For this blog post, I will be focusing on the key finding of language and literacy. Bold Beginnings (hereby BB) reports that ‘the head teachers prioritised language and literacy as the cornerstones of learning. They ensured that sufficient time was given to developing children’s spoken language and teaching them to read and write.’ (BB 2017: 5)

Power of Reading

During SBT1, I have noticed that language and literacy is a clear priority during Reception. The pupils are taught phonics daily, and the school follows the Power of Reading scheme. This ensures that pupils have a new topic book at least once every two weeks. The children also have constant access to books from the book corner, and books are sometimes accessed during the end-of-day input. The classroom itself is covered with language and literacy e.g. displays, the alphabet, days of the week etc.

Despite this wealth of language and literacy, I am uncertain that it is being accessed appropriately by and for the children. BB lists ‘spoken language and listening to stories, poems and rhymes’ as an important feature of language and literacy. (BB 2017: 19) Stories, for example, tend to be used as a filler during the end-of-day input. Because stories are used at this time, there is little to no discussion about the language, imagery etc. The Power of Reading scheme allows the pupils to discuss and understand their topic book in depth, by re-telling the story through role play, creating story maps etc. This is good practice, but nonetheless it seems tainted by the fact that it is a whole-school scheme and therefore a form of assessment. Pupils should be exposed to books in a variety of ways e.g. reading for pleasure, reading images etc. but I feel as if stories are not being utilised in the best way possible.

For my own practice, I will ensure that books are accessed in these ways and that they are utilised for continuous provision e.g. when reading Goldilocks and the Three Bears I will ensure that there are non-fiction books on bears as well as fictional books.

Importance of ‘sounds and rhymes’

On top of this, I have yet to hear or see poems and nursery rhymes being used in the classroom. BB suggests that ‘nursery rhymes… help the children to become sensitive to the sounds and rhymes in words and gives them practice in enunciating words and sounds clearly.’ (BB 2017: 19) Considering the fact that the headteacher does prioritise ‘language and literacy as the cornerstones of learning’, it is interesting that there is a lack of nursery rhymes in Reception. If nursery rhymes help children ‘enunciate words and sounds clearly’, then they should be a dominant aspect of learning. For my own practice, I will ensure that I sing nursery rhymes with my pupils and encourage them to participate. I will ensure that nursery rhymes are played during choosing time and other intervals e.g. when tidying up.

Reading

Regarding reading, BB suggests that schools which devote a ‘considerable amount of time and effort, early on, to teaching reading systematically’ show good practice. (BB 2017: 23) My school places high importance on reading and the ability to blend, as illustrated in their use of the Read, Write, Inc. scheme. Pupils are taught phonics daily and are encouraged to blend both familiar and unfamiliar words (e.g. through nonsense words). Nonetheless, I would argue that there is not a ‘considerable amount of time’ for teaching how to read systematically. There is a focus on pace during phonics and sounds are not revisited – if a pupil is ill, for example, they just carry on with the new sound which is being taught.

On top of this, some pupils are not developmentally ready for reading systematically i.e. they may not know all their single sounds yet. In this case, some aspects of phonics teaching are not understood. This is because pupils are assessed for phonics and reading ability frequently throughout the year, and so there is no time to revisit some sounds for blending. The class teachers do allow pupils to start reading at different times. As BB suggests, successful systematic reading must occur ‘once children are confident in their decoding’. Some pupils have started to take reading books home because they know all their single sounds and can blend confidently, whereas others have not. Even so, the class teachers are aware that all pupils are expected to be reading and blending by the end of the Reception year, so there is some aspect of assessment involved which motivates the pace of learning. For my own practice, I will ensure that the pupils have plenty of time for developing their reading and blending skills.

References

• Her Majesty’s chief Inspector (2017). Bold Beginnings: The Reception curriculum in a sample of good and outstanding primary schools, London, HMSO.