Reception Class
Welcome back! We hope you all had a wonderful break. and the children are all ready for an exciting half term as we countdown to Christmas!
This half term our topic will be 'Let's Celebrate!' where we will be looking at Bonfire Night, Diwali and Christmas and we will also be touching on Road Safety Week and some science work on the senses. In our Maths lessons we will be focusing on numbers 1-5, shape (square, triangle, circle and rectangle) and we will also be looking at patterns. In RE, we are learning about our Christian value 'Joy' as well as listening, retelling and understanding the Christmas story. We are also introducing our new exciting project called 'Drawing Club where the children will be reading a story each week and carrying out lots of predicting, retelling, character discussions through the process of drawing. We can't wait to start this!
As we draw closer to Christmas, we will then begin rehearsals for our Christmas show, write letters to Satna, create Christmas wish lists, carry out some baking for Mrs Claus as well as focusing on the importance of Christmas and what this means to us. In history, we will be looking at toys from the past and comparing them with toys we have at home.
As we approach the colder weather, please ensure your child has a hat, gloves and a warm coat with them every day as we are always outside, whatever the weather!
Important dates for your diary this half term-
Tuesday 12th November- Stay and Read- All parents/grandparents/carers are welcome to attend
Friday 29th November- Stay and Count- 8:40-9:30am- All parents/grandparents/carers welcome to attend.
Wednesday 11th December- Reception Christmas Production- 9:30am
Tuesday 17th December- Reception Christmas party day
Friday 20th December- School closes for Christmas
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)
Reading at home
Your child is now bringing home 2 books each week. One is based on their learning that they have completed in Phonics and the other is to read for pleasure with your child. This is usually selected by your child and it's a great way to model reading and discussing books. Please ensure your child reads their phonics book at least 3 x week as this helps build their fluency and recognition of words. 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. They are asked to sit patiently on the carpet 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.
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 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. 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.
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
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Diwali
Posted: Nov 14, 2024 by: Katie Pape (kpape) 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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