Imagining robots – Key Stage 1
In literacy the Year 1 students have been studying stories by the author John Prater. These stories have been about the characters, Bear Hedgehog and Dragon. The Story “What can we make?” was about Bear and Hedgehog making a robot.
This really appealed to the students therefor in our Design and Technology lesson the students constructed their own robots. They designed these robots at home and then brought recycled material to school to build their very own robot. During the building process many of the students found that their design needed modification as materials could not join as they anticipated.
It is interesting to watch the students collaborate ideas and materials to help solve design flaws.
Ann Cordner
Year 1 Teacher
From the Principal’s Desk – 7th March 2019
Dear Parents
On Saturday the 2nd of March we had the first of three Open Days for 2019. Our SRC members welcomed prospective parents and took them on a tour of the school’s facilities. It was with pride that I placed prospective parents into the care of our SRC members; the maturity and enthusiasm they displayed whilst taking the parents around the school was the best marketing I could ask for.
Yovesh Naidoo, our current Head Boy, delivered a heart-warming speech, offering parents a glimpse into his experience of our school. I was struck, observing our students, by how well-mannered and mature they were. The caliber of students at our school is our greatest asset and I was reminded of this on Saturday. Mature, polite and well-adjusted students are a credit to their parents and their school.
Successful parenting is surely the appreciation and implementation of boundaries from a young age. As adults, I think we often take boundaries for granted, mistakenly believing that they are simple to establish and apply. As we remind our children about important boundaries as they develop, so should we be reminded of our own boundaries and their application in our daily lives. Boundaries and routine are very important from a young age; we have a great opportunity, daily, to build the foundations for our children and set the boundaries which they crave and desperately need. If we build the foundations in their young lives, they will develop into young adults who naturally exude kindness, respect, responsibility and other beautiful characteristics. The key is that it always starts with us parents.
Children need boundaries. They will push against them, fight them and push just that little bit more, but with perseverance and time will come acceptance and gratitude. Boundaries make children feel grounded and when they have routine, and know what is expected of them, it brings calm to an otherwise often chaotic world. They face daily challenges and we can assist them by making things easier through the routines we set and the boundaries we establish.
“Children raised with good boundaries learn that they are not only responsible for their lives, but also free to live their lives any way they choose, as long as they take responsibility for their choices. For the responsible adult, the sky is the limit.”
-Henry Cloud
Regards
Edna
Foundation Stage: The wheels of the bus go round & round…
During the last two weeks the Foundation Stage learnt more about Transport. Transportation is an important part of everyday life, and that is why so many students find this topic interesting. Transportation as a theme not only teaches our students about what different vehicles are and how they work, but we also use it to teach other important concepts such as safety when riding in a vehicle or walking.
We got to play with all the different types of transportation theme items such as cars, trucks and trains. Our students made different crafts, sang transportation songs, played games and listened to stories about transport. Learning through play will help students retain all the lessons in their long term memory.
Written by
Martie van Dyk
Reception Year Teacher
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From the Principal’s Desk – 28th February 2019
Dear Parents
It has been a busy first term thus far and it has been lovely to hear positive feedback from parents and students and know that growth is definitely taking place.
This coming Saturday, the 2nd of March, we are having our first Open Day for 2019. The response to our marketing of this event has been incredibly positive and we are looking forward to welcoming prospective parents and students to our school. Teamwork produces positive results and I am extremely grateful to my staff, as well as some of our students, who are collaborating to promote our school on Saturday.
The Heads of the IES schools had a collaboration meeting this morning where were able to identify areas of growth in our various schools and do some benchmarking as well.
I am reminded of a quote which has always inspired me:
“Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.”
-Author unknown
As mentioned in my newsletter last week, construction of the cricket pitch commenced this week and the progress is satisfying. Unfortunately, however, due to climate and weather predictions, we have had to push back the completion date for the project. The cement is going to take longer to set than first anticipated but I am certain the wait will be well worth the end result. During the upcoming March school holidays, construction will start on the gravel parking area below the library. This will ensure that, come winter and rainy days, we all have a safe and accessible place to park.
I hope you all enjoy some wonderful family time this weekend.
Kind regards
Edna
Enquiring Minds – AS Level Biology
The Year 11 Biology students did their first AS-practical on biological molecules for the year. During the practical they were presented with five solutions containing different concentrations of starch and sugar. They had to use Iodine solution, Benedict’s reagent and Hydrochloric acid to determine what the contents of each solution was. The results presented an array of different colour changes that provided great excitement to the students.
This is an important first step towards preparing the students for their AS practical exam at the end of Year 12. The experience they gain by handling equipment, planning an investigation and executing the plan, will form a foundation on which to build enquiring minds.
“The important thing is not to stop questioning, not to stop research”
– Albert Einstein
Marlene Feltoe
High School Biology Teacher
Year 6 Monitors 2019
Our Year 6 monitor programme aims to develop leadership skills in our students. We believe that every student has innate qualities and can build skills that they could use to help serve our school and community in some way. Monitors help the students and teachers during break times and help monitor the classes at line up time. In addition to this, there are different portfolios that the monitors are responsible for.
Some of the other roles and duties of our monitors include:
- Assembly and Library Monitors: Set up the hall for assemblies and help Mrs M in the library.
- Recycling Monitors: Collect recycling from the classrooms every week.
- Social Responsibility Monitors: Promote social responsibility in the school by visiting the different classes and talking about important issues. This term the Social Responsibility Monitors have been explaining the importance of recycling and teaching the children what we can and can’t recycle in our paper bins.
- Journalist Monitors: Write articles about some exciting things happening at school.
Below is one of the articles our Journalist Monitors wrote about our Leadership inting.
Cool To Be Me – Year 6 Leadership Inting
On Friday the 22nd of February Y6ME and Y6AH gathered in the hall and participated in the Cool To Be Me inting.The grade 6s learned that it is okay to be ourselves and ignore judgmental words. We were taught to use great qualities such as:
Be a good role model.
Use your role to help one another.
Do no abuse the responsibility of being a monitor.
Leaders are kind, fair and helpful.
The two grade 6 classes participated in multiple different activities on the day. Each activity taught us how to use our strengths to become better leaders in the school. We finished the inting off by creating a toolbox of our personal leadership qualities.
Written by: Ben Van der Westhuizen, Jens Buchwald, Patrick Kessel, Linamandla Moyo and Chloe Ralph
“Every individual is intelligent in a different way. Understanding how we are intelligent allows us to identify when and where we can lead.”
– Quoted from the Cool to be me Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/cooltobemeSA/
Marisa Esterhuizen
Year 6 Teacher
https://www.facebook.com/IES.Blouberg/posts/2323620484337070
Year 2 goes to Madagascar
The Year 2’s are learning about Madagascar in Geography. The Avenue of Baobabs, ring-tailed lemurs, tomato frogs, vanilla pods, and sapphires are just a few of the things they have discovered so far.
They completed a research project where they each exhibited one interesting fact about Madagascar with a picture included. We are blown away with their contributions.
Nivad Manouchehri told the class about the Elephant Bird which is much larger than an Ostrich but unfortunately extinct.
Joshua Smith brought a poster about the Silky Safika Lemur which is as tall as a two-year-old!
Aunty Nini came for a visit on Friday, 22nd February to tell us all about Madagascar. ‘Salomo’ is how you say ‘hello’ in Madagasy. She taught the students a Madagasy dance where they waved a “lamba” (a special scarf) to the music. We even learned how to count in Madagasy.
The Year 2’s have really relished in their adventures in learning about the fourth largest island in the world!
Gillian Baker
Year 2 Teacher
Nursery News – Opposites
Our 2 ½ to 3 ½ year old students have been exploring the concept of opposites. The sun goes down to sleep, the stars come out and the sky becomes dark. They created day and night examples, by painting blue for the day and black for the night time. What fun it was for them to print clouds onto their pictures!
We have also been enjoying circle time in the mornings where they discuss and discover things that are big and small, up and down, rough and smooth.
Through Sensory play using play dough, they learn that dough is soft and the dough cutters are hard. They enjoyed rolling and squashing the play dough during our Sensory periods.
Cambridge is greatly centered on play-to-learn for the Early years and Foundation stage. Students learn through experience and reasoning. They absorb so much information when they can use their senses to trigger learning.
Jacky Billings
Nursery Teacher
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Planted in knowledge
The Year 3’s are concentrating on Plants in Science. They are learning about the different parts of a plant, their functions and what they need to have healthy roots, stems and leaves. The students partnered up with each other to design, draw and label their own flower.
They also participated in various class experiments which included one with a white flower turning pink in order for them to understand the function of the roots and stems. Currently we are observing and investigating whether plants need water and light to grow and stay healthy. To date, as predicted, Petunia number 1 is thriving, while Petunia 2 and 3, through lack of water or light, are not doing so well.
After our experiment, we will have to work on our ‘green fingers’ to nurse our Petunias back to health!
Mrs Mandy Goch
Year 3 Teacher
From the Principal’s Desk – 21 February 2019
Dear Parents
“The bottom line is that you are the one who is creating your life the way it is. The life you currently live is the result of all of your past thoughts and actions. You are in charge of your current thoughts and your present feelings. You are in charge of what you say and what you do. To be more successful, all you have to do is act in ways that produce more of what you want. That’s it, It’s that simple!” – The success principles: Jack Canfield.
Last Friday, the 15th of February, we had our ISA sports day at the Swartland Hoërskool in Malmesbury. Our students had phenomenal spirit and made us proud in every event they participated in. As is normal during sports days, one or two athletes sustained injuries and we had to improvise by having reserves run in their stead. One of the highlights of the day was the relay event for the under 15 boys. During this event we had a reserve run who ensured that we won the race! When he took off from the starting line, I could not help but wonder why he had not been participating the entire day as he was clearly a trained and talented athlete. When I asked the student after the race why he had not been participating the entire day, he responded, “I was fearful Ma’am! I did not think that I could do it.” I realized that there are probably more students who talents are hidden from us because they are afraid to enter, afraid of failure. This is the case with so many of us at times. We fear failure, disappointment and rejection and hence we do not even try.
The above quote from Jack Canfield challenges me daily to do more, be more, strive for more and succeed according to my own strengths. May it challenge each and every one of you to strive for more in your daily lives. Let us all challenge our fears as we never know what hidden talents lie beneath the depths and we all deserve the chance to let those talents shine.
Our new jungle gym was completed on Tuesday the 19th of February and we opened it up to the Foundation Stage this morning. What an amazing experience to see the excitement on the faces of the students and hear the gratitude in their voices.
We will start construction of the cricket pitch this weekend and we ask all students and parents to bear with us during this time as the pitch will not be available next week.
Onward and upwards we go as we continue to grow from strength to strength. Thank you for all your support on this journey!
Kind regards
Edna