How we Teach Reading at St. Mary's

At St. Mary's, we are committed to fostering a love for reading while building strong foundational skills. We use the highly successful and DfE-accredited Read Write Inc. programme to guide our teaching of reading.

Here’s how we teach reading:

  1. Phonics Teaching From the early stages, children are taught phonics, starting with learning individual sounds. As they progress, they are introduced to more complex sounds and how to blend them to form words.
  2. Blending Sounds Once children have mastered their first few sounds, we teach them to blend these sounds together to read whole words. This key skill enables them to decode new words independently.
  3. Building Fluency Through regular practice with both familiar and new texts, children develop fluency in reading. We focus on accuracy, speed, and expression to make sure they read with confidence.
  4. Developing Comprehension Alongside phonics, we emphasise understanding what is read. Children are encouraged to talk about the stories they read, answer questions, and make connections with other books or experiences.
  5. Reading Practice We ensure children have daily opportunities to practise reading. This includes reading with adults, partners, or independently, using texts tailored to their reading level.
  6. Parental Involvement We believe that parents play a crucial role in supporting their child's reading journey. By reading together at home, discussing stories, and practising phonics, parents help reinforce what children learn at school.

At St. Mary’s, our goal is to nurture confident, capable, and passionate readers!

Learning to read is a crucial skill that lays the foundation for your child's educational journey, setting them up for future success in school and beyond! We need your support to help give your child the best possible start on their reading journey and to help them grow into fluent, expressive, and confident readers.

You can support them by:

  • Sharing stories together regularly
  • Practising their sounds, green or red words, and reading books
  • Asking questions and discussing what they’ve read
  • Making connections between stories, especially around character types and themes

Your involvement makes a world of difference in their reading development!"