Dear Parent/Carer of new Year 7s

We are very much looking forward to meeting our new Year 7 students in September and hearing about their experiences of reading thus far. In their English lessons and reading lessons (in the LRC) they will be able to access a range of books and talk about the books they have enjoyed reading at their primary schools / at home.

As Literacy Co-ordinator, encouraging and enabling every child to read, in order to improve their literacy skills, is fundamental. As such, every child has been posted a copy of the book A Good Day for Climbing Trees by Jaco Jacobs and we would love it if they could spend some time reading this book over the summer holiday.

Cape Town is the setting for Jaco Jacobs’ quirky adventure, but the emotions described will be familiar to all young readers. It’s the holidays and Marnus is bored, fed up too of being pushed around by his wheeler-dealer little brother, overlooked by his parents, and teased by his big brother. Everything changes when he meets Leila; within minutes he’s drawn into her campaign to save a tree in the local park, and actually camped out in its branches in defiance of the man from the water board, and his own mum. Their joint protest turns Marnus and Leila into special friends, and introduces them to a host of other eccentric characters too. When Marnus finally goes home, he’s quite a different boy. A lovely story about the importance of standing up for what you believe in and accepting who you are.

Some of the staff they will encounter, when they begin at Worthing High School, have recorded themselves reading the book and this can be accessed here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otpo5YfkIOY&list=PLdwrpG3TYYi8lS7zOtzz4zI8ZfMmNnKQW

Following this link will give your child an opportunity to familiarise themselves with some members of staff before they join us and also to listen to the book, as it is read aloud. This will improve their understanding of any unrecognisable vocabulary and the storyline.

We hope they enjoy reading this book over the summer and we really look forward to meeting them and talking all about it when we meet in September.

Wishing you and your family an enjoyable summer.

Yours sincerely

Maria Beckford

Literacy Co-ordinator