Placement

Placement diary-The Dell Primary School

Day One:

On my first day at ‘The Dell Primary School’ I arrived into a vibrant, lively class full of smiling faces and the loud giggling of the reception class who I would be with for the next week. The staff and children were very welcoming and I got involved in activities with the children such as colouring pictures and helping them with their nativity play. As I looked around and explored the classroom I saw the sparkling colours and the useful letters which were scattered out to help the development of basic writing and reading. I loved seeing the way the children got involved with activities and how they played together with consideration for each other, and by the end of the day I knew all their names because each personality was different and remembered those personalities attached to their name. Inclusion based on SEN proved successful in accommodating children with speech difficulties and other minor learning disabilities.
The way the children learnt and the questions which they enthusiastically asked provided me with the understanding that, as four and five year olds, their skills and knowledge are forever blooming and will continue to do so in time and practise. There were play resources such as apparatus for P.E and play area’s with books and cushions. Overall I enjoyed my first day at the school. I hope to develop more skills and knowledge over the next few days.

Day Two:

On the second day at ‘The Dell Primary School’ I came into the classroom, again greeted by the happy faces of the reception class. Today we did some more colouring, painting and running around on toy reindeers. Before break time the children showed us the things they built with the Lego and building blocks and the beautiful pictures they drew.

From speaking to the teacher of the class I have learnt about the different levels of ability which exist from those who are highly developed in speaking and spelling, whereas others are less so, or struggling. The teacher also stated that the wellbeing of the children is the utter-most important thing before numeracy and literacy.

As I was walking around the school I noticed that the doors had different things on them, some said ‘pull’ and some said ‘push’ to help the children differentiate between contrasting learning areas.

Day Three:

On my third day of placement I watched the proud parents support their children in the Christmas nativity play. The staff made sure that each and every child had a part to play even if it was a short sentence. This helped to build their confidence and self-esteem and with the parents watching develops individual attention as well as working together as a class. Watching this play made me feel proud of the two reception classes, even though it was only day three I felt like I had played a minor role in a very small fraction of the children’s learning because of the questions they asked and the respect they showed me and I feel that they showed affection towards each other and sympathy when they upset someone.

Day Four:

On the fourth day of placement I watched the children read and write basic letters which had little anecdotes attached to them to understand the sounds of letters, for example, “f” is “fffff-lower” with the stem of the ‘f’ going down and then across the leaves. I found this a useful method in helping the children to gain more knowledge of the letters and the way they are interpreted by the children. In January the reception class joined the year ones for some reading and writing sessions to check and monitor their abilities.

Day Five:

On my final day of placement I learnt the seven areas of learning which they used in the school. These consisted of:

·         Developing ideas

·         What they did and how they did it and then be able to share it with the other children

·         Thinking for themselves

·         Observing

·         Copying staff

·         Understanding their own feelings

·         Numeracy, literacy and thinking skills

The children also participate in compulsory welsh and physical education.

The children thanked me for coming and asked if I was coming back. It was emotional for me to leave them, even though I had only been there for a week, I felt as though I knew them all so well. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at “The Dell” and would love to go back there again sometime soon.