English

ENGLISH at St Mary’s

Every curriculum area involves the use of English as a means of communication. Consequently, it is our intent that all of our pupils develop the use and understanding of Standard English to the best of their ability in all aspects of speaking, listening, reading and writing, including spelling and handwriting.

"The more that you read,

the more things you will

know. The more that

you learn, the more places

you'll go!"-Dr Seuss

Reading for Pleasure

Research shows reading for pleasure is the single most important indicator of a child’s future success. Consequently, at St Mary’s we are working hard to develop a ‘Reading for Pleasure’ culture in our school.

Phonics (EYFS and Key Stage 1)

At St Mary’s, Phonics is taught daily throughout Early Years and Key Stage 1. We use the ‘Little Wandle’ synthetic Phonics programme to ensure a thorough and systematic approach to learning to read and write.

Key Stage 2

Children are taught the skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening through a wide variety of high quality texts including fiction and non-fiction texts.

Once children have finished the Little Wandle Phonics programme and the Phonics reading books, they then move onto Little Wandle Fluency books. Children are assessed regularly to determine their frequency level. Once the children are reading fluently, they can choose any book from the library to support their love of reading.

Teachers read to their children every day and every class has a Reading for Pleasure session each week. In KS2, the first part of the morning is dedicated to reading activities such as paired reading, group reading, comprehension activities and poetry sessions.