below:
| Name | |
|---|---|
| Year 3 & 4 and Year 5 & 6 Spelling List.pdf | Download |
There are other specific area of writing that we teach within each year group. These support children developing as sophisticated writers and are closely aligned to the reading books that we use in each year group. An overview of the objectives can be found on our Progression Document below. Whilst these objectives are written in "teacher speak" many of them are clear to understand for everyone. However, if you are a little unsure of what an objective means or how to support it, we recommend using The Oak Academy lessons and tutorials as help. You can search by Year Group or by subject. (English or Grammar).
| Name | |
|---|---|
| English Writing Progression Map.pdf | Download |
Supporting Mental Health
At Blue Coat Primary School, we do all that we can to ensure that we promote good mental health with our children. This is an area in which partnership working with parents is integral and we know that the emotional wellbeing of children is the priority for us all. Our doors are always open when parents wish to discuss any difficulties that the children may be experiencing and we have trained staff to work with them when it is needed. In addition to this, and being a school that uses trauma informed practices, we have also produced a list of resources that parents and families can access, which is attached below.
