Croeso i Dosbarth Clywedog
‘Believe that you can do more than you imagine.’
Welcome to our class page. My name is Miss Morris, the Year 4, 5 and 6 teacher. I am really looking forward to being your child’s class teacher this year. I hope that their year in Dosbarth Clywedog will not only be a happy one, but also a huge success. We’ve got some really exciting learning experiences planned for the year.
Mrs. Groves is our wonderful teaching assistant throughout the week. She supports groups and individuals with their learning. The children love learning outdoors and they especially enjoy Forest School with Mrs. Johnson on a Thursday afternoon. Mrs. Johnson also teaches the class on a Tuesday afternoon where the children develop their skills in Expressive Arts.
At Ysgol Sant Dunawd, we value the support of families to enable children to get the most out of each school day. Please take some time to read the Welcome Guide below so that you can support your child at home to become a successful learner.
Homework
At Ysgol Sant Dunawd, we believe in a little and often and that practice makes progress! The children have weekly spellings to practise on Spelling Shed (to complete at least 5 games) and weekly times tables practice on Times Tables Rock Stars (at least 10 minutes). We also encourage the children to read a few pages of their reading book each night, aloud to an adult (they can also read on Oxford Owl). There will be a task set on My Maths on a Friday to be completed by the following Thursday. This will sometimes be linked to the work completed in class that week or an introduction to new concepts to be taught the following week. Please click on ‘Useful Links’ for all links to the websites mentioned above.
Our INSPIRE Inquiries
Dosbarth Clywedog’s first inquiry this year will be ‘How are we connected to the sea?’. We were shocked to find out that despite about 71% of the earth being covered by oceans, more than 80% of the ocean has never been explored or seen by humans!
We will be considering the connections we have and how we are dependent upon the sea. The children have already come up with some amazing questions and they are interested to discover more about the creatures living in the sea particularly how they have adapted to live in conditions where there is no sunlight. We will also be considering the impact climate change has upon the oceans.
We are looking forward to reading two texts to support our learning during this inquiry: Survivors (The men who shared a sandwich on the seabed) and Michael Morpurgo’s ‘This Morning I Met a Whale’.
There are lots of books about the Oceans and Seas – fiction, non fiction and picture books. Click the link below to see other books your child may like to read during our Inquiry.
Best children’s books – Oceans & Seas Topic (KS2) (booksfortopics.com)
Our previous INSPIRE Inquiries
Why are there so many castles in Wales?
Wales is often called ‘the land of castles’ – there are 600 of them! Wales has more castles per square mile than any other country in Europe. The question is: why are there so many castles?
Down by the Riverside
As our school is so close to a river we thought we should know a little bit more about rivers, in particular the River Dee. To spark our curiosity, we went on a river walk. We had lots of questions to answer following our walk…
Where does the water come from? Where does the river start and end? Are all rivers just one river? What places does the river flow through? What lives in the river? Why is there rubbish in the river? Can you drink the water from a river? Do we waste water?
Did you know…? The River Clywedog originates to the west of Wrexham, and joins the River Dee some four miles south east of the city.
During the 18th and early 19th centuries, the river was the area’s powerhouse, fuelling 17 mills along its length. These mills prepared cloth and paper, and ground wheat and barley. Huge waterwheels powered the bellows blasting air into the iron furnaces at Bersham. Today the Clywedog valley has returned to nature, but its rich industrial heritage still plays an integral part in the valley’s life.
Our Previous INSPIRE Topics (Dosbarth Dinas Bran 2021 – 2022)
Our first topic this year is called ‘The Best Version of Myself!’. The main areas of learning for this topic are Health & Wellbeing and Science & Technology. The children will learn about eating healthily, the effect of exercise on the body and the importance of sleep, and how each of these play a part in making sure we are the best versions of ourselves. As a sports scientist or a performance coach, it will be their job to advise a well-known athlete/performer of their choice who is training for a big event about sleep, diet and exercise and how this relates to the way their body works. We will also be reading the book ‘Wonder’ by R. J. Palacio.
Our Trips
Enterprising and Creative Learners – Mini Fiver Challenge in Year 5
During December, Year 5 pupils became young entrepreneurs and completed their own mini version of the Fiver Challenge. They worked really hard to design, make and market a product linked to Christmas to sell to our pupils and parents. The children were each given £5 to start their new businesses and they had to ensure that they would make enough profit to not only pay back the £5, but to also donate their profits to their chosen charities. They all did an amazing job and their businesses were a huge success!
