Dragon spotted at Springside Special School on St George's Day

Springside Special School held a dragon-themed event to celebrate St George’s Day on Tuesday (23 April).

On St George’s Day, the first day of term, it was announced in assembly that a dragon’s nest with three eggs had been found on the school field. 

A ‘dragonologist’ (dragon expert) sent a message via video link to reassure the learners that the eggs were from a friendly dragon. He requested that the pupils took an oath to become honorary ‘dragon keepers’, completing daily quests taking on this role. 

For many of the school's pupils, speech is a challenge, some use a communication system such as symbol exchange and/or communicate via sign language, therefore the quests were designed to encourage lots of excitement and discussion. 

The event was aimed at encouraging writing for a purpose with the topic of ‘dragons’ as a focus for the whole week. 

Quests included writing a letter to the dragonologist to describe the nest and eggs so that he could determine the species of dragon; learners were also encouraged to write a report for ‘how to train a dragon,’ and instructions for ‘how to trap a dragon’. 

 

 

A witness visited classes to explain how he had seen the dragon and evidence of it living nearby, sharing a photograph of the dragon on the school roof.  The pupils were encouraged to write articles for the school newspaper to report this news.

During this fun-filled week, there were many cross-curricular links to provide extra opportunities for creative learning: designing armour, writing instructions for creating ‘dragon keeper’s clothing’, completing science experiments related to dragon themes and carrying out maths tasks such as creating a dragon using various shapes. 

On Friday (26 April), nominated learners from each class were invited for a special banquet style lunch. The room was decorated especially with St George’s Day decorations and learners were celebrated as outstanding dragon keepers, bringing a close to the event. 

Headteacher, Mrs Fierro commented: “The whole week has been a truly exciting time for both the staff and the learners. Such events take a lot of planning and commitment from all involved for the learners to be immersed in the world of dragons. The communication, language and literacy promoted through this event has proven, with relevant hooks into children’s learning, taking their lead is essential, alongside using topics that genuinely provoke interest.  

“I am so proud to be the headteacher of such a remarkable school. We would like to thank Neela from ‘Star Tree Studio’ and Jamie from ‘A1 Tree Surgeons’ for their support with this event. Linking local businesses within the school community is an area we would like to develop further. A huge thank you to both Carole Kelly and Becky Drury for organising and facilitating the event.”