could someone offer me some help please . i have started up a nurture group for year 2, 3 , working on literacy ,and am stuck . the year 3 are coming on nicely , mainly behaviour problems with them . but the year 2 im at a loss with . the 2 boys are way way behind on reading , writing , spelling , barely reception level , but the 2 girls in the group are ahead , possibly year 1 , early year 2 level . how can i plan for such a wide gap . what work can i give them to keep them all interested . do i do 5 minute box as a group or better words ? . im at a loss as i either bring it down to suit the boys , then the girls dont benefit . or vice versa . head says he wants results and fast or funding will cease and im out of a job . any advice greatly received .

Why don't you concentrate on phonics for the literacy part. Assess all children's ability and take it from there. Then when you give them a bit of independent work you can differentiate it to take account of the different abilities.

Why is it classed as a nurture group when you are required to concentrate on literacy and numeracy tasks only. if you have the children out for behaviour issue then this too needs addressing and you need time to engage with the group in this area. without their emotional needs being addressed then no learning will take place.

look at the letters and sounds phonics for an assessment sheet and take it from there.

It sounds to me that you have should been given a group with no consideration for their abilities [and your head sounds very harsh I might add]. if you are going to actively support children then you need to be able to support at a level they can access. If it was me I would start at the lower end for the boys rather than top end to match the more developed children ,otherwise you will be working with children who have no concept of what you are working on. Also if the others are out for behaviour/ social emotional issues then doing work they are confident with will only give them more confidence to start off with.

I don't know how long they are out for but it sounds like it might be better to break it up into short sessions on the differentiated tasks even if it is just for a little while.
Games are quite good if you must have them altogether because they would be keen to win.The behavioural ones would learn strategies and you could have literacy and numeracy game as well as a fun one. Children soon lear to add two numbers if they are on a dice.

thanks for the advice . the year 3s e behavioural as well as behind in their learning . the year 2s very behind in alll aspects of learning . its all a bit of a mish mash and i was feeling very lost . i have done ssessments on all areas of learning and its a very wide range of abilities . we play lots of learning games which they all enjoy but when real learning is introduced they resort back to silliness . the tachers are just glad theyre out of cllass . i have them every morning so they are expected to cover all literacy and numeracy strands in the curriculum with me . the head is actually quite nice but expects results .