Parent/Carers Information

At Wells Park, we value a strong and supportive relationship with parents and carers. We believe that only by acting together can we ensure the best possible education for each individual student. We provide a number of opportunities throughout the school year when you can come into school to discuss your child’s progress. In addition to the meetings during the Admissions Process, Annual Reviews, Parent Evenings and House evenings, we communicate weekly with parents using a ‘chat book’. 

The child’s class Teacher and keyworker give a brief resume of how the week has been and about the week’s events.  Parents are encouraged to write news from the weekend which we can share with the children on their return to school. The Family Officer will endeavour to make a regular call to parents to provide an update on how their child is managing. This call also gives parents an opportunity to discuss any matters which they may prefer not to write in the chat book.

We welcome visits by parents who may want to see how the whole day works or make a classroom visit, join in an evening activity or just come to tea. Parents may like to take their child out for tea and then join in an evening activity. We are very flexible but ask that you contact us in advance to make arrangements. Full details about school visits will be given on admission.

The majority of children board at Wells Park School from Monday to Friday during term time and are referred to the school by Essex County Council via the Special Educational Needs Operations team, following the approval of an EHCP.

Available from the school at cost price:

• Two Sport Polo Tops
• Two Tracksuit Tops
• Two Tracksuit bottoms
• PE Shorts
• PE Shirt
• PE bag
• Book bag
• Wells Park School Baseball Cap and a Bum Bag. 

The total cost of school uniform is calculated at between £139 & £145 – depending on size. Please refer to the uniform price list below for exact prices.

For new children starting, you pay for your child’s uniform on their first day at school.

School uniform items that will need to be brought to school:

• One pair of black trainers
• One pair of black plimsols

Play/evening clothes that will need to be brought to school for residential pupils:

These clothes will be kept at school and laundered as necessary.

• Six pairs of socks
• Six pairs of pants/underwear
• Two pairs of pyjamas
• One dressing gown
• Three T-shirts
• Three sweatshirts
• Three casual trousers or jogging bottoms
• One coat
• Two swimming trunks
• Two swimming towels
• One pair of trainers (not for school)
• One pair of wellington boots
• One pair of conventional slippers
• One small rucksack / holdall for swimming kit, trips etc.

These clothes will be kept at school and laundered as necessary.

Your child will also need a bag to keep their toiletries in:

• Soap
• Shampoo
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Shower gel
• Brush/comb

NB: Sorry – aerosol and spray cans are not permitted for Health & Safety reasons.

The school is set in several acres of Essex countryside a stone's throw from the Central Line station at Grange Hill.

There is a car park outside the main entrance and further parking is available further down the main drive.

Download and view the pupil's lunch menu below. 

The school is set in several acres of Essex countryside a stone's throw from the Central Line station at Grange Hill. The main building is surrounded by green space and is split across two floors, providing living accommodation for our pupils at one end, and their school classrooms at the other. The outside facilities include a playground, an equipped play area, a large playing field, a school farm and a section of private woodland where we have a forest school.

The immediate vicinity is monitored by CCTV, with access to the school grounds being secured by electronic gates. 

The school has six classrooms, each equipped with a computer, digital camera, audio equipment and interactive screens. The children have use of laptops and iPads, and enjoy a gym, cinema room, heated indoor swimming pool, food technology room, assembly room, music room, family room and an i-Zone library area. 

The residential area has four ‘houses’, located on two floors. Each house has five bedrooms, including one, two and three beds. Children can bring posters, photos and soft toys for their bedrooms to help them feel at home.

The facilities include bathrooms with baths and showers, an open-plan kitchen and a lounge area. The children enjoy large screen TVs, computers, Xboxes, PlayStations and further games in The Youth Club.

Residentially, the pupils also have access to a Children's VIP room, where they can meet visitors, as well as Skype facilities for contacting their family and friends during the school week.

Telephone

You can telephone your child between the following times:

3.45pm to 4.30pm & 6.15pm to 7.45pm 

House numbers can be found on the inside of your child's red chat book.

Due to activity times, please try and call between 6pm-7:30pm Monday - Wednesday

PS. We advise you not to make regular arrangements to telephone on Thursday evenings as this is a House Night and the children are often out doing special activities with their house group and do not get back until 7.30-8pm

Whatsapp/Facetime

We have Whatsapp and Facetime call facilities in school and if you wish to use them, we can arrange this for you. Please be aware that there may be times when these facilities may not be available due to availability of the room / staffing or connection issues. If this is the case, you can always have a phone call with your child.

Write

Contact with the home is very important to our children. Please try to write at least once a week and encourage other family members to write as well. The children really enjoy receiving letters and cards.

Our address is:  

Wells Park School, School Lane, Lambourne Road, Chigwell, Essex, IG7 6NN

Visit

We encourage parents to come and spend time in school once their child has settled in. However, in order for these visits to be successful, it is very important that they are planned in advance. Please arrange this with either the Director of Education or the Director of Care.

Birthdays 

A very special day! If your child’s birthday falls on a school day, you can make arrangements with us to celebrate your child’s birthday.

At Wells Park, reading is a key part of the curriculum. Reading happens all the time in the classroom and in everyday life. It is taught in specific reading and English lessons, but children are constantly practising their reading skills in the wider curriculum. We strive to give the pupils of Wells Park skills for life and these skills are underpinned by being able to read confidently.

What is reading?

Reading is making meaning from print. It requires that we:

• Identify the words in print – a process called word recognition
• Construct an understanding from them – a process called comprehension
• Coordinate identifying words and making meaning so that reading is automatic and accurate – an achievement called fluency

As children move through EYFS and KS1, they develop their skills in decoding. By the time they reach KS2 most children have mastered their phonic skills and the balance moves towards making meaning from the text and developing fluency.

Did you know?

If you can’t read 5% of words in a text the meaning becomes lost. This is why it is so important to read with your child to help them overcome unfamiliar or tricky words, so that they understand what they are reading.

What should parents/carers do at home to support their child’s reading development? 

• Encourage the use of Fonetti or Lexia at home. Your child will have been sent home with their pupil's login and passwords, but please do not hesitate to request them if you need them. 
• Read at the weekend with your child.
• Listen to your child read. This helps them to develop their fluency.
• Read to your child. This will help them to understand how to use expression to bring stories to life and develop their own voice as readers.
• After listening to them, or reading to them, ask them some of the questions. The discussion you have will be very valuable to their reading development.
• Talk about the meanings of new words.
• For emerging readers, it often helps to read the same book/text more than once.

How you can make reading fun

We look forward to working with you to support both the development and enjoyment of reading for your child. 

Headteacher
Matthew Surman

Deputy Headteacher
Lisa Bunn

Head of Care
Amy Antoniou

Deputy Head of Care
Paul Johnson

Family Officer & Designated Safeguarding Lead
Jenny Walling

Administration Assistant
Samantha Piechulla

School Office Manager
Wendy Stevens

At Wells Park, we do all we can to help leavers say goodbye. It is important to everyone in the school to help others leave well. Often, family come in to be part of the ceremony. As part of leaving, all the children and adults share memories and experiences with their friend who is leaving. The grand finale is a ‘Leaving Arch’ where the celebrated leaver runs under the arms of the school members to cheers and applause. Farewells are then said and the family leave as their friends wave them on to their future.

Here are some of the comments from leavers:

Goodbye, and I promise to come back and let you know how I'm getting on.

Goodbye, I will miss you all so much. Wells Park School is great.

Good luck to all my friends that are leaving and those that will still be at Wells Park.