Year 3 Is Shaping Up!
A sphere is like a bouncy ball. A prism is like a building tall.
A cylinder is like a can of soda pop. A cube is like the dice you drop.
3D shapes are here and there. 3D Shapes are everywhere!
Learning about shapes through music and song is a lot of fun. Year 3 have learnt to identify both 2D and 3D shapes along with their respective properties. The students used their growing knowledge to design, cut and create their very own shape monsters!
After mastering the edges, faces and vertices of various 3D shapes, the students had an opportunity to construct their own 3D shape. They managed this task in groups of three by designing and building a 3D model in class using toothpicks and marshmallows!
Well done Year 3… but I am still wondering how all the marshmallows mysteriously disappeared!
Mandy Goch
Year 3 Teacher
Lovely Letters In Foundation Stage
As part of our People Who Help Us theme we learned about postal workers and the process of posting a letter to it finally reaching its destination. Each of the parents were asked to write a lovely letter to their child.
Recently the students were surprised by a visit from Postman Pat who came in to deliver the letters. Each student was very excited to receive their special letter.
Afterwards we all sat down on the mat and read our letters. It was clear that the students thoroughly enjoyed this experience.
Here is what the students’ responses were to their letters:
Michael Anigboro (5 years old) “I am excited to get my letter.”
Lilia Blom (5 years old) “I love my family and my letter.”
Keona Chukwuemeka (4 years old) “I like my letter.”
Eva Collison (5 years old) “I really liked my letters.”
Stuart Hendry (5 years old) “I love my mom and dad. They are the best family ever.”
Himansh Dammalapati (4 years old) “I liked my letter.”
Richard Hoskins (5 years old) “I love my mommy.”
Keshavi Jaiswal (5 years old) “My letter makes me so happy.”
Hayley Keyser (5 years old) “I love my family.”
Ruby Kiley (4 years old) “I love my letter from my grandma.”
Yohann Lawrence (5 years old) “My letter makes me smile.”
Rhys Lewis (5 years old) “My letter comes from Wales.”
Junior Mangqalaza (5 years old) “I am excited to receive a letter.”
Mataio Moodley 5 years old) “I love my parents and my letter.”
George Mpako (5 years old) “I am so happy about my letter.”
Melvin Ngula (5 years old) “I love my mom and dad.”
Olamidayo Olanrewaju (5 years old) “I am surprised to get a lovely letter.”
Allegra Schoeman (5 years old) “My letter is so nice.”
Bronwen Nuthall
Reception Teacher
From The Principal’s Desk, 21 February 2020
Dear Parents
Last Friday the high school participated in the ISA Inter-Schools Athletics Day. Although we did not win first place for the sport, we were winners in a different sense.
The conduct of our high school students conduct was impeccable. Teachers did not have to address indiscipline at all. Our students were well behaved and enthusiastic in cheering on their team mates.
Their conduct made me reflect on healthy, established boundaries. All children need boundaries. In fact, they thrive when boundaries are set and good structure is in place. When children are younger we teach them rules such as no hitting, no grabbing and no interrupting. When they are older it becomes a little bit more difficult especially with the social interactions they have. This is when we teach them to respect others and the boundaries others have in place for themselves.
To establish this, one has to teach them to be aware not just of themselves, but also of others. We need to teach them to have sympathy, empathy and to be conscious of the feelings of those around them. This will also eliminate any sense of entitlement, as reflection of one’s own behavior helps with self-awareness.
This was the model behavior I witnessed in our students last week. Well done to all parents and staff for their hard work in developing such respectful and conscientious young adults.
I wish you all a wonderful weekend.
Regards
Edna
ISA 2020
Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships – Michael Jordan
On Friday, 14 February the High School students took part in our annual inter-schools athletics meeting in Malmesbury. ISA has become a tradition between 5 Independent schools since 2015 and this year a 6th school joined.
Like every year before, the high school athletes trained for weeks leading up to the event, making sure to increase their strength and decrease their lap times, everyone pushing themselves harder to achieve their personal best.
Cheerleaders worked tirelessly on making sure that the students learned the pavilion formations, songs and war cries, while our fabulous dancers choreographed their own performance for the day.
Hours and hours of preparation and dedication was put in leading up to the day and it definitely showed.
Our athletes did well in all their events and the school placed 2nd for the Cheer and Spirit Cup. Athletes that placed 1st and 2nd in their respective events at ISA will compete at the Northern Zonal Competition this week and we wish them the best of luck.
I would like to congratulate the students for their outstanding behaviour on Friday. They displayed excellent teamwork, sportsmanship and made the school very proud.
PROUDLY BIS!
Yvette Fourie
Head of Sport & Extra-Curricular Activities
Year 5 Boot Camp 2020
ATTENTION!
♪ ♪ … Baaby shark-da-doo-do-do-do-doo, Baby shark… ♪ ♪
♪ ♪ … cut banana, cut, cut banana. Eat banana, eat, eat banana… ♪ ♪
ATTENTION!
An amazing time was had by all the Year 5 students who embarked on the fun filled, adventurous camp to Buffalo’s Drift run by the spectacular, experienced and energetic camp leaders of Boot Camp Cape Town.
The students were put through thought provoking, mind boggling and physical strength tasks. Each and every student braved these activities with great tenacity and commitment. Through 38 degree temperatures, no one failed! They supported, helped and motivated each other along! As a teacher, it was a special moment to have observed.
The Green team had a slogan… “Lose to Win” They decided on this slogan after a few activities through the course of the first day and it epitomizes a powerful message of team work. They had decided that they will complete as many tasks as they can, to their best ability, leaving no team member behind. Everyone was a part of the team and everyone was going to assist each other in accomplishing the tasks set out. The concept upheld the visionary of losing as an individual to win as a TEAM!
Even though the students had to partake in obstacles, to complete tasks, the true success came not from the completion of these obstacles but rather from the realization of “ACHIEVEMENT”. This was by far more valuable of a lesson to learn as it outlines one’s self worth and value.
The camp turned out to be a success as we all took something of importance from the experience. We challenged ourselves and extended our ‘ability’ boundaries.
“Strength does not come from physical capacity.
It comes from an indomitable Will.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Nadia Mahomed
Year 5 Teacher
Fire Fighters Visit Foundation Stage
As part of our theme “people who help us” the students were learned about how important fire fighters are for the community. The school was privileged to receive a visit from the fire fighters. The firefighters informed the Foundation stage students about the importance of safety. Students need to learn from an early age that fire is not for play.
They need to learn how to protect themselves if they come into contact with fire. The fire fighters explained to the students that if their clothes were ever on fire they should stop, drop and roll. The fire fighters and some of our students demonstrated the proper technique to stop, drop and roll. As well as crawling under the smoke to get out of a burning building.
A fireman also put on all of his gear to show the students what a fireman looked like and told them they should not be afraid during a fire and hide. The firefighter told the students why they had to wear the protective gear.
During Arts and Crafts we made a fire engine by pasting different shapes together. We also used colours associated with fire (red, yellow and orange) to finger paint our background, when the paint was dry the students pasted buildings and their fire engine onto the background. We played with dress up clothes and pretended to be firefighter and doctors.
The students enjoyed learning more about our every day heroes.
Martie van Dyk
Pre Reception Teacher
From The Principal’s Desk, 14 February 2020
Dear Parents
It was an absolute pleasure to see our students dress up for the civvies day yesterday. What was even more awesome to see, is how the love was shared through friendships and that the emphasis was on loving one another as friends.
This is a key lesson of kindness and care that should be instilled at a very young age.
In our newsletter last week, I shared on the challenges we as educators face at school regarding cyber bullying, so called “freedom of speech” in Whatsapp groups and the negative effect it has on our children. Sadly, this is not a teenage problem, but students as young as 9 years old, are bombarded with content on their phones which are not age appropriate.
We had the pleasure of hosting a talk with Emma Sadleir last night and we are very grateful to the parents who made the effort to come and listen. We wish to commend each and every one who attended last night as it showed your support in raising a generation equipped to deal with the technological challenges.
We will schedule another session with her to address our students soon. It is vital that we are aware of the beast we deal with and as parents to be equipped to train our children.
Have a wonderful weekend of shared love with family and friends
Best regards
Edna
Shades And Tones
The High School Art students discovered the magic of creating colours in a variety of shades and tones.
Learning how to mix colour is a matter of knowing the right steps and with practice, the process becomes almost instinctive. Having some knowledge of colour theory is good, but in practice, when you pick up your paintbrush, the theories do not help that much.
Colour theory helps us to understand the possibilities of colour in art and design and appreciate the different ways that artists use colour. The effects of light fascinate some artists; some are interested in the symbolic meaning of colour; and some use colour to express their emotions.
Colour theory in art can be summed up under three headings: Colour as Light, Colour as Symbol and Colour as Emotion. A knowledge of Colour Terms helps us to express how this visual element is used in art and design. It gives us the vocabulary to clearly state our feelings about an artwork or design.
Understanding the placement of the colours on the colour wheel will help you to name any given colour. The name of a colour is called “hue”. In painting and drawing, artists name their colours as “red-violet,” “blue-green,” “yellow-green,” etc.
Do not confuse the commercial names of wall paint colours with “hue,” because they do not necessarily tell you much about the colour and they are often misleading.
Students used scientific thinking to observe, predict and compare, and they experimented with cause and effect. “What will happen if we mix all three primary colours together?” “How much yellow do you need to add to make green?” “Can I make the exact same colour twice?”
They used problem-solving skills and came up with ideas for what to do when the colour they were mixing did not turn out quite the way they had hoped. The students used mathematical concepts such as more and less, and devised ways to measure how much paint they were adding.
When mixing colours and painting, students used a multitude of fine motor skills like squeezing, pouring and mixing, and worked on controlling those skills. It is not always easy to pour just a little bit of colour! They had hands on learning and experience with primary, secondary and tertiary colours, as well as tints, and shades. “What happens if you add white?” “What about when you add black?”
The Year 8 Art students also learned how to create form by acquiring the skills to do different shading techniques. Once they realised it is a matter of seeing lights and darks, and all the tonal varieties in between, they produced drawings that made us all very proud.
Riaan Vosloo
High School Art Teacher
Show and tell in Year 1
The aim of Show and Tell is to motivate students to speak in front of each other, it builds confidence and allows them to speak about something they know and are comfortable with discussing.
The process of preparing a show and tell encourages students to consider the importance of a special item and appreciate its significance in different ways.
Being part of a show and tell audience is also an important part of learning. Most importantly, the audience learns to sit still and listen closely to someone other than their teacher, and to be respectful. We always congratulate our peers after their Show and tell and create a positive and uplifting environment.
In Year 1 the students get a chance twice a term to prepare their Show and Tell. We link our topics to the themes of our different core subjects. In History the students are learning about the history of toys.
On Friday, a few students had their first Show and tell with the topic “Toys”, where they could bring anything of interest or a special toy to speak about.
They enjoyed this topic very much and we all had the opportunity to learn something new.
Tayla White
Year 1 Teacher
Share The LOVE This Valentine’s Day
Have we forgotten the main reason of Valentine’s Day? Is it just about the love between two people and expensive gifts or should it simply be about showing affection and appreciation for the ones around us such as our parents, family, friends and teachers etc.
The students are very busy in the Pre-Reception classroom making various crafts to give their loved ones this Valentine’s Day. It has not cost them anything except a fun experience as they have been up to their elbows in paint and they are very excited and proud of their efforts. This kind of gift comes straight from the heart!
Why not start in our classrooms, not just on Valentine’s Day but throughout the year! Instead of saying something mean and hurtful to our classmates why not rather think before you speak and give your classmate a compliment or share with them or just give them a turn, let them go in front of you in line. Why not give them a hug or just smile at them. These actions cost nothing!
Love on Valentine’s Day does not only have to be expressed through expensive materialistic gifts it can also be shown with a random act of kindness within the classroom and our school to our friends, other classmates and our teachers.
Lets start with ourselves and share the LOVE not only this Valentine’s Day but every day of the year!
Bonus Facts: Did you know that Bishop Valentine was sentenced to death for refusing to stop marrying Roman soldiers to their beloveds? Or that Mr. Richard Cadbury was the first person to create chocolates specifically for Valentine’s Day?
Cindy Nunan
Pre-Reception Teacher
