October came and went in such a rush that we have hardly had time to think about where the time has gone. I still managed to get wild-life photos for the blog. ?

 I thought I would take time this month to think about reading and how our pupils develop this most important of skills. Reading acquisition is a widely researched topic, with many theories attached to it. At MIA we use, what we call, ‘synthetic phonics’. It is a system that breaks down written language into its sounds. But this only covers the decoding of words and so, is taught alongside the meanings, vocabulary and then the context in which words are presented. It is an extraordinarily complex process. Very few of us adults can remember how we learned to read! All this, is of course, completely new to a developing child. It takes time and practice.

Imagine then, learning to read in a language which is not completely familiar to you, or you only use at school. This gives you some idea how well many of our pupils learn to read and why some have more difficulty than others. Luckily, we now have the addition of our “Booster Zone”, where children experiencing difficulties can receive the additional help they need.

The teaching of reading is the main function of a Primary School. With that ability comes access to all the other subjects such as history, geography, science, mathematics, as well as the ability to function in the real world. The ability to read and write well is the key to the rest of education and often determines an individual’s final level of linguistic competence. Even in our automated world of computers, the ability to read, understand and react to a text is as important as it always has been.

This is why, it is important to support your children at home. Listen to them read, they need the practice. Read stories to them and let them see you reading. This makes you a reading role model and encourages them to read for pleasure. Make it fun and make it useful. Read road signs on a trip out, read ingredients and recipes with them. If you integrate reading into their lives, they will have a much better understanding of the world around them.

(Dragonfly and Stalk-eyed Fly – Both residents of MIA)

Mr. Lewis