Letter to Parents: Praising Stars and Reading Ages
Mon 21 Oct 2024
Dear Parents and Carers,
When you receive your child’s Praising Stars report, you will see that your child’s report has a reading age score. This comes from a recent STAR Reading test as part of Renaissance Learning’s Accelerated Reader programme. We thought that the following points might help you understand what this score means.
- A student is making very good progress in reading if their reading age keeps up with their actual age. Average reading ages in the secondary school years do not keep up with actual ages. The average reading age of children turning 14 in year 9 is about 12 years; the national average reading age (adults and children) is about 11 years.
- Tests produce a result for that test on that day. There are several possible reasons why your child’s reading age result may be lower than it should be. The reading team in the academy will look at every child’s result and check any that do not look right.
- If the reading team has any concerns about your child’s reading age, they may offer different kinds of extra help so that your child has the best chance of becoming a good reader.
- If you have any questions about reading or reading ages, please contact the academy’s Deep Learning Lead.
Ways you can help your child(ren) with their reading at home.
- Listen to them read. This is often a habit we get out of as our children grow older but listening to your child read is a way to spend some quality time with them. You could even read books together.
- Ask your child about what they are reading. Are they enjoying it? Which characters do they like? How do they think the book will end? Ask them to tell you what happens in the book in their own words.
- Have a quiet space, in the home, where your child (or any family member) can read uninterrupted.
- Make use of your local library. Spend time browsing their choices of books on offer, borrow books or engage in some of the great activities that local libraries offer. You could also encourage your child to visit their academy library where there will be a wide range of exciting books to choose from, and a librarian who can offer advice and guidance.
- Find ways to make reading fun - try cooking a recipe from a recipe book that you’ve read or doing a craft activity you find in a book or online.
Yours sincerely,
Alison McQueen
Principal