Literacy

At Chalkwell Infants, we aim to develop a life-long love of reading in the children. Staff at our school love to share stories, non-fiction, rhymes, poems and role play to enhance the children’s love of reading. We strive to build on the children’s previous knowledge and experiences through the literature we share with them. We encourage the children to talk about what they read with their teachers and class friends to widen their vocabulary and to help them make connections between the things they discover as they read. We love to inspire awe and wonder in our children through the books that are shared with them.

We use Read Write Inc. to deliver our phonics teaching at Chalkwell Hall Infants. Read Write Inc. is a sequenced approach that enables us to deliver high-quality phonics teaching at intermittent points during our school day. Our learning in phonics is well paced to engage the children in new learning, yet also allows time for them to revisit and practice their emerging skills. The children are supported to apply their phonics when both reading and writing and they are given lots of praise to celebrate their achievements.

When supporting the children’s emerging writing skills in their Reception year, we plan enriching experiences for the children so that their writing is meaningful to them. This may be linked to an interesting artefact brought in, a walk in Chalkwell Park or something of personal interest to a child. We support the children from their early mark-making by modelling writing and through shared story scribing experiences. The children are encouraged to ‘Get Writing’ in all areas of our classrooms and garden spaces.