Year 5 Looks To The Future
Throughout the course of Term 3, the Year 5’s have been exploring the different aspects of the working world, thinking a little deeper about the type of jobs they wish to one day have.
We have done extensive research, conducting interviews and internet searches, to find out more about what to expect in our future lives.
We also investigated the possibility of a robot taking our job in the future – making predictions and checking our answers using a website called “Will Robots Take My Job”.
After of all this thought and preparation the Year 5’s were ready to report back to their classes about the jobs they hope to hold when they are older. Let me tell you – considering the vets, astronauts, engineers, teachers and pilots who stood before me this week – I can confidently say that our future is in great hands!
Robyn Pieters
Year 5 Teacher
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The Importance Of Learning To Write Poetry
“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” – William Wordsworth
Poetry is known as a form of expression. It allows for one to get their feelings and thoughts out on a subject which we, the Year 2 teachers, find important for students to start doing at a young age. Poetry encourages us to connect and find meaning in our experiences. Teachers have experienced that poetry can have a positive impact on the social and emotional learning of young students. It may also offer them a new and creative way of thinking about something which is encouraged.
This past week we learnt about a Food Train Poem written by Julia Donaldson. This was a fun and creative way for our students to try recreating the idea of the poem using their own favourite foods. They came up with incredible Food Train poems and thoroughly enjoyed reading them out to the class.
The Food Train, poem by Julia Donaldson
THE FOOD TRAIN
COFFEE, COFFEE, COFFEE,
BREAD AND BUTTER, BREAD AND BUTTER, BREAD AND BUTTER,
BREAD AND BUTTER,
BISCUITS AND CHEESE, BISCUITS AND CHEESE, BISCUITS AND CHEESE, BISCUITS AND CHEESE,
FISH AND CHIPS, FISH AND CHIPS, FISH AND CHIPS, FISH AND CHIPS, FISH AND CHIPS, FISH AND CHIPS, FISH AND CHIPS, FISH AND CHIPS,
SOUP!
Erin Hierse
Year 2 Teacher
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The Shine and Strength Programme
The Shine and Strength personal development programmes aim to equip participants with the knowledge and skills needed to develop greater self-awareness and personal growth. These programmes have been endorsed by the Institute of Group Leaders (IGL). In 2015, the Shine programme achieved the Institute of Group Leaders (IGL) Gold Endorsed Programme criteria.
The target audience is girls and boys aged 11 – 17 years. We have launched this within our High School for Year 7 and 8 this term and students will participate in Shine for girls and Strength for boys respectively.
The programme is broken down into 3 units, with each focusing on achieving specific objectives. The first unit, Worth/Significance focuses on enhancing self-esteem; the second, Strength/Resilience aims to increase emotional intelligence; and lastly, Purpose/Courage encourages participants to dream and set goals for the future.
Group activities and discussions are used to help participants think critically, solve problems, and address problems of delinquency. More specifically, the activities aim to assist individuals in changing unhealthy or unhelpful thoughts and behaviours into healthy, helpful ones. The programme covers relevant topics such as self-worth, emotional wellbeing, healthy relationships, and personal dreams.
Shine and Strength is supported by empirical evidence through doctoral research with findings revealing that graduates of the programme are likely to make positive changes in their own lives. The key findings showed that self-esteem, emotional intelligence, purpose, and mobilisation significantly increased in participants after completing the programme. Examples include Shine graduates applying for jobs, enrolling in training or university, starting their own business, and reporting enhanced social connections.
Melinda Twycross
High School Teacher
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Writing About Harp Seals
This week in Year 1, we have been writing reports about ‘Harp Seals’ in English.
My students in class had to produce their own reports including information about their habitat, diet and appearance.
Students need continuous experience in writing. They need the chance to experiment using what they know about writing and the opportunity to apply and practise their developing skills and knowledge.
My class worked really hard, using mind maps and I am very proud of their efforts.
Charlotte Cronje
Year 1 Teacher
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Learning About Nesting Shapes In Year 2
“Children are confident in spirit, infinite in resources, and eager to learn. Everything is still possible.”
This week in Maths class, our Year 2’s learned all about nesting shapes. Nesting shapes are shapes of increasing/decreasing size that fit inside one another. They are perfect for teaching children various skills such as, fine motor skills, coordination, counting skills, spatial abilities as well as problem solving skills.
It is wonderful to watch the students nest, stack and sort all while learning some important math concepts. When using nesting materials, students aren’t simply playing or building – they are experimenting, they are problem-solving and developing critical thinking skills.
We had some fun learning about what nesting shapes are and where we can find them in everyday life. We looked at measuring cups, cookie cutters and even some Russian dolls.
In one of our Maths lessons we got super creative and made some of our own Russian dolls. We coloured them in beautifully, paying specific attention to the detail on each one and how they would all fit perfectly into each other. What fun!
Siobhan Hendry
Year 2 Teacher
Lights, Camera, Action!
On this past weekend, we held our casting and workshop that was done in preparation for Blouberg International School’s production of Bar & Ger by Geraldine Aron for the 25 – 27th August 2021.
This will be a dinner time show. So bring a packed dinner for you and your companions.
At 9 o’clock on Saturday morning, we gathered outside in the parking lot and because of the gentle heat from the bright sun and crisp wind, we decided to practise outside in the gorgeous weather. We started off with a couple of exercises to help warm our bodies and voices. The exercises included warm ups to loosen our lower and upper bodies – from the tips of our toes to the stretching of our tongues. Thereafter, we proceeded to utter random words and phrases by using our diaphragms to help project our voices so that our teachers, who were standing near the middle of the field could hear us. Finally, after lots of repeatedly thrown words and fully worked out diaphragms, we were ready to start reciting our lines! Finally, we could practise like the talented thespians we knew ourselves to be.
We were then split into groups of two by which each were given a number of pages to practise. We were encouraged to share with helpful feedback with one another before meeting with our instructors, who sat waiting patiently. Throughout the performances, each respective group received constructive criticism and advice from the directors to help us improve our performance and feel more in tune with the characters we were portraying. The means to project out voices is a huge factor in order to reach the audience members, particularly those who will be sitting at the back of the theatre. Afterwards, we took a break to recuperate our energy with pizza and cool drinks – this was such a special treat from our teachers. By enjoying the delicious and cheesy pizza, and fizzy drinks, we were able to get to know each other better and form stronger bonds that helped us feel more comfortable with one another, which contributed to making our acting ability to feel more natural.
Thereafter, we got back to work where we switched up team members, continued flipping pages during practise and carried on with the day. Just before we were about to head to our separate ways and return home, we all lay down on the field for one last exercise that was conducted by Ms. Kerswill. Through calming instructions we were guided into what felt like a tranquil world wherein our bodies and minds became relaxed. In addition to sitting up from our peaceful minds, we bid farewell with a calm and pleasant mind set. All in all, it was a lovely end to a hard days work.
On Sunday around 9 am once again, we found ourselves back at the parking lot of the school. The cold, crisp, morning air sent shivers down our spine and the minute the junior hall was offered as shelter, we raced through the side door and welcomed the warmer area with open arms. We resumed with the workshop starting with a few warm up exercises, before splitting off into our pairs to finish the last few pages of our script. Everyone embraced the emotions of their characters, and we were slowly becoming more and more in touch with the characters we were playing. The relationship between ourselves and our respective characters had eventually taken form – that is having become immersed into our characters . This could be comparable to being a small seed like having slowly grown until we blossomed into something special – we would not just portray the character, but instead be the character.
Throughout this workshop, we were able to achieve a better idea of the play and our characters, as well as feel the nervous excitement that always happened at rehearsals. We hope that everyone will come to experience the curtain rise for this play at the end of August and eventually realize the fruition of our efforts and hard work that we had put into practise. We have certainly learnt a lot over the past weekend and cannot wait to perform in this play, be it in front of an audience, or live streamed. We are ready and excited to share our hard work with everyone. We hope that you will support us by coming to watch the exciting, incredible, emotional, remarkable and heartfelt production of Bar and Ger!
Written By:
Jean-Marie Schoots
Year 11 Student / Bar and Ger Cast Member
