Croeso i Dosbarth Gwennol!
Our teacher is Mrs Rayner and Mrs Rosen-Edwards.
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 Rayner/Mrs Rosen-Edwards at the end of the school day.
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 the adventures we plan to go on this year….
The upcoming academic year promises to be a rich and exciting journey of learning, discovery, and community engagement. With a wide range of topics designed to inspire curiosity and deepen understanding, our pupils will explore the world around them—and their place within it.
In the autumn term, we will begin with our No Outsiders topic, celebrating each other’s differences and fostering a culture of inclusion and respect. This will lead into our first major inquiry: “What kind of world do we want to live in?” Pupils will explore how our country is led, the rights they hold as children, and imagine what their ideal world might look like. In the second half of the term, we will introduce the topic of climate change, focusing on current environmental threats and encouraging pupils to think critically about the kind of future they want to help shape.
In January, Dosbarth Gwennol will be exploring our big question, “What makes Wales special?” We will begin by travelling back in time to learn about the Celts. We will explore who the Celts were and where they lived, creating timelines to help us understand how life has changed over time. The children will compare different aspects of everyday Celtic life, including homes, jobs and roles within communities, and will begin to recognise the difference between facts and beliefs. We will also look at Celtic warriors and will explore how the landscape of Wales influenced where people chose to live, particularly the importance of hillforts.
As part of this learning, we will explore Celtic beliefs, including the role of Druids, and will discuss how beliefs can influence behaviour. Through our Forest School sessions, the children will develop their practical and scientific skills by investigating natural materials and how the Celts used them to solve problems. They will explore properties such as strength, flexibility and waterproofing, and will apply this knowledge to design their own simple shelters and tools. A highlight for many will be preparing vegetables and cooking soup over an outdoor fire, giving them a real hands-on experience of outdoor living.
After Easter, we will continue our learning by focusing more closely on Wales itself, exploring why people visit and what makes it unique. We will learn about mountains, how they are formed and their key features, before locating and plotting mountains across Wales on maps. The children will then extend their learning by researching mountains from around the world, identifying patterns in where the tallest mountains are found and thinking about the geographical reasons behind this. They will also use their digital skills to create databases about Welsh mountains and will design branching databases to help others choose places to visit based on their interests.
In expressive arts, the class will study Welsh artists and will create their own landscape-inspired artwork. They will also compose music based on images of Wales. This will be a rich and engaging journey, full of creativity, discovery and hands-on learning, helping the children develop a deeper appreciation of what makes Wales so special.
We will continue our topic by exploring the natural world of Wales and learning about the wide variety of plants and animals found here. The children will investigate habitats, adaptations and food chains, as well as life cycles and the challenges facing wildlife today, including the impact of human activity and the risk of extinction.
