Wren Chicks Class 

 Wren Chicks Galley

Hello and welcome to Wren Chicks, our Pre-School / Reception Class.  Our teacher is Mrs Maurice. Our class TAs are Mrs Knight, Miss Hunt, Mrs Kerry and Mrs Strutt.

In our class children learn through play, following the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. We aim to provide learning that is fun and engaging, and that will challenge the children and support their development. We deliver our curriculum through both adult let input and child-initiated learning opportunities, following children's interests wherever possible and provide high quality interactions, engaging with children in their play in order to develop and deepen their learning opportunities. Underpinning all our learning sit the Characteristics of Effective Learning: Playing and Exploring, Active Learning and Creating and Thinking Critically. With these at our foundation we aim to support our children to become effective independent learners.  

Our learning journey begins with a focus on the Prime Areas of development: Communication and Language, Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development. As we develop and our journey progresses, greater emphasis is put on the Specific Areas of learning: Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding The World and Expressive Arts and Design. During our time in Wren Class we move from taking our first teetering, brave steps into school, towards becoming confident learners in our Reception Year. 

Welcome to the Autumn term 2025!  

Welcome to the Autumn term, 2025, I hope you have all had a lovely summer! We have been very busy getting the classroom ready for the new year, I am very excited to show you the ‘glow-up’ that the Home Corner has had, as well as lots of other lovely little changes which we hope will make learning through play even more engaging. 

Our over-arching theme for the first half-term is ‘All About Me’ and we will be learning about families, our feelings, bodies and staying healthy. Later in the half term we will explore Space to coincide with World Space Week, and we will also begin our ‘Seasons’ topic with Autumn and Pumpkins! Of course, we try to follow the children’s interests wherever possible, so these plans are flexible and may change! 

During the second half-term our over-arching theme is ‘Celebrations’ and we will be looking at lots of things that are celebrated such as birthdays, weddings, Diwali, Advent and Christmas, as well as continuing our ‘Seasons’ learning with hibernation and Winter.

 Our focus over the initial couple of weeks will be on settling the children in and establishing our routines and behaviour. We will also be undertaking baseline assessments – please take a look at the following link for more information about the Reception Baseline Assessment and do come back to me if you have any questions: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/682e31e3e9440506ee953953/2025_Information_for_parents_reception_baseline_assessment.pdf 

Once the children have found their feet, in addition to learning through play in Continuous Provision, the daily timetable for Reception children will include phonics and maths each morning, with literacy each afternoon. Across the week there will also be sessions or activities which focus on Understanding the World, RE, PSHE and Expressive Arts & Design ensuring that all 7 areas of learning within the EYFS Framework are taught. Initially these adult-led sessions are very short; they will increase in time over the course of the year. 

Pre-School children will also have some daily adult-led teaching for Phase 1 Phonics and early reading and writing skills, as well as early maths. 

We have decided this year, that Reception children should leave their PE kit in school to change into when required. Independent dressing and undressing is an area of learning within the EYFS so leaving PE kits here offers and ideal opportunity to develop these skills. PE lessons in Wren Chicks will not always need full PE kit but having one here (including trainers) gives us lots of flexibility for active sessions. Children in Pre-School do not need a full PE kit, but please do send your child in with shoes which are suitable for lots of active movement!

On the 18th September, at 6pm, we would like to invite parents and carers to a meeting where we can tell you all about what will be happening in Wren Chicks this term, as well as explaining how our reading and phonics is taught in school –this session will be particularly useful for parents of Reception children so please do join us if you can. 

All parents should have received an invitation to join Class Dojo which is a digital platform that we use to communicate with you on a frequent basis and to send you details of your child’s learning journey. If you haven’t received an invitation, or are having any problems with Dojo, please let me know. I will send out a message every Monday via Class Dojo to let you know what the topic for that week will be, as well as any information or reminders that may be useful. 

We know that the children will have a few changes to adjust to at the start of term so please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any concerns about their well-being, their educational needs or the new structure of the school day. Please use Class Dojo to contact me, or phone to make an appointment if you would prefer an opportunity to discuss anything further. 

Kindest regards, 

Mrs Maurice 

Important things to remember