“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
– Dr. Seuss
Reading at St John Fisher
We strive to nurture a lifelong love of reading and to equip every child with the skills they need to become confident, fluent, and thoughtful readers.
Children take part in whole-class reading lessons that focus on fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, developing key ‘Reading Detective’ skills such as inference, retrieval, fluency, and others that help them think critically and engage deeply with texts. Reading books are carefully matched to each child’s current level and regularly reviewed to ensure they are both supported and challenged. In addition, children are assessed using running records to ensure they are accurately placed within our reading bands and continue to make steady progress in their reading. Children continue to develop confidence and fluency in reading, with some receiving additional phonics support and targeted interventions to strengthen their progress.
Our Recommended Reading Scheme inspires children to explore a wide range of high-quality texts, earning certificates as they complete a selection of books tailored to their year group. We are proud to offer a Diversity Spine of books for each year group, ensuring that every child encounters stories and authors that reflect a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, and cultures.
Children also take part in ‘Drop Everything and Read’ sessions, where they pause their work to enjoy books from the school library and develop independent reading habits. Teachers regularly read the class book aloud to the whole class, providing a shared reading experience that builds comprehension, vocabulary, and a love of stories. Our student librarians support children in changing their books and using the library software to track loans, discover new titles, and share reviews from home. Alongside regular reading opportunities with adults in school, we aim to foster curiosity, confidence, and a lifelong enjoyment of reading in every child.
In KS1, teachers prioritise daily story time sessions, reading aloud and revisiting high-quality stories while discussing them with pupils to strengthen their familiarity with the text and deepen their understanding.
Reading: Useful Links
To see the Long Term Plan and Progression Information: CLICK HERE
Reading Detective Symbols: CLICK HERE
Reading Detectives 1: CLICK HERE
Reading Detectives 2: CLICK HERE
Writing at St John Fisher
At St John Fisher Primary School, we believe that writing is a vital life skill and a powerful form of self-expression. Our Writing curriculum is designed to inspire creativity, develop technical accuracy, and ensure that every child becomes a confident and capable writer.
We place a strong emphasis on securing solid foundational skills before moving on to more complex aspects of writing. In the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), children focus on developing a correct pencil grip, sitting position, and letter formation. This foundation enables them to progress confidently into Year 1, where they begin constructing simple sentences and expressing their ideas clearly.
From Year 2 onwards, pupils explore a wide variety of text types — including fiction, non-fiction, and poetry — giving them the opportunity to experience and produce many different styles of writing. Grammar is taught in context and closely linked to the text type being studied, helping children understand how grammatical choices shape meaning and purpose.
Each writing unit follows a consistent and research-informed structure, based on the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) guidance:
1. Grammar focus
2. Exploring the features of the text type and WAGOLL (What A Good One Looks Like)
3. Planning
4. First draft
5. Self and peer assessment
6. Editing and improving
7. Final draft
This structured process encourages children to reflect, refine, and take pride in the writing they produce.
Spelling is taught systematically, beginning with the Read Write Inc. (RWI) phonics scheme in EYFS and Year 1, and continuing through the Purple Mash spelling scheme in later years.
Handwriting is taught progressively across the school — from letter formation in EYFS, to pre-cursive writing in Year 1, and fully cursive handwriting from Year 2 onwards through our Letter Join scheme.
By the time pupils leave St John Fisher, they are equipped with the skills, confidence, and creativity to write fluently and effectively for a range of purposes and audiences — and to take real pride in their achievements as writers.
Writing: Useful Links
To see the Long Term Plan (Handwriting): CLICK HERE
To see the Long Term Plan (Writing): CLICK HERE
Handwriting Progression: CLICK HERE
Vocabulary, Punctuation & Grammar Progression: CLICK HERE
Writing & Grammar Progression: CLICK HERE
Phonics at St John Fisher
At our school, we are dedicated to ensuring that every child becomes a confident and fluent reader through our systematic Read Write Inc. phonics programme. Phonics lies at the heart of early reading and writing, providing children with the essential building blocks for lifelong literacy.
Children are grouped according to their individual learning needs to ensure targeted teaching and rapid progress. They are regularly assessed every six weeks by the Reading Lead, and this information is used to review groupings and plan teaching focused on specific sounds. For those who need extra support, we provide daily one-to-one interventions to help every child keep up and make strong progress.
Each child takes home a phonics book that is carefully matched to their current learning, a book bag book to build fluency, and a free-choice book to inspire a love of reading. We value our strong partnership with parents and carers, providing tailored resources—including bespoke videos and engaging home activities—to support learning beyond the classroom.
As children progress through the phonics scheme, they begin to apply their decoding skills to develop deeper comprehension, enabling them to understand, enjoy, and discuss the texts they read. To ensure the highest quality of teaching, our staff receive regular coaching sessions, which promote consistency, reflect best practice, and support continuous professional development.
Phonics underpins every aspect of early reading and writing, giving each child the confidence, skills, and enthusiasm to become a successful, independent learner.
Phonics: Useful Links
To see the Long Term Plan: CLICK HERE
