We are fresh off the back of our wonderful trip to Hobbledown Heath. The Gems pupils were fantastic, and their behaviour, listening and cooperation made us all very proud. We know that successfully accessing the community is really important for their life skills and also high on each family’s priority lists. It was a wonderful day, and we hope pupils enjoyed themselves as much as we did. Please see the photographs below.

We are revisiting as many set one sounds as we can in phonics, and we encourage families to do the same at home. All exposure to reading and words is beneficial to our pupils and we want this to continue over the long summer holidays when they will understandably be out of their routine. We also aim to establish numbers 1-10 and 10-20 but this will be done at a pace that suits the pupils. 

As a class we have been discussing other ways in which Gems pupils can learn about money and numbers. As we live in an increasingly cashless world, we think it is important that pupils understand what a cash card does. When you have the opportunity in a shop or supermarket, try to let the children tap or use the card (where it is safe to do so). This will hopefully embed the idea that a transaction must take place and establish a sense of routine that they can become familiar with. 

As you can see below, we have been growing some sun flowers that children have been watering and looking after. I’m sure they would be even bigger if we could ever see some sunshine!

I hope we can see some Gems families at the Summer Fair this Saturday. It promises to be a wonderful event.

We continue to enjoy Mr Burton leading us in some of our favourite Makaton inspired songs on Mondays and Tuesdays. We have also been joined by some of our friends from mainstream classes who have taken part in Attention Bucket with us. This is excellent inclusive practice and a chance for us to form friendships with other learners.

Attention bucket makes up a large part of our timetable. Pupils 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. 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

• If you are late in the morning and we have gone to OT, please bring your child to the main office and someone will help you from there.

• 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.