Colour banding chart with year group
benchmarks
Y4
Free
Reader
Y4
Sapphire
Y2
Ruby
Y2
Lime
Turquoise
Y1
White
Orange
Y1
Gold
Green
Y1
Purple
Blue
Yellow
Red
Pink
Y1
Rec Rec Rec
Y1
Y2
Y2
Y3
Y3
Y5
Y5
Y6
If you have any questions about the scheme, or
need further clarification, please feel free to ask
your child’s class teacher or any member of the
headship team.
Y6
Accelerated Reading Scheme
Why?
Cypress Primary School has always prided itself on being a school
that sets great store on nurturing a life-long love of reading in its
pupils.
A substantial body of research has shown that reading for pleasure
impacts hugely on literacy attainment. We understand the
importance of fostering positive attitudes to reading and the
difficulties that some of our families encounter in promoting reading
motivation and wider reading in their children.
As a school, we invest significantly in quality books for each class,
within age - appropriate colour bands, to help excite our children and
get them interested in books. Many of our books are categorised into
book bands to support our accelerated scheme. Books are colourbanded in accordance with nationally - recognised reading bands.
Colour Bands
There are 13 colour bands as follows: pink, red, yellow, blue,
green, orange, turquoise, purple, gold, white, lime, ruby and
sapphire.
The chart on the reverse of this leaflet shows the colour bands
children will work through at each stage of their primary education,
and should help you to keep track of how your child is progressing.
Once children have progressed through all of these levels, they
become Free Readers. The focus for Free Readers switches to
working through a whole variety of different genres, ranging from
thrillers to classics, and from short stories to biographies. This would
usually take place in years 5 and 6.
Reading at Home
We believe that it is important that children read as many books as
possible, at their current reading level, to build fluency and
understanding of texts. This will help even the youngest child to
perceive him or herself as a successful reader.
Therefore, our accelerated reading scheme will commence from the
moment your child starts full-time in reception. Your child will bring
home a book they have selected from their current colour band. In
reception, we ask that you help your child to select a book, as part of
the early morning routine every morning.
Initially , beginner readers will memorise simple texts that have been
read to them. Please encourage them to read and re-read these texts
as many times as they wish. As they do so, it would be helpful if you
could model to your child how to use expression effectively.
As your child develops independence as a reader, it is important for
them to read as much of the book as they can, with your support and
encouragement, but without your assistance. Once your child has
read a sentence, it is helpful to ask them to re-read it straight away.
This not only helps with increasing fluency, it will also help your child
to gain in confidence and pace. When your child has read to the end
of the book, please encourage them to read it to you again. When
your child has completed the book, please ask them questions to ensure that they have understood what they have just read. It is important that you continue to listen to your child read at home, no
matter what their age. As with anything, performance improves with
practice.
In order to monitor progress and depth of comprehension, children
will be required to complete an age–appropriate book review once a
week in school.
Home Reading Chart
To encourage pace, and a healthy element of competition, home and
school track how many books your child has read. Books from home
may also be included in the tally of books read. Children will be
awarded certificates in assembly based on the number of books read
and to celebrate when they move up a colour band.
Your child will bring home a home reading chart. Once he or she
has finished the book, we ask that the title be recorded on their chart
and that you sign it to confirm completion. Your child’s progress will
then be acknowledged and celebrated in school.
For every 5 books read, your child will be invited to place a star
against their name on the accelerated reader class chart. This will enable home and school to see in parallel how many books your child
has read, and hopefully help to motivate them to want to read more.