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.
A Year in Dosbarth Draenog…
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 Draenog looks like!
To help us to do this, we would like to share some of their adventures from last year….
We had a wonderful fun-filled start to the year in Nursery getting to know each other and developing our skills across the curriculum through exciting, hands-on, multi-sensory, play based activities. We learnt lots of new songs and rhymes throughout the year. We enjoyed sharing numerous books whole class, in small groups and one-to-one with an adult. We enjoyed spending lots of time outdoors using the wheeled toys, mud kitchen, digging area and large loose parts. We enjoyed regular visits to our school hall where we learnt how to find a space, move in different ways and use a range of small equipment with increasing skill.
We experienced a range of painting techniques during the year including mono printing, tyre printing, hand printing and splatter painting. We had many opportunities to develop our creativity both indoors and outside including using loose parts.
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. We participated in 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 Shwmae Su’mae Day and taking part in whole school Eisteddfod craft competitions. We all enjoyed participating in the Book Trust Pori Drwy Stori ‘It’s Time to Rhyme!’ and Book Talk programmes.
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. We all enjoyed exploring the ‘Dark Den’ with different sources of light during our topic on Night and Day and finding out about daytime and night-time animals. We had lots of fun dressing-up in night-time clothes and ‘reading’ each other stories in our bedroom role play area. We explored lots of Autumn artefacts, investigated a very large pumpkin and learnt about the traditions associated with Bonfire Night as part of this topic.
During December we enjoyed learning about some of the traditions associated with Christmas. We made and sent cards, decorated our Home Corner, recorded a Nativity play and some traditional Christmas songs for our families and enjoyed a Christmas party.
When we returned to school in January our ‘Wonderful Winter’ topic included rescuing stranded bears from trees, 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 making lanterns, exploring Chinese artefacts, using chopsticks, and performing a ribbon dance. We also looked at other celebrations at this time of year including Valentine’s Day, Saint David’s’ Day, and Mother’s Day. We made cards and gifts and recorded a special message for our mums. We celebrated World Book Day by dressing up as book characters and sharing our favourite books. Towards the end of the Spring Term we started to think about all the baby animals being born on farms at this time of year and learnt their names. We enjoyed visits from a kitten called Shadow and a puppy. We ended the Spring Term with an Easter Egg hunt in Forest School.
After Easter we planted sunflower seeds, set up a wormery and watched chicks hatching. We started to think about how we had grown and changed since we were babies. We had fun looking at photos our friends and teachers as babies and enjoyed a visit from baby Florence. We also had a visit from Barney, a gorgeous Shetland pony. We celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee by learning about how Britain has changed during her 70-year reign, making flags, building palaces, and decorating crowns. We made jam tarts and held our own ‘street party’ on the last day of term.
During the last half term, we made cards for Father’s Day, enjoyed a trip to Alyn Waters Country Park, took part in Sport’s Day and spent time in the Reception classroom with Mrs Brophy. We enjoyed learning about a range of minibeasts and making some healthy snacks during Healthy Eating Week.