Phonics at St. Mary's

At St. Mary's we use a carefully mapped out phonics curriculum using 'Letters and Sounds' along with 'Read write Inc' rhymes and resources to create a tailored programme for our children. Each child is carefully monitored and gaps in phonic knowledge are addressed quickly within small groups. To support your child's phonic development we also send home a reading book that is closely matched to the sounds that they are learning that week. 

Children in EYFS & KS1 will also have daily guided reading using a range of resources giving us the opportunity to teach reading and comprehension skills within a small group. 

We also follow the  Collins Big Cat home reading books for when our children become more competent readers, before moving on to free readers from home or from our extensive school library.

Please click on this link for useful phonics websites

• Phonics Websites

Maths at St Mary's

At St Mary's we follow the White Rose primary scheme that has maths resources that are designed to instill a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts using a full range of fun, inspiring classroom activities. Our primary maths scheme covers all the essential topics in key stage 1 and key stage 2. They include times tables, the four operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), basic decimals and fractions, percentages, number system use and more. 

Teaching for mastery

At St Mary's we use the White Rose mastery approach to teaching. This is a research-driven teaching and learning method that meets the goals of the National Curriculum.

What does it mean in practice? In summary, a mastery approach… 

• Puts numbers first: Our schemes have number at their heart, because we believe confidence with numbers is the first step to competency in the curriculum as a whole.
• Puts depth before breadth: we reinforce knowledge again and again.
• Encourages collaboration: children can progress through the schemes as a group, supporting each other as they learn.
• Focuses on fluency, reasoning and problem solving: it gives children the skills they need to become competent mathematicians.

We are also part of 'The Maths Hub' dedicated to continually developing our maths teaching and inspiring a love of mathematics.