OPEN DAY - NEW DATE!!!!

We hope you are all enjoying the holidays so far!!! Just wanted to let you all know that we have had to change the date of our next Open Day in March - it was scheduled to be on Friday 11th March 2011 - it will now be on:

Friday 18th March 2011

I just wanted to let you know as soon as possible in case you are booking any time off work! Thank you :)

The last day.....

We have had a wonderful last day with your amazing children - a lovely end to what has been a brilliant week!! In fact it has been a great first term and you should be very proud of your child's achievements we certainly are!! I would like to thank everyone for our lovely cards and presents we have received over the last couple of days - they are all very much appreciated. We do hope you all have a very Merry Christmas - we can't wait to hear all about it in the new year!!! However, I was very sad to check my email at the end of the day and find the comment below;

'It's all well and good asking how many times a week do we as parents read with our children, but how many times a week do the teachers? An inspection of our child's orange book is hardly a testament to massive teaching involvement!

I have chosen to remain anonymous so as not to subject my child to any prejudicial treatment(subconscious or otherwise) as a result of my rant.'

The Blog is not a forum for sniping and moaning, particularly when it's anonymous. I have published our email addresses on a number of occasions for you to contact us directly if you have any concerns or issues. This allows us to handle individual cases, quickly,efficiently and above all professionally. The accusation that we would be prejudice against your child, following a 'rant' is both unfair, untrue and most of all insulting. The communication you have with us in Reception regarding your child's learning etc, is one of the best in the school and we always strive to solve any issues in the appropriate manner. I would urge the author of the comment above to contact either myself or Miss Skidmore directly so that we can resolve this matter in the New Year.

With regards to reading - we hear each child read once a week - this I believe is a quality teaching session where we spend at least 10 to 15 mins reading their book and complete some word and sentence work - this is on top of their daily phonics session and whole class shared reading and of course LOTS of incidental well planned opportunities to read whilst they access the areas of provision. You as a parent play a VITAL role in your child's reading development and this should NOT be underestimated. You provide very important practice sessions for your child and it is proven year after year that children who read often at home make better progress than children who don't!

We did explain a couple of weeks ago that reading with your child on the run up to Christmas maybe a little difficult as we have been doing LOTS of additional things, such as practicing for the concert, school trips etc - which I'm sure you will understand takes up a fair amount of time. If you want us to put the effort into such things for you and the children to enjoy a well rounded experience at school, then you have to bear with us from time to time.

So here once again are our email addresses:

fosterrl04@leedslearning.net
skidmoh01@leedslearning.net

Please contact us directly with any personal issues regarding your child, but please also continue to comment on the blog - we love hearing what your children say and do at home and after all this is what the blog is for - home - school communication!!

Thank you
Mrs Foster

CHRISTMAS DINNER!!

Well we experienced our first christmas dinner in the hall with our new tables and chairs, the Reception children ate and were served by the Year 6 children today. It was all very civilised and calm and the children really enjoyed being looked after by our wonderful Year 6's who did an amazing job!!

As it was the school's first day at eating around our new hexagonal tables and serving themselves I think it was a HUGE success!! All the children had to wait longer than usual for their lunch which they handled brilliantly. We are very proud of your patience and mature attitudes displayed throughout the day Reception

Ho Ho Ho!!!

Well Done Reception!!

Just wanted to say a HUGE well done to all of Reception today - your concert was amazing!! You were all little stars and have worked so hard - it really not easy getting up in front of everybody - you did yourselves proud!! I know that stage fright got the better of a couple - but at 4/5 years old I'm not surprised!! You did it in rehearsals and you were great!!!

If anybody took any photo's that you would like us to post on the blog (preferably ones we're not in!!!) please email them to us

fosterrl04@leedslearning.net

skidmoh01@leedslearning.net

A BIG thank you to all the grown ups that came - it really was lovely to see you all there!! :0)

We did forget to do our collection for Shelter - there will be a collection box in each classroom if you would like to contribute. Thanks

Some Photos from Friday!!

A great time had by all..........I'm sure Miss Skidmore will add a few from her class :)

Concert Day!!

Don't forget it's Concert day tomorrow - it starts at 2:30pm in the hall - all welcome!! Thank you to those parents who kindly offered to help us get changed tomorrow, however we have plenty of time in the afternoon to get changed and a couple of extra hands from within school - thank you anyway though!!! Thank you also for helping this morning and on Friday - with our dress rehearsal changes - it's not easy getting 57 children ready in 15mins, when they have tights, wings, belts, buckles, bow ties, head dresses, helmets, swords, crooks and not forgetting sheep!! We understand that some of you couldn't stay to help and it was never an expectation, just a little plea if anybody had a spare 5 mins!! I was sad to hear a few negatives comments about this, this morning - like I said it was never an expectation just a helping hand.

I would however like to take this opportunity to thank you ALL for the tremendous effort with all the costumes - we couldn't have done it without you and they all look great!!

Photo's and video's are all fine tomorrow - although if you can try not to catch us in the shot that would be great - nothing like a picture of yourself mid song - I'd rather not know what I look like!! :)

Clubs

Please note that there will be no clubs this week or the first week back after Christmas. They will begin again on the week beginning 10th of January.
Thanks.

Weekly Overview 13th December

Last week of Autumn term.....time flies when you're having fun!!!!

Another busy week ahead of us this week - we start with our final dress rehearsal in the morning tomorrow where we will perform for Nursery and Keystage 1. (Our rehearsal on Friday was great, Year 5 were very impressed as were we!!) If any of you have a spare 5 minutes in the morning to help with costumes - it once again would be greatly appreciated!!

Tuesday is our concert in the afternoon - it starts at 2:30pm in the hall - this year we are raising money for the Charity 'Shelter' and would be grateful of a contribution of £1 from those of you coming to watch.

Wednesday is Christmas Dinner day - we will be having our dinner with Year 6 using our brand new dining tables for the first time - very exciting!!

Thursday is PARTY day...well afternoon! Your child can bring in some party clothes in a bag (please name it!) to get changed into after dinner! We will be playing lots of party games and have a little bit of party food!

Friday is our last day before the holidays - we have some exciting things planned, which we are sure your children will enjoy! We will also be sending home a short end of term report on that day as well as cards and calendars we have been busy making!!

Amongst all of the above it's business as usual!! We will be doing our final BIG write of the term - where we will be writing to Santa to thank him for our presents on Friday. We will be playing lots of maths games - linked to Christmas of course!!! We also be acting out the Christmas story in our role play areas as well as making toys in the workshop! We are also going to do a spot of baking this week to help us get ready for our party!!

So another fun packed week!! See you all tomorrow!

The Reception Team :)

Reception’s trip to see Santa!

Today the Reception children have had an amazing day visiting the main man himself – SANTA!!! They had a look around the Abbey House museum and had lots of fun dressing up. They were also lucky enough to receive a lovely gift from Santa and Eddie the Elf. Santa also asked them what they would like to get on Christmas Day when he was more prepared with his bigger sleigh and his reindeers.

Goodbye....Miss Hyde!

Tomorrow will be Miss Hydes last official day in Athens class. She has had a very successful placement and is going to make a great teacher!! We will miss her a lot and would like to wish her well for the rest of her studies! She is going to come back next week to help with the concert on Tuesday and I'm going to twist her arm to come back and join us for our Christmas party next Thursday!!

Happy Birthday Mrs Carris- Wright

Mrs Carris-Wright has a big birthday this weekend - I'm sure you'll all argee she doesn't look a day over 21!! (I hope I look as good at 50!!) We would all like to wish her a very happy birthday and hope that she has a great day!! x

Tomorrow's Trip!!

Just a quick reminder about tomorrow!! We will be leaving school at 12:15pm and having dinner as NORMAL at school - so therefore the children WILL NOT need a packed lunch in a carrier bag as previously stated in the original letter. We will be leaving Abbey House at 3:15pm and expect to arrive back at school at 3:45pm - we will be bringing the children back to classrooms and will let they go in the normal way. Early nights all round I think - tomorrow is going to be a busy day!! :)

Thanks
The Reception Team

Christmas Tree Decorating Competition

Christmas Tree Decorating Competition, please have all entries in to school by Tuesday 14 December 2010.

Christmas cards

We are requesting that children please make a card to give to their class rather than sending individual ones please in an attempt to be a little “greener”!

FIRST Dress Rehearsal This Week - eek!!

Well the children are doing well with their performance so far, so we want to prepare them the best we can so we will be having a small dress rehearsal on friday the 10th in the morning before we embark on our trip to see Santa!! We are brave... the children will be tuckered out when they go home at the end of the day. So could we ask that ALL costumes are in by Thursday 9th of December clearly named, in a carrier bag and on a hanger if possible; so we are ready to go on Friday morning. we will be doing our first show in front of Year 5 bless them!! very exciting!!

Thanks for your support

The Reception Team

You are all in for a real treat, hopefully not a dry eye in the house lol:)

The Secret is OUT!!

Just to let you all know that we have told the children about the secret trip on Friday!! They were very excited - we even had a few woops and screams!! lol! Just to remind you that we are leaving after dinner now at 12:15pm - so dinner will be as normal on that day!! The weather is going to get a little milder towards the end of the week, although we will be inside for most of the time so we should be ok!!!

Clubs this week

Due to the continuing bad weather we will not be running any outdoor clubs this week. The following clubs will run as normal:

Chess club, Choir, Cooking club, Wednesday's Games Club and 1:1 tuition.

If you are in any doubt please comment and I will check with the teacher responsible for the club!

Thanks.

READING RECORDS

Due to the bad weather we had last week we must apologise that we were unable to read with all the children. Can we ask that you bear with us as we spend this week reading with those children that were missed!! We have made sure that reading books have been changed weekly and will continue to do so going forward. We look forward to reading your comments and seeing the fabulous progress the children are making with their reading over the next few weeks. We would like to thank your AMAZING support you are providing the children at home and it's great to see that so many of them are getting regular reading support it really does help a lot.

Thanks again... look out for our comments and any new sound cards the children may require!!!

The Reception Team

Weekly Overview 5th December

This week we will be helping Santa design, make and deliver his parcels in our Santa's workshop. The children will be creating their own toy designs
browsing the Argos catalogue for ideas and comparing toys we get now

to those children received many many years ago. We will be photographing our toys and then pricing them to sell when we turn the workshop into Santa's toyshop next week.

Phonics

We will be recapping all the sounds we have learned in phase two and three this half term. Practising our segmenting and blending skills and reading words and sentences hidden around the classroom. The children have done exceptionally well and will be looking at a new set of sounds after Christmas, can we ask that you spend time reading with your child as often as possible to help them consolidate what they have learned so far.

Literacy and Topic

We will be concentrating on learning the Christmas story, retelling and role-playing the story in our Nativity role-play area and sequencing and verbally recalling the facts from the story. We will be looking into why we celebrate Christmas? We will also be continuing to study the Traditions of Christmas, the toys we give and receive as Christmas presents as well as writing out our Christmas cards.

Numeracy

We will be doing lots of Christmas maths- printing patterns for wrapping paper, counting Santa's and presents looking at 1 more and 1 less than and practising our counting forwards, backwards and in 2's, 5's and 10's.

SECRET SCHOOL TRIP!!

This week we will be informing the children of our pending school trip on Friday 10th December!!! We will put a notice on the message board and blog when we have informed the children so SSShhh we still need you to keep it a secret a little longer.... This will be very exciting for them and we will be getting ready for this trip with the children learning about old and new toys as the children will be taking a step back in time when they enter Abbey House Museum.

Mainly this week will involve lots of Christmas play practice and singing and plenty of Christmas crafts and most of all fun.... Don't forget to top it off an amazing visit to see Santa. the children will have their letters to give him that they would have written in class this week!!!

How very exciting!!

The Reception Team

NEW YORK CLASS TOY DAY!!

New York Class made their class target of 'tidying up as a team' on Friday so the children decided they wanted to bring in a toy from home for the day as their reward. They can bring in any classic toys, figures, soft toys but no electrical good please that can break or are expensive such as DS's, electric robots or remote controlled items. The children will have the opportunity to play with them during the day and we will also be using them to study for ideas to help the children with their very own toy designs for our Santa's workshop... Thanks Mrs Skidmore and Mrs Rymer

Santa's Workshop

We shall soon be opening our Santa's Workshop where the children will have the opportunity to make wrapping paper, design and make toys for their very own 'Argos style' class catalogue and then price these up to sell in their role-play as well as write Christmas cards along with letters to Santa.

If you have any old wrapping paper, Christmas cards, Santa hats etc... that you do not need anymore then we would make a good home for them. The children will love wrapping presents and writing cards so any donations will be most welcome!! Santa Claus is definitely coming to town :)

Cool snow angel!!!

Well Done J!!! Let's hope the snow is still soft tomorrow and we can make some more!! :)

Missing Wellies!!!

If anybody went home on Wednesday with the wrong wellies - Toy Story ones - could you let us know! They went missing in action with all the snow drama!! Thank you! :)

Friday 3rd December

School will re-open for pupils to begin lessons at 10am tomorrow. We will close at the regular hometime of 3:30pm. We look forward to seeing you all there dressed to suit the weather. Thanks.

Snow Day..

If you've built a cool snowman today - we'd love to see a picture - email them to us and we will post on the blog with your permission!!

fosterrl04@leedslearning.net

skidmoh01@leedslearning.net

Don't forget to practice your lines for the concert....we've missed our first practice today...eek!!

Bad weather update

Dear parents

The weather forecast is as follows:

6pm tonight-heavy snow
Midnight-heavy snow
9am tomorrow-heavy snow
12 noon tomorrow- heavy snow.

We have therefore made the very hard decision to close tomorrow. We feel it is better to let you know as far in advance as possible to allow you to make arrangements. I am very sorry to have to be sending this message and hope we will be back to normal on Friday. Please watch the Blog for updates and listen to Radio Leeds for more information. We will also text/email you and if you could check your friends/neighbours have the message that would be great! Thank you and sorry.

Tracy Dell

Thursday 2nd December

Thank you for your support today. Tomorrow we are planning to open the school to children at 10am to ensure that we can all arrive safely. Please keep checking the blog as if anything changes we will post it as soon as we can to help you make plans. Please can we also ask that you use your own friendship networks to pass on information to parents who may not see the posts – this will help us all. Thanks.

School closure

Due to the terrible weather conditions we will be closing school at 1pm. Please collect your children from school as soon as possible or arrange through school for them to be collected. Thank you.