Good evening Bardwell folk,
Another week has passed and yet we're still grappling with the ongoing government and local authority Covid changes. I must admit, it's becoming a real challenge to continue to navigate what feels like an ever-changing minefield. As of today, the self-isolation guidance has changed again - it's been reduced to 5 days - please see below for further information.
I am glad to say that we're still at Level 1, however, I am ever mindful that things can change rapidly. Therefore, please do bear with us and understand that when something changes, it's important for us to notify you...sometimes with very little notice.
Moving on to reflect upon the past week, it's been wonderful to see our whole-school focus on Reciprocal Reading evolving - the approach of 'Questioning', 'Predicting', 'Clarifying' and 'Summarising' in literacy (and across all subject areas) is really beginning to add a depth and flavour to learning which we've never seen before. Furthermore, engaging with books at every opportunity is also beginning to pay dividends in our quest to develop a Reading for Pleasure (RfP) culture.
Miss. Mansfield, our literacy leader, led staff training across Bardwell and Crawford's - the theme was reciprocal reading with different texts.
Mrs. Boyd, Mrs. Box, and Mrs. Elliott have also been working with our reception and Y1/2 children on their decoding skills in phonics - paired reading is now part of their staple diet!
Daily Read-Aloud Texts (RAT) is another way we're trying to embed a book culture at Bardwell - this simple but pleasurable focus provides children with 10-15 minutes of uninterrupted book reading - children just sit back and listen to the teacher read an engaging book.
We've got lots more planned to continue to build our reading for pleasure culture; a good start is by sharing the Book Trust's '100 Great Book's Guide'. Enjoy and remember to...
“Take a good book to bed with you—books do not snore.”
Mr. Francksen
