Statutory guidance – what we have to teach

The EYFS sets out the ‘Educational Programme’ for Literacy:

Educational Programme : 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 non-fiction) 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).

Our Literacy Curriculum

At the beginning of their Literacy learning journey…

Our children begin their Nursery journey at home. Their early Literacy experiences habitually come from technology, television, toys and books and children often experience these independently. Although some children may have some experiences of songs and books as part of their daily routine, typically their day to day environment is not Literacy rich or diverse.

Children want to learn and are tuned into their environment, hearing sounds and seeing symbols and letters all around them but it takes an adult to help the child to make sense of what they are experiencing, which is why adults at Whitegate play a key role in supporting children to understand how Literacy is all around them and can help them to communicate and understand the world around them.

Children begin their Literacy journey through developing their listening skills and at Whitegate, rhymes and songs and simple listening games play an important role. We know how listening and attention skills have a direct impact on the children’s ability to develop reading and writing skills in the future.

At Whitegate, the environment is Literacy rich, providing the children with a vast range of experiences. From singing songs and rhymes, to sharing stories, to making marks and developing their fine motor skills to support them to write, we aim to provide experiences that will create wonder and excitement around Literacy and all it entails.

At the end of their Literacy learning journey…

At Whitegate Nursery School, we aim for our children to have developed a deep knowledge of Literacy and create a passion for learning that will continue throughout their education.

We want all our children have a fascination for words and literature, a great imagination and a wealth of vocabulary drawn from their experience of stories and text which they can apply as they progress.

Our goal is provide a stimulating and inspiring environment that will allow children to dive into Literacy, exploring the world around them through sounds, story and text and enable them develop a foundation of skills which will scaffold their learning in phonics, reading and writing throughout their school career.

As a school we strive to ensure all our children leave us with the skills they need to achieve well in Literacy and feel confident and excited to learn more in the next part of their educational journey, through school and beyond.