English

Reading (Year 2 to Year 6)

Throughout their school journey, our children follow a curriculum which has been carefully designed to nurture a love of reading. At the end of Year 2, they begin to access ‘Accelerated Reader,’ which offers a wide range of exciting texts and allows us to continue to monitor their progress.Our students enjoy discussing stories and all kinds of texts through the many ‘Book Talk’ opportunities which are central to our approach to reading. Our well-resourced library is managed and run by a dedicated team of Year 5 and Year 6 librarians, providing a welcoming, calm space for children to indulge their love of reading.  

Writing

Our writing curriculum has been carefully planned to ensure that all our children have the skills and motivation they need to write well and with purpose. The creative process is highly-valued at St Mary’s and writing opportunities are explored through our Curriculum Maestro topics and real life experiences. Teachers use a range of strategies including: inspiring texts; visits, drama, art and music to keep the writing process fresh and meaningful. Children share ideas and opinions, discuss and reflect in order to develop vocabulary and clarify their thoughts before beginning to write. Spelling and Handwriting are taught daily across the school and we emphasise how important it is to express written ideas neatly and clearly. Our children work hard and are proud of the writing they produce..

Speaking and Listening:

Here at St Mary’s, we want our children to learn to express themselves confidently and fluently. Opportunities to articulate ideas are part of our daily Guided Reading and Writing sessions across the school. Additionally, we encourage our children to participate in regular drama sessions; to ask and answer questions; to really listen to each other and to develop the strength to justify their opinions and challenge others in a constructive way. We love to see our children speak, recite and perform confidently and we provide exciting opportunities for them to do so - from EYFS up to Year 6.