Subject Vision: Writing

At St. Mary’s, we teach children to be reflective and creative writers. Our writing curriculum gives children the tools to write across a range of genres, editing and improving as they go, to produce pieces of work they can be proud of. For every child to play their full part in society, we understand that the teaching of writing is essential for them to gain the knowledge and understanding of how to communicate effectively with the world. 

In EYFS and KS1, we focus on establishing strong foundations in the key skills involved in writing, using stories and experiences that bring excitement and creativity to their learning. Children begin by building fine-motor strength, learning letter formation and using their phonic knowledge to spell words through RWI lessons. They then begin to use their developing vocabulary to verbally build sentences, which they will then write using the non-negotiable rules.

In Years 3-6 our writing journeys are based around an engaging core text. Teachers plan exciting writing opportunities across a range of genres and children are clearly shown how to develop their writing skills within these, using a model of excellence to show the children what they’re aiming for and identifying the steps to get there. These steps are adapted to the child and allows every pupil the opportunity to flourish in their writing. Additional grammar and spelling lessons are also taught daily, with extra ‘fluency’ lessons integrated into the writing learning journey to address any gaps. These additional fluency lessons also provide an opportunity to explore the children’s interests outside of the genre or topic being taught. As children progress throughout the school into KS2, we know the importance that editing has on creating a masterpiece. All pupils are encouraged to use these skills to improve their own and others’ writing – recognising and praising their efforts but also looking at how they can improve. We love to celebrate every child’s writing, which is why every final draft is written up beautifully in each child’s ‘Book of Excellence’. This travels with them throughout the school and is a huge celebration of the progress and attainment every child makes in the subject throughout their time at St. Mary’s.   

Subject Vision: Reading

At St. Mary’s, we believe every child should be able to read for pleasure and develop a life-long love of reading and books. We strive to give children the tools to develop into fluent and enthusiastic readers. It is these tools and opportunities that we believe give our children the necessary skills to become thoughtful and confident readers for life, which helps them to access learning across the entire curriculum and everything they do, in school and beyond. 
 

In EYFS and KS1, children are taught phonics daily, so that they can decode words and begin to develop their fluency and tackle non-familiar words. They also read phonically decodable storybooks, matched to their phonic ability, so that they can begin to develop their comprehension skills. Outside of phonics, we nurture a love of books by exposing the children to a range of engaging and diverse stories to inspire their creativity and capture their imagination. These texts are carefully picked to provide mirrors of characters and settings that reflect themselves, and windows to diverse characters and settings from around the world. There is a strong focus on the teaching of vocabulary during these story explorations, and the texts become familiar to provide a springboard for the EYFS and KS1 writing curriculum. We also have ‘thread texts’ that the children repeatedly engage with from Nursery through to Year 2, that give them a solid foundation in understanding narratives and storytelling – in Nursery and YR these texts are in the reading and play provision and retold orally, in Y1 children learn and retell these stories in a simple written way, and in Y2 the children then innovate these stories and build their creative writing skills in preparation for KS2.  
 
In KS2, the reading curriculum builds on fluency and, through their ERIC sessions, provides children with the opportunity to develop and apply their reading and comprehension skills across a variety of texts. Book discussion is also widely encouraged, supporting children to empathise with characters, share opinions and debate topics. We acknowledge and value the important role played by every family in supporting children’s reading development throughout their time at school: this is why we encourage every child in school to read with a family member at least three times per week, communicating their efforts through the home/school reading record and celebrating regular readers, being mindful to support and celebrate those who lack support at home. Reading is at the core of our curriculum here at St. Mary’s, and we truly believe that every child has the ability to read to a high standard as they foster a love of language discovered in books.