If you read one book a day to your child, they will have been read 1825 books by the 5th birthday.

Every Book Counts

Literacy is a specific area of the Early Years Foundation Stage, encompassing both reading and writing. At The Whiteoak Academies, literacy is at the heart of our curriculum because we know that children who can read and write with confidence can access the full breadth of their education.

Our literacy curriculum is carefully structured to ensure children develop the knowledge, skills and confidence to become successful readers and writers.

What are the expectations by the end of Reception?

By the end of Reception, children working at the expected level will:

Comprehension

• Demonstrate understanding of books read to them and those they read independently
• Link what they read to their own experiences
• Explain their understanding of texts

Word Reading

• Apply phonic knowledge to decode words
• Read age-appropriate texts accurately and with increasing fluency

Writing

• Write recognisable letters and words
• Compose simple sentences that can be read by others
• Use basic punctuation, including capital letters and full stops

Phonics and Early Reading

At The Whiteoak Academies, our core Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP) programme is Unlocking Letters and Sounds.

Children take part in daily phonics sessions, following a consistent structure:

• Revisit
• Teach
• Practise
• Apply

This structure continues into Key Stage One, ensuring consistency and reducing cognitive load.

Children are taught to:

• Recognise grapheme-phoneme correspondences
• Blend sounds to read words
• Segment words to support spelling

We follow a ‘keep up, not catch up’ approach. Children who need additional support are quickly identified and supported to keep pace with their peers. Interventions begin by week 3 in Reception.

We have trained phonics auditors within our Reception team who support high-quality teaching and work alongside the English Hub to ensure best practice both at our school and across schools in the South West.

Decodable Reading Books

Children are provided with fully decodable reading books that are carefully matched to their phonics knowledge and aligned with the Unlocking Letters and Sounds progression.

This ensures that:

• Children practise known sounds
• Reading is successful and builds confidence
• Guessing strategies are avoided

Children also take home a reading for pleasure book, supporting a love of reading and shared experiences at home.

Developing a Love of Reading

Reading is embedded throughout the school day. Children experience:

• Daily story time
• Rhymes, poems and songs
• Guided and independent reading
• High-quality fiction and non-fiction texts

We use the Talk Through Stories approach, where children explore carefully selected texts over time. Sessions include:

• Vocabulary development (including Tier 2 vocabulary)
• Discussion and questioning
• Drama and role play
• Exploration of plot, characters and themes

Vocabulary is explicitly taught, revisited and applied in different contexts to ensure it is embedded in long-term memory.

Our Whiteoak Reading Spine is carefully curated using guidance from the Reading Framework. Texts are chosen to:

• Elicit strong responses
• Extend vocabulary
• Reflect diverse backgrounds and experiences
• Support repeated reading and deep understanding

Early Writing

Early writing is taught through a combination of:

• The Lighthouse Schools Partnership (LSP) Writing curriculum
• Our own Early Writing model

The LSP curriculum provides a clear, progressive structure, while our Early Writing model ensures children develop both composition and transcription skills.

Children follow a structured sequence of learning using the approach ‘I do, we do, you do’, where teachers model writing explicitly before children practise in guided and independent contexts.

Oral Composition

Oral composition is a key part of our writing approach. Children develop their ideas through:

• Story discussions
• Role play and drama
• Story maps, story spoons and story stones

This allows children to:

• Rehearse language
• Develop sentence structure
• Build confidence before writing

Developing Writing Skills

Throughout the year, children are supported to:

• Form letters correctly
• Spell words using their phonics knowledge
• Write simple sentences

Practitioners carefully plan dictated sentences so that children only use sounds they have been taught. This reduces cognitive load and supports success.

Children complete regular structured writing opportunities alongside oral composition sessions.

By the end of Reception, many children are able to write three or more connected sentences and are beginning to edit their work.

Handwriting

Handwriting is taught explicitly through the Unlocking Letters and Sounds handwriting programme, with discrete weekly sessions.

Staff are up-to-date with current handwriting research and place a strong emphasis on correct seating position, pencil grip and letter formation. Within both provision and adult-led sessions, practitioners consistently model and reinforce effective pencil control.

At the start of the year, children take part in targeted activities to develop the four key pencil grips. These activities are carefully planned to build strength, control and precision, ensuring children are physically prepared for writing.

This consistent approach supports children to develop fluent, automatic handwriting over time.

Supporting Every Child in Literacy

All children are supported to succeed through:

• High-quality teaching
• Careful assessment
• Targeted interventions

Children who need additional support are identified early and provided with precise teaching to ensure strong progress from their starting points.

Impact

As a result of our carefully structured literacy curriculum, children develop into confident, fluent readers and writers. They are able to apply their phonics knowledge, understand what they read and express their ideas clearly in writing.

These skills provide a strong foundation for success in Key Stage One and beyond.

How can you help at home?

You can support your child’s literacy development by:

• Reading every day and talking about stories together
• Encouraging your child to notice letters and words in the environment
• Practising phonics sounds using guidance from school
• Providing opportunities for mark-making and writing (e.g. lists, cards, labels)
• Visiting the local library regularly