BIS HIGH SCHOOL INDUCTION DAY 2020
On the 14th of January 2020, we held our annual Induction Day to familiarize year 7, 8’s and new students with the school and the matric leaders for the year. The matric class guided the new recruits through team-building activities which cemented early friendships and mutual respect.
The day started at 09h00 with an introduction and warm welcome to the students embarking on the new chapter in their lives. After that, we delved straight into the first activity of the day; Team building. The students were split into four colour coded -red, blue, green and yellow- teams with two matric leaders per team and continued to spend 30 minutes on choosing appropriate team names and to get to know the members of their group.
Of course, the new students were shy at first, but it didn’t take long for them to relax their guard and have fun with their peers.
With team names and introductions complete, the first clue for a Treasure Hunt was given out and teams raced to solve it as quickly as possible; the promise of a prize igniting everyone’s competitive spirit. The aim of this game was to acquaint the students with their future classrooms and teachers whilst making it fun and inclusive for all.
After the treasure hunt and prizes were awarded (amidst loud cheering), the students were given a 30-minute break to cool down and relax. Lunch packs, which included a small water, a muffin, a hotdog and a small packet of chips, were given to each student. Music was played during the break and students could mix and chat amongst themselves and with matrics, allowing everyone to wind down and get proper rest for the next few activities.
After the break, students were given the choice to either go play a few games of soccer, which brought out a playful and competitive spirit within the students, or to stay within the senior hall and join a few rounds of musical chairs, which was fun but also exercised their coordination and concentration — both activities were a lot of fun and elicited many laughs and giggles from the students and matric leaders.
After the fun and laughter, the students gathered on the field to join a game of Red Rover. This allowed students to get some energy out of them while taking away the fear of being new to the school and allowing everyone to play together as a unit. This brought a lot of laughs and cheers when the students won to get through with the few catches.
This was followed by an official tour of the high school building and classes with introductions to their future teachers and classrooms. They were also shown their lockers and homeroom teachers.
As the morning drew to a close, the matrics took the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the students by calling individuals up and asking them a few questions about themselves. This allowed the seniors to get to know the juniors on a deeper, more personal level and established a bond of great benefit to both parties.
We trust that the students had fun and made a few more friends within their peer group! We hope that they enjoy their year and that they know the matrics are there to help them through the new chapter in their lives.
Jianicia Meintjes (Year 12)
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Year 5 Goals 2020!
The Year 5’s started off the term by thinking about how we wanted this year to go. We realised that a good way to check if we are making progress in the year is to set goals and try and achieve them.
We decided that there are a few steps to setting a good goal:
- Pick a goal. This must be something you want to achieve and that you can work towards.
- Break your goal down into steps. How are you going to go about achieving that goal?
- Ask yourself if you need to ask for help with achieving your goal. Remember that goals are something you need to work on for yourself, but you can always ask for help achieving them.
- Get started, do your best and keep trying!
With this in mind, the Year 5 classes set some goals for 2020.
Ife – I aim to get my pen license and a prize giving certificate. I also want to do well in Netball.
Ciara – I want to work on improving my Maths.
Grace – I would like to get an A is most of my subjects.
Brunice – I aim to improve my handwriting.
Hanaa – I’d like to improve my story writing.
Lily – I aim to improve my piano skills.
Callie – I want to work on my Spanish this year.
Declan – I’d like to get Best Sportsman for soccer.
We are all excited about being together in Year 5, and helping each other achieve our goals! We wish the rest of the school a wonderful year!
Year 5 Teacher
Cricket Practise
“The enhancement of physical and mental development of children is certainly the most important contribution of sports for children.” (Novak Djokovic Foundation)
Many studies have shown the benefits of children learning and playing sport from a young age. However, I don’t believe we need to be qualified experts, to understand just how much fun children have participating in different sports. Whether it’s running around the playground, kicking a ball or riding a bicycle, children do love and need to be active.
Braving the south-easter, the year 1 and 2 students took to the field, sun-block smeared and ready to tackle a cricket bat and ball. Our budding cricketers cheered each other on as balls were caught, hit and bowled.
Kim Coetzer
Year 2 Teacher
From the Principal’s Desk, 23 January 2020
Dear Parents
“Your present circumstances do not determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.” – Nido Qubein
The beginning of every academic year brings a familiar set of challenges. One of these challenges, affecting both parents and students, is that of a child attending school for the first time. The struggle to adapt and the need for reassurance, until they become used to the setup and daily routine. A daunting challenge for new students and their parents, but one we are well prepared for. We are available and ready to assist in whichever capacity best suited to the student, parent or staff member. It may be as simple as asking a parent to stay a little longer in the morning, just until the student settles.
Rest assured that we are equipped with the patience, endurance and kindness to assist our little ones overcome this initial challenge.
Another recurring challenge is impatient, inconsiderate behavior in the car park and drop and go areas. I urge every parent please to be mindful and not hold up traffic or park in the drop and go area. Everyone is in a hurry but a little kindness and respect goes a long way. Should you wish to walk your child to class, please park your vehicle in the designated bays. When you are in the drop and go zone, please be aware of other vehicles wishing to exit and give them the space to do so.
CAMBRIDGE TOP ACHIEVERS REWARD
We received the Cambridge Top Achievers Awards yesterday and are very proud to announce that Sreeja Chinthala achieved the Top in South Africa award for Business Studies AS level. Audrey Lepo won first place in the world for a High Achievement in French.
Well done to both students!
REMINDER
This Friday, 24th January, the PA is hosting a movie night. We are looking forward to seeing all our families at this exciting event.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Edna
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AS Level Examination Results 2019
Blouberg International management and staff wish to congratulate all our students who passed the AS matric examinations.
A total of 16 students passed with matric exemption and 13 students with senior certificate pass.
A huge congratulations to the following students who obtained distinctions:
Sreeja Chinthala (Head girl and top student for 2019 – Business Studies, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics (5 distinctions)
Kereisha Kumaran – Spanish, History and French (3 Distinctions)
Etseoghena Oyoto – German and Biology (2 Distinctions)
Luke Knowles – Geography
Yovesh Naidoo – Business Studies
Busisa Mvoko – Business Studies
Karla van Driessel – Afrikaans
Lloyd Frank – German
Lwazi Mpofu-Mketwa – Afrikaans
We are also exceptionally proud of Darshan Naidoo (Year 11 Student) who wrote 2 AS level subjects and obtained a distinction for Accounting and Mathematics. We wish him all the best for his upcoming matric year.
Michael Schoots (Year 13 A level student) obtained a distinction for A level Physics (82%) and a distinction for A level Mathematics (91%). Well done Michael!
BIS Management
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First Day Activity
Today was our first day in Year 6.
We did station work and wrote down in our own opinions about what makes a good teacher, what makes us happy, what we thought made a good classroom environment and what a learner is, is not, does and says. We also made a classroom essential agreement, showcasing how we can cooperate with others when working in groups and to show resilience in our school work.
We had a lot of fun settling into our new classroom and we hope 2020 will be an amazing year.
Maia Davies
Year 6 Student
From the Principal’s Desk, 16th January 2020
Dear Parents
Welcome to the 2020 academic year! We are all excited about this year and the changes, both aesthetic and academic, planned.
We received our matric AS results last week and are very happy to announce that 29 of the 32 students who wrote passed matric. 16 students passed with matric exemption.
TOP IGCSE STUDENT 2019!
Chloe Goldman wrote 8 IGCSE subjects in which she obtained 6 A* and 2 A’s. A total of 8 distinctions! We are exceptionally proud of her and are looking forward to more such achievements in her AS levels!
A total of 22 distinctions were achieved across the various subject areas. Top marks were achieved in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, First Language English, English Literature, Spanish Foreign Language, German Foreign Language, French Foreign Language and Music.
We wish to congratulate Ms. Alice Pryor on her excellent teaching skills in English First language. A total of 6 Distinctions were obtained for First Language English and 5 Distinctions for English Literature. Her dedication to her students and her love of the subject area is clearly displayed.
Just a reminder that we are starting renovations on the downstairs bathrooms on Monday, 20th January and request that you remind students to use the bathrooms upstairs. Foundation Phase have a brand new hopscotch-themed play area and the students are thoroughly enjoying the colorful spaces.
Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 have a Parent Information Evening on Thursday, 23rd January and we are looking forward to an enjoyable and informative evening.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend ahead.
Regards
Edna
Blouberg Rotary Club Children’s Christmas Party
On Saturday, the 7th of December, several members of our school’s Interact club were accompanied by Ms. Berger and Ms. van Niekerk to share shifts at the Italian Club of Cape Town where Blouberg Rotary hosted a Christmas Party for numerous underprivileged children. They spent the morning refereeing soccer games, among other things and the afternoon was spent serving lunch. The kids were entertained by a petting zoo which contained all sorts of farm animals (rabbits and chickens, to name a few), a horse cart ride, face painting, a photo booth, a jumping castle and a game of friendly football.
It was a lovely sunny day filled with loads of laughter and smiles. The children then got to watch a magic show, meet Santa and receive Christmas boxes and a meal of hamburgers and chips.
This is an annual event that is organized to see to it that those less fortunate get to experience the festivities of Christmas time as well.
It was a pleasure to see so many smiles and we cannot wait to participate once again next year!
Hope Munkondia
Year 10 Student
Barnaby Bear Day 2019
This term the Year 1’s have enjoyed our Geography theme “Where in the world is Barnaby Bear?”
Barnaby Bear has visited England, the USA and India.
To close off our theme we had an International Day on Monday, 9 December. The students enjoyed traveling around the world experiencing the countries that Barnaby bear had visited. The students tasted different foods from the USA, India and England. The students were taught a line dance, Bollywood dance and listened to Mrs Cronje speak about her home country (England) followed by a lovely story.
It was a fun filled day and everyone enjoyed their around the world Barnaby bear day.
Tayla White
Year 1 Teacher
End Of Year Celebration
We cannot believe it is the end of the school year. It is an exciting yet busy time for all of us. During this time we start to reflect on how hard our students have worked and we celebrate all the wonderful activities and learning that has taken place throughout the year at Blouberg International School. Our students have accomplished so much and we are pleased to see growth in each and every one of them.
To celebrate their many achievements, we had a Foundation Stage party on Monday, 9 December 2019. The teachers and assistants enjoyed spending time with the students to remind them how precious they are to us.
Thank you as parents once again for working with us to ensure our students are safe and happy and encouraged to dream, believe and achieve all their goals.
We wish all our students and families a restful holiday and best wishes for 2020.
Martie Van Dyk
Reception Year Teacher