Reading Scheme in Year 3

At Park Hall Junior School, we band our home reading books based on the Big Cat Reading Scheme.

In September, your child will be assigned a level based on their reading fluency. This is how smoothly they can read a text and include rhythm and expression. It also takes into account their reading speed; in Year 3 a child should be able to read approximately 100 words per minute (the requirement for Expected Standard in Year 2 is 90 word per minute).

Your child will bring home their first book along with a Reading Record. This should be written in by an adult and returned with the book weekly so that the books can be changed regularly.

The books your child will receive may appear 'too easy', however the purpose of the home reading scheme is not designed to be a 'challenging' book. It is a book where they should be able to read nearly all the words without decoding as they are building fluency, including rhythm and expression.

For this reason, it is recommended that your child should be reading the book aloud to you, rather than reading it quietly to themselves. We also suggest that they should read it more than once; the more familiar they become with it, the more expression they will be able to use and the more fluent they will become.

Finally, please continue encouraging your child to read other books for pleasure. This could be done independently or being read to by yourselves. The more reading a child is exposed to, the bigger their vocabulary will become and this will help them in every way with their education. To help you with this, your child will also be able to take out books from our library, which they will visit in school but can also be accessed via the Reading Cloud on this website.

Many thanks and happy reading!

Times Tables in Year 3

Please encourage your child to practise their times tables regularly. It is now a statutory requirement that your child takes a times table assessment in Year 4, where they will be tested on all times table up to 12 x 12.

Your child will have learnt their 2, 5 and 10 times tables in KS1 but please help them to consolidate this and begin learning the tables covered in Year 3. (3, 4, 6, 8 and 9)

To be successful in the test and to meet the Expected Standard, your child will need to have quick recall of multiplication facts so they need to be able to recite them in and out of order. Your child will have plenty of opportunities in school to develop this but extra practise at home using TT Rockstars and games like Hit the Button will only benefit them further.

Many thanks.