New reading challenge…introducing the 30 Reads!

You may well have heard (hopefully your child has come home from school talking about it!) but the 100 Reads challenge has now transformed into the 30 Reads challenge! Further information can be found below:

Why the change?

After some thought and discussion with the children, we decided that the 100 Reads Challenge at the Junior school needed a bit of a revamp. Now with a lower target number of books to reach, we hope to make it more enticing/ more achievable for more children. The selection of books also needed an update and with a huge thanks to the PTA, we now have a beautiful new selection of titles, including some current, diverse authors, topic books, either fiction or non-fiction, alongside some old favourites. Each class received brand new shiny book boxes last week, containing the vast majority of the year group book list titles, making the challenge far more accessible than before.

How will the new challenge work?

There will now be a set book list for each year group rather than lower/ upper key stage 2. Each year group book list comprises of 50 titles, with the challenge being to read 30 books throughout the course of the year, either choosing 20 of the titles from the set reading list, plus 10 of your own choices or 30 from the list. The book list will be stuck into the back of every child’s reading record. Once your child has read one of the books, please initial/ sign in the box below (Year 6s will be responsible for their own lists and teachers will keep a class record).  

If your child would prefer to read a different book by the same author from the selected reads list, that is absolutely fine- please just note down the alternative title underneath the box and initial. Additionally, if your child has read one of the books before, this will count as one of their ‘reads’.

The children can take the books from the 30 reads book boxes home (and bring back into school each day if they wish) but we ask you to take good care of our lovely new books and ensure they are returned to school once you’ve finished reading them. Each of the 30 reads books have a star sticker on their spine to identify them.

We actively encourage parents to read aloud to their children at home and share the reading experience together. You may therefore choose to take a piggy-back approach, where you take it in turns to read a page each.

If your child spots a book that they would like to read on a different year group list, they are more than welcome to include that title in their 30 reads count. They will just need to note it on their 30 reads log. We hope to introduce book swaps along the way once the challenge gets going.

A certificate will be given for every 3 books read and then for every 10 read, children will be given a bronze pin badge, for every 20 a silver and then if the whole challenge is completed, a gold pin badge.

There will be a star chart kept in each class, where children can record the number of books they have read and a waiting list to ensure that they’re next in line for the favourite titles!

In a nutshell…

30 Reads Challenge

• Year group book list will be stuck in the back of children’s reading records (with Year 6s keeping theirs in school)
• Challenge is to read 30 titles across the year (either 30 from the year group booklist or 20 from here plus 10 of their own choices)
• Children to tick each book off in box below/ parents to also initial/ sign (Year 6 teachers to keep class record)
• Books can be read together at home (can bring back and forth to school each day)
• If your child has read one of the books on the booklist previously, this would also count as a ‘read’
• Fine to read a different book by the same author from the year group booklist- please just note down the alternative title underneath the box.
• Reading books from other year group lists is welcomed, just note down the title on your own 30 reads log.
• Certificates/ mini prizes- when multiples of 3 read
• Pin badges: bronze for 10 books read/ silver for 20 read/ gold for all 30 read
• Star charts in class
• Waiting list for books for most wanted titles

By introducing the children to some wonderful new titles and making this new challenge more accessible and achievable, we hope that it will develop our children’s love for reading even further.

If you have any questions or queries about the new challenge, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Many thanks for your support,

Mrs Barnard (Reading Lead)