Growing Readers for Life
At Heath Lane Nursery School, we believe every child deserves to experience the magic of stories. A love of reading and strong communication and language skills are central to our curriculum, supporting children to build confidence, imagination, and the cultural capital they need for future learning.
Our early literacy approach is rooted in Phase 1 phonics, focusing on listening, attention, and sound awareness through stories, songs, rhymes, and talk. These foundations are vital in supporting early reading and writing and play an important role in closing the disadvantage gap.
Through Structured Storytelling, children hear, retell, and act out stories, helping them internalise language patterns, build vocabulary, and develop storytelling skills. This rich language exposure ensures all children, regardless of background, experience ambitious vocabulary and high-quality talk.
Our cosy reading corner provides a calm, inviting space where children can enjoy books independently, with peers, or alongside adults. We also use sensory storytelling to make stories accessible and inclusive for all learners.
To extend reading beyond nursery, children take home story sacks filled with books, props, and activities. Every child is gifted a book each term to help build home libraries and promote equality of opportunity. We also celebrate birthdays by inviting families to donate a book to the nursery, reinforcing that reading is a joy to be shared.
We enhance children’s cultural experiences through visits to the local library and an annual poetry recital, where children enjoy rhythm, rhyme, and performance, strengthening confidence, language, and early phonics skill
