Rabbsfarm Primary School

At Rabbsfarm, we really want all of our children to enjoy reading and to discover what an adventure it can be.  At school, we follow the Oxford Reading Tree, Tree Tops and Collins Big Cats reading schemes.

There are lots of ways that parents and carers can help their children to love reading.

Whatever the age of your child, sharing stories at bedtime creates a relaxed and cosy end of the day routine, where parents can enjoy reading without worrying about teaching reading skills.

Here are some reading tips from the Oxford Owls’ website:

If you have a nursery age child:

• Read to your child and discuss books and stories.
• Talk together.
• Talk about books, words and pictures.
• Re-tell stories.
• Listen to and sing songs and Nursery Rhymes

If you have a child in Reception or Year 1:

• Read with them at home.
• Talk about the books they are reading or that you read together at home.
• Before reading a book, look at the cover together and ask your child what they think might happen in the story.
• Read with lots of expression and use different voices.
• Ask each other questions.
• Re-tell stories and events, including what happened at school. If you are re-telling a story, ask what happened first, what happened after that and what happened at the end.

Child in Year 2

• Share reading stories, comics, e-books etc.
• Support your child in trying to read books that are a little more difficult.
• Ask your child what they think about the books you are reading together - what do they like or not like.
• Help your child to make links between what they are reading and the world around them e.g. “Do you remember when we did that?”. Get them to ask you questions, for example, if you are reading a book about playing games your child might ask: “What games did you like to play when you were little?”

Child in Year 3 -4

• Share reading stories, comics, e-books etc. Even with older children it can be a lovely part of the bedtime routine to have a book read to you and can help prepare children for a good night’s sleep.
• Share some of your reading with your child: books, magazines, websites and apps to show how reading can help you to follow your interests and to get involved.

Child in Years 5 and 6

• Continue to read with your child if you can. You could even take turns to read a book.
• As above, share some of your reading with your child.

The above information is all available on the Oxford Owl website.  Click on the logo below to go directly to their website:

There is much more to explore on this website, including some great free e-books, advice about how to help your child learn to read, and reading expectations for children of different ages, as well as book lists, support and advice.

Yiewsley Library 

Has a number of special reading activities for children. For children under 5 years these include:
Bear Club Rhymetime on Tuesdays from 2.30-3.00 p.m. (singing and interactive rhymes)  
Bear Cub Storytime Fridays 10.00-10.45 a.m. (singing with interactive rhymes and stories).

For older children:
Book Bunch is on Thursdays from 4.00-5.00 p.m. (a fun reading group for children to help them develop their reading, writing and critical ability).

Click on the picture above to take you directly to the website.

West Drayton Library

Also has a number of reading sessions for children including:
Stories and rhymes for under 5s on Tuesdays and Wednesdays 10.00-10.45 a.m. term-time only.

Click on the picture above to take you directly to the website.

Love Reading for Kids

This website lists over 300,000 books for children of all ages and offers recommendations to encourage reluctant readers and dyslexia-friendly publications. There is even a ‘try before you buy’ feature where you can download an extract from a book to read before deciding whether to buy.  Click on the logo above to go straight to the website.

Words for Life (part of the National Literacy Trust)

This website has a milestones section which gives information about how children’s communication skills develop between the ages of 0-3 years, 3-5 years, 5-7 years and 7-11 years and also links to the Parent Channel on Youtube which provides information on topics as diverse as how to help your child with writing, learning through play, getting involved with your child’s school and moving to secondary school. It also provides a list of recommended books, has articles and comics which can be read on the site and fun activities to do with your child.  Click on the logo above to go straight to the website.

Reading Rockets

Has great tips for finding the right book for your child among other topics .Click on the logo above to go straight to the website. Click on the logo above to go straight to the website.

Julia Donaldson

Has lots of information about books which can be read with smaller children including story books, poems and songs. Click on the logo above to go straight to the website.

World of David Walliams

This site includes  clips of T.V shows based on David Walliams’ books, interviews with and extracts read by David Walliams about his favourite characters and the inspirations for his writing as well as downloadable activities. Click on the logo above to go straight to the website.

If you have missed any of the free audio stories, read by David Walliams, click on the link below:

Michael Morpurgo

Downloadable versions of some books, audio extracts which can be sorted by topic e.g. times of war, animals and fables, myths and legends.  Click on the logo above to go straight to the website.

If you subscribe to Amazon Prime  (currently £7.99 a month) you can download a free app for PCs, tablets and mobile phones, which gives you access to hundreds of free books.  Click on the logo below to take you straight to the website.

Audible

A downloadable (FREE during school closure) range of books to listen to, available in a few different languages,  for:

Littlest Listeners
Elementary Age
Tween
Teen
Literary Classics
Folk and Fairy Tales for All

If you are wanting some new ideas about what to read with your child, Waterstone’s bookshops have released the list for their prestigious children’s book award.

The shortlist for the category of best illustrated book includes:

The shortlist for younger fiction includes:

If you read any of these books, and you and your child enjoyed them, please let us know.  Alternatively, if you would like to recommend any other books you ahave read, please let us know and we can build a list of them to display in our library and on this website.

If your child would like to complete a book review and email it to us at office@rabbsfarm.hillingdon.sch.uk, we will print it out and place it in our library for other children to read.

If you have any questions about how to support your child with their reading, and would like some guidance, a reading advice drop-in will be held after school on the first Monday of every month (term-time only).

If you would like to come along, please ask at the office for Sue Williamson, Reading Recovery Teacher.

We were inspired by the book ‘The Lost Words’ by Robert McFarlane and Jackie Morris, for this year’s World Book Day, which we celebrated on Friday 8^th March. We encouraged the children to dress up as their favourite word. It could be a new word that they had just discovered or a word that had a particular favourite or has a special meaning for them.

Here are a few pictures of the most memorable costumes on the day.

You can find out more about ‘The Lost Words’ by clicking on the link below: