Reception Class
Welcome to Reception 2023!
What a wonderful start to the year we have had! The children (and parents/carers!) have made a brilliant start already in Reception, settling in and enjoying their first school experiences. We have had a great time getting to know each other and learning about all of the new routines that come with our first class.
Morning Drop-off
Thank you for your support and patience in dropping your children off at school. We understand that the children entering the cloakroom independently may be quite different to what they were used to at nursery, however all children are ready to be independent in their morning routine of hanging up their things, changing in to their pumps, putting their water bottle away and entering the classroom.
3.15pm Pick-up
At 3.15pm, the children have been leaving the classroom via the ‘Garden’ door in to the Reception play area, one at a time. They are asked to sit patiently until we call their name when we can see their adult. We are getting quicker as we go! 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.
Reading Mornings
Our first Reading Morning will be on Thursday 12th October and will continue to be on a Thursday until Christmas. As of January 2024, Reading Mornings will be held on a Tuesday. Reading morning is an opportunity to come in to the classroom with your child and share a book together. Reading Morning will start 8.50am and finish at 9.10am.
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 a Tuesday & Thursday. We will begin our PE sessions on Tuesday 19th September, where your children will be taking part in Unit 1 of the ‘Fundamentals of PE’. Beginning Thursday 21st September, the children will take part in ‘Movement Play’, focusing on sensory opportunities linked to brain development in children up to age seven. Please can all children come to school in their PE kit on their designated PE days. Information of what to wear is in your Adel St John Handbook.
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. This will begin at the start of the children’s first full week of school, Monday 18th 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.
Menus
After receiving a menu in your child’s book bag, please select a food choice for each day with your child and return to school the following Monday in order for us to process their lunches. Please ensure your child’s menu is named before returning them to school.
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.
Staff
Monday – Miss Griffin & Miss Smith
Tuesday- Miss Griffin & Miss Smith
Wednesday- Miss Griffin, Mrs Quinn & Miss Smith
Thursday- Mrs Quinn & Miss Smith
Friday- Mrs Quinn & Miss Smith
Communication
As of Wednesday 13th September, you should have received your invitation to log on to ‘Tapestry’. This will be where you can see your child’s individual learning and progress recorded. Further information will be on our class page on the school website as well as weekly blog updates about our whole class learning and experiences.
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
grace.quinn@adel-st-john.leeds.sch.uk
Miss Griffin and Mrs Quinn are around each morning drop off and afternoon pick up for any comments or queries you may have.
Thank you for your continued support. We look forward to working with you and your children over the coming year. It is going to be a fun one!
Miss Griffin and Mrs Quinn
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Reception Class Blog
Week beginning 18.9.23
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
Another wonderful week ending in our fantastic TT Rock Star Day!
This week has been another one full of firsts. We have enjoyed our first PE session, our first Movement Play and finally, our first phonics session! We really loved all of these firsts and look forward to many more of these activities. We were especially impressed that in our first phonics session, we not only read our first word, but also had an excellent try at writing it! What an achievement in our first full week!
Thank you for sending over a photograph of your child’s front door. This is supporting our class learning involving our ‘Knock, Knock’ book. We are using this to help us remember all of our new friends’ names and faces and linking it to our topic learning of ‘Marvellous Me!’ We have loved reading it! Please ask us about it. See the memo sent via Tapestry for more information on this.
This week we have also requested any empty and washed out milk cartons, ready for a modelling project linked to the story of ‘Elmer’. We would like one per child, so please keep them coming. Thank you!
Our phonics evening is next Wednesday evening (27th) at 5.30-6pm. This is a great way of learning how we are teaching reading and writing in Reception and beyond as well as how you can support your child in this. This evening is for parents/carers only if you can please! We look forward to seeing you there.
Next week, we will be sending home a menu with your child at home time. This is where you and your child can choose their lunches, and will be a weekly routine. Stay tuned!
Have a lovely weekend,
Miss Griffin, Mrs Quinn and Miss Smith
Week beginning 15.9.23
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
What a fantastic start we have had to our time at Adel St John! Congratulations to our wonderful Reception class (and parents/carers!) for a fantastic transition in to school. We are very happy that you are all here! Over the past two weeks, Reception have spent time getting to know each other and learning all about our new school. So far we have explored our busy classroom and Reception Garden, the hall for our lunches and our huge field! We finally got to meet our Year 6 buddy, who sent us a welcome letter over the summer holidays. We shared a story with them and had lunch together! What a lovely experience this was for both parties. Our photographs have been added to displays around our classroom and we have used these photos to create our very own book, the ‘Knock, Knock Book!’ It helps us to remember all of the names and faces in our class, the children will be introduced to it next week. We are all excited for our year together!
Miss Griffin, Mrs Quinn and Miss Smith, the Reception Team
Week beginning 24.7.23
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Thank you for a wonderful year. Your support and involvement has been invaluable. The children have made excellent progress and we have very much enjoyed teaching them all this year. We look forward to watching them continue their journey in Year One. They are ready and very excited!
We wish you all a fantastic summer break.
Many thanks,
Mrs Quinn and Miss Riches.
Week beginning 26.6.23
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
We had a wonderful time on our first school trip to Hesketh Farm yesterday! The children were so excited and maintained this excitement and engagement throughout the whole day. We were able to take part in many great activities, such as mixing formula and water together to make the milk for the calves. We used a funnel to pour the milk in to bottles, screwed on the teat then each child chose a calf to feed! One cheeky calf managed to steal the milk bottle from us, they were very strong! We also enjoyed a tractor and trailer ride with Farmer Chris, who took us in to the fields to see the sheep, lambs, cows, calves and ‘Pilot’ the ginormous bull! It was a very bumpy ride! We grabbed handfuls of feed from the farmers bucket to feed the goats, collected eggs from the hen house, held baby chicks, stroked George the tortoise, visited Peppa and Dave the pigs, and finally, gave the guinea pigs a hair brush! Some other highlights were having choosing time in the indoor play area at lunch time as well as having time to explore all of the outdoor play equipment! All of the children, staff and volunteers had a lovely time.
We have followed up our trip by creating a ‘snap shot’ of our three favourite parts of our day. We will bring these home with us for you to see.
We are looking forward to our school fayre on Saturday. Hopefully we will see you there.
Have a lovely weekend!
Mrs Quinn, Miss Riches, Mrs Appleton and Mrs Milne
Week beginning 19.6.23
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
What a busy week we have had!
We have enjoyed planting courgettes, measuring our sunflowers, exploring exotic fruit and their seeds and making fruit kebabs!
We had a lovely time walking to church for St John the Baptist Day with our Year 6 buddies.
We also had the pleasure of meeting a very special visitor this week, baby Freddie! Miss Kane brought her little Freddie in to meet us and we could hardly contain our excitement!
We are very excited for our trip next week!
Have a lovely weekend!
Mrs Quinn, Miss Riches, Mrs Appleton and Mrs Milne
Week beginning 12.6.23
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
What a busy week we have had for Healthy Living Week! We have very much enjoyed the Wake Up, Shake Up each morning! On Monday, we had a go at skipping. We skipped individually, as well as part of a group where we used a huge skipping rope and had a wonderful time! Wednesday was a big day, our first Adel St John Sports Day! The children had a fantastic time taking part in all of the activities and all tried their best. We were very proud of them. We hope you enjoyed it! Finally, we enjoyed a quiet, calming yoga session in the hall before finishing our week with a run around the field! Reception were tasked with one lap, though ended up wanting to do three before we had to go in the shade! Reception are athletes!
Our trip deadline for slips and payment is next Wednesday. If you require a new letter, please let us know. If you are yet to pay, please do so by Wednesday, thank you.
Have a lovely weekend and a happy Father’s Day!
Mrs Quinn, Miss Riches, Mrs Appleton and Mrs Milne
Week beginning 5.6.23
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
To support our learning of ‘Growing’, this week we have each planted our own sunflower seed! We are watering them each day and have found a nice sunny spot for them in our cloakroom. We are patiently waiting to see some results and are checking many times per day!
We have enjoyed learning about money in maths this week and have added it to our Garden Centre role play within our classroom. To build our garden centre, we have watched a video about two children on a garden centre visit as well as shared our own experiences with each other. It is coming along nicely!
Thank you to those that have returned the slip as permission for our class trip to Hesketh Farm. The deadline to return these along with the contribution on ParentPay is Wednesday 21st June. Thank you.
We had a great time during our Movement Play on the field this week where we had the chance to test out all of the activities that we will be taking part in during Sports Day on Wednesday. We are looking forward to it and hope to see you there!
Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Quinn, Miss Riches, Mrs Appleton and Mrs Milne
Week beginning 22.5.23
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
We would like to give a warm welcome to our new teaching assistants in our class. Mrs Appleton will be in our class Monday-Wednesday and Mrs Milne on Thursday and Friday. Both are qualified teachers and are a great asset to our school. The children have been wonderfully welcoming and kind, as always!
As you know, Miss Kane had her baby, Freddie, on Saturday. The children loved seeing the photographs Miss Kane added to Tapestry this week and some lovely comments were made! A huge congratulations to Miss Kane and her family. Welcome to the world, Freddie.
This week we have spent lots of time outside in the lovely weather. Contrary to what Mrs Quinn had told the children, sun cream is now allowed to be brought in to school and kept inside the children’s bags on their pegs. Sorry for the confusion! Please ensure this is named. Please can children come to school already wearing sun cream and with a sun hat. A ‘top up’ of cream can be applied by the children themselves just before lunch time. A roll on sun cream is advised, to assist the children in applying it.
We have enjoyed learning about the life cycle of a chick and a tree this week! We have also been working on taking away and repeating patterns in maths.
Next half term, a trip to support our learning of ‘Growing!’ has been organised for Reception children to Hesketh Farm Park. This will be on Thursday 29th June. A letter with further information will be going on Wednesday during the first week back. We are excited!
Have a lovely half term holiday!
Mrs Quinn, Miss Riches, Mrs Appleton and Mrs Milne
Week beginning 15.5.23
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Our chicks have been collected today after a wonderful few weeks of growing in our classroom. We have been very lucky to witness almost all of the hatchings of our eight chicks and have spent time creating our own chick diaries to keep a record of what has happened. The children have tried their best with their independent writing and drawings of these. We are very proud of them.
As we have entered in to our final term in Reception (!), we are now beginning to take some transition steps. After this week, we will no longer be sending home a menu. Instead, the children will be able to choose their own lunches each week. The same choices are on offer as the menus and children will be encouraged to choose a variety of options throughout the week.
Have a lovely weekend,
Mrs Quinn and Miss Riches
