Welcome to Wrens

Academic Year 2023 - 2024

I wonder what we will learn in Wrens...

Adults in Wrens

Class Teacher: Mrs Bancroft-Turner

Higher Level Teaching Assistant: Mrs Johnson (Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday)

PE Teacher: Mr Mooney (Monday and Wednesday morning)

Music Teacher: Karl (Wednesday morning)

Computing Teacher: Mr Lewis (Monday morning)

Teaching Assistant: Mrs Mitchell

Teaching Assistant: Mrs Viggers

Volunteer: Mrs Stokes

Cleaner: Mrs Newton

Wrens class is a fun and exciting place to be! It is made up of Reception children who work within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). We have high expectations of our children and staff as we understand the importance of a strong foundation as a basis for future learning. We focus on developing early skills through a curriculum that is child-centered and based on learning through play. 

We have strong links with Sutton St James Pre-School Playgroup and have shared curriculum events throughout the year. We also hold transition events in Summer term. We use pre-school assessments to ensure that we are building on what the children already know. We have a focus on the prime areas of the EYFS, including language development, as this is a key indicator for later learning success. To aid this language development, we plan a range of exciting experiences for all of the children including: forest school, faith visits, trips to places such as the seaside and The National Space Centre. 

"Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfill their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child's experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chance" - Statutory Framework. 

Our curriculum is led by children's needs (what knowledge and skills they need to obtain in order to be successful with their later schooling) and interests across the seven areas of learning to enable the children to achieve and exceed the early learning goals in Reception. 

Underpinning our curriculum are the Characteristics of Learning, which are:

• Playing and Exploring - Engagement 
• Active Learning - Motivation 
• Creating and Thinking Critically 

In Wrens, we are curious and love to learn new things. We enjoy everything that we do together and every day is different. We make the most of all opportunities to play and learn together in our classroom and outdoor areas.

At Sutton St James Primary School, we aim to ensure all our children become independent and fluent readers and writers. We teach early reading through a carefully selected systematic and synthetic phonics programme. We use Read Write Inc, Phonics. 

Although your child will be taught how to read at school, you can have a huge impact on their reading journey by continuing their practice at home. There are two types of reading books that your child will bring home:

A reading practice book.

This will be at the correct phonic stage for your child. They should be able to read this fluently and independently. This book has been carefully matched to your child's current reading level. Listen to them read the book. Remember to give them lots of praise - celebrate their success!

A sharing book.

Your child will bring home a book for pleasure. This book is for you to enjoy together. In order to encourage your child to become a lifelong reader, it is important that they learn to read for pleasure.