In addition to the wide range of books that children can freely access we have a planned list of stories that we share with the children. We call these our Focus Books and we usually read the same book for a week at morning story time. Evidence suggests that repeated reading of the same text benefits children’s understanding and language acquistion. To support this learning we use story props such as toys and puppets which are available for the children so that they can re-tell the stories in their play. We also have a number of Story Bags which children are encouraged to borrow in order to share the stories at home with their families.

For more information about the benefits of repeated story telling please read http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/7040

Nursery rhymes are an important building block in a child’s language development. Research suggests that learning nursery rhymes as a young child is linked to educational success. We have chosen ten favourite nursery rhymes that we aim to sing every day. We do, of course sing other songs and rhymes, but by focussing on ten core rhymes the children learn them really well and everyone can join in with confidence at song time.

http://blog.ican.org.uk/2016/11/why-nursery-rhymes-are-important-this-national-nursery-rhyme-week/

Go to The BookTrust to find lots of suggestions for nursery rhyme books and check out their Bath Book Bed routine.

https://www.booktrust.org.uk/supporting-you/families/bath-book-bed/#!?sortOption=MostRecent&pageNo=1