“Reading is important because when you read a book, you gain knowledge and information about the past, future and the world today.” – Adam 5H
“Reading regularly improves your life chances as reading is used in many jobs, therefore it is such a useful skill!” – Angelmary 5O
Reading Policy
Reading Overview
Reading Gallery
Dotty the Reading Dog
Some of our Year 1 children had a lovely afternoon meeting Karen and Dotty the reading dog. They were so happy reading to Dotty and talking about their books.
Roald Dahl Day
To celebrate Roald Dahl day this year, each class conducted a scientific investigation based on a Roald Dahl book. The children had lots of fun making lava lamps, fizzy colours and using their footprints to measure their height! Who says learning isn’t fun?
Reading on BBC Radio Stoke!
Some of our Year 6 children have represented St Mary’s Catholic Primary School on BBC Radio Stoke’s book club! The children selected one of their favourite books to read an extract from with some clues to help the audience. I wonder if you can guess which book they chose…? The children also spoke about our wonderful new library! Below is the link for you to listen to – skip to one hour and 39 minutes into the programme and the second part at 1 hour 48 minutes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0bgbyz9
Useful Websites for Home Reading
- Book Trust – Inspire a Love of Reading
Click the link above to access some lovely online reading books
- Love Reading 4 Kids – Sharing Book Love
Click on the link above to browse award winning books, enter competitions and much more…
🌟🎭 Oracy Superstars! 🎭🌟
A huge congratulations to Millie, Mila, Roosevelt, Alessandra, Richa, Henry and Nicholas in Year 6 for earning a coveted Oracy Sticker during our Readers’ Theatre lesson! 🏆✨
They absolutely smashed the physical strand as they brought our core text Wonder to life, reading with fantastic expression and projecting their voices with real confidence. 🎤📖 Their performance was engaging, thoughtful and a joy to watch.
We are so proud of the effort and enthusiasm they showed. Keep shining, Year 6! 🌟👏
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🎉📚 Incredible Achievement Alert! 📚🎉
A massive congratulations to Trishelle for reaching an AMAZING 3,000,000 words on Accelerated Reader! 🌟 What a fantastic milestone – your dedication, enthusiasm and love of reading truly shine through. We are so proud of you! 👏✨
Keep turning those pages and inspiring others with your brilliant commitment to reading. Happy reading, Trish! 📖💫
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📚✨ Friday Favourites ✨📚
What a joy it has been to see so many children proudly sharing their Friday Favourites books! We absolutely love hearing their enthusiastic recommendations and watching the excitement for reading spread across our school. There is nothing better than discovering a new author or story through a friend – keep them coming! Happy reading, everyone! 📖💫
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📚✨ World Book Day Tokens Are Here! ✨📚
If you’d like to get ahead of the game, the digital World Book Day tokens have already been sent out! 🎉
We should still be receiving the physical tokens in school, but in the meantime, please feel free to use the digital version in stores now – perfect for choosing a new book to enjoy!
You can usually redeem the tokens at:
• Your local independent bookseller
• Asda
• Blackwell’s (selected stores only)
• Easons
• Foyles
• Sainsbury’s
• Tesco
• TG Jones
• The Works
• Waterstones
• WHSmith Travel (selected stores only)
Online: Books2Door
Happy book choosing – we hope the children find a story they absolutely love! 📚
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📚✨ National Storytelling Week ✨📚
As part of our celebrations, we hosted a special Teacher Friday Favourites and Storytime Swap! Each teacher visited a different class to share their favourite story, bringing books to life for new audiences across the school. The children absolutely loved it and it was wonderful to see our shared love of reading shining in every classroom.
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✨ Celebration of God’s Gifts Achievements! ✨
We were delighted to celebrate some fantastic achievements in our Year 4, 5 and 6 assembly this week! 🌟
🎤 We proudly launched the St Mary’s Oracy Certificate. Congratulations to our first oracy superstars who are showcasing fantastic speaking and listening skills!
📚 A huge well done to Leon and Steven in St Stephen for each reaching an incredible 2,000,000 words on Accelerated Reader. What a milestone!
✍️ Congratulations to Charlie in St Peter on earning his pen licence with beautiful handwriting.
📖 Finally, we are so proud of our Year 5 pupils whose writing has been published in the Young Writers anthology. Published authors in the making!
👏 We love celebrating the wonderful gifts God has given our children. Keep shining! ✨
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📚 Do you have some spare time during the week to read with a child on a 1:1 basis at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School? Could you help change a child’s story?
🚨 We need you! 🚨
We would love to welcome volunteers to hear children read from Year 1 to Year 6. Even a small amount of your time can build confidence, support progress and nurture a lifelong love of reading.
If you are interested, please pop into the school office or email office.stm@ctkcc.co.uk to find out more. Thank you for supporting our children.
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🎶 Soundtrack Your Story 🎶
Our Year 4, 5 & 6 children enjoyed a storytelling workshop for National Storytelling Week 2026, creating rap lyrics inspired by sound, rhythm and personal experience.
They now have the chance to enter a national writing competition, with winning work published in an anthology and some pieces performed by rapper Alim Kamara 🎤.
We cannot wait to see what they create ✨.
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📚 Friday Favourites 📚
Here’s a snapshot of the brilliant books being enjoyed across the school in today’s Friday Favourites. We’ve loved discovering new reads and revisiting old favourites!
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