At St. Mark’s, we are committed to providing a reading curriculum which supports our children in all aspects of the curriculum. Since 2020, we have striven to rejuvenate the reading curriculum, and the resources we use to ensure it is a resounding success. From FFT phonics in EYFS and Year 1 to quality guided reading lessons from year 2 to year 6.

As a school, we pride ourselves on having a strong reading results each year at Year 6. We work hard to ensure there is consistency of teaching and children are exposed to as many texts as possible, throughout their time at school.

We have placed a strong emphasis on the importance of pleasure for read, throughout all year groups in school. We have completely refurbished and restocked our library as a space for relaxed reading in the school. Through a £10,000 investment, our children can access a range of exciting books, which they can take home and enjoy. In our celebration assemblies, we have a reader of the week, who are children who have worked hard on their personal reading or who have impressed with their reading knowledge. We have also instituted the St. Mark’s reading challenge. This is a challenge to children to read and keep a note of as many books as they can in one year. As time evolves, the children can collect their bronze, silver, gold, diamond, titanium and platinum awards for reading.

Throughout school, we regularly encourage library visits in our younger classes, and try and create visits based on reading for the older years. Examples include trips to the Bank of England, for a story telling visit. Furthermore, we seek to ensure children enjoy reading through specific days, like World Book Day, where staff and children alike, seek to read and enjoy the world of literature together.