Reading is placed at the heart of our creative curriculum at St Stephen’s Infant School and learning is brought to life through our exciting, innovative, child centered approach. Children are encouraged to visit our own school library to hear stories being read, share books with friends and discover a new favourite story.

Every year, St Stephen’s Infant School celebrate a variety of reading events to promote the love for reading. These events include;

National Storytelling Week

World Book Day

Pyjamarama Day

An annual Book Fair

Children begin their reading journey through the teaching of high-quality systematic phonics. In Foundation Stage, the children learn the sounds of the alphabet. Following this, they learn to group the sounds together and blend them to read words. For example, c-a-t becomes cat.

How to support your child…

Do you remember your favourite books as a child – you know, the ones you read time and time again and knew practically every word of? Maybe you were lucky enough to regularly read stories with your family and had someone to read you a bedtime story before you drifted off to sleep? You won’t have known at the time, but those experiences were building vital building blocks for your future.

Reading, being read to, and sharing books in the home helps to build a child’s vocabulary and understanding of the world. Research shows children who start school with good vocabulary and communication skills make friends more easily, have fewer behavioral issues and are more likely to do well academically. A strong, early foundation in language has even been linked to better mental health as children get older.

Reading with your child, or encouraging your child to read independently for just ten minutes each day can make all the difference.

Dates for 2021-2022.

The Book Fair – 15th September – 22nd September 2021

National Storytelling Week - 31st January - 4th February

World Book Day – Thursday 3rd March (25th Anniversary)

Pyjamarama Day – May 2022 (TBC)