Reading, Phonics and Early Literacy
“Teach a child to read and keep that child reading and we will change everything. And I mean everything.”
Jeanette Winterson
At Birchfield Nursery School, reading is central to our curriculum and supports children’s communication, language, imagination, and understanding of the world. We aim to foster a lifelong love of books, helping children become confident, successful readers.
Reading is embedded throughout nursery life, daily routines, adult interactions, and continuous provision. Children experience a language-rich, print-rich environment where stories, rhymes, books, and environmental print are available across all areas, including role play, construction, outdoor learning, and Forest School. Cosy reading areas encourage children to explore books independently, share stories, and revisit familiar texts, while everyday print such as labels, signs, and menus helps them understand the purpose of reading in real life.
Our long-term reading plan ensures children are exposed to a broad, balanced, and high-quality range of literature.
Super Sounds Pre-Phonics Programme
Children take part in three weekly Super Sounds sessions, a structured pre-phonics programme that builds the foundations for reading and writing. Through games, songs, rhymes and practical activities, children develop listening skills, auditory discrimination and phonological awareness. The programme covers all seven aspects of Phase 1 phonics, including environmental and instrumental sounds, rhythm and rhyme, alliteration, voice sounds, body percussion, and oral blending and segmenting.
Dialogical Book Talk
Dialogic Book Talk is a key part of our reading curriculum, delivered through three structured adult-led sessions each week. Children are actively involved in rich discussions about high-quality texts, rather than just listening to stories, helping to develop comprehension, vocabulary, and sustained shared thinking.
Each book is explored over time, allowing children to become familiar with characters, settings, and themes while learning and using new vocabulary. Through skilful questioning, modelling, and discussion, children are encouraged to predict, recall, explain ideas, and make connections to their own experiences.
Targeted Support
All children are screened using the WellComm Early Years Toolkit to assess speech, language and communication skills. Where needed, children receive targeted support through Early Talk Boost, a small-group intervention focusing on listening, vocabulary, sentence building and social communication. Together, Super Sounds, WellComm and Early Talk Boost ensure a consistent and graduated approach to developing strong foundations for early literacy.