Happy Friday! Another week ticked off and only one more to go until we break up for our Christmas holidays. We are definitely flagging a bit in 10G this week, so many of us have been full of a cold and poorly but we are powering through to get us to the end of next week in one piece!

This week during our shopping sessions we have been shopping for our Secret Santa friend. Thank you to everyone for their support with this and sending in the funds so that everyone could take part. Buying for someone else is probably a concept that some of us have never questioned, but it can be extremely tricky for some of our learners to navigate and understand this. There are lots of skills involved such as thinking from someone else’s point of view and also trying to keep your own emotions/opinions out of your decision making, all very complex things to have to do. Everyone had a crib sheet to use that their Secret friend had completed for them to give them some starting ideas. Each group went to Home Bargains when it was their day to shop and, with support, found a variety of presents that we are sure their Secret friend’s will love. Another aspect of this activity to consider was keeping to a budget, again this can be difficult understanding that although a present might be perfect for someone, if it is over budget then it cannot be bought. On top of all these skills, add into the mix that Home Bargains was especially busy and loud due to the time of year and again, this adds another difficult element to this task.

A special mention goes to Lily and Katie for showing some excellent thinking and problem solving skills whilst shopping, as well as thinking carefully about what their Secret friend would like. Well done to both of you. Next week in class we will be wrapping our presents, with support, ready to exchange them on Friday on our last day of term.

We have been continuing with rehearsals for our Christmas performance throughout the week. Mrs Fisher raided the music cupboard and found some instruments for us to use as part of our performance. Pupils have enjoyed exploring the guitar, keyboards and other instruments throughout the school day. It has been really nice to hear the explorative sounds and excited pupils taking part in these activities.

On Tuesday afternoon we all contributed to a collaborative Christmas card to be sent to the local retirement home by the school councillors on Friday. We all decorated our own Christmas tree shape and then these fitted together in a tessellation pattern to create a giant Christmas tree shape.

On Wednesday, learners from 10G volunteered to take part in another signing video with Mrs Cobham. This time the theme is Christmas, keep your eyes peeled for the video next week.

Wednesday was Christmas party day so in the morning we all worked together to prepare our party food. Everyone made their own sandwich, buttering their bread independently and choosing their own filling. After dinner, it was time for the games to begin! We played pass the parcel to begin with, well done Reece for being our winner. Then it was musical chairs, it’s safe to say we have some very competitive pupils in 10G but the winner this time was Tyler. Finally we shared some more food and then had a quick game of Pie Face to finish off the festivities.

Thursday was Christmas dinner day, so while Reece was out shopping with Miss Patterson and Miss Smith, the rest of us worked together to make some Christmas crackers to share during our meal. They were very fiddly but we got there in the end. Christmas dinner was delicious as always, a big thank you to Carol and Olive in the kitchen from all of us in 10G.

We finally got to Friday, time for our last swimming session in the morning while Tyler went with the school council to deliver the Christmas cards to the retirement home on Southport Road. Paula was very kind to our learners and said that we could have a play session for our final lesson. We all had lots of fun playing with our friends and getting splashed by Paula. We had a last minute dress rehearsal for our Christmas performance when we had eaten our dinner, then it was golden time and assembly before snack and home time. Massive congratulations to Lily who is our Star of the Week this week for demonstrating her fabulous shopping skills this week.

Due to swimming not being on next Friday, we are hoping to go and visit Barton Grange to look at their amazing Christmas decorations before returning to school to eat chippy dinner as previous planned. Keep an eye out for more details of this next week.

Mrs Fisher, Mrs Cobham, Miss Patterson, Miss Smith and Miss Holliday

10G Autumn Week 13