Books for Polish pupils

Badger Publishers www.badger-publishing.co.uk have a very good selection of dual language reading books for infants up to end of primary/beginning of secondary. Just type  ‘Polish’ into the search box on their website.

RAPID READERS

You may find this resource- Rapid readers, published by Heinemann (Pearson/Longman/Harcourt) of interest for your struggling older readers. They are interesting and modern reading books aimed at pupils of 7-11 years who have a reading age of 5-8 years (level A/B). New pre -level A books are being published in the summer. The books contain both fiction and non fiction sections and both have a before- reading guide for teachers which is very useful. The website is www.heinemann.co.uk

What makes this resource stand out however is the accompanying software. Not only can the pupil follow the story on screen and orally but there is a voice recognition facility. This means the pupil can read the on screen text into a microphone and will be prompted when stuck.

I thought the price was very reasonable. The HLP team have some copies to view although it may be better to contact the rep directly for a 30 day evaluation. morag.gibson@pearson.com

HOP ON

 Phase 3 schools were invited to participate in the trialling of a new P2 intervention programme called HOP ON. Six schools have been selected and staff will receive training in its use during the first week back after the summer holidays.

HOP ON has been designed by the Literacy team to take into account the geographical and financial challenges schools in the Highlands face. Identified P2 pupils will receive one to one tuition from existing school staff each day for a maximum of two terms. It is hoped that this short, focussed intervention will reduce the need for additional input from the Support for Learning team as the pupil progresses through the primary school.

HOP ON uses a mixture of phonetic recognition and word building as well as the look and say method and the reading/writing connection is emphasised.

Parents are asked to help support this initiative at home and are given advice to do so.

If successful, it is hoped that more pupils will benefit from this intervention programme in coming sessions.