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Is it a song? Is it a dance? Is it a Water Park? No, ‘The Summer Slide’ is a very real and very well-documented educational phenomenon which strikes most children at some point.
"The summer slide" is the term given to children's educational gains evaporating during the summer holidays. Some writers have described this in a pretty alarmist way. It's no doubt true that 6 weeks or more of summer holidays without stimulating children's brains is not going to do them any favours when they return to school. That said, having 2 weeks of complete down-time at some point over the course of the summer holidays is invaluable for de-stressing our students (and parents).
Did you know that children who do not read over the summer months can lose up to 3 months of reading achievement? Help prevent the ‘Summer Slide’ by supporting your child with their reading and guiding them to read for at least 20 minutes every day. Children who read every day do better at school across all subjects. Those who also see their parents enjoying reading are likelier to develop good reading habits, so pick up a book today!
With the holidays fast approaching, now is the perfect time to access Epic Books - children can sign in with the class code they have used all year. Epic has over 40,000 high-quality illustrated books and chapter books for children ages 12 and under. Epic partners with leading publishers to bring age-appropriate, award-winning fiction and non-fiction books to Epic's vast library of children's books. New books are added every week! The advantage of using this online library is that you can access it anytime, anywhere! It is perfect for while the family is relaxing at home or travelling and there are books to suit every reader.
If your child does nothing else this summer, please do make sure that they read as much as possible with you, to you, to themselves, to a sibling, family pet, favourite toy . . . the possibilities are practically endless! They will reap the benefits of their holiday reading efforts at the start of the new academic year. Motivate children to read by having them take part in our annual Summer Reading Challenge.
Year 9 and Year 11 students have begun the options process of selecting their IGCSE and IB Diploma courses for next school year.