Our curriculuar aim in literacy is for the children to :
‘ To see themselves as readers and writers‘
The educational programme for literacy in the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework (2021) says:
“It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading. Language comprehension(necessary for both reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and nonfiction) they read with them, and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition
(articulating ideas and structuring them in speech before writing).”
Wheatley Nursery School is a language-rich nursery. Children’s literacy development is supported throughout the day through our focus on language, vocabulary, and communication.
Through their interactions, adults model language as they support children’s play, interests and explorations – modelling words linked to what the children are interested in, narrating what children are doing, introducing richer vocabulary etc.
In our early phonics work children learn to tune in to environmental sounds, to explore body percussion, to experiment with rhyme and rhythm, to play with alliteration and in the Summer Term or when they are developmentally ready to orally blend and segment.