Arts And Crafts Club Key Stage 1
Every second week KS1 meet for our after school Arts & Crafts club run by myself and Ms Hierse. We introduced this club at the beginning of this year and it seems to have taken off wonderfully.
The students look so forward to being able to come and have the opportunity to fully express their artistic and creative talents. One of our biggest aims is to utilize as many recycled materials as possible. It is a passion of ours to witness the beautiful creations that are created from simple previously used items.
We hope to see the Arts & Crafts Club grow more and more throughout the year!
Siobhan Hendry
Year 2 Teacher
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Leading By Example – Teacher Support System
“Teaching kids to count is fine, but teaching them what counts is best.” – Bob Talbert
As teachers, we all strive towards one goal; for all our students to succeed. The KS1 and Foundation Phase teachers believe whole heartedly in a teacher support system where all teachers are encouraged, motivated and cared for each day by one another in order to be at our best for our students.
We, as teachers, feel that this support system is very important as its allows us to communicate our feelings, rely on each other, share our specific skills and strategies and build confidence in one another to stay ahead of the game in a rapidly-changing world.
We would like this support system to mirror how the students should want to care for each other as many students do not feel comfortable expressing their feelings to adults. A care buddy is the one friend you can speak to about anything that is going on in your life, whether it be positive or negative.
With the continuous support from all the teachers, the teachers have decided to follow a different system where their care buddy stays anonymous for the year. This care buddy is there to leave you notes of encouragement, recognition, to motivate you for a busy time ahead or a little treat to brighten up their day.
We would like to encourage students to follow this system and show kindness and support to their friends without reason because if they can make at least one friend smile in a day, it will create a ripple effect.
“Everyone who remembers his own education, remembers teachers, not techniques. The teacher is the heart of the educational system.” – Sidney Hook
Erin Hierse
Year 1 Teacher
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The Human Body!
Our Year 3’s kick started Term 2 with an introduction from Pinky, the skeleton, to our next Science unit – The Human Body! After much giggles and squeals, students were told that by the end of the unit they would need to be able to ‘dress’ Pinky with his organs all in the right places.
But first…. do the students know where each organ in our body is? Well….no…. not quite…. not at first. In groups, students had to choose one classmate and using yellow stickies, placed them on to the student in the right spot. Needless to say, we had some very strange locations for our small and large intestines!
Throughout the unit, the class enjoyed very student-centred lessons, which included making their own stethoscope out of plastic bottles, tape and toilet paper holders. They then used their stethoscopes to listen to one another’s heart beats.
Another lesson involved students making a working lung model using cardboard, straws and balloons. In pairs, students designed and cut out their lungs. Next, they attached the straws and balloons. Then, they drew in their faces and for the grand finale…they blew out into their straws to simulate their working lungs.
The students had a fabulous time designing their models and thoroughly enjoyed the hands-on activities. Well done, Year 3! I think we are ready to ‘dress’ Pinky!
Mandy Goch
Year 3 Teacher
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To Write Or Not To Write…
With today’s technology, where even the youngest of young are accustomed to typing on laptops, tablets or iPads, the question is often raised: Just why do children need to learn handwriting skills at school. They probably won’t need these skills in whatever field they find themselves in. However, proven studies have shown that it is extremely beneficial for young children to learn how to grip a pencil or colouring crayon, or learn the correct formation of a letter.
“There is this assumption that we live in the computer age, and we don’t need handwriting anymore. That’s wrong,” says Virginia Berninger, PhD, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington.
A few facts to consider:
- Children who learn to write correctly, read more fluently.
- Handwriting requires concentration.
- It trains the brain circuits responsible for motor coordination, vision, and memory to work together.
- Visual-motor skills, such as hand-eye coordination, are associated with academic achievement. Scientists have found that developing fine motor skills in early childhood can predict not only writing success, but also better performance in reading and mathematics in elementary school.
Left-handed children more likely to write untidily? Myth or fact? Unfortunately for the 10% of the world’s population who are left-handed, their handwriting does tend to be untidier than those writing with their right hand. However, if a child is taught to tilt their paper or book a different way, neat handwriting is very achievable!
Kim Coetzer
Year 2 Teacher
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Investigative Thinking In Key Stage 2
“Children must be taught how to think, not what to think.” – Margaret Mead
Being both a student and teacher of the Cambridge Secondary Education system, I have had the privilege of watching it develop into the beautifully elaborate system we see before us today. If anything, the one thing I appreciate the most about growing up following one of the world’s leading education programmes, is the expansive opportunity I had for inquiry based, independent learning.
One of my favourite tools in the Cambridge Primary Science syllabus, today, would undoubtedly have to be the scientific inquiry thread, incorporated into our teaching and learning objectives. Not only do we work towards content specific outcomes under each topic, but Cambridge guides us through skill based, investigative thought processes as well.
Each term, our students are given the chance to explore the workings of our world themselves by following these probing steps:
- Asking a question
- Making a prediction
- Planning a fair test
- Carrying out the investigation
- Recording the results
- Drawing a conclusion
This process promotes a beautifully curious approach to learning, where our students are granted the responsibility of their own learning journey.
Lastly, I have to acknowledge the multitude of fun this approach leads to, both in and out of our science classrooms! When having fun and building relationships run parallel to your learning, you know incredible things are bound to happen.
Robyn Pieters
Year 6 and 7 Teacher
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A Recipe For A Good Friendship
Recently we have been discussing what it means to be a good friend or the ‘recipe’ for a good friendship. As a class, we shared many comforting stories about when others showed care for us. In further discussion, we highlighted the importance of our ‘Blue Badge’ system at school, which focuses on three simple foundations.
As a BIS student we aim to be KIND, CARING & ENCOURAGING.
Year 4NM came up with their own Recipe for a good friend, modelling the 3 simple foundations of kind, caring and encouraging.
How can you be kind…
- Say nice things to others.
- Smile, because it is the best and easiest exercise for the body.
- Be happy for others because when it is our turn we would want others to be happy for us.
- Offer to help whenever we can because giving is always more rewarding.
- Use good manners like saying:
- Good morning!
- Please.
- Thank you.
How can you be caring…
- Let your friends know that you are always there to listen.
- Ask, “How are you?” and remind them that you are a good friend even when they are not feeling good.
- Be patient and respectful to others.
What does it mean to be encouraging?
- It means we must support each other to do good or to be the best we can.
“Everyone needs encouragement like a plant needs water”
- Not everyone is having a good day all day, remember to show some support. It might brighten up their day.
- Be the reason someone feels good today!
Nadia Mahomed
Year 4 Teacher
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Art Day!
We are very excited in Year 1 to be having a special ‘Art day’ today, for our upcoming school Art auction at the end of this month!
We are working on a collaborative artwork, which means each child in the class is contributing to the picture. We are creating a natural, floral scene against a beautiful sunrise, using mixed media culminating into a layered piece of artwork.
The students are having a lot of fun, painting macaroni, decorating bottle tops, beading pipe cleaners and exploring mixing colours.
I can’t wait to see the finished product displayed at the art auction!
Charlotte Cronje
Year 1 Teacher
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Inspiring Your Child To Read
This week, I want to share a few basic and wonderful tips on how to get your little one to become a life long lover of reading…
We all know it can sometimes feel daunting to explain to our children how important it is to build good reading habits. Reading is a vital component of education. All students need good reading skills to succeed not only at school but in life in general.
I hope that sharing these insights with you can inspire you as much as it did me. See the image below titled: Building a Reader At Home
Ann Cordner
Year 1 Teacher and Key Stage 1 Coordinator
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Year 5 Haikus
In English, the Year 5s have spent some time looking at poetry. We explored Haikus in particular, looking at their famous line and syllable structure, as well as delving a bit deeper into their usual subject matter. We also experimented with the balance between descriptive and figurative language often found in these Japanese poems.
Our favourite part of the lesson, of course, was writing our own!
Robins
Robins in a tree
Sitting high above the lake
Kings and queens they are.
- By Okuhle Williams
Saturn
Saturn spinning dream
Milky vision blurs your way
Falling into space
- By Christina Donald
Encanto
Magical People
Rhythm of its own design
Perfect Family
- By Dicla Tona
Buzz
Busy buzzing bee
Collecting honey for me
Oh so delightful
- By Emily Röhlandt
Rabbits
Rabbits, white or black
They’re adorable and cute
Hopping there and back.
- By Nivad Manouchehri
Hannah Kirkaldy
Year 5 Teacher
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Leadership
Now that the Year 6’s are the heads of the Primary School, they have had to learn about leadership and what it is to be a leader. They took part in different activities during the Skills Programme we held. The end goal was for the students to apply to become Year 6 Prefects. They went through the process of discussing what a leader was, what a leader looks and sounds like and why they would want to be leaders for BIS.
Here are a few things the Year 6’s decided make a good leader:
“A leader is someone that has responsibility and is helpful and is respectful towards others. They always try their best and they think about others first.” – Emily Fouché
“A leader is someone who can help you with things you are struggling with and will guide you to do the right thing” – Maalik Daniels
“A leader is a person who is helpful, respectful, kind and caring. They help people when they need help.” – Nicolas East
The process the Year 6’s had to follow to apply to be prefects was as follows:
- Fill in an application form.
- Get 3 references from teachers of their choosing.
- Present in front of the other Year 6’s as to why they would make a good prefect.
- Vote for who they thought would make good prefects.
We know that the elected leaders will do a wonderful job this year!
“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.” – Bill Gates
Brittney Hakime
Year 6 Teacher
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