Rationale For The Reading Curriculum At St. Martin's
“So it is with children who learn to read fluently and well: They begin to take flight into whole new worlds as effortlessly as young birds take to the sky.” —William James
At St. Martin’s our aim is for every child to leave school as a fluent, confident reader, not only because reading is a valuable skill in its own right, but also because it is crucial to allow them to access the breadth of the curriculum as increasingly independent learners.
As primary educators, we hope that some of our pupils will be inspired to study English Literature at university, and our curriculum provides the first steps on this learning journey with an initial focus on decoding text, but moving on to analyse structure, themes and the author’s intent in Key Stage 2.
For those children whose academic journeys take them in other directions, reading is still key to their development. It is through their reading of quality texts that children are able to absorb that knowledge valued by society, known as cultural capital. In order to participate fully in society, children will need to be able to read critically.
Finally, for many children reading is a source of great pleasure which will remain with them into adulthood.
How To Support Your Child With Their Reading
Thank you to those parents who were able to attend the workshop on how to support your child in reading on 26th November 2019. Here is the presentation from the session and an example video of an adult reading with a child.
