Amazing Reading at St Mary's

Buddy reading

At St Mary's we love to read! Each week, years 6 and 5 meet up with their year R or year 1 reading buddies and cosy up with a book. For many of the children, it's one of their favourite times of the week. 

Our Recommended Reading Lists

 Research on reading for pleasure shows that children who choose to read for enjoyment are more likely to achieve higher academic outcomes, to have improved mental health and to gain economic success later in life. What’s more, when children choose to open a book to read, they are able to discover new worlds beyond their own experiences, to learn about different people and to develop critical thinking and crucial empathy skills, as well as advancing their language and vocabulary.

Getting the right book into the right child’s hands at the right time is absolutely key to sparking a love of reading. Below are some specially selected books for each year group, covering a wide range of genres and authors: picture books; chapter books; poetry; laugh-out-loud comedy stories; fantasy novels; thought-provoking books about relevant social issues; books that explore the diversity in our world; books by writers from other cultures; books to inspire; books to take you to another world.

Many of these books are to be found on the shelves of our classrooms at St. Mary's.  Our wonderful town library also has a huge selection of fiction and non-fiction books for children of all ages and reading interests - be sure to pay a visit!