Week beginning 9th March 2020 

Some of us have learnt lots about Komodo dragons this week and have spent time researching their habitat. We also looked at videos of Komodo dragons in the zoo and designed our own enclosure for them. We made models- because real size enclosures would have been too big! 

Every week we use lots of different websites to support our learning. Here are some we’ve used this week.  

Jolly Phonics songs https://vimeo.com/106231366 

Stories read aloud https://www.storylineonline.net/ 

 Maths games: https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting 

Nursery Rhymes: https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-songs-index/zhwdgwx 

We (the staff) make our own playdough too. The children love playing with it.  

(There are lots of easy to make recipes and methods and this is one of them:  

(Taken from the Family Education website) 

Colored Playdough 

Materials 

• 1 cup water 

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 

• 1/2 cup salt 

• 1 tablespoon cream of tartar 

• Food coloring 

• Saucepan 

• 1 cup flour 

Directions 

1. Combine water, oil, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring in a saucepan and heat until warm. 

1. Remove from heat and add flour. 

1. Stir, then knead until smooth. (The cream of tartar makes the dough last longer)  

1. Store this dough in an airtight container or a Ziploc freezer bag.) 

Wk beginning 10th February 2020

We have been learning about St. David this week and why he is special to Wales. We are going to be part of a whole school celebration after half term so we have been practising a Welsh song to sing. We built a dragon hide in the classroom after researching bird hides and Snowdonia ( where a red dragon might live). The children made a list of resources and we gathered them together. Our dragon hide was amazing! And we saw a dragon! ( Miss VPJ in a costume). 

Wk beginning 3rd February

This week we have been wondering why the red dragon of Welsh myths would have wanted so much to live in the mountains in Wales. We looked at pictures of the Snowdonia National Park and thought it would be an excellent place to fly and stretch your wings. There aren't too many people to bother a dragon and maybe the caves in the hills would be a good place to hide eggs and bring up young dragons. There is plenty of water to drink and the dragon might like to eat some sheep now and then!

We have also been learning about sorting things into groups, and keeping/ recording a tally of the amounts in the groups. 

Outside some of the children built a dragon's den with some sticks. they first sorted the sticks and then decided the best design for a den. Groups have been working together with the boomwhackers to create repeated sound patterns in the garden. 

In the Mission Zone, groups have been collaborating to make safe traps for dragons and creating constructions of different lengths to compare. 

Week beginning 27th January

We have had another busy week in Dosbarth yr Aran. In the Mission Zone lots of children have been creating dragon models, making play-dough dragon eggs and nests, measuring dragons and creating stories of their own in our small world tuff tray. Outside, lots of measuring and weighing has been going on in the mud kitchen as well as lots of fabulous suggestions for recipes and ways to cook different dragon foods. 

In the classroom children have been following instructions to draw pictures, listening very carefully. We have been role playing and acting out our daily routines from when we get up to going to bed. We have been playing money games on Topmark maths to try and practise our money skills. 

Dragons! Dragons! And more dragons!

The children are enjoying listening to lots of dragon stories, dancing like dragons, writing about dragons, drawing dragons and of course,  performing dragon based yoga. The yoga sessions are always a firm favourite with the majority of the children. They especially love the relaxation bit towards the end. 

Thank you everyone who has signed up for the Solihull parents' course. This is free for all parents in Denbighshire and it is an excellent way to learn more about your child's development. There are still spaces if anyone else wants to join in. 

Wk beginning 16th December

We have been talking about the signs of winter and how we recognise it is winter. We have discussed the types of clothes we need and named them in Welsh.

We have been making lots of winter craft in all learning areas.

We had Christmas dinner and our Christmas party this week. They were both a lot of fun.

As usual the children have had lots of time to chose their activities and play.

All the staff of Dosbarth yr Aran , Ysgol Y Faenol hope everyone enjoys a lovely winter break and if you are celebrating Christmas- that you have a wonderful time.

Wks beginning 2nd Dec and 9th Dec

The last two weeks have been so busy! Singing, acting, preparing costumes etc. The Foundation Phase Christmas shows have been amazing. We are all so proud of the children. They were all fabulous.

We have been doing a lot of winter craft this week (as you would expect) and will be continuing next week. The children have been working hard to improve their fine motor skills which will support their writing skills as they learn.

All Nursery and Reception are participating in a short Jolly Phonics session each day to help them learn their initial sounds and Reception are doing well with their new reading groups.

Wk beginning 25th November 2019

The children ask if they could learn more about ladybirds as part of our Up, Up and Away topic. We found out some interesting facts and learnt how to draw a seven spotted ladybird by following instructions. 

We listened to the story The Bad Tempered Ladybird, joining in when we had learnt to predict some of the words. Everyone was laughing at the story. 

We also listened to Aesop's Fable about The Lion and the Mouse, we talked about friendship and being kind to each other. 

We have also been busy sorting things into groups, ordering by size, and then recording our groups on whiteboards.   

We have started some winter craft activities in the Challenge Zone: very exciting. 

Most children have also been practising ready for the Christmas performances. Everyone is very proud of their hard work and effort. 

Wk beginning 18th Nov 2019

This week we have been talking exploring planes and air travel. We have created a role play 'inside of an aeroplane', made and flown paper planes, discussed what we might pack for a holiday and talked about all things plane related! 

We have been learning lots of Welsh with the help of Fflic and Fflac, two characters in our books and stars of a series of videos. 

Lots of the children have been practising for our Foundation Phase Christmas performances. They are doing very well. 

Wk beginning 11th November 2019

Some of the children started to learn our Christmas songs this week ready for our Foundation Phase Christmas Play. The children involved have been trying very hard to pick up the catchy tunes. 

A number of the children have also listened to and discussed the Nativity story. 

We have been continuing with our discussions about astronauts and space travel. We have made more model rockets and created role play areas. We have listened to music about the planets and asked about the names of the planets. 

We have been learning how to sort things into groups and how to record those groups- that is quite tricky and will take some practise. We are also trying to write our names and form numbers correctly. 

We have done lots of building, making, painting and playing in the different Foundation areas, especially the Challenge Zone this week as it has been very wet and windy! We have been outside with our wellies on -and more worms have been measured and Miss Davies showed us how to do leaf rubbings.