English

At St Peter’s, we aim to foster in our pupils a love and proficiency for reading that will underpin all the learning our pupils will undertake at, and beyond, our school. The key principle for all learning across our school curriculum is that children learn to read fluently and confidently as quickly as possible, so that not only is the world of literature opened to them, but knowledge in every sphere and subject becomes accessible. We recognise that the sooner our pupils develop the skills to decode words easily, the soon they will become enthusiastic and motivated readers. The sooner they foster a joy of reading, the sooner their confidence and ability to read a wide variety of genres and text types will flourish. The sooner they are exposed to a plethora of texts from a wide range of authors, backgrounds, and contexts, the sooner their eyes will be opened to the richness of our world and will be able to think critically and act with wisdom and sagacity.  

As a staff, we have formulated 3 key aims for our reading curriculum. We believe that teaching at St Peter’s is outstanding when:  

• Our children are reading a wide variety of different texts form a wide range of authors, nationalities, and contexts. 

• Our children are reading, analysing, and thinking independently

• Our children are reading challenging and thought-provoking texts across our entire curriculum 

We read, so that we can think, so that we can experience and appreciate God’s wonderful world.  

We aim to help our pupils to:

• Read fluently and often, with understanding, enjoyment and increasing stamina

• Write clearly, accurately and effectively for a range of audiences and purposes

• Develop an understanding of how language works through the study of grammar, punctuation and spelling conventions

• Speak clearly, fluently and confidently and listen appropriately in a range of situations, including formal presentations and debates

Oracy

We are passionate about developing confident and eloquent speakers. This year, our teachers are putting a lot of work into adapting their practice so that all children develop their speaking and listening skills.

Subject Ambassadors

We have two English ambassadors in school. Lalitha and Heidi help Mr Badley and Miss Lilley in the library, they keep all of our communal reading spaces around school tidy and organised, collect pupil voice information at regular intervals, assist in learning walks, and perform journalistic duties for the school reading newsletter. They are an amazing help!

School Book Fairs

Twice a year, we hold book fairs for our wonderful school community. Proceeds from those sales go directly to funding new books for our school library, ensuring all our children have new and exciting books to read. Developing our school library into a working, well-visited and exciting place to read, learn and enjoy is a big part of developing a real pleasure of reading amongst our students. 

World Book Day

Each year, we celebrate World Book Day. It is a wonderful opportunity to promote our favourite books, dress up as our favourite character or as a new word we've learnt recently, enjoy some book-themed challenges or activities, and, most importantly, spend some quality time sharing books and reading with each other. 

No Pens Day 2024

Wednesday 28th November was No Pens Day- raising awareness for Speech and Language UK and empathising with the millions of children nationwide that struggle to communicate.

All writing implements were banned, in place of activities and lessons that required the children to communicate in other ways. One activity we all joined in with was the Biggest Ever Show and Tell: it was amazing to see and hear about all the special things that our children brought in to share with us.

Despite the fun, we also spent some time thinking about the struggles that some children face when they come to school, and how we can adapt our classrooms to make them more inclusive.

Link to our Reading Newsletter Page

For information on how you can support your child's reading at home, please visit the following...

https://home.oxfordowl.co.uk/reading/reading-schemes-oxford-levels/oxford-reading-tree-levels/

We love reading

Reading is the foundation of our learning at St Peter's, but also something that we love to do! Come and ask our children about their class reading spaces, their class libraries, the main school library, their levelled reading books, their class texts and D.E.A.R. time novels. Or, better yet, just ask them why they love reading! You can also read about what our teachers are reading, and pick up some fantastic book recommendations in our termly Reading newsletter.