Adel St John The Baptist

Love - Serve - Support - Succeed

Reception Class

Hello everyone and welcome to our Reception page. We hope you all had a wonderful summer break and managed to spend time as a family.

We have had a fantastic set of transitions days this week and it has been lovely getting to know all of your littles ones. We are looking forward to settling the children in further and the exciting year we have planned! 

Morning drop off

As you will have noticed, we had a wonderful outdoor makeover over the summer and we are looking forward to building on this fantastic provision over the course of the year. For parents who already have older siblings at the school, you will have noticed we have a new entrance to welcome the children into school. This will be down the steps near the cloakroom. We are going to trial this for a few weeks to see how it goes once all the children are in. We thank you in advance 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.

Staff

Monday – Miss Griffin, Miss Mackenzie and Miss Appleton

Tuesday- Miss Griffin, Miss Mackenzie, Miss Kane and Miss Appleton

Wednesday- Miss Griffin, Mrs Pape, Miss Mackenzie and Miss Kane.

Thursday- Mrs Pape, Miss Mackenzie and Miss Kane

Friday- Mrs Pape, Miss Mackenzie and Miss Kane (mornings only)

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. They are asked to sit patiently in the cloakroom until we call their name when we can see their adult. We will get 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.

'Stay and Play' mornings

After October half term, we would like to invite parent and carers into school to spend some time with your child in their learning environment as well as find out what we have been learning about. Each one may have a theme attached to it where you can find out about reading, writing, maths or PSHE and how we teach this in Reception. More information will be sent out to parents nearer the time. Watch this space!

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 Wednesday this half term. Please ensure your child has their PE kit in school by week 3 which is the week commencing the 16th September. The children will be learning how to undress and dress themselves as part of one our Early Learning Goals. 

 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 16th 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.

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.

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

Here's to a wonderful first half term!

Miss Griffin, Mrs Pape, Miss Kane, Mrs Appleton. Miss Mackenzie

 

 

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Reception Class Blog

Diwali

Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog

This week we have been learning all about Diwali as part of our new topic ‘Let’s Celebrate!” The children have been finding out how Diwali is celebrated in the Hindu and Sikh religion. We started by reading the story of Rama and Sita and acting this out as a class. We then moved on to looking at how Hindus celebrate Diwali which then fed into more independent learning around the classroom. The children created different rangoli patterns using pastels, shapes and Numicon shapes. They also made their own diya  lamps using salt dough and some children had their own Diwali feast in our home corner. We finished the week by comparing this Hindu festival of Diwali with the Christian celebration of Christmas where the children found lots of similarities as well as differences. This week we have also been doing lots of independent learning in our areas of provision and it has been particularly interesting to see a shift in children’s interests. Our writing areas inside and outside have become particularly popular and it has been wonderful to see more of the children mark making,  as well as applying some of their phonics learning within their writing. Outside, the children have been enjoying using our new mud kitchen, writing shed and reading area. The children have also planted some trees with Miss Griffin as part of our outdoor learning time.

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Glorious November Week

Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog

What a busy week we have had. We have had anti-bullying odd sock day, finishing our learning about Diwali by creating Mandir (temples) using junk modelling and Lego. We all used our physical strength to dig in the ground to plant Field Maple trees. We loved having our grown ups come and stay with us on Tuesday morning for our stay and read session. We showed great respect during our silence on Remembrance Day. We loved hearing Mr Gleeson playing the trumpet. We have loved our ballet focussing on jumping. What energetic children we are!

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Busy bees

Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog

Wow what a great first week back we have had! It was wonderful to be back together and find out what we had each been doing over the holidays. This week we have been learning all about numbers 4 and 5, why people wear poppies at this time of the year, how we celebrate bonfire night as well as discussing what makes a good friend. The children have been practising lots of mark making and cutting skills this week and it is wonderful to see lots of the children being interested in writing words! They particularly enjoyed making friendship cards for their friends. 

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1st half term-COMPLETED!

Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog

What a fantastic end to a wonderful first half term in Reception. We are immensely proud of every single one of our amazing team and the way they have adjusting to school life. We have made new friends, listened to and followed lots of new routines and rules, started to learn to read, learnt all about numbers 1-5, been to the computer suite, explored lots of learning outside and we have started to write letters and words! The children all deserve a wonderful half term break and we thank you all for all your support this half term. Happy half term! 

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Busy Bees!

Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog

Wow! Another amazing week in Reception! This week we have been celebrating differences and diversity as part of Black History Month. In Literacy, we have been reading the book ‘Elmer’ where we carried out some predicting, sequencing and retelling. The children have been really inspired by the story and some of them created their vey own Elmer’s using junk modelling. They were pretty spectacular and we are hoping to share them with Mr Dalrymple on Monday.
In maths, we have been learning all about shape, in particular, circles and and triangles. We have been spotting them in the environment and describing them. 

On Thursday, we did some team art work outside based on the artist, Andy Goldsworthy where we collected and used natural materials to create our own masterpieces. Have a look at them in the cloakroom next week! Our blending skills are also really starting to develop and it has been wonderful to listen to the children read this week and hear some of this progress. We are learning to read! 

It has also been particularly wonderful to see the children exploring their learning in different areas this week. The home corner is usually a firm favourite but many of the children have loved being outside this week and playing in the mud! We have had mud pies, cakes, drinks. You name it, we’ve tried it! We are looking forward to out mud kitchen being delivered very soon, where we can develop this interest further! We also had a delivery of some new balance bikes and helmets this week and the children have been learning about the importance of safety when using the bikes and scooters. 

One week to go! Let’s go Team Reception! 

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Autumn has arrived

Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog

What another busy week in Reception! 
This week we have been learning about Autumn and began the week by venturing out in the school grounds and looking for signs of autumn. We found different coloured leaves, conkers, pine cones and we even harvested apples from our allotment which we enjoyed as a snack! We discussed the seasonal changes and made leaf crowns using some of the leaves we had collected. Some of the children created their own repeating patterns for their crowns. In the craft area, we have carried out some printing and autumn colour mixing. In literacy, we have been reading in the story, ‘Pumpkin Soup’ and the children have created ingredient lists and re-enacted the story as a class. Following on from this we will be introducing a cafe next week which some of the children have enjoyed creating this afternoon. The children have also particularly loved our small world based on Adel and have been creating local maps. 
Next week we will be looking at ‘diversity and reading the story Elmer.
2 weeks to go- have an amazing weekend Reception! You deserve a rest! 

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A very busy week!

Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog

This week we have been learning about feelings based on the book, ‘The Colour Monster’. We have explored how colours can link to emotions, what these emotions might look like on paper using the ‘Zones of Regulation’, how we might express our feelings and we have also enjoyed lots of stories about different emotions including, Ravi’s Roar and Ruby’s Worry. 
We have also continued with our learning about Adel and created our own small world using places of interest. Some of the children created maps of Adel and built farms on the small world tray. This linked well to our Asda role play that we created outside as a class. The children have enjoyed writing shopping lists, collecting their shopping, paying and packing their bags for the ride home on the scooters!
On our craft table we have been making our own colour monsters out of play dough as well as learning about colour mixing using the primary colours. The children then used these colours to create their own colour monsters. Reception also went in the Computing suite for the first time! 
Next week we will be looking at Autumn and using our investigation station to find out more. We will also be going on an autumnal adventure walk within the school grounds to search for signs of Autumn. 

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Where in the world?

Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog

Today we used Google Earth to explore the World and where we live. We started by looking at the world as a sphere rather than a flat shape. We then looked at some of the countries we have been on holiday to before focusing on the United Kingdom. From here we looked at the countries that make up the United Kingdom and then moved our search to find Leeds, Adel and then our very own school! We could see our outdoor area, the playground, the car park and the field. We also found Adel St John Church. The children loved exploring using Google Earth and I know many of them may want to try this at home and see if they can find where they live. 

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Our first full week

Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog

What an amazing first full week we have had! The children are all starting to settle well and are getting used to routines. We started our maths, phonics and PE lessons this week as well as joining in with the whole school dress up,for TTRS! Please remember to check Tapestry for any other updates. Have a lovely weekend! 

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Our first few days in Reception

Reception (gquinn) on: Reception Class Blog

We have had a fantastic few days as a whole team! All of the children have started to settle into their new school life and are getting to grips with new routines, new friends and new surroundings. It has been particularly wonderful to see new friendships blossoming! We are looking forward to a fantastic full week next week! 

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