We finally have some sunshine, so we have been making the most of our outdoor provision. Pupils have accessed Vineyard Adventurers with Miss Balaram and had so much fun making leaf crowns and painting mud portraits on the trees. We are also enjoying lots of water play in our Gems Garden and pupils have been submerging number and letters in water trays.

We are setting aside time each day to work with all Gems pupils to help putting on socks and shoes. This is a time-consuming part of staff’s day, and we know that when they can accomplish this it, it will ease pressure at home and in school. Do practice this in the house as much as possible, because we really want this independent life skill to be embedded.

We also mentioned that we want pupils to understand the concept of money and payments. This will particularly impactful when we access the community on Fridays. We hope to establish the idea that a transaction must take place when you are in a shop or café.

Lots of work has been taking place to prepare Gems for the festival of sport. This has been really good for us to practice our running, jumping and throwing whilst at the same time improve our listening and following instructions.

     

                              

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.