Thank you to all families for your enthusiasm about our upcoming trip. We have confirmed Friday 24th May (last day of term) as the day we will attend. We are very excited, and we will prepare pupils with social stories and videos about what we will be seeing and doing.

Feel free to look at the website with your children at home as we continue to prepare them for an exciting day.

https://www.hobbledown.com/hounslow/ 

As our class caterpillars continue to grow, we have been enjoying The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. This beautiful story is also available via YouTube if you find the children enjoy this platform more than the book. 

We are fortunate that we have a weekly visit from Year 6 pupils. This is hugely beneficial for Gems pupils as they interact with older role models and improve their reading and phonics. 

We have worked hard in speedy sounds and phonics this week.

In phonics we have been learning/ recapping the sound ‘J’. 

This week we have stretched ourselves a little further in the kitchen and Miss Jeffs (our resident chef) has been helping the children to make blueberry pancakes. Thanks once again for your kind food donations.

Attention bucket makes up a large part of our timetable. The children have progressed and responded positively to the many stages of this process. It is a fairly easy process and something you could do at home should you be interested. 

https://www.kidztz.com/attention-bucket/ 

Please continue Phonics work at home if you can. But rest assured, there is no expectation to know all phonics. All pupils are on a journey, and we want them to work at the pace that suits them. 

We also recommend “reading for pleasure” as much as possible. If stories are too difficult, even just looking at the pictures and seeing what their attention is drawn to, is great for developing concentration and awareness.

We will continue to send home differentiated reading packs. Again, this is just for confidence building.

We find that LittleBig Foxes, Number Blocks and RWI songs on their websites are a great source of fun and education. 

         

Key messages

• Please practise writing and saying the Set 1 sounds at home, using the phonics website by Ruth Miskin to help you. 

• Would families please be so kind as to donate some general cooking supplies to help with our Thursday sessions. e.g., flour, oil, eggs, butter, lifelong milk, cupcake cases. This is not compulsory. Donations welcome.

• Pick up time for Gems pupils is 3pm. Please try to be prompt so we can maximise the time we have to set up for the next day’s learning.

• Please ensure that you have notified the school if you are going to be late. Gems registers MUST be completed by 9am.