“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…
⭐️ Celebrating Black History Month! ⭐️
What a wonderful month of learning and celebration across the school. From creating artwork inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. and Gee’s Bend freedom quilts, to exploring sporting legends like Mike Tyson and Maggie Alphonsi in PE, our children have been inspired by remarkable Black individuals. In Science, children researched influential Black scientists and inventors, while reading lessons explored the history and experiences of the Windrush generation and story times celebrated inspirational figures such as Rosa Parks and Muhammad Ali.
Throughout our celebrations, children have deepened their understanding of British Values and Protected Characteristics, recognising the importance of equality, mutual respect, diversity and ensuring everyone has the opportunity to succeed.
#britishvaluesstm #pestm #sciencestm #readingstm #artstm …
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📚✨ Learning with Parents! ✨📚
A huge thank you to all of our wonderful families for your support and enthusiasm with Learning with Parents this half term! 💕
It has been fantastic to see so much reading taking place at home and, most importantly, to see our children developing a genuine love of reading! 📖❤️
We absolutely love seeing your reading adventures! Take a look at some of the lovely photos shared by our families this half term! 📸🌟
Thank you for helping us make reading such a special part of everyday life! 🥰
#readingstm #readingforpleasurestm #nationalyearofreadingstm …
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Once a reading ambassador, always a reading ambassador! 📚❤️
How lovely to see our former pupil Daniel continuing his love of reading at secondary school! Daniel was a fantastic library monitor and reading ambassador during his time with us and it’s wonderful to see his reading journey continuing.
Keep shining, Daniel! We are so proud of you! 🌟📖
#readingstm …
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🌟 Friday Favourites! 🌟
Another wonderful week filled with learning, laughter and lots of special moments! 💙
Here are just a few of our favourite moments from across the school this week. 📸✨
Wishing all our families a lovely weekend! 💕
#readingstm #readingforpleasurestm #fridayfavouritesstm …
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📚👑 A royal reading gift for Year 6! 👑📚
Our Year 6 children have received a very special gift from Her Majesty The Queen: a special edition of Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell! 🎁
To celebrate the National Year of Reading 2026, this wonderful initiative is giving every Year 6 child a book to inspire a love of reading and bring children together through the joy of stories.
Thank you, Your Majesty, for this thoughtful Christmas gift. We can’t wait for the adventures to begin! ✨🐉
#readingstm #readingforpleasurestm #britishvaluesstm #year6stm …
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📚❤️ Friday Favourites! ❤️📚
Another Friday celebrating our love of reading at St Mary’s! Our children shared their favourite reads and chatted about what makes them special. 💬✨
From stories and comics to fascinating non-fiction, there’s something for everyone to enjoy!
#readingstm #englishstm #FridayFavouritesstm #NationalYearOfReadingstm …
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📚✨ St Mary’s takes on a world record! ✨📚
Yesterday, St Mary’s joined readers across the world for the Take 10 to Read GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ attempt! 🌍
Organised by the National Literacy Trust and the British Council, the challenge aimed to set a new record for the most people reading online in 12 hours as part of the National Year of Reading 2026.
Our children took ten minutes to read together and celebrate the joy of reading. What a wonderful opportunity to share our love of books while being part of something so exciting! ❤️
Fingers crossed for a new world record! 🤞🏆
#readingstm #englishstm #nationalyearofreadingstm …
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This afternoon, Year 6 had a fantastic trip to Newcastle Library! The children were excited to explore the shelves and had the chance to share some of their favourite books with Terry, the librarian. From magical adventures to thrilling mysteries, there was plenty of book talk and enthusiasm all around!
Terry also shared some of the exciting events coming up at the library – lots to look forward to for our keen readers! He then treated the class to a reading of an extract from A World Full of Spooky Stories: Esteban and the Ghost – a perfect way to end a magical afternoon. To finish off the visit, the children were able to browse the plethora of books that the library has to offer and choose a book to bring home. 📖
Thank you to Terry and the team at Newcastle Library for making us feel so welcome! 💙
#year6stm #readingstm Staffordshire Libraries …
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🎭📚✨ National Poetry Day 2026 ✨📚🎭
This morning, we celebrated National Poetry Day with a fantastic whole-school assembly, and what a performance it was! 🌟
Each year group took to the stage to perform a poem they had been rehearsing during their Readers’ Theatre sessions. From wonderful expression and clear voices to brilliant actions and confident performances, our children absolutely brought the words to life! 🎤👏 Their fantastic oracy skills were on full display and we were so proud of every single performer. ❤️
Our poetry line-up was:
❤️✨ Year 1 – All of Me
🦉🐱 Year 2 – The Owl and the Pussycat
🌿🐞 Year 3 – Nature Trail
🐉✨ Year 4 – The Tale of Custard the Dragon
🎉🗣️ Year 5 – The Word Party
⚠️📜 Year 6 – A Cautionary Verse
A huge well done to all of our poetry superstars! 🌟 What a brilliant way to celebrate the joy of poetry, performance and spoken language across St Mary’s. 🎬🎭📖
#NationalPoetryDaystm #Poetrystm #Englishstm #readingstm #Oracystm #Year1stm #Year2stm #Year3stm #Year4stm #Year5stm #Year6stm …
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