Quest is a screening and diagnostic assessment tool for literacy and numeracy used in Primary 3 establishments in East Ayrshire schools.
These are carried out at the start of Primary 3 and, as well as class teacher observations, will have shown that your child has gaps in her/his literacy learning.
Quest follow-up intervention
There are a variety of ways Quest follow-up support can be delivered. Some children may receive additional support from the class teacher while others may work with an East Ayrshire Support Team (EAST) teacher or classroom assistant. Some children may be given activities to work on at home.
A Quest follow-up intervention developed by EAST is targeted to identified pupils to provide further opportunities to become more secure with foundation literacy skills.
During the intervention for literacy your child will receive a block of tuition from a member of (EAST). Sessions usually last around 30 minutes and are delivered on two occasions per week, usually for a 10 week block.
It is hoped that this targeted, short-term intervention will assist children to quickly ‘plug the gaps’ that are impacting on their literacy development, thus enabling them to progress with their reading development at an appropriate pace.
What it involves
East Ayrshire’s Quest follow-up intervention is targeted to pupils who need a ‘springboard’ or an individual programme to become more secure with foundation literacy skills.
Your child will usually be extracted to a quiet area to work with the EAST member of staff within a small group.
A typical lesson may include:
- revision of previous sounds/sound patterns
- introduction of a new sound/sound pattern
- using magnetic letters to make new words
- reading words/sentences
- dictation words/sentences
How you can help
Alphabet
It is important that your child can work confidently using letter sounds and names. In each of these activities you can use the letter sound, letter name or mix it up and use both.
- Play I spy games - word beginning with...
- Fastest finger* - who is going to be first to point to the letter? Take turns each (letters can be on food labels, magazines)
- Lucky dip - put letters in a bag. Your child picks out a letter and tells you its sound/name/both
It is also helpful for your child to be able to recite the alphabet and know the order of letters.
- Sit letters of alphabet out in order and hide letter(s). Ask your child to say the missing letter(s)
- Match upper case (capital letters) and lower case letters
- Play games such as “The Minister’s Cat...”
- Pass a ball to each other saying the letters of the alphabet in turn as you throw. You say “a”, your child says “b”, you say “c” and so on
Sight vocabulary
Fun activities that provide repetition are ideal to help your child increase the number of common words they recognise on sight.
- Snap games
- Bingo
- Fastest finger (*as above) but with words
Reading
Reading for pleasure is just as important as supporting your child with their core reading homework activities.
- Sequencing a familiar story/event (spoken or using pictures)
- Read your child’s reading book with/to them and talk to them about the story and characters - ask questions
Blending
When your child is blending sounds together to make words, it is important that they are saying the sounds correctly. For example “l” instead of “li” and “t” instead of “ti”.
- Finger flicks (your child can explain how to do these). These are used to identify each sound in a word
- Say the sounds of a word, using finger flicks if you can (for example, b-e-n-d; f-l-a-sh) and ask your child to say the word
Miscellaneous
- Kim’s Game - show objects on a table, ask your child to cover their eyes then remove one. Ask your child which one has gone
- Play “I went to the shop and I bought …”. Start with a short list (three items) then increase the number of items. Your child has to repeat the items, in order if possible
- Pairing games – snap, dominoes with symbols and pictures
Benefits for your child
The main aim of the intervention is to equip your child with strategies to become more independent when reading and writing. Because they are working in a small group, the member of EAST is able to direct activities to areas that are specific to your child.
The Quest follow-up support is in addition to reading support within the class and will give your child regular opportunities to implement strategies to become a more confident and more competent with literacy.
Further information
If you would like further information, please contact your child’s school in the first instance.