“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…
📚✨ 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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Love Your Library this February at Newcastle Library 📚💘
Celebrating the National Year of Reading 2026 with a week of FREE half-term events for all ages. Authors, storytellers, poetry, crafts and magical story sessions for families and adults. Booking needed for most events.
Highlights include:
🔥 Storytelling with Maria Credali (adults + families)
🦊 Author Roselyn Barks with story and craft
✍️ Author panel and live poetry session
☂️ Mary Poppins themed magical library experience
🎶 Musical Storytime for little ones
🐭 The Pied Piper story session
Great for children, families and book-loving grown ups. Come share the joy of reading ❤️
📞 01782 485312
📧 newcastle.library@staffordshire.gov.uk
Staffordshire Libraries
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Last week, Year 4 had an amazing afternoon courtesy of Terry Heath at Newcastle Library (Staffordshire Libraries). Terry enthusiastically shared stories about the recent Wassail Festival and gave us a brilliant insight into the exciting events coming up over half term. After such a passionate and informative talk, the children loved exploring the wonderful range of books and were thrilled to take home some of their favourites.#year4stm #readingstm … See MoreSee Less
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📚 Friday Favourites 📚
Our classrooms were buzzing with brilliant book choices today 📖✨. From the magical world of Harry Potter to the gripping adventures of Danger Everywhere, and from the heartfelt journeys in Opal Plumstead and Girl Online to the laugh out loud moments of Gone Viral, there was something for everyone. These stories sparked great conversations and ended the week on a real high 😄📚.
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📚 Friday Favourites 📚
Our classrooms were buzzing with laughter and adventure today as we dived into some truly brilliant reads ✨📖. From the heartwarming A Tale of Two Feathers to the magical How to Catch a Falling Star and the hilarious antics in Dork Diaries, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and even a peek into the life of Cristiano Ronaldo ⚽! There was something to make every reader smile. What a perfect way to end the week with stories that inspire, entertain and delight 😄✨.
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