Category: Reception – St Adrian

03.11.23

Welcome back everyone,
I hope you enjoyed your half term week, spending quality time with family and friends. I loved hearing amazing stories about trips to London, pumpkin carving and family meals.
Well, our first day back was very exciting as we went to St Albans Library. We had a special animal hunt around the library, sang nursery rhymes, read a story and borrowed some books. We also had a special certificate and new library cards.

We also learnt how to scan library cards and which buttons to press so we can borrow a book!

I was absolutely impressed by how well the children behaved, putting hands up if they have a question, saying please and thank you, respecting other visitors by being quiet.

We also learnt that you can borrow 30 books in one go!!! What a treat! I hope that you will continue taking your children to the library as this is such a wonderful place for having a family day out, enjoying reading and storytelling!

In Little Wandle this week we began learning Autumn 2 graphemes and digraphs. In your child’s pink folder you will find Autumn 2 grapheme list.

We’ve learnt three new digraphs ss, ff and ll and a new grapheme ‘j’. We are also rapidly beginning to introduce new tricky words. Please help your children to practice the tricky words at home too.

In Maths we were representing, subitising and finding numbers 1, 2, 3. The children were involved in a different adult led and child initiated activities to help and deepen their understanding. We counted ladybirds outside, posted letters into 1, 2 and 3 post boxes and counted 1,2 and 3 on 5 frames.

RE
The children really enjoyed sharing their wonderful Baptism items with the rest of us. It was wonderful seeing tiny dresses, special books and personalised candles. Thank you so much for supporting us!

Reading books
This Wednesday all children came home with a reading practice book. Please make sure you read with your child at least 3 times a week as this will really boost their confidence and fluency. All books must be returned by Tuesday the latest, as new books will go home on the following Wednesday.
Once again thank you for your continued support!

Dates to remember:
Individual and siblings photos: Monday 06.11.23
First reading morning: Friday 10.11.23

Have a lovely weekend!
Looking forward seeing you all next week!
Mrs Solakova

20.10.23

Hello children, parents and carers,
I really can’t believe that today we have finished our first half term! The time went so quickly! But we also achieved and learnt so much…from exploring the classroom, to remembering our friends names, from being brave to come in without mummy and daddy, to forming lovely friendships. We learnt lots of new graphemes and solved many mathematical problems. We practiced singing and dancing, read lovely books and played musical instruments. From being insecure and not sure how to write our names we are now beginning to write our first CVC words. Absolutely impressive!!!

In Little Wandle this week we played lots of games, thinking about initial sounds, orally blending words like C-A-R and D-O-G, and remembering all the graphemes and phonemes learnt so far. As already mentioned we also spent the week assessing the children and finding out how to support them if needed. Please make sure you check your children’s book bag for Little Wandle packs. They will help you practice all the phonemes we’ve learnt so far. Please also check your child’s Tapestry account as I will be adding some useful information on how to support your child at home.

In Maths this week we talked about patterns. We’ve learnt that patterns are not just made of colours or objects, but also in books, songs, actions. We talked about things we do every day like wake up, go to school, go home, wake up, go to school, go home… We’ve read the book ‘We are going on a bear hunt’ and spotted the pattern in that book to.

In English we continued reading and discussing the book ‘Where the wild things are’. The children had brilliant ideas and that led to a wonderful conversations. We went on a journey, made wild masks and danced listening to some rumpus music. Why don’t you show your grown ups our spectacular dancing at home too:

The wild things are wild, but we were even better in being wild 🙂

RE
Thank you so much for bringing in lots of lovely things from your child’s Baptism. It’s been lovely sharing them with the rest of the class and adding them to our display. We also created our own church and the children are really enjoying to go in, say a prayer and role play a Baptism.

Harvest assembly
Thanks to all who were able to come by and make it a memorable experience for us. The children did really well singing and doing the actions. Your generous donations are much appreciated!

A very special thank you to Mr De Casa. He was our surprise visitor this week. He talked about his profession of being a surgical nurse. After his talk we’ve had a class full of future doctors and nurses 🙂 If you would like to come in and talk about your profession please do not hesitate to contact me. I am sure the children would love it 🙂

Dates to remember:
30.10.23 – St Albans library visit (Please remember to bring a filled membership form or a library card, so your child can borrow a book)
A very special invitation – As now the children are all settled, we would love you to come and read with us every Friday morning from 8:35 am to 8:50 am.

Have a fun filled half term break!
Mrs Solakova

13.10.23

Hello children, parents and carers,
It’s Friday again and I can’t wait to share with you what we’ve been busy with in the last 5 days.
In Little Wandle we’ve learnt four new graphemes:

Next week we will focus on finding out what the children learnt so far revisiting all the phonemes and digraphs for Autumn 1.
We also added a new tricky word ‘the’ . Please practice the tricky words at home too, as we all know they can be very ‘tricky’ to remember :).

In Maths we talked about mass and weight, used lots of mathematical language like ‘This piece of playdough is heavier’ or ‘The feather is lighter’. The children experimented with different weight while playing with the playdough and also sorted different items by weight.

We are very much looking forward to have our first Reception class performance next week and are very excited to rehearse our song. We also painted some lovely fruit and vegetables to show you on the day.
Please remember that the Harvest assembly is taking place next Wednesday at 2pm. Looking forward seeing you all there.

This week we talked a lot about Autumn and what kind of changes we can notice. We went for a walk and collected different leaves. Then we used them to make paper rubbings. We also spent the Friday afternoon making hedgehogs. We used clay for the body, spaghetty for the prickles and beans for the eyes. We can’t be more proud….they look stunning 🙂

RE
This week we started a new topic Baptism – Belonging. At Baptism, the Church invites and welcomes the person into the Church family, The Sacrament of Baptism is the basis of all Christian life.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0115dlq

As a class we discussed what ‘Welcome’ means and shared lovely stories from when we felt welcomed. We remembered our first days of school when everyone was welcome to come to school.
Would be lovely to see photos or any other special items from your child’s own Baptism. This can be a candle, special card, blanket or gown. They will be part of a display and then safely returned home.

Have a lovely weekend!
Mrs Solakova

Hello children, parents and carers,
As part of our People who help us topic we’ve enjoyed an amazing workshop. Little City paid us a visit on Wednesday and the children had the opportunity to be hairdressers, police officers, shop assistants, vets, builders and so much more. We’ve had a fantastic time exploring the different areas (including me and Mrs Reid 🙂 ). Have a look yourself:

If you would like to support us even further, why don’t you come to school and talk about your profession. We would love to hear from you, so if interested please email the office.

In Little Wandle this week we’ve learned 4 new graphemes:

We also learned a new tricky word, which you will find in your child’s orange book:

Thank you all so much for all the hard work you are doing with the children at home – We saw some fantastic learning outside of school!

In Maths this week we talked about matching and sorting; we also created different sorting rules and played different games to embed that learning. Outside we were sorting each other, thinking about these rules:
These children have trousers, and these don’t have trousers.
These children have blond hair, and these dark hair.
These children are wearing jumpers and these are not wearing jumpers.

Inside we were sorting toys, matching lids and bottles, playing ‘What’s in my bag’ game and so much more:

In RE we had a moment of quiet reflection and talked about what we’ve learned so far. Well, I think the children had great ideas and responded really well showing me how well they have been listening in the last couple of weeks. Here are some of the quotes. Enjoy 🙂

When you are in someone’s arms, you are warm and your blood is moving.
When you are in God’s arms you feel like you want to light up a candle.
When you are in God’s arms you feel like in a cot with nice blanket and pillow.

We also wrote a special class prayer…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
God loves you too,
You are precious to God,
He loves you more than anything,
You are in God’s hands,
Please God help us be good children,
Please God make us strong.
Amen

Impressive isn’t it 🙂 Maybe you can read the prayer with your children at home too!

Have a lovely weekend and looking forward seeing you all next week!
Mrs Solakova

29.09.23

Hello children, parents and carers,
Here is what we’ve been up to this week and also what we’ve been reading, acting and writing about in our English lessons for the last few weeks.
‘Here we are’ by Oliver Jeffers is a story that helped us to explore our planet from land to sky, to people and time. We talked a lot about where we are on the planet and then concentrated more on things we know better and understand better, like where is St Albans, our school, our playground and classroom. Please follow the link to hear the story we truly enjoyed:

We talked about how to look after the planet as that is all we have, how to look after ourselves and how to be nice to all the animals too. We started preparing our garden for the long winter months and built a bug hotel, planted spring flowers for the bees and placed bird feeders all around.

In Little Wandle this week we’ve learned four new phonemes! We are all very proud to say that we now know 12 graphemes… Well done Reception!

We also introduced a new vocabulary ‘tricky word’ and even learnt our very first tricky word which you will find in your child’s book bag. Please help your child to read all the words ‘by sight’ (reading by sight means being able to read a word without the need for ‘decoding’ or ‘segmenting’ and ‘blending’). New words will be added weekly working towards all words required for Reception.

In RE this week we talked about how precious each one of us is. We looked at the mirror saying something nice about ourselves, something we appreciate and cherish. The children had great ideas and I am impressed by how thoughtful they were.

God says:
You are precious to me.
I love you.
I know you.
I know your name.
I call you by your name.
You are my child.

Have a lovely weekend and looking forward seeing you all next week!
Mrs Solakova

22.09.23

Hello parents and children,
It is so lovely to see the children building confidence and becoming more and more independent looking for things in the classroom, tidying up, getting changed for PE (buttons still very tricky, but practice makes you perfect 🙂 and carrying lunch trays.

This week we’ve had so much fun playing outside. We jumped in muddy puddles, made obstacle courses and picked some sunflowers for our investigation table.

Little Wandle
Big thank you to those of you who came to the Phonics workshop. I hope you now have a better understanding of how we teach phonics here at St Adrian’s. Please do not hesitate to speak to me in case you have any questions.

This week the children learned 4 new phonemes:

Please spend some time with your child practicing writing them at home.

Expressive arts and design:
We went on a nature walk and collected lots of leaves, sticks, petals, small rocks and had a good chat about how the trees are changing, the weather getting cooler and days becoming shorter.

Then we used our discoveries to create self portraits. They are just amazing. Have a look yourself:

In RE we are talking about how God is looking after all of us. He says that we are precious to him:

You are precious to me.
I love you.
I know your name.
You are my child.

Thank you so much for sending your family photos to school. They are now part of a beautiful display and the children love looking at them.

Have a lovely weekend!
Looking forward seeing you all next week!
Mrs Solakova

Hello parents and children,
I am very excited to share with you some of the lovely things we’ve been doing this week.
We had our very first PE lesson and even changed into PE clothes. It was tricky, but we didn’t give up and kept on trying. Have a look yourself:

Please spend some time home practising buttons. They are a great way to keep those little fingers moving, which is perfect for prepping for writing and drawing. Thank you to everyone who has brought PE kits for their child. If you have not brought PE kits in, please can you bring them by next week. Thank you. 

Library – We also visited the library for a first time. The children were very excited to borrow a book and take it home. They also have their reading records ready for you to put any notes or comments.

In Little Wandle we’ve learned our first 4 sounds:

I am impressed by how well the children are learning and engaging in different activities. We are also practising writing the new graphemes, using the phrases that go with each one of them.

In your child’s book bag this week you will find a pink folder with some letter formation practise sheets. Please take some time and practise writing them at home. They need to be returned by Thursday for a special home learning class celebration! In the folder you will also find the Autumn 1 list of graphemes.
I also attached the Autumn homework grid.

Junk modelling
The children are very keen on creating different models using junk materials. Any donations of small boxes, egg cartons, toilet paper rolls are much appreciated.

Have a lovely weekend and looking forward seeing you all next week.
Mrs Solakova

08.09.2023

Hello and Welcome to St. Adrian’s Reception Class! It has been such a lovely week getting to know your children. I feel very lucky to be able to spend this academic year with all of them!

Our week
This week we purely enjoyed each others company, exploring the classroom, finding out where things are and how to put them all away at the end of the day.
The children were very good lining up, waiting for their lunch and then clearing their trays. They were superstars listening to the rules and trying their best!
I am already very proud!

In the classroom we explored the different areas. We were camping with our friends, playing board games and drawing treasure maps. Have a look yourself:

We also did a dinosaur land and cooked yummy cakes:

Outside we enjoyed the lovely weather by playing in the water tray and riding the tuc tuc. What a treat 🙂

Please make sure that your child has a full, named PE uniform, placed in a named school PE bag, as our PE lessons will commence on Tuesday. It would be great to spend some time teaching your children how to be independent dressing and undressing. Of course, myself and Mrs Reid will always be ready to help if needed.

I hope you have an amazing weekend!
looking forward seeing you all next week!
Mrs Solakova

20.07.23

It feels very strange writing my last blog and still hard to believe that such a great year has come to an end.
THANK YOU to each one of you children for all the warmth, the memories, and the learning that we have shared this school year! For when I teach, I also learn. This past year we have grown together. A little bit of each of you will always be with me. Always strive to be the best that you can be!!!

To the Parents… THANK YOU for allowing me to be your child’s teacher. I needed your support so many times and you were always there for me! Your help is much appreciated and greatly valued!
The great results we achieved as a class are such a proof!!!

And finally … you really spoiled me with amazing gifts and heart warming messages!
Thank you so much!!!

Our school trip to St Albans museum and galleries this Wednesday was a real hit! The children thoroughly enjoyed their outdoor picnic and played beautifully. The behaviour was exceptional the whole time! The workshop was super fun and very educational too… we’ve learned so many interesting facts about old toys and we even get to play with some of them. On the way back the children looked for different water birds… and guess what, we spotted nearly all of them! Thank you to all the parent volunteers who supported us. Here are some photos:

On our last day we signed the Year 6’s shirts and wished them best of luck!

I wish this sparkly, confident, creative and kind class all the very best in Year 1. 

Have the best summer!
Mrs Solakova

14.07.23

Hello children and parents,
What a week it has been… from meeting new teachers and watching the Year 6 production, to welcoming the new reception children, being super friendly and kind showing them around.
As you can imagine, the real highlight of the week was when the children visited their new classroom and their new teachers.

Everyone was very excited!
I really liked the climbing frame! – Indie
My favourite part was when we did the glittery paper craft! – Georgie
I liked the stars and the numbers! – Luke
The teachers were very nice! – Lucy

Next week updates:
We’ve decided to have our Teddy bear’s picnic on Tuesday. The weather is looking good so far, but has changed so many times (been checking since Monday :))… so in case it rains, we will have the Teddy bear’s picnic as part of the trip on Wednesday.
So please send your children to school, with their teddies on Tuesday.

Trip to St Albans museum
Please make sure that your child is wearing comfortable shoes and full school uniform.
If it rains your child must have wellies and a raincoat, if sunny, sun hat.
On the day they will need to have a backpack. Water bottles and home packed lunches should fit in the back pack. If you are planning to order school packed lunch, please make sure you let the office now ASAP. They can choose cheese or tuna sandwich.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs Solakova