English

Here at St Mary's, our belief is that all children should be engaged through an English curriculum that enables them  to develop, not only as writers, but as readers with a love of reading. We are passionate about helping children to discover a love for reading through offering a curriculum that is delivered through a book or story.  

The overarching aim for English in the National Curriculum is to promote high standards of language and literacy by equipping pupils with a strong command of the spoken and written word. Children at St Mary's do this through Talk 4 Writing (EYFS & Key Stage 1) and Novel Studies (Key Stage 2).

EYFS and Key Stage 1

Children develop their writing skills through a Talk 4 Writing approach. Through a story or book, the children's writing will develop through 3 structured stages:

Key Stage 2

As the children move into Key Stage 2, they will continue to build upon the skills they have developed using Talk 4 Writing through a Novel Studies approach. Through a range of high quality texts, children will read frequently as a class, within a group and on an individual basis; enabling numerous opportunities for them to write for a variety of purposes and audiences. At St Mary’s, we are passionate about fostering a love of reading. The books selected help inspire and engage our writers, whilst at the same time, help develop the children as readers at school and at home. The class novel underpins all our teaching of English at school, with grammar, punctuation, spelling and comprehension delivered in a context familiar to the children.

 The novels studied are: