The purpose of the reading passport is to encourage children to read a wide range of genres. Research has shown that exposure to a diverse range of genres is more beneficial to building a variety of literacy skills than always reading the same genre and/or author.

There are three passports; Sprout, Seedling and Sapling. Children will aim to complete one passport per term. However, if it takes a child longer than a term to complete a passport they will carry on into the following term. At the same time, if a child completes a passport sooner, they will be able to move onto the next one.

The child will record the title and author in the reading passport and the child will give it a star rating. The star rating is out of 5, with 5 meaning that the child enjoyed the book, and would highly recommend it to others. A rating of 1 would mean the child did not enjoy the book and would not recommend it to others.

As part of a discussion with their class teacher about their reading, a child may be asked to justify their rating, for example they may rate it 2 because they feel that the story was too slow, or they may rate a book 5 because it had a fantastic story that kept their interest. There is no right or wrong answer, it is the child’s own opinion and this is an opportunity for them to practise justifying their opinions and engage in book talk.

 Part of the passport is to read books based on a theme/genre. This could coincide with the topics covered in class and themes may be suggested by the year group. If required, staff will support children in selecting a book for the different genres. Some teacher-led opportunities will support the children on their reading journey such as sharing a text during story time or covering a book during a Guided Reading lesson. We aim for all children to have access to the reading programme.