What is the Sunrise Group at Churchfield?
Sunrise has its unique name because it is a small group of children from Year 1 and 2 who attend the ‘Sunrise’ classroom in the mornings but remain part of their own class for the rest of the day. The group has only 8-10 children at any one time and teaching is tailored to each child’s needs and level of learning. Children attend Sunrise for 1-4 terms depending on level of progress. Children in Sunrise complete the same English, Maths and Phonics learning as their peers but benefit from working in a smaller setting with two highly experienced adults – a teacher (Mrs Wilkinson) and teaching assistant (Miss Steph or Miss Chantel). In addition to academic support, Sunrise provides a nurturing atmosphere for children to develop socially and emotionally.
In Sunrise, children develop their confidence, self-esteem and ability to manage difficulties. We work on being able to settle in the classroom environment, listening skills, concentration, sharing and taking turns, building friendships and understanding our feelings.
The Sunrise classroom has a home play area, comfortable seating, a dining area and table and chairs for group and independent work. The group follows a ‘nurture’ style of teaching because the classroom provides the comfort of the home environment. A very important part of the day in Sunrise is breakfast. We sit around the breakfast table together and start the day positively. We lay the table together, practise turn-taking, sharing food and tidying up.
The Sunrise principles
The Sunrise group is run in line with the following six principles. The image to the right shows these principles in more child-friendly language which we share with the children in Sunrise.
How does a child start in Sunrise?
Class teachers may recommend that a child in their class would benefit from the smaller setting and close support in Sunrise. In this case, and provided that space is available in the group, Mrs May or Mrs Wilkinson will seek the views of parents on their child joining Sunrise. We will also discuss how the child feels about joining the group. Parental permission will be sought before a child joins Sunrise.
If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s progress, please discuss these with your child’s class teacher or with Mrs May. If you have any questions about the Sunrise group, please feel free to contact the Sunrise team (Mrs Wilkinson, Miss Chantel and Miss Steph) via the office or before/after school in the Sunrise room.