English

At St Mary's Catholic Primary, we believe that reading, writing and oracy should be at the heart of the curriculum. The skills we gain and develop in our English lessons set us up to achieve in every area of life in school and beyond. Teachers at St Mary's take their pupils on an engaging and exciting reading to writing journey where children are 'hooked' into their learning and eventually become independent writers after participating in shared and modelled writing experiences. Children at St Mary's have a love for reading and writing and this is celebrated around our school and evident in the high quality lessons we deliver.

We aim to:

Instil a love for reading and writing in all of our children, regardless of background.
Create lifelong learners who have the tools to read and write in a range opportunities for both information and pleasure.
Foster a rich curriculum from which teachers deliver high quality English lessons which empower and inspire children to become confident and independent learners.

We follow the English Programme of Study as set out in the National Curriculum. High quality and diverse texts are used as a catalyst for learning which amounts to an ambitious and well sequenced curriculum. Children write for purpose and audience and build on their prior learning to enable them to learn in the long term.

Grammar is taught explicitly each day in 'Grammar Warm-Ups'. Children master spelling conventions in weekly spelling lessons where they learn spelling rules and patterns to apply to their own reading and writing.

Quote of the Day – March 3, 2022 – cup of tea with that book, please

We understand the importance of reading at St Mary's and believe that reading is the key to any learning in school and in life beyond. We have a broad and wide range of genres in our home-school reading books which children take home weekly to read.

In Reception, children follow the ELS systematic phonics approach. They are taught phonics every day and read decodable books as they master their knowledge of GPC's.

We are excited to share that we have revised our English curriculum. We have worked closely with the wonderful Catherine Leyland who has supported our transition to a new and rich English Curriculum. The impact of our new English Curriculum is clear; children are confident readers and writers with skills and learning to enable them to excel in their life after St Mary's.

Continue Reading

The Reading House

To give an understanding that reading contains all the above component parts. Click on the reading house to find out more.

Click on the image below for reading games.

Curriculum Maps

Early Reading

At St Mary's we use the essential letters and sounds phonics program to ensure that children quickly learn to read. Children in reception begin phonics lessons within the first couple of weeks of school so that they rapidly acquire the skills and knowledge to become fluent readers. Phonics teaches children to decode words by identifying sounds in the word and blending them together to read fluently. Children also learn to segment the sounds to spell words accurately. ELS ensures that at St Mary's, our approach to teaching reading is consistent across all year groups. Children take part in daily lessons and this is recapped throughout the day. In reception, children will cover phase 2, 3, 4 and are introduced to some phase 5 sounds. In year 1, children cover phase 5 and explore the phases further.

Home Reading

Learning to read is a journey for children which is enhanced by support at home. Reading to children every day is beneficial to their vocabulary and comprehension skills.

Your child will bring home a reading book which has been carefully matched to their reading skills by their teacher. Please read this at home with your child many times to practise their skills for reading: blending, fluency and expression. You can write in their yellow reading diary each time you read with your child to communicate their progress with the class teacher. The class teacher will also make comments on your child's reading in this book. It is important that children have their reading book and yellow diary in school each day as teachers will take every opportunity to practice!

Phonics Support Videos

How to pronounce pure sounds

Phase 2 Sounds

Phase 3 Sounds

Phase 5 Sounds