Welcome to 
Reception

The Dial Park Early Years team have developed The Best Balance Approach which takes the best practise and pedagogy from leading experts from the past and present to provide the best learning experiences and opportunities for our children. We strive to create “awe and wonder” through providing rich and meaningful learning experiences in a warm and inviting setting.

The Curiosity Approach and Hygge in the Early Years influence the team greatly in the stimulating environments we provide. Inspirational is what we aspire to be for the children, for ourselves and for other settings. Our inclusive environment and unique child approach mean that all children achieve and make fantastic progress in their crucial first years in education.

Every week the Reception children have either a morning or an afternoon out at Forest school. Hayley and Andy our forest school practitioners lead the sessions. The children cook on an open fire at least once a term which they find very exciting!

There is a plethora of very experienced talented people within our Early Years team. All of the staff at Dial Park are enthusiastic and dedicated to helping each and every child to reach their full potential whilst ensuring they feel safe, confident and independent to explore their new learning environment.

They are approachable and helpful and will ensure parents feel confident with this big step in their families lives.

Our staff are also very committed to their own personal development and ensure that they are at the forefront of research, evidence and training.

The children will learn how to read and write in Reception they take on board a lot of information very quickly! The children start on Phase 1 in Nursery which is listening skills, rhyming and isolating sounds verbally.

In Reception, as soon as the children have completed their settling in visits we will begin Phase 2 which is mainly the alphabet. They will begin to receive key words and reading books to practise the new skills they are learning in school, these will only include the sounds they have learnt.

Once Phase 2 is completed usually around Christmas time they will begin Phase 3 which sees them learning digraphs and trigraphs which are two or three letters that make one sound, e.g. sh, air.

Whilst in lockdown the Early Years team made a Phase 3 phonics video for the children to help them remember their sounds and make them laugh a little in the process! (See Below)

The children move through the phases at their own pace so if they come to school already knowing Phase 2 then we have Phase 3, Phase 4, Phase 5 and Phase 6 to learn! The learning never stops and each child learns differently and at differing paces. We will teach at the speed your child is comfortable with. 

Parents are a child's first and most important teacher.

Around the beginning of the year in Reception we have a meeting with parents to talk about how they can help their child make the most of their Reception year. The attached slides are an example of the kinds of information we talk about with parents. This is also an opportunity for parents to ask questions and check anything they are not sure about. Phonics is a whole new world to most parents as they didn't learn to read using phonics so this can be quite a challenge at first! The Early Years is definitely a team effort.