Reception Class
Welcome to Reception and to ASJ!
We hope you all had a lovely summer and are excited for the fun, yet emotional new chapter in your child's life! Miss Kane and I have been busy in the classroom, preparing to welcome everyone and we are very much looking forward to the year ahead.
On our class page you will receive a weekly blog update that will highlight some of the exciting things we have been doing during the week and we also update the information section each half term.
This half term is all about building relationships, making new friends, finding out about one another, learning new routines and exploring our classroom. Most of all, it's all about having fun and learning! We will begin by talking about families and friends as well as discussing our feelings about starting school. We will be spending lots of time outside, as well as inside and exploring the school grounds. There will be a lot to take in but everything will be introduced gradually! Expect lots of stories, an array of emotions and tired Fridays but we promise everything will fall into place by October half term!
Our long term plan for the year can be found above.
Below is some useful information for the upcoming half term, but if you have ay questions in the meantime, please just ask one of us. We are here to help and to make this a smooth transition as we possibly can.
Here's to a wonderful first half term!
Mrs Pape, Miss Kane and Mrs Appleton
The Reception Team.
Staffing
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays- Mrs Pape
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays- Miss Kane
Mrs Appleton will be supporting us in class on Mondays and Fridays.
Important dates for your diary this half term-
Tuesday 1st September- Whole school Training Day- School closed to everyone
Thursday 17th September- Reception Phonics Information meeting- 3:15-4:15pm
Friday 25th September- Reception Training Day (Reception ONLY closed for the day)
Saturday 3rd October- Governor's Welcome Disco
Friday 9th September- Whole school Training Day- School closed to everyone
Wednesday 14th October AM- Reception local walk and visit to Hickorys- More details to follow
Tuesday 20th October- Reception 'Welcome to ASJ' service at Adel Church- 9:30am- More details to follow
Friday 23rd October- School closes for half term
Monday 2nd November- Whole school training day- school closed to everyone
Tuesday 3rd November/Wednesday 4th November- Parent Consultation Evenings
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.
katie.pape@adel-st-john.leeds.sch.uk
annie.kane@adel-st-john.leeds.sch.uk
Reading at home
Your child brings home 2 books a week. To begin with, wordless books will be sent home in order to encourage story telling, questioning and discussion. As we begin phonics lessons, we will then be sending two phonics books instead. One will be a book that you can read with your child at home, which is based on what we are currently learning in phonics and the other will be their current phonics level reading book. Please read their current phonics books with them at least 3 x a week. The first read can be read together, the second read read by your child and the third child read by your child with a focus on comprehension.
We aim to listen to your child read at least once a week and books are changed on a Tuesday.
Morning drop off
To begin with, we will be allowing parents into the cloakroom only, in order to settle your child into their new routine. After 2 full weeks, we will then ask you to say goodbye at the top classroom gate. The cloakroom can become a very busy place in the morning and quite over whelming for some, therefore we like to only keep this arrangement for the first few weeks. If you feel your child is ready to say goodbye at the classroom gate, then go for it!! The earlier the better we say!
3.15pm Pick-up
At 3.15pm, the children will be 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. It will take us a bit of time to become familiar with all your faces so please bear with us!
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 ensure everything is named! 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 confirmed very soon. 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 14th 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.
|
|
Reception Class Blog
Run, run as fast as you can!
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
We are having a glorious and somewhat cooler week in school. We have been loving learning about The Gingerbread Man. Aeryn even recognised the cello in the musical story on the musical retelling below.
The children have loved this version:
We have been busy rehearsing for our class collective worship this week. We are very much looking forward to performing for our grown ups in the last week of this half term.
We have getting in the football spirit during this World Cup. Check out the football stadium which two of our super small world engineers have made!
We only have two more weeks in Reception, still lots more fun to be had.
It’s been a hot week!
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
What a scorcher of a week! The children have all been amazing and have dealt with the heat fantastically- very proud of them all! We have had a week filled with lots of water play, ice play, shaded reading, ice pops, huge fans and lots of bare feet! We have also been reading the story of ‘The Enormous Turnip’ and practising songs for our class collective worship. Have a wonderful weekend in the sun!
Healthy Living Week
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
We have had a really healthy week for our Healthy Living Week. We have done a handwashing experiment to learn about the value of handwashing, enjoyed reading Oliver's Vegetables together, taken part in Sports Day and we will be making some fruit kebabs later in the week.
It's so great that England have decided to put their first match for the World Cup in this week too! Football fever has definitely hit our classroom!
Who's That Trip-Trapping Over My Bridge?
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
We are having another brilliant week of learning in Reception focussing on The Three Billy Goats Gruff. The children have loved using their independent crafting skills to create gruesome, green trolls. We couldn't find any green paint so we had mix yellow and blue together. It got rather messy!
We have also been furthering our emergency services play and have fixed and reconnected out water butt. Theo thought that we needed a sign to prevent people from knocking it over again. We used our problem solving skills to collect the water needed extinguish fires. What problem solvers we are!
We have learned about the Qur'an in RE as part of our learning about and celebration of sacred and special books and stories. We are very lucky to have some children in our class who know lots about the Islamic faith. We love celebrating each other!
Once upon a time….
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
This week we began our final topic, ‘Once upon a time’ and launched this with a special dress up day! Thank you for everyones’s efforts with the children’s costumes-they all looked amazing! Throughout the day we made magic wands, measured different character’s footsteps, retold familiar stories using puppets, watched a ballet performance and sequenced stories. We have also been reading the story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’ and creating our own houses for the pigs using different materials. We have been testing their strength to see if we can find an alternative house!
Handa's Surprise
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
We have had a great week learning about Handa's Surprise, The Creation Story, sharing in maths and the history of shopping. We have loved looking at the peregrine falcons at the University of Leeds. We have planted cress and our peas and beans are starting to get tall. We have started practising our events for Sports Day. We loved the sack race! We are very excited for our school trip on Friday to Harlow Carr. I'm sure th
Frog Week
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
This week we revisited our learning about frogs and went to the pond again to see if we had any. Unfortunately we still had tadpoles but they had definitely grown bigger! This week in literacy, we have been reading the story, ‘Tad’ and made our own life cycles independently as well as drawing one as part of our Drawing Club. This tested our fine motor skills as we had to lots of cutting and threading to do!
We have also seen lots of other wonderful learning in our areas of provision with jet building in construction, den building and shopping in the farm shop.
A week of sunshine and lots of outdoor learning!
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
This week has been filled with lots of amazing learning in the sunshine! ☀️ We have had outstanding role play as firefighters; building their own fire truck complete with hoses, fire equipment and bells. The children even used the bike stand as a ladder to tackle fires high up in our outdoor area! In the mud kitchen, there has been lots of potion making, cakes and buns in preparation for a wedding. There was even a sprinkling of confetti! In the water area, problem solving has been a key feature with lots of questioning about transportation. We also said goodbye to our chicks this week which has been a sad moment but a memory to last forever. Great learning from our Reception family!
Welcome back to the Summer term
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
We have had a glorious week to start our new term. We have had some eggs delivered which are being cared for by our incubator, we have planted peas and beans and we have been orienteering with our grown ups. Thanks to everyone for giving up your afternoon and coming to help your child explore the grounds in the beautiful sunshine.
Happy Easter!
Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog
Thank you for everyone’s efforts with the egg decorating competition for the School Council, we had some wonderful creations! Thank you for an amazing half term and we wish all of our families a lovely holiday break!
