Here we are again, the end of another week!

On Wednesday afternoon it was time for My Community lesson. We split into our 2 groups as usual, this week Group 1 stayed in class with Mrs Fisher to work on their self-help and independence skills, while Group 2 went with Mrs England and Miss Aindow to cook some delicious Fruity Flapjacks (see our other blog for more info about Group 2 cooking).

In class we worked on lots of different targets: Charlie and Nicola were practicing tying shoe laces (after Skye managed to crack this a few weeks ago, lots of other members of 8G are now very motivated to learn how to tie shoelaces too!), Daisy was using her iPad to request the puzzle pieces that she needed to finish her animal jigsaw, Thomas was completing 3 TEACCH boxes in the workstation, Harrison was following his visual schedule with faded support, and Francesca was logging onto the computer using "sticky keys". Super work, Group 1! We even got to sample the fruits of Group 2's labour after our daily mile, and majority verdict was a big thumbs up!

On Thursday morning it was time for a My Communication session. This week, we started to read a new book with Miss Heaton so it was Mrs Fisher's turn to keep reading. Our new book is Topsy and Tim have itchy heads which links to our theme of keeping healthy and looking after ourselves. We read a few more pages and some of us answered some who, what and where questions about the book- super listening! 

Then it was time to split into groups. Mrs England's group were using the character names from our new sight reading book, they were reading the characters names, then practicing writing or building their names too. Mrs Fisher's group were practicing their conversation skills- we used a chatter mat to choose a good question, then we asked our friend, listened to their answer, then even asked a follow up question! This can be really hard and requires lots of different skills, but Ben, Skye and Jake tried really hard with this, well done. Miss Aindow's group were using the sensory paint bags to write their names with their finger, then transferring this skill to writing in their books with a pencil. By the end of the session, they could write their surnames correctly, without prompts from anyone! Super work. Daisy was using her iPad to ask for an activity to be repeated using the "again" button which, by the end of the lesson, she could do without prompts from an adult to use the again button- brilliant work! 

On Thursday afternoon, 8G joined with 7G again to do some PE. First we went outside on the yard to warm up. We do lots of walking throughout the week in 8G so for a change, we decided to go for a run! We couldn't believe how many pupils LOVED running around the playground! There were lots of big grins and smiling faces, we must make sure we do this more often.
Then it was time to go into the hall. We kept with our "keeping healthy" theme and took part in some dance sessions. We danced to an action song to start with, then moved on to dancing like a popstar, to dances from around the world. Lots of the pupils said they were very tired from all of the exercise we had been doing, so we decided to cool down with some relaxation and yoga. It was nice to turn the lights off in the hall, sit or lie on the floor and listen to some relaxing music while our bodies cooled down. Thank you to 7G for another fun PE lesson!

Then it was Friday! Unfortunately, it was raining at playtime so we didn't get to play out. So before we started our lesson, we all did a brain break together to get our bodies and brains ready for learning. Before we started our My Thinking and Problem Solving session, Mrs Fisher did an Attention Autism session at the front. "What's in the Box?" brought out some bubbles, a bear that had balls popping out of it and a confetti filled balloon that she let go of and spilled confetti around the room. For Stage 2, we practiced our shape names, then used the water spray to reveal colours underneath them. Then for Stage , Rose and Daisy took a turn at using the water spray to reveal the colours under the shapes.
It was time to split into groups: Mrs Fisher's group were labelling doctor's equipment as long and short, Mrs England's group were using the keyboard on the computer to type the names of our sight reading characters and Miss Aindow's group were working through 3 TEACCH boxes in the workstation.

It was a real shame that we had to miss swimming again this week due to the pool being out of action, however we are hoping it will be back on next week. Instead, we had some Golden Time in class where we got to choose which activity we would like to do.
And no swimming meant Celebration Assembly (every cloud!). Our Star of the Week this week is... Harrison! For some excellent work in his sight reading sessions- well done Harrison!

Hope you all have a nice weekend, we will see you next week.

(P.S apologies that the photographs underneath are not in the right order, I've just spent half an hour trying to swap them round but they keep swapping back so I've given up!!!)

Mrs Fisher, Mrs England and Miss Aindow

8G Spring Term Week 4