English
St. Mary's recognises English as the foundation upon which all learning is built. Based on this philosophy, the school has implemented an English Block every school day. The purpose of this block is to provide teachers with a sustained amount of time to explicitly teach, while also giving students the opportunity to learn and practice in multiple ways. From Prep through to Year 6 our students are immersed in a wide variety of engaging literacy experiences that build their speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. Students will listen to, read, view, speak, write, and create and reflect on rich, relevant, and engaging spoken, written, digital and multimodal texts.
Reading
At St Mary’s, we use a Systematic Synthetic Phonics approach, which is evidence based and proven to be effective in teaching reading. Our Prep to Year 2 students are taught using the Sounds Write Program. This method helps students learn the relationships between the sounds (phonemes) of spoken language and the letter symbols (graphemes) of written language. Our goal is for our students to blend and segment sounds to make words until the words are so familiar that the spelling, pronunciation, and meaning of specific words are held in their memory, and the words are recognised automatically.
Learning to read is an important part of every child's development. It helps build essential lifelong skills in areas such as language, concentration, critical thinking, and memory. We focus on the six components of effective reading: oral language, phonics, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. We strive to create a nurturing and stimulating environment that fosters your child's love for learning and their development in literacy. As students move to Year 3, they will move to focus on spelling and further literacy development and we use the Promoting Literacy Development Program to support consistency.
Reading Programs
Our school is committed to fostering a love of reading and developing strong literacy skills through engaging programs that inspire curiosity and creativity. Initiatives such as the Readers Cup, Story Sports, and the Premier’s Reading Challenge provide students with opportunities to explore literature in fun and interactive ways.
Readers Cup is a team-based competition where students read a selection of books and then compete in a quiz-style challenge, promoting collaboration, comprehension, and critical thinking. Story Sports turns storytelling into a lively game, encouraging students to use imagination and quick thinking to create narratives under time constraints—building confidence and communication skills. The Premier’s Reading Challenge motivates students to set personal reading goals and track their progress, celebrating achievement and reinforcing the importance of regular reading for lifelong learning. These programs not only improve literacy but also nurture teamwork, creativity, and resilience, making reading an enjoyable and rewarding part of school life.
Library
Our library is a welcoming space where children discover new worlds through books. Here, reading isn't just about learning—it's about joy, curiosity, and imagination.
Children are encouraged to explore, share stories, and grow as readers. Every book is an adventure, inspiring creativity and helping students better understand themselves and others. Scholastic Book Fairs and Children's Book Week fill our calendar with fun, bringing our community together to celebrate books and reading.
The Ipswich Children's Library adds even more opportunities, with interactive displays and activities that spark excitement for reading beyond school.