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From The Spanish Classroom

To acquire a second language is it very important… to be a good listener.

“Active listening is a valuable technique that requires the listener to thoroughly absorb, understand, respond, and retain what’s being said”.  – Centre of creative leadership.

Becoming an Active Listener

• Pay Attention. Give the speaker your undivided attention and acknowledge the message.
• Show That You’re Listening. Use your own body language and gestures to show that you are engaged.
• Provide Feedback.
• Respond Appropriately.

Prepare yourself for the message:

• Limit distractions. Move away from distractions so that you can pay full attention to the other person. Take note of the person’s tone of voice and body language as well.
• Pay attention to what’s being said, not what you want to say. Set a goal of being able to repeat the last sentence the teacher says. This keeps your attention on each statement.
• Be okay with silence. You don’t have to always reply or have a comment. A break in dialogue can give you a chance to collect your thoughts.
• Encourage the teacher to clarify ideas and offer more examples.
• Restate the key points you heard and ask whether they’re accurate. “Let me see whether I understand you correctly…” is an easy way to clarify any confusion.

If you are listening:

• Look at the person that is presenting.
• Avoid any distractions (close your books, notes, and put away any other objects that can make you lose the focus on the presentation).
• Be ready to answer some questions that the student that is presenting has prepared for the class.

If you are presenting:

• Prepare some questions about the project for the class.
• Try to speak clear and loud enough.
• Bring some visual materials to make it more attractive for the class.

In conclusion, concentrate on what’s being said and think about what the speaker is saying rather than about what to say next.

Almost every week the Spanish students can present an oral project about the different topics that they have been learning: The house, family, weather, the city, food, clothing, animals, and much more. This is a great opportunity to put their communication skills into practice and make the lessons fun, useful and interactive.

Javier Vidal

Spanish Teacher

Year Six English Instructional Writing

Last week in English, we had to create a shoe from only recycled materials, and we had to write instructions explaining, step by step, how to build them. We had one week to complete this activity and in that time period many shoes were invented, and the students had so much fun.  Overall, it was a great learning experience.

What we had to do:

Miss Nel gave us a week notice that we were going to build recycled shoes, which gave us plenty of time to gather our materials. First, we started brainstorming on an A3 piece of paper and listed our materials, which became our poster. Next, we picked a theme for our shoe and then started building them. After that, we wrote our step-by-step instructions explaining how to build our shoes. Last, we presented what we built to our classmates.

Results:

Our project was out of fifteen and most of the students received very good marks and should be proud of themselves.

Written by:

Juliette East

Year 6 Student

Farm Day In Year 2

“While we try to teach our children all about life, the farm teaches us what life’s all about – and how each seed tells its own story”

Last week Friday, our Year 2’s celebrated all things agricultural at Farm Day! Each student was encouraged to dress as a farmer and come to school with the farmer spirit, ready to chat about our wonderful Earth, and how it provides many natural and essential goods.

Dressed in our flannel shirts and cowboy hats, we had a fun day learning about animals that live on a farm and what they eat to get big and strong. We also learnt about what kinds of crops are grown on a farm, how they are grown and what they also need to grow big and strong.

One of our favourite parts of Farm Day was when we got the opportunity to interact with some of the farm animals who visited our school for the day. We saw some sheep, a tortoise, some bunnies, some chickens, and a few other very special and very cute animals. So grateful to have this experience!

Siobhan Hendry

Year 2 Teacher

Mental Health Awareness Month

The Egyptian Wesekh

Term 4 is always the most exciting for our Year 3’s.  This is because they have seen previous Year 3 “Egyptian’s” strutting the school grounds in all their Egyptian finery and they just can’t wait to start learning about Ancient Egypt. We kicked off the term investigating Egypt’s geographical features, the pyramids, Nile River, Egyptian civilization, Pharaohs, as well as their gods and goddesses.

Our Year 3’s have also already begun planning for Egypt Day and have created a beautiful jewellery accessory known as a Wesekh that they can wear on the day.  The jewellery of ancient Egyptians held religious and symbolic significance and was treasured for its beauty and power against evil and death. It was buried with men and women because the Egyptians expected to enjoy wearing their finery in the afterlife.

We started our Wesekhs by looking at various real examples and discussing their features and designs, looking in particular at shape, symmetry and colour. Students then went ahead and designed their necklace by first deciding on a shape and then layout.  The next step was to decorate the Wesekh by using anything that sparkled including old costume jewellery, glitter, beads and precious stones that the students collected. The results were stunning!

Be sure to keep an eye out for these amazing accessories on the 12th of November when Year 3 steps out in style on Egypt Day!

Mandy Goch

Year 3 Teacher   

Learning about Electric Circuits

“There is a driving force more powerful than steam, electricity and nuclear power: the will.” – Albert Einstein

The Year 2 students had an extremely fun and interesting Inting last week with Experi-Buddies. They have been learning about electricity for the past few weeks and this Inting helped build on their knowledge of how electricity works.

Learning about electricity at this age is vital for young students as it teachers them how electricity works, the importance of electricity as well as the hazards that come with it.

We learnt about the different types of electricity, namely: static electricity, mains electricity and current electricity. The students enjoyed this and seemed fascinated by electrical circuits. New terms were introduced to the students, such as: conductors and insulators, open circuits, closed circuits, series circuits and parallel circuits.

Experi-Buddies expanded the student’s knowledge by showing them what a circuit looks like and how it works. The students were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to connect a circuit themselves which was the highlight of the day.

“Talent is like electricity. We don’t understand electricity. We use it.” – Maya Angelou

Erin Hierse

Year 2 Teacher

Measurement In Reception Year

In Reception Year, we have been learning about measurement. First, we learnt about length and more recently, we have been learning about capacity.

The students learnt that capacity means how much space a container has that can be filled. At this stage, we measure with non-standard units and therefore used smaller containers to fill larger containers. The students watched eagerly as the water trough was filled with water. Green food colouring and glitter was added for fun. 

They then had so much fun using spoons to measure into cups and cups to measure into larger containers. The students had to count how many spoons of water would fill a cup and how many cups would fill a larger container.

They learnt so much from this activity and had a lot of fun in the process.

Bronwen Nuthall

Reception Year Teacher

Learning About the Farm in Pre-Reception

For the next two weeks, the Foundation Stage students are learning about the farm. It is a very exciting theme for them and they look forward to it every year.

The Pre-Reception students have been practicing saying farm animal names, baby animal names and noises that they make. They have been playing fun farm animal games and activities with farm animal toys, creating wonderful farm pictures, singing farm songs such as Old Mac Donald and listening to a collection of farm stories.

They are not only learning about farm animals, but also about all the different farms you get, and the crops harvested from them. They thoroughly like investigating planting seeds and farm machines too. Some students were fascinated to find out those potatoes, carrots and apples, etc. come from farms and then get distributed to the Supermarkets.

We even planted some tomatoes at school and the students are watering them and watching them grow with great anticipation.

Next week Friday, we are ending off the theme by having a Farm dress up day and a Petting Zoo is coming to visit us in Foundation Stage.

The students are enjoying all the activities and are learning so much as they explore and discover new things about the Farm.

Cindy Nunan

Pre-Reception Teacher

The World Of Work

In Year 1, we have been having a lot of fun while learning about ‘The world of work’ in our Global Perspectives.

We have been role-playing a variety of different jobs in class from: ‘The Office’, to the ‘Doctor’s Surgery’, a ‘Shop’ and the ‘Hairdresser’s’.  It has been wonderful to watch the students explore, collaborate and use their imagination.

Role-playing for children can really spark creativity, helping develop their language and communication skills while allowing them to make sense of real-life situations.

My students all did very well in their role-playing, they were creative and participated with so much enthusiasm and confidence. Well done Year 1!

Charlotte Cronje

Year 1 Teacher