Summer has finally arrived…well at least in terms of time but perhaps not in terms of weather!
Your children are about to make that all important transition from nursery to ‘big school’…but how do we know they are equipped for this move and what do we mean by ‘school ready’? and what are the implications for being phonics ready?
I bet you could name right now those children you know who are more than ready to continue their journey into Reception but equally you will have that niggling concern for those children you feel are not quite there yet, those you know need that extra support along the way.
School readiness relates to ‘the level of development of a child at the age of 4 or 5 years which will enable them to make the best possible start in their first year of school’ (DfE, 2017). It includes a range of skills, behaviours, and knowledge that support learning, including:
· Cognitive Skills: having a basic knowledge of numbers, shapes, colours and an ability to follow directions.
· Language Skills: developing vocabulary, comprehension and the ability to express thoughts and needs.
· Social and Emotional Skills: interacting with peers and adults, managing emotions and demonstrating self-control.
· Physical Development: acquiring fine and gross motor skills necessary for tasks such as writing, cutting and participating in physical activities.
Being phonics ready means children have developed their phonological and phonemic awareness. This includes the ability to recognise and manipulate the spoken parts of sentences and words including rhyme, alliteration, syllables and to orally blend and segment. If a child has acquired these, they will have the building blocks needed for the systematic teaching of phonics in Reception.
What should you be focusing on this summer to ensure these building blocks are secure and that all your children are well placed and prepared for the upcoming challenges of phonics in reception and beyond? Let’s take a look…
As with any point in the nursery year, it is to focus on developing children’s language skills and vocabulary, and securing their phonological and phonemic awareness through creating and promoting a language rich environment.
1. Continue to provide those daily structured activities to enable children to tune into, sequence and talk about sounds they hear, as well as ensuring opportunities for oral blending and segmenting throughout the day are commonplace. Monster Phonics Nursery Programme
2. Provide additional support and learning opportunities for those children whose understanding and range of vocabulary is more limited and are experiencing challenges with tuning in, recognising and manipulating sounds. Include direct and targeted support and always seek specialist support if needed.
3. Continue to model and develop language through ‘back and forth’ interactions with both adults and peers. The Reading Framework refers to these as forming the foundations for language and cognitive development. Children need to participate in high-quality dialogue with adults and peers to articulate what they know and understand, and to develop their knowledge across all areas of learning.
4. Continue to develop and extend vocabulary and language through stories, rhymes and poetry. As well as sharing the enjoyment of the stories and rhymes and developing that love of books and reading, they ‘introduce children to language that they might not hear in ordinary conversation’i. Fill your setting with a range of high quality stories and poems, exposing them to new cultures, ideas and experiences.
5. Continue to provide opportunities for imaginative role play and dramatisation of stories. ‘Role play requires a lot of basic skills: listening, observing closely, and harnessing the imagination to explore new ideas’ii. Acting out stories, with puppets and props, can create high levels of engagement and enable you to explore language and comprehension even further.
6. Communicate clearly with parents. Parents can often feel that being school ready means already starting to learn their ABCs. Be clear and explain that by focusing on developing their phonological and phonemic awareness we are ensuring that their children are truly ready to learn how to read and write.
Above all continue to maintain that high quality play based approach to learning where children have the freedom to create, image, explore and discover! Nurture that language rich environment through language and vocabulary development and building social and emotional resilience for the challenges ahead.