• read easily, fluently and with good understanding.
• develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information.
• acquire a wide vocabulary, an understanding of grammar and knowledge of linguistic conventions.
• appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage.
• write clearly, accurately and coherently.
• use discussion in order to learn.
• become highly competent in the art of speaking and listening.

Mere School encourages children to read as often and widely as possible, and with luck they will learn that reading for pleasure is a wonderful thing. Parents and children reading together creates special childhood memories, while reading alone can provide an escape from boredom and stress. Plus, as Dr Seuss said, “Reading can take you places you have never been before.” When lack of money and a pandemic restrict travel, flights of imagination become even more important.

The Friends of Mere School (FoMS) Fabulous Book Project, organised by mums Sam Cotton and Emma Broom, recently invited each child in the school to recommend their favourite book. The books were then bought by FoMS and given to each child, to be kept and shared in their classrooms.

The school has a large, well-stocked library, but these books have a personal connection to the children. Each one has a special sticker plate that tells the reader who chose it, and the reason why the book was chosen.

Each class at Mere School has received some beautiful books, as chosen by the children, and they will give pleasure to many in the years ahead.

Our Talk For Writing projects involve a select group of children from every class at Mere School. The most recent project saw the children learning the story of 'Zelda Claw and the Rain Cat' and then using their knowledge of the text to write their own suspense story openings. 

This project was another huge success, and culminated in a performance of both the shared story and the children's individual pieces of writing, which parents were invited in to watch.

Author Joffre White came for the day to speak to the children about his wonderful series of 'Frog' books. He inspired the children in a whole school assembly, where he talked about the power of words and the joy of finding the right book to read. He gave advice to the children on how to find the book that suits them. Joffre then spent an author's lunch with a lucky selected few pupils, discussing favourite books and writing methods. During the afternoon, Mr White kindly ran some creative writing sessions with some KS2 children, all of whom came away feeling truly inspired by their author experience!