Once the star reader tests have been completed, teachers are provided with an individual report for each child in the class. Part of this report records the ZPD for your child. The ZPD reading score serves as a guide for children as they search for reading materials that will challenge them without being overwhelming. The ZPD range your child is choosing is located in the front of their reading record, where you will also see a record of their current reading age. The reading age is an estimate of a child's reading ability, in reference to an average age at which a comparable ability is found. E.g. if your child has a reading age of 9 years, this means they have the reading ability of an average 9-year-old. Reading age does not always correlate with a child’s actual age.

You may feel your child has been given a book which is below that which you would expect. This normally occurs when the child’s understanding of the text does not match to their word reading ability. Teachers can give advice as to how to improve your child’s comprehension skills.

Children visit the library weekly with their class, or they can visit before school each day. We expect children to independently change their book when they need a new one.

At home we expect children to read at least three times weekly, but preferably every day. This can be recorded in the reading record by the adult. Year 6 are expected to independently write more lengthy commentaries about their reading.

If you open the front cover of any fiction reading book you will see a sticker like this one. The Quiz number refers to a quiz which children will take after finishing the book. This quiz is taken on the computer and checks children’s comprehension. We recommend that children take the quiz within 24 hours of finishing a book so that the quiz tests comprehension and not memory. Children take these quizzes at school.

Book level - relates to the ZPD which is also recorded on the front cover. Points - We do not use this system at Northmead, some schools use points to track and target children’s reading.

Interest level - The interest level attached to the book indicates age group appropriateness. The interest level is based on a book's content including theme, characterisation, and plot. The interest levels are based on the recommendations of the publisher and/or literary book reviews by professional organisations. To help you choose the books most appropriate for your children, Accelerated Reader books are divided into three interest levels:

• LY (Lower Years, Ages 5–8)

• MY (Middle Years, Ages 9–13)

• UY (Upper Years, Ages 14 and above)

In most cases, a book’s interest level coordinates with its book level. Some books, however, have a low book level but are appropriate for Upper Years and vice versa. For example, Oscar, Cat About Town by James Herriot and Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman have a Book Level of 4.0 since both have short sentences and vocabulary that is simple. Noughts and Crosses, is intended for older pupils therefore it is tagged as Upper Years while Oscar, Cat About Town is tagged as Lower Years.

The ZPD is also recorded on the spine of each book.