Nursery World - We’ve explored… dragon school

A series of events culminating in a day at ‘dragon school’ were experienced by the children at one primary school in South East London. By Annette Rawstrone

The activities were inspired by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s Zog

It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to attend Dragon School and have lessons in flying, roaring, breathing fire, capturing a princess and fighting a knight. But that’s just what Reception children at Holbeach Primary School in Catford, South East London, did as they rounded off a half-term exploring stories around ‘Royals and Roars’ by following in the gigantic footsteps of their favourite dragon, Zog.

‘We like to finish off learning with a “memorable event” so that it ends with a bang rather than peters out,’ explains Reception teacher Sophie Bell. ‘My class really loved the dragons that we read about, probably because they’re so different to many other characters in books. There is so much scope with dragons, with them being frightening or kind and fun, two-headed, flying and fire-breathing. Taking part in Dragon School and reliving some of the story of Zog followed by a royal ball meant that there was a joyful conclusion to the term.’

READY FOR SCHOOL

Zog, a character in a book of the same name by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, is an accident-prone young dragon. This and other story books featuring dragons and royalty (see Book corner) were carefully chosen to avoid gender stereotypes – ensuring that the princesses were independent characters rather than girls purely focused on being pretty and looking for a husband – and include cultural diversity.

To reinforce the books, children engaged in role play and dressing-up. Some children, both boys and girls, enjoyed putting on princess dresses. ‘We have quite a lot of conversations about how what you wear or how long your hair is doesn’t determine who you are,’ says Sophie. ‘I like sharing The Paper Bag Princess because it is the prince who is vain and the princess who risks her life to save him. There is also always lots of hilarity when she calls him a “bum” at the end.’

Staff and children talked about how nice the princess dresses felt to wear because they were ‘swishy’. Another word that caught their imaginations was ‘delicate’ as they discussed what to wear for the special event. They decided that any clothes they chose needed to be practical for the school day and that bright colours would be ideal, rather than anything ‘delicate’ that could be easily damaged.

In the build up to Dragon School, the children made their own books on how to become a dragon. ‘Each day they used their mark-making skills to produce a new page for their book,’ says Sophie. ‘It was satisfying for the children to see their own work build up and gave them a great sense of achievement when their five-page book was “published”.’ They also made dragon hats and crowns with streamers for flying.

At the start of the school year it was identified that some of the children were not familiar with using cutlery, so staff have been gradually building up children’s skills. Children wanted to have a picnic after Dragon School, so staff supported them to prepare their own sandwiches.

The children were then as keen as Zog to get started on their Dragon School lessons:

Roaring: Staff and children started with small roars (right) and then got louder and louder, which helped them to understand the volume they were making and be able to control it. ‘We tell children to use their “indoor voices”, but what does that really mean?’ says Sophie. ‘In some homes, everyone talks loudly, and in other homes, children are expected to be quiet, so what is an “indoor voice”?’

She adds, ‘Being given permission to let rip and literally roar is very freeing. Children spend a lot of time at school being told to be quiet, so to be allowed to make a massive commotion is marvellous.’

Flying: Staff stacked up crates for the children to jump off and ‘fly’. ‘The crates were stacked high enough for them to be a challenge for many of the children and we spoke about landing safely,’ says Sophie. ‘Some children were nervous and it was great to see how supportive they were of each other. There was loads of counting – “one, two, three, jump!” – cheering and shouting, it was all very joyful. They also demonstrated turn-taking, which was quite difficult for those who were desperate to jump.’

Breathing fire: While staff aim to challenge children to take calculated risks, breathing actual fire was a step too far! Instead, they selected red and yellow balls and encouraged children to blow the balls and see how far they could get them. They also had hoops for the children to aim at ‘breathing’ the balls through or throwing bean bags into.

‘We have been working a lot on hand-eye co-ordination and being able to move and catch and focus on what you’re catching, because when we first started PE, the children would just stand with their arms open instead of move and try to catch objects,’ says Sophie. ‘So it was positive for the children to revisit their throwing and catching skills and use them for “fire breathing”.’

Capturing a princess: Staff want to be role models for the children, this includes joining in when the children are being physically active – not only to demonstrate particular skills but to show that everyone can take part in exercise.

Sophie and a colleague took on the role of princesses and ran around the playground with small groups of ‘dragons’ tasked with catching them after ‘On your marks, get set, go!’. ‘They thought it was hilarious to be running after us and capturing us,’ she says.

Fighting a knight: ‘We have spent months telling the children not to hit each other with the foam javelins, but we gave them special dispensation for the day,’ says Sophie. ‘We discussed how to use the javelin “swords” in a responsible way. It was a good way of children discussing and thinking about the boundaries of rough play. We’ve noticed that, post-pandemic, children have not had the same interactions with older cousins and friends at other houses where they have the opportunity for rough play and learning the signs and signals of when it’s not a game and it’s gone too far before someone is crying.’

Many of the children responded enthusiastically to the physicality and role playing involved in the play fighting.

The children fought each other with foam rollers

GRADUATION

Throughout the morning, children referred to the book, used story language and enjoyed repeating Madam Dragon’s refrain for each dragon skill lesson: ‘Now that you’ve been shown you can practise on your own and you’ll all be expert fliers by the time you’re fully grown.’

Children were given certificates at the royal ball to celebrate that they had ‘graduated’ from Dragon School. ‘The whole day gave lots of children the time to shine, especially those who often struggle academically,’ says Sophie. ‘They were able to show off their tremendous dance moves, or their fantastic flying – there was much respect for some of their leaping skills.’

Book corner

Zog by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler