Theatre Trip

Year 3 and 4 were lucky enough to visit The King’s Theatre in Glasgow to see ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’. The children read the Ronald Dahl book in year 3 as part of their guided reading so we took the opportunity to enrich their learning by watching the theatre show. It was AMAZING and the children represented our school brilliantly. 
One pupil said, “That was the best thing I’ve ever seen!” 

Reading for Pleasure

At St. Mary's we understand that reading for pleasure is vital. Reading as at the heart of our curriculum and we ensure that children also have many opportunities to read for pleasure. We know that there are many benefits asssociated with reading for pleasure. A growing number of studies show that promoting reading can have a major impact on children and adults and their future. These include:-

• Reading attainment and writing ability;

• Text comprehension and grammar;

• Breadth of vocabulary;

• Positive reading attitudes;

• Greater self-confidence as a reader;

• Pleasure in reading in later life;

• General knowledge;

• A better understanding of other cultures;

• Community participation; and

• A greater insight into human nature and decision-making

EY Picture News - Learning to Read...

This week’s news story is all about children learning to read. A university in Spain has been studying how well children learn to read and understand what they are reading. They have been looking at children reading books and children reading from a screen like a tablet, phone or a computer.

We discussed: Do you like to read at home? Do you read by yourself or with someone else? Do you always read and look at books you can hold, or do you sometimes read and share stories on a screen? What do you like the most?

The university in Spain found out that children learn and understand what they are reading much more when reading a book you can hold, rather than on a screen.

We discussed: What do you like about reading a book? Is it holding the book, turning pages, lifting flaps, looking at pictures?

We looked at the world map to see where this weeks story events related to… Spain.

When people look at and read a book, they choose one they think they will enjoy. We looked at some different books on the screen (see attached)

We discussed: Which book would you chose to look at and read? What makes you think you would enjoy this book? Do you like story books (fiction) or books that tell you information (non fiction) the most? Do you have a favourite book at home or school that you love to read again and again? What is it? (We looked through the EY Picture News homework)

We then all visited our school library to look at, share and enjoy reading some books.

Children across school enjoy a wide range of texts including fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Here are some children using their reading skills to research the life of Florence Nightingale, Mary Seacole and Edith Cavell. 

Storytelling Week

During Storytelling Week, children across the school took part in a range of activities based on stories. The Year 1 children thought carefully about a range of traditional tales throughout the week.

Year 2 focused on the story 'The Frankenstein Teacher'. They completed a range of writing based on this text. They thought carefully about how we should not judge people because of the way that they look. 

Year 6 buddied up with the Reception children to enjoy a range of stories together. The Reception children loved working with the older children.

To end the week children and staff dressed up as their favourite characters from a story. Mrs Davidson shared a story with the children in assembly and we all thought carefully about how enjoyable a story can be.