Reading Intent
At St Joseph and St Theresa, we value reading as a key life skill, and are dedicated to enabling our pupils to become lifelong readers, fostering a love of reading in all children. We believe reading is key for success throughout life, not only academic success. All staff follow a holistic approach to the teaching of reading where we implement a variety of strategies to ensure all children are able to access the reading curriculum with children being exposed to a range of high quality texts. Children are matched with the appropriate reading book to ensure a balance of challenge and consolidation is provided. Teaching a child to read with confidence is vital, we are dedicated, and it’s our school aim to promote reading for pleasure and hope to instil this love of reading in all children and parents through the culture of our school.
Accelerated Reader: Top 10 books
Here is a list of the top ten books for the different levels on AR reader.
Reading For Pleasure
Looking for book recommendations for children who love a particular author?
St Joseph and St Theresa’s Reading Rockets
Some useful tips to support children reading at home.
Top tips to support KS2 children when readingP
Writing Intent
At St Joseph and St Theresa Catholic Primary School, we teach writing through the Pathways to Write programme, a structured approach designed to develop children’s vocabulary, reading and writing skills. This methodology is organised into units that follow a mastery-based model, providing engaging and purposeful English lessons linked to high-quality texts. Pathways to Write covers all aspects of the English National Curriculum for writing, ensuring that children from the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) to Year 6 progress in their learning. The programme also includes strategies to challenge children working at Greater Depth in every unit.
Each unit introduces new skills while revisiting previously taught ones, helping children build a strong foundation in writing. Lessons follow a clear sequence: Gateway, Pathway, and Writeaway, designed to deepen understanding and assess learning effectively.
Teaching Sequence in Pathways to Write
Gateway: This introductory stage engages children with the context of the unit and reviews their retention of previously taught skills (Gateway Skills). At the end of this session, a short writing task is set to assess how well children can apply these skills. If children struggle with Gateway Skills, planning is adapted to provide tailored support throughout the unit.
Pathway: In this stage, children are introduced to new mastery skills and given opportunities to practise them through a variety of familiar writing tasks, such as character or setting descriptions, dialogue, diary entries, instructions, poetry, and sentence work. These activities provide ongoing evidence for assessment and encourage children to apply their learning across different writing genres.
Writeaway: This final stage spans four sessions and focuses on helping children structure and sequence their writing, supported by a model text. For narrative outcomes, children use the main text from the unit or a simplified version for younger pupils to aid retelling. For non-fiction outcomes, a model is provided to guide structure and features. During Writeaway, children are encouraged to plan, draft, edit, revise, and publish their work, with a strong emphasis on applying the mastery skills taught during the unit.
Pathways to Write: Gateway, Mastery, and Feature Keys
Each unit in Pathways to Write includes three key elements:
Gateway Keys: Skills children have been taught previously, revisited for reinforcement, consolidation and review.
Mastery Keys: The main skills that are the focus of the unit, practised throughout.
Feature Keys: Genre-specific features essential for the writing outcome, such as key vocabulary, sentence structures, tense use and overall organisation.
Through these carefully planned and progressive stages, Pathways to Write ensures that children gain confidence and competence in writing while fully engaging with the National Curriculum.W
Our Class pages contain year group specific information for parents to understand and support their child’s reading and English learning at home, including:
Parent Guides to English
Recommended Reading Texts
Rocket Reading Challenge texts