Children learn to listen to and join in with nursery rhymes, stories and poems. This helps them to develop their understanding of how stories are made; characters, main events and story settings.

Every child will have the opportunity to experience a range of activities to develop their early phonic skills. For example by developing an awareness of sounds around us, joining in with rhyming and rhythmic and activities and developing an awareness of rhyme and alliteration.

Children have access to a wide range of books and are encouraged to create their own story by looking at the pictures and then ask a grown up to read the story and see if they got any of the details correct.

Children are encouraged to explore writing materials in both imaginative and directed activities.

Through literacy activities children are encouraged to make marks and give these marks meanings, even if they are not recognisable the child will know what they have drawn. Marks become increasingly recognisable and children are encouraged to form letters and make connections with their letter knowledge, for example knowing that ‘m’ for mummy is the same as ‘m’ for monkey.