Reception Class
Welcome to Reception!
We have had lots of amazing settling in days over the past week and it has been wonderful getting to know all of your little ones. We haven't had many tears either and if we have, they have been short lived!
Each half term, we update our class page with useful information about the term ahead, as well as any key dates that you might need to be aware of. Therefore, it is always useful to check this page. We update the blog (found to the right of this text) each week so you can see what we have been up to throughout the week. Tapestry is also a great place to find out this information. Log in details will follow very soon.
Over the next few weeks we will be spending lots of time learning routines, getting to know one another and learning in the different provision areas. This is a really important part of our curriculum and it is essential in ensuring a smooth transition into full time school life.
This half term we will also be focusing on all about ourselves, families, friends, emotions, diversity as well as the season of autumn. During these topics we will use books such as The Colour Monster, Elmer, Pumpkin Soup and lots of other wonderful books. All of the details of this topic can be found in our long term plan above.
There are some important dates for your diary below.
Communication is really important to us therefore if you have any questions or concerns, please come and speak to one of the team.
Here's to a wonderful year in Reception! We cannot wait!
Thank you for your continued support. .
The Reception Team.
Important dates for your diary this half term-
Friday 12th September- Reception Training Day- REST OF THE SCHOOL IS OPEN
Wednesday 17th September- 3:15-4:00pm- Parents Phonics Meeting- in the Reception classroom
Saturday 4th October- Reception Disco
Tuesday 7th October and Wednesday 8th October- Parents Evening- booking system details will follow nearer the time
Thursday 23rd October- Stay and Play- 8:45-9:25am- Parents/Guardians welcome
Thursday 23rd October- School closes for half term
Friday 24th October- School Training Day
Staff
Monday – Miss Griffin, Miss Mackenzie, Miss Appleton
Tuesday- Miss Griffin, Miss Mackenzie, Miss Kane and Miss Appleton
Wednesday- Miss Griffin, Mrs Pape, Miss Mackenzie, , Mrs Rama, Miss Kane.
Thursday- Mrs Pape, Mrs Rama and Miss Kane
Friday- Mrs Pape, Miss Mackenzie, Miss Rama and Miss Kane
Reading at home
Your child will bring home 2 books very soon. One will be a book that you can read to them at home and the other will be a 'wordless' book. We begin with 'wordless' books because the children are encouraged to use their imagination to create their own stories, using the pictures to aid them. They are also great for asking questions, making predictions and talking about characters. During this half term we will introduce phonics lessons where the children will learn different phonemes and begin to blend words. We only send books home with words in, once we feel your child is ready and is able to blend words ,so please don't be alarmed if they haven't got a phonics book just yet!
We aim to listen to your child read at least once a week and books are changed on a Thursday.
Communication
3.15pm Pick-up
At 3.15pm, the children have been leaving the classroom via the same door they enter school, one at a time. If someone new to us is picking up your child, or there is a change to the usual routine, please let us know at morning drop-off, via the office or by email.
At home-time and after school, please do not allow your children to play on the climbing frame or other equipment in the ‘Garden’ area or on the school field. This is for health and safety and insurance reasons. Thank you.
Outdoor Learning
In Reception we love to be outside in our garden, exploring on the field or visiting our Conservation Area. We try to go outside in all weathers (and particularly enjoy the rain!) so, if you haven’t already, please provide your child with an all-in-one waterproof suit or a waterproof coat and trousers, along with wellies to avoid lovely new uniforms from becoming not-so-lovely. These would be best left in school if possible please. Please provide a named coat hanger on which we can hang the wet waterproofs! Thank you. For indoors, we ask that each child keeps their pair of pumps in school, we will send these home at the end of a term for you to check their fit. Please name everything that comes in to school.
PE
Reception’s PE days will be on TUESDAYS and WEDNESDAYS this half term. Please ensure your child comes to school dressed in their PE kits on this day with a suitable pairs of trainers.
Milk and Water Bottles
The children have a snack (fruit or vegetable) each day and are always encouraged to try all new foods. They will also receive cow’s milk each day until they turn 5, unless specified by yourselves. This will begin at the start of the children’s first full week of school, Monday 15th September. If you would prefer your child not to have milk, please let the school know. Once children are 5, their milk will need to be paid for as outlined in previous information received. Please be aware that there is a delay between your payment happening and your child being added to our school milk order. Children have access to their water bottles throughout the day and are encouraged to drink regularly. Please ensure children have their names on their water bottle and bring fresh water to school each day. The children are able to re-fill their bottle throughout the school day as needed.
Book Bags
It is helpful if children can bring a book bag to school each day so they can bring home drawings and books etc. We would also appreciate a spare set of underwear and socks being kept in your child’s bag. This could be in a spare bag, left on your child’s peg, or inside their book bag.
Communication
An 'open door' policy is really important to us here at Adel St John so if there is anything you wish to discuss or mention, please let one of the Reception team know. Mornings tend to be our busiest time so after school is preferable, where possible. We are all here to ensure your child has a smooth transition into school life so please speak to us if you have any concerns and we will work together to support them.
You can also email us and our email addresses are given below. Please be aware that we may not be able to check these when we are teaching the children but we will aim to get back to you as soon as we can.
anna.griffin@adel-st-john.leeds.sch.uk
katie.pape@adel-st-john.leeds.sch.uk
As always, thank you for your continued support.
Here's to a wonderful half term!
Miss Griffin, Mrs Pape, Miss Kane, Mrs Appleton. Miss Mackenzie and Mrs Rama
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Reception Class Blog
End of Year Celebration
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
We are getting ready to move on to Year 1. We loved having our parents and carers in this week. We experimented with paint to create self-portraits. We are very excited to give our first class assembly this week. We have been rehearsing our lines. Let's break a leg!
Henry Moore Sculptures
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
This week we have been learning about the Yorkshire born sculptor, Henry Moore. We looked at some of his sculptures that can be found at the Leeds Art Gallery and Yorkshire Sculpture Park and then recreated some of his work. We also loved making our own sculptures using tin foil.
Healthy Living Week
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
What a hot and eventful week we have had! This week brought us great weather and lots of learning outside as part of our Healthy Living Week. We have been reading the book ‘Oliver’s Vegetables’ and sequencing the story, took part in our very first sports day at ASJ, done some yoga, looked at healthy and unhealthy foods, made some fruit kebabs and took part in a skipping competition! A very busy week indeed! We have also had lots of water play and a new found hobby- building dens!
Buddy time
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
This week we have been reading the story ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’ and retelling the story in our new stage area in the outdoor space. We have also been writing descriptions of the troll as part of a ‘WANTED’ poster, using adjectives and extending our sentences using conjunctions such as ‘and’. We also met with our year 6 buddies to make special cards for our loved ones.
Next week we are looking forward to ‘Healthy Living Week’ and learning all about healthy eating, making some fruit kebabs and taking part in our first Sports Day!
Once upon a time...
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
On Wednesday we enjoyed a wonderful dress up day in order to launch our new topic, 'Once upon a time...'. The children completed a range of different activities which included making magic wands, writing spells, making crowns, performing puppet shows based on well known fairy tales, measuring the footprints of different characters, writing speech bubbles and creating some collage images of Jack and the Beanstalk. It was a very busy but fun day! Thank you for all your efforts with the children's costumes- they looked amazing!
Final week
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
Another half term down- where does the time go!
This week we have been learning all about plants. We have learnt about the different parts of a plant and their functions, what a plant needs to grow and we have been observing cress and sunflowers growing. This has followed on from our school trip to Harlow Carr. We are looking forward to seeing if anything has changed when we return after the holidays.
Just a reminder about our dress up day on the first Wednesday back- Once upon a time.
Have a lovely half term break!
The tapoles are free!
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
The children are loving the growing topic. We have had a lovely week looking after our chicks. They have grown so much. Our peas have been doing very well in this glorious sunshine. We have also got some sunflowers on the go now. We decided it was time to release the tadpoles into our pond. We were very careful that they were all safely transported. We have been getting ready for sports day and learning all of the events including dribbling, skipping and javelin.
We cannot wait for our school trip next week.
It’s all about the chicks!
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
We were all very excited for the delivery of our chick eggs on Monday! We have been monitoring them closely and by Thursday they had all arrived. We decided to call the chicks Cheeky, Bunbuns, Saka, Jude, Poppy, Ballerina, Angel, Stitch and Chicky. Lots of the children have been drawing portraits of them, writing welcome cards and signs to keep them safe. Over the next week, we will be reflecting on the life cycle we have observed as well as seeing how our tadpoles are developing. In maths we have been learning about addition to 10 and during circle time we have been discussing the consequences of our actions.
Growing- Week 1
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
This week we began our new topic on growth and although this week has been shorter, we have been very busy! We have been learning all about dinosaurs this week where we have created fact files, made dinosaur skeletons and read the book ‘Never let a diplodocus draw’ as part of this week’s Drawing Club. We also celebrated St George’s Day on Wednesday where we designed and made castles, created our own flags and retold the story using puppets. We ended the week by exploring tadpoles in the school pond and we are looking forward to observing how they change over the next week. On Monday our chick eggs will be delivered! An exciting term ahead!
End of the spring term!
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
What a fantastic last half term we have had! We rounded off the term with an egg hunt challenge where the children had to answer different maths, reading and animal problems as a pair. They then received a special biscuit which we enjoyed in the sunshine!
