St Mark's Primary School 
Reading
Home Reading Information for Parents & Carers
At St Mark's, every child is expected to read to an adult at home at least 5 times a week.
Each reading session should be approximately 5 to 10 minutes long. Each day your child reads, parents and carers make a note of the pages that have been read in the home-school reading dairy. Parents and carers should sign the diary each time.
Home-school reading diaries are checked at least weekly by a member of staff. Children who do not read regularly at home will be encouraged to do so, and the school will be in touch with families where this is the case to offer further support and reminders about the importance of reading at home.
When listening to your child read, please also discuss 2 or 3 questions on aspects of the text (e.g plot, characters setting) and discuss the meaning of unfamiliar words or phrases.
Please see below important information about home reading at St Mark's and the different book band levels your child will progress through before becoming a 'free reader'.
Early Reading Information for EYFS & KS1 Parents
Year 3 & 4 Home Reading Information for Parents
School Book Bag
As part of our school uniform, every child from Reception through to the end of Year 6 requires a School Book Bag. The book bag must be in school every day.
Each child brings their book bag into the classroom every morning and stores it in a box. This is so each child and teacher has easy access to the bag throughout the day. Book bags also reduce the wear and tear on school books. Rucksacks, plastic or cardboard folders are not to be used as book bags please.
The following should be put in the School Book Bag:
- a school reading book
- a home-school diary
- newsletters
- any letters to and from school
Book bags should be clearly labelled with the child’s name. One small keyring may be attached to the handle of the book bag for easy identification if a child wishes to.
Water bottles, PE kit or hats and gloves must not be kept inside the school book bag.
Please note: Children are asked not to bring in books from home but to choose from our book shelves. This is so the teacher can easily monitor each child’s reading. Of course, we encourage a wide range of reading for pleasure at home.