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“Read in the name of your Lord who created – Created man from a clinging substance. Read and your Lord is the most Generous – Who taught by the pen – Taught man that which he knew not.” [Quran, 96: 1-5]
The first revelation that Allah revealed to Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be upon them) was the commandment for his people to seek knowledge, through the spirit of Iqra’ (reading). Making the very foundation of the religion of Islam one word; READ.
At Bolton Islamic Girls School we recognise that one of the fundamental aspects of Islam is the special emphasis on knowledge, and reading forms one of the basic means of gaining knowledge. Encouraging and supporting learners to become passionate about reading has been enforced with a strong emphasis on reading and literacy and embedded throughout our school curriculum from year 7 to 11.
The single biggest predictor of high academic achievement is reading to children. Not flashcards, not workbooks, not fancy pre-schools, not technology or computers, but mum and dad taking the time every day or night (or both!) to sit and read them wonderful books.
Parent involvement in their child’s education is crucial. Children with involved parents, irrespective of income or background, are more likely to have higher academic achievement, better social skills and behaviour, greater confidence and self-esteem.
This guide will help you support your child with their reading. It will provide you with some ideas and resources to ensure your child becomes an enthusiastic, confident, and fluent reader.
(1) Phonemic Awareness: Your child’s ability to hear, recognise and manipulate sounds. It is one of the earliest predictors of reading ability.
(2) Phonics: Phonics is the matching of sounds with correct letters and letter patterns. Your child will learn to visualise and verbalise these sounds, letters, and words, which is the foundation for reading.
(3) Vocabulary: A strong vocabulary helps your child identify and understand more complex words, building upon previously learned words and acquiring new ones.
(4) Fluency: Fluency is your child’s ability to read accurately, expressively, and at a rhythmic pace. As your child develops fluency, they will naturally increase reading comprehension.
(5) Comprehension: Comprehension is your child’s ability to understand and retain information to create meaning from the written text. This pillar is the final stage and the accumulation of the previous four pillars. As your child develops their comprehension skills, they will also become more able to read objectively and critically across various topics and genres.
As your child moves into secondary school, reading can be seen by them more as work than fun, and teenagers may stop reading for pleasure or stop reading at all. Here is some advice to support your teenager through these years:
If you are worried about your child’s reading, the best thing to do is talk with your child’s class teacher. Your teacher will set your mind at rest if they think your child is making good progress, or they will talk you through plans to help if they agree that your child needs more support. Tell your teacher if there is any history of reading or spelling problems in the family, as this will help them decide whether your child needs any extra help.
Teachers and parents need to have high but realistic expectations. You and the school should monitor your child’s progress carefully. Remember that most children do not improve their reading steadily but sometimes worsen first before improving even more. Ensure that you ask your child what they think of the books they read at school and look at them yourself. Make sure that your child is not getting bored by finding their books too easy, but do make sure that they choose the books they want to read as often as possible. It is very off-putting to be told what to read. You can ask a teacher, bookseller, or librarians for help with book choices. Remember that a longer book is not always more difficult and that even confident new readers may not be ready to read long books.
Our school has a range of different strategies to help struggling readers catch up. This might be catch-up lessons for extra phonics teaching or extra reading practice, either one-to-one or perhaps in a small group, with a teacher/teaching assistant/reading mentor. If your child gets the right help, they will be able to catch up and keep up.
Parents often worry about their child feeling “singled out” if they go out of class for extra help. Please do not be unduly worried here, as it is very common for children to have extra help at some time or another, not just for reading. Most children will see it as a normal part of the school day and may enjoy the extra attention.
You can support them at home:
You should make an appointment to speak to the school Special Needs Coordinator (SENCo) Ms Ayesha Amad. Arrange a meeting with the SENCo and your child’s teacher to discuss your child’s needs and, if appropriate, arrange to get them tested for dyslexia. The British Dyslexia Association can provide you with advice and support. Barrington Stoke is a publisher that specialises in dyslexia and may be a valuable resource to consider.
“Whenever people talk about dyslexia, it’s important to know that some of the smartest people in the world are dyslexic. We just see things differently, so that’s an advantage. I just learn a different way, there nothing bad about it” – Charlotte McKinney
You and your child should join your local library and visit regularly. Enjoying books is the first step towards learning to read, and a young child will get off to the very best start if they have hundreds of books to choose from. Libraries often have storytimes and family events, particularly useful over the school holiday periods.
“I was reading the dictionary. I thought it was a poem about everything” – Steven Wright
Good writing follows on from good reading. When children realise that writing is a way of telling people something, like talking, they usually want to have a go themselves. Older children’s writing improves the more they read. This is often known as a ‘virtuous circle’ (the opposite of a vicious circle) where the more you read, the better you get at reading, and the better you get at reading, the better you get at writing! Parents can help this happen by encouraging children to follow their reading interests at home and by encouraging writing for pleasure.
“Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead” – Gene Fowler
National Literacy Trust working with parents in Manchester also provides additional support and resources for parents by parents: A GUIDE TO SUPPORTING READING FOR PARENTS OF SECONDARY SCHOOL CHILDREN.
Please open the links below for curriculum-specific revision guidance for end-of-year examinations.
How much revision should I be doing?
You should start revising 4-5 weeks before your exams.
Create a simple timetable which gives each subject an equal amount of time over thecourse of the week.
You should aim to complete 1.5 hours of revision each evening and a couple of hourson a Saturday and a Sunday.
You should increase this time as the exams approach, and you will receive lesshomework. E.g. in the two weeks before your exams you might be spending 2-3 hours revising each evening and 4 hours on a Saturday and Sunday.
What should my revision look like?
Stage 1: Writing revision notes
In the first 2-3 weeks of your revision, you should use your revision lists to write notes under each of the headings, these notes should be a summary of the information from your exercise books and textbooks. Aim to condense the information by a half.
Remember that most of your subjects, design courses for you and so textbooks or revision guides will not necessarily be relevant. Stick to the revision lists you have been given and use your exercise books as the main source of information for your learning (unless other advice is given in your subjects).
It is best if notes are colourful, organised and include pictures as these will help you to remember them better
Your notes can be handwritten or completed on the computer.
Stage 2: Learning the content
• In the final weeks of your revision, you should be aiming to learn the information in your revision notes. The best way to do this is to test yourself, read a few pages of your revision notes and then do one of the following (without looking at your notes):
Tips and suggestions for revision
Research has shown that our brains remember the starts and ends of revision sessions best and so learning in short chunks is more effective than long revision sessions. E.g. if you are revising for 1 hour, spend 20 minutes on three different subjects rather than one hour on one subject.
Research has also shown that our brains start to forget things as soon as we have learned them and so we should aim to review the same information frequently. E.g. if you have a topic about electricity to learn, it would be best to review the topic every Monday evening for three weeks than spend a whole Saturday afternoon studying it.
Finally, our brains remember best when we are calm and relaxed and so start your revision early so that you don’t get stressed.
You should not worry unduly about these exams. We give you end of year exams to help you to get used to the revision and exam process. This is only one way that we use to assess how well you have understood your lessons, we have lots of other evidence about your progress. Just try your best and ask your teachers if you need help.
There is a famous sporting quote that says: “the more I practise, the luckier I get”. Think about what this might mean.
General Websites:
www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize
www.getrevising.co.uk
www.samlearning.com
www.senecalearning.com
www.s-cool.co.uk
www.tutor2u.net
www.revisionworld.co.uk www.gcsepod.co.uk www.snaprevise.co.uk
English Language:
www.gojimo.com.
www.quizlet.com
www.memrise.com
www.getrevising.co.uk.
www.imindmap.com
www.bbc.com/bitesize – a variety of activities to support the AQA English Language GCSE course. There are model responses, support with sentence starters and success criteria for each question on Paper 1 & Paper 2.
www.youtube.com – ‘Mr Bruff’ Language tutorial videos range from Level 4 support if you are struggling with the basics to high-ability videos if you are pushing yourself.
http://lifemoreextraordinary.com/revision/revise-english-language-gcse-aqa/ – An engaging video tutorial of Language support exploring the top tips and must have exam skills.
http://www.englishbiz.co.uk/ – An engaging website that offers a wide range of GCSE English Language skills and resources to practise at home.
English Literature: www.bbc.com/bitesize – This website has a variety of activities to support the study of all the Literature texts students are studying at GCSE.
www.revisionword.com – This website has a variety of activities to support the study of all the Literature texts students are studying at GCSE
www.studywise.co.uk – Various links to revision sites and tuition videos
www.quizlet.com – Variety of flashcard activities focusing on Literature texts e.g. characters, key quotations, themes etc. www.youtube.com – ‘Mr Bruff’ Literature tutorial videos range from Level 4 support if you are struggling with the basics to a range of high-ability videos If you are pushing yourself.
https://www.sparknotes.com/nofear/shakespeare/macbeth/ – Spark Notes provides a modern day ‘translation’ of ‘Macbeth’ which helps with understanding the play as a whole, including support notes and annotations to further develop your critical analysis of the text.
History:
Normans and Germany depth studies: https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/examspecs/zxik4]6 For specimen exam materials to practise and exemplar answers and commentaries: https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/history/gcse/history-8145/assessment-resources
RE: https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/examspecs/z3xvfcw
Languages:
www.quizlet.com – provides sets of flashcards and activities to learn them www.duolingo.com – also an app for smartphones – learn basics in 5 or 10 minutes a day
Mathematics:
Hegarty maths: students have own username and passwords
https://www.mathsgenie.co.uk/gcse.html
http://www.mrbartonmaths.com/students/
Science:
www.kerboodle.com students have own username and passwords www.twig-world.com www.s-cool.co.uk/gcse/chemistry.
www.bbc.co.uk/education.
www.rsc.org. www.nationalgeographic.com/science
www.youtube.com/user/thehealthcaretriage
www.youtube.com/user/Kurzgesagt
www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practical-biology
www.gcsescience.com.
www.revisionscience.com/gcse-revision
www.mathsmadeeasy.co.uk/gcse-@lence-revision/
www.bbc.com/bitesize/subjects/zrkw2hv http://.
www.docbrown.info/gcsechemistry.htm.
