Croeso i Dosbarth Draenog!
In Dosbarth Draenog our teacher is Mrs Steen.
Our teaching assistants are Mrs Wooding and Miss Jones.
We share our class information as well as lots of the things that our class have been learning about using Seesaw. Should you need a link to your child’s Seesaw account please contact the school office or speak to Mrs Steen when you collect your child.
Teaching and learning in our school changes each year according to the needs of the children in our classes however we would still like to give you an insight into what a year in Dosbarth Gwennol looks like!
To help us to do this, we would like to share some of their adventures from last year….
A Year in Dosbarth Draenog…
We had a wonderful fun-filled start to our year in Nursery with Miss Weaver, Mrs Wooding, Miss Jones, and Mrs Pitman, getting to know each other and developing our skills across the curriculum through exciting, hands-on, multi-sensory, play based activities.
We started our year in September with the topic ‘Getting to Know You’ during which we focussed on building relationships with each other and becoming familiar with our indoor and outdoor environments. As the weather cooled, we explored lots of Autumn artefacts, investigated a very large pumpkin and learnt about the traditions associated with Bonfire Night
During December we enjoyed learning about some of the traditions associated with Christmas. We made and sent cards, decorated our Home Corner, performed a Nativity play with the Reception Class and learnt some traditional Christmas songs. We enjoyed a Christmas party and were very excited to have a visit from Santa and Mrs Claus.
In January when Mrs Steen took over from Miss Weaver our ‘Wonderful Winter’ topic included ice experiments, making bird feeders, creating snowmen out of a range of materials, and making observational paintings of Winter trees. We particularly enjoyed making iced snowman biscuits. We also celebrated Chinese New Year by taking home lucky red envelopes, exploring Chinese artefacts, and using chopsticks.
During the second Spring term we enjoyed activities based around birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Saint David’s’ Day, Mother’s Day and Easter. We made a range of cards and gifts. We celebrated World Book Day by dressing up as a book character and bringing our favourite books to school.
We started the Summer Term with a focus on Growing and Changing. We planted sunflower seeds. learnt about life on the farm in Springtime and became familiar with the names of some baby animals. We enjoyed looking at baby photos as we considered how adults grow and change. After the May half term break we focussed on the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar and learnt all about the life cycle of a butterfly. We read Oliver’s Vegetables and learnt about where different fruit and vegetables grow and what we need to eat to keep us healthy.
During our final term in Nursery we took part in lots of activities to prepare us for full-time school. We visited the Reception classroom, went into the school canteen, played on the big yard and spent time with Mrs Brophy.
Throughout the year we experienced a range of painting techniques including mono printing, tyre printing, hand printing and splatter painting. We had many opportunities to develop our creativity both indoors and outside using loose parts. We enjoyed visits to Forest School where we experienced the changing seasons and developed many skills. We took risks and worked together to solve problems whilst having lots of fun. We spent a lot of time developing our understanding and use of the Welsh language and culture. We all enjoyed being ‘Helpwr Heddiw’ and learning Welsh with Fflic a Fflac in addition to daily ‘Helpwr Heddiw’ sessions during which we learnt a range of Welsh words, phrases and songs and rhymes. We had lots of opportunities to develop our understanding of Welsh culture including coming to school in Welsh themed clothing to celebrate Saint David’s Day and taking part in whole school Eisteddfod craft competitions. We learnt lots of new songs and rhymes and enjoyed sharing numerous books both whole class and one-to-one with an adult. We all enjoyed participating in the Book Trust Pori Drwy Stori ‘It’s Time to Rhyme!’ and Book Talk programmes. We took part in regular myHappymind sessions which helped our well-being and developed our resilience. We learnt how to use simple programmes on the interactive whiteboard and how to programme a Bee Bot. All these activities helped to develop our skills across the curriculum and laid the foundations for the start of our full-time school journey.