Helen’s Repair Visit

Reading together

Reading age approximately 8–9 is an indicative guide for this Year 4 Shared Reading text, not an independent reading-level assessment. The intended audience is adults aged 19+. Read together, independently or with a trusted person, according to preference. Read at the learner’s pace. Learners can listen, point, gesture, sign or join in with familiar words. Joining in is optional.

Before reading

Look at the title and cover. Introduce the characters and setting. Explore these five words with pictures, actions and familiar examples: reported, arranged, details, process, request. Invite a prediction about what might happen.

During reading

Use Talk Together for a prompt on each page. Talk about what happens, how the characters feel and which support or choices help. Accept different experiences. Do not use the story to demand a particular behaviour. Invite learners to point, sign, gesture or join in if they want to.

After reading

Use an invented maintenance visit to discuss company, clear information and a place to wait. Follow the household’s real visitor-checking arrangements and avoid sharing personal addresses or contact details. Describe what the characters noticed and how their ideas changed. Invite different experiences and respect a learner’s choice not to share.

Explore the situation

Everyday situation

Plan a repair visit with support and clear information

Beginning

Helen has reported a dripping kitchen tap. A repair visit is arranged for Tuesday morning. She knows the time window, but not exactly when the worker will arrive. Beth, her housing support worker, helps her write down the plan. Helen chooses to have Beth present for the visit.

What feels difficult

Waiting for an unfamiliar repair worker makes the morning uncertain

Support and choices

She checks the visit details and chooses company and another room

What changes

Helen tries the repaired tap and asks how to report another problem

Try together

Use an invented maintenance visit to discuss company, clear information and a place to wait. Follow the household’s real visitor-checking arrangements and avoid sharing personal addresses or contact details.

Adult support

Read together at the learner’s pace. A trusted person can offer reading or communication support if wanted. Respect adult choices, privacy and sensory needs. Accept speech, AAC, gestures, writing or listening. Activities and personal disclosure are optional.

Activities with support if wanted

The eleven separate question cards include recall, word meaning, observation, “why”, inference and evidence questions and discussion. Read the questions and choices aloud and offer picture support. The feedback checks recall of this story, not whether the learner’s own feelings or needs are right or wrong. Explore five vocabulary words, build them from movable letters and order three story pictures. Model a vocabulary word for the learner to copy; letter recognition and independent decoding are not required. Mouse dragging, finger dragging, tap controls and keyboard controls are available. Use the light green and red feedback as a chance to look at the story again.

Choose a few activities that suit the learner’s interest. Offer pictures, drawings, gestures or spoken answers, and model word building when useful. Activities are optional.