Preparing For Examinations
Our June examinations are around the corner and preparing for examinations is just as important as studying for your subjects. Below are some helpful hints on how to prepare for your examinations:
Helpful hints
- Familiarise yourself with your examination timetable.
- Ensure that you know exactly:
- what work will be covered in each subject,
- the format of each examination paper,
- the time allocation,
- the equipment that may be needed for the examination (e.g. calculator for Mathematics).
- Get copies of old examination papers and worksheets (IGCSE and AS/A Level).
- By now all your notes should be up to date and you should have all that you need to study effectively for the examinations.
- Prepare your study area. Some things to consider are:
- have a good source of light
- have lots of paper available
- a clear work surface
- coloured pens if you prefer to use colour
- light or unobtrusive music if you prefer to learn with music
Keeping healthy
- Eat fresh foods such as fruit and nuts. Pile up on the vegetables in the evenings and drink plenty of water and fruit juice to keep the flu at bay. The brain needs to be fed well in order for it to perform at its optimum.
- Try not to nibble on too many chocolates and sweets while studying.
- With that said, the odd sweet or chocolate will provide an energy boost when you feel really tired.
- Getting a good night’s rest is also important. Sleep will rejuvenate you and keep you going.
Just before the examination
- Get a good night’s sleep.
- Have a good breakfast.
- Arrive at the venue with time to spare.
- Make sure you have the right equipment, tissues, watch, etc.
During the examination
- Don’t rush into answering questions.
- Read the instructions at the beginning to ensure that you know how to answer all the questions and how many questions to answer.
- Read through the questions carefully.
- If there is a choice of questions, make your choice carefully. Underline key words in the questions.
- Stick to the time plan given to you by your teacher.
- At the end of the examination, if you have time, read through your paper to check that you have answered all of the questions.
Julian Harrison
Cambridge Examinations Officer
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Physical Education
As we try to stay warm throughout the Winter sports season at Blouberg International School, we urge our parents and teachers to encourage each other in supporting and motivating our students to do their best on the sports field throughout the year.
Physical education uses exercise and information to promote healthy growth and physical development. It also encourages students to learn the facets of the curriculum involved and the benefits of participation in physical education and sports-related activities to the health and wellness of students from Pre-reception through High School.
Physical education is a course taught in school that focuses on developing physical fitness and the ability to perform and enjoy day-to-day physical activities with ease. Children also develop the necessary skills to participate in a wide range of activities, such as soccer, basketball, or swimming. Regular physical education classes prepare kids to be physically and mentally active, fit, and healthy into adulthood. An effective physical education program should include engaging lessons, trained P.E. teachers, adequate instructional periods, and student evaluation.
There has been a huge change in the schooling environment as we have seen in the past 2 years caused by the pandemic that is COVID-19 .
It has affected not only our sports in schools but also outside our schools in the way we think and live.
We come from being a nation that is brought together by our sports. Whether it be on a rugby, cricket, netball or soccer field within our beautiful country, we truly are a rainbow nation.
We have missed out on being inside a fully packed stadium with fans from all across the borders of the world, roaring in support of our favourite teams to being confined to our own spaces that are our homes.
Now that we are back outside on the pavilions ,inside the stadiums and in a better place as a country than we were two years ago, we hope to take this opportunity to explore, be adventurous and live a more fulfilling life than we ever have.
Our role as the Sports Department, Coaches and myself as The Physical Education teacher at Blouberg International School, is to bring out the best in our students on the sports field, to teach them about their bodies’ capabilities, and give them the opportunity to participate and challenge each other and themselves to becoming the best versions of themselves through our sporting activities on our PE and sports fields.
Our goal is to be one of the best sporting schools in our district, to produce well informed and educated athletes who are dedicated to their dreams and aspirations on and off the sports field.
We focus on creating an unforgettable sport schooling experience that will be engraved in our students’ memories forever. We would like to thank our parents for their support and may it continue as we build our school to be the best that it can be.
Once again, we urge our parents to give our students an opportunity to be a part of this wonderful adventure and give support to our coaches and staff on our sports fields, and build relationships with them that will be in our BIS family memories forever.
Mpho Mahlangu (Coach M)
Physical Education Teacher & Wellness Coach
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High Frequency Words
In term 2, our Reception students have been introduced to High Frequency Words. High Frequency Words otherwise known as sight words, Dolch words, refer to a set of words that most commonly are found on any page of text. Readers need to instantly recognize these words in a text and often the words cannot be sounded out. Readers therefore need to memorise these words in order to read more confidently and fluently. Learning High Frequency Words is an important skill that is incorporated into reading homework. It is therefore essential to learn High Frequency Words in fun ways. Listed below are some ideas for flash card games:
Flash Cards Games
- Can you find? Lay cards on a table. Ask the student to find a given word. If they find it, they keep it. Keep going until all the cards are picked up.
- Who has more? Show the cards to the student. If they read the word within 5 seconds, they keep the cards – if not the parent keeps the cards, the goal is that the student has more cards at the end.
- Concentration – Using double copies of words take turns turning over 2 cards at a time, trying to make a match. The player must read the words correctly to get the match.
- Go fish – Use double copies of cards, pass out all by 5-6 of the words. Put these in a stack face down on the table. Look for matches in your set of cards. (each player must be able to read the word or the set goes in the stack on the table. Take turns asking each other for cards to make matches. The person with the most matches at the end is the winner.
- Slap Jack – Draw a star on a blank flashcard. Place this star card and the other flashcards face down on the table. Take turns turning over a card and reading a word. When the star card is turned over, the first player to slap it wins.
Bronwen Nuthall
Reception Year Teacher
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Pre-Reception Learning All About Reptiles
For the past week, Pre-Reception have been learning about Reptiles. They loved painting and making different Reptiles. The students also played games like snakes and ladders, learnt various Reptile rhymes and songs.
The highlight of the week was definitely when the Reptile Man came to visit, bringing his great collection of snakes, lizards, geckos and tortoises.
Some Reptile facts the students have learnt:
- All reptiles lay shelled eggs.
- A reptile breathes air.
- They have bony shells or are covered in scales.
- Majority of reptiles are cold-blooded.
- The most diverse reptiles are snakes and lizards.
- Most eat insects and small animals.
Our students were very brave and eager to touch and learn about the various reptiles. They couldn’t stop talking about all the wonderful things they saw during the special presentation by the Reptile Man.
Cindy Nunan
Pre-Reception Teacher
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Year 9 Travel & Tourism and Art students’ Outing to Hotel Sky and the ZEITZ MOCAA
The Year 9 Travel & Tourism students had the opportunity on Friday, 13 May, to attend a guided tour of the 27 storey Hotel Sky in Loop Street, Cape Town. This included all the front of house responsibilities, the rooms, restaurants and even a behind the scenes look at the kitchen.
A highlight of the Hotel Sky visit was when the students, teachers and Mr. Swart, went on the Sky-Hi Ride, on the 28th floor of the hotel. Towering 35 metres above the Cape Town City Bowl, it gave us a bird’s eye view of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. One of only three in existence, and the first of its kind in Africa, this exhilarating, gravity-defying and breath-taking drop reaches a free fall speed of up to 100km per hour.
From there the Year 9 Art students went on a guided tour of the current exhibitions at the Zeitz MOCAA – Museum of Contemporary Art Africa – located in the Silo District at the V&A Waterfront. It is the largest museum of contemporary African art in the world.
The guided tour included visiting the largest comprehensive retrospective of the revolutionary work of Tracey Rose (b. 1974, South Africa). A radical voice in the international and South African art world, Rose’s cutting and uncompromising vision of work spans from 1996 to 2019.
The students then visited the exhibition of works by Johannes Phokela. “Only Sun in The Sky Knows How I Feel (A Lucid Dream)” is a major exhibition of new works by this South African artist. This project marks almost a decade since Phokela’s last institutional show and includes a select survey of his oeuvre from the last three decades. The exhibition forms part of an ongoing series of in-depth, research-based solo exhibitions by the museum that brings into focus and contextualises the practices of important African artists.
The Travel & Tourism and Art students joined each other for another highlight of the day: lunch at the famous V&A Waterfront’s Food Court.
Concluding our outing, we travelled safely back to BIS in the safe hands of our drivers, Mr. Clive Singlewood-Smith and Mr. Mpho Mahlangu.
Riaan Vosloo
IGCSE, AS and A Level Art and Design Teacher
WATCH!
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Year 7 Camp At Disakloof
During the first week of May, the Year 7 group embarked on an exciting camp at Disakloof campgrounds in Betty’s Bay.
We met at school early on Wednesday morning and the students enthusiastically clambered onto the bus in anticipation of their first high school camp. The long trip came to an end, and we were warmly welcomed by the incredible Venture Forth crew at Disakloof.
The camp kicked off with ice breakers and games among the students. Thereafter the students were sent to select their dorms, where they were greeted by a rather terrifying and hairy guest – a passer-by baboon decided to greet the ladies of Blouberg International School right inside their dorm!
After all the excitement and shrieks, we set off on a picturesque hike within the Harold Porter botanical garden. We truly got to immerse ourselves in the natural beauty of the Western Cape by finding King- and Pincushion Proteas growing on the side of the mountains. We even found a small chameleon hiding between the fynbos.
We ended the day off by playing group games in the dark, in the midst of loadshedding.
Thursday comprised of another exciting day filled with adventures. The students were divided into three groups that rotated between three fantastic activities. We got to pay a visit to the penguin sanctuary in Betty’s Bay, where we learned all about penguins, the old whaling station, and we even got to see rehabilitated penguins being released back into the wild. We then had the opportunity to grab hold of some paddles and row on a lovely dam between the reeds and mist from the morning. After a hearty lunch, we trekked to the most impressive sand dunes, where we had the opportunity to practice sandboarding. Beginner students decided to sit down on the board, while the braver souls tried standing up and a few even slid down the hill head-first! Laughs and screams of delight could be heard for kilometers.
We ended off our final evening with a lovely potjie made by the members of each group, as students found a brand-new appreciation for where their dinner comes from.
Friday morning arrived and we could not believe our trip had come to an end. We spent the morning having breakfast, tidying our dorms, and saying goodbye to the wonderful camp counselors. We departed Betty’s Bay just as the rain started to roll in, and we arrived back at BIS, ready to get back to another exciting school week ahead.
Mia Tossel
High School Teacher
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Multi-Sensory Learning
The importance of teaching and learning with more than just sight and sound lessons.
Multi-sensory learning has the benefit of reinforcing strengths, improving students’ weaknesses and assisting the brain in making connections between current knowledge and the new knowledge that is being taught. It also helps students who differ in learning styles to make concrete connections during the lesson.
In the BIS Library – learning is dynamic, engaging and often involves more than three of the body’s senses. The ‘/j/’ sound lesson is the perfect example of a lesson where students are facilitated in remembering the sound by tasting jelly. After singing the jolly phonics song for ‘/j/’, they move their bodies like wobbling jelly and read a book about jelly. The students then have the opportunity to enjoy smelling and tasting some jelly. Multi-sensory lessons seem more like playing than learning to children and as research has shown, this is one of the best means for children’s brains to make connections and store information.
Facilitating learning through the senses is important, in particular learning to read because reading always leans towards sight and sound. Reading is an abstract concept that requires concrete learning methods in its teaching, and not only for those who need it with regard to their learning styles.
Kirsten Stoffberg
School Librarian and Teacher
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Book Week 2022: Foundation Phase And How To Ensure Success When Reading With Your Child
From the 3rd to 6th of May, we celebrated Book Week throughout the school. We do this to help foster a love and excitement for books and reading. There was a wide variety of fun and interesting events that took place.
On Tuesday, Hooked on Books came to school to entertain the students. They performed short excerpts from age appropriate books and the students even got to act out a poem with the actors’ guidance.
On Wednesday evening, the students joined their teachers in their pyjamas for hot chocolate and bedtime stories. It was an evening full of laughter, cuddles and creating fond memories with friends.
Throughout the week, The Book People gave students the opportunity to peruse a large variety of books and some purchased a book to add to their home library.
On Friday we had a character dress up day. It was wonderful seeing the creativity and pride that the children took in dressing up. During the week, Reception and Pre-Reception classes also swapped teachers at story time so that they could listen to the stories represented in the other classrooms.
Below are some tips you can use at home to make reading fun and to ensure success when reading with your child:
When you are creating fun reading activities for your children, you need to be excited about the activity too. You want to create something that is worth your child’s time to sit, listen, and learn. Here are some tips to help you succeed:
- Have a happy voice: Children are smart. If your voice is monotone and you are trying to cram in a book before bedtime, they will know it. Make your voice sound excited when you read the words. Remember to smile and have fun!
- Take your time: Plan ahead to make sure you have enough time to read before nap and bedtime. You don’t want to do fun reading activities when you or your kids are tired. They will be less likely to be engaged.
- Read over or skim the book before you get it: I found many books were not appropriate for children. They had things in there I was not ready to discuss at their young age. Protect their innocence and choose books that represent the same values you stand for at home.
- Don’t quit: Your children may not be excited at first. Keep working at it. Try different things to see what works. Don’t give up. Reading needs to be a lifelong skill that gets encouraged from when your children are young.
- Empower your children: Get your children to pick out books, give them a choice between two fun reading activities, let them pick out which book to read at bedtime, or let them choose a book to give another child as a birthday present. All these things give them ownership. If they come up with the idea or make the decision themselves, they are more likely to be engaged.
Kim Hahn
Reception Year Teacher
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The Science of Play
‘Happy hearts and happy faces. Happy play in grassy places. That is how, in ancient ages, Children grew to be kings and sages.’ – Robert Louis Stevenson
Play is one of the most important aspects of a child’s life. Why? Because through play they develop their social skills, language and communication. Play can be considered a child’s “work” as it is how they learn, how they figure out who they are, how the world works and where they fit into it. It offers children a chance to exercise and develop muscle strength and with nothing more than little imagination, a playground can become a fortress, a submarine, or even a spaceship. Their brain can connect and refine pathways that enable them to feel loved, happy and safe.
Young children are natural artists and one of the keys to supporting your child’s playtime effectively is to not take over. Yes sure, it’s frustrating when they make a mess and when they aren’t “doing it right”, but to every answer, there is a question that needs to be asked. Ask them questions and let them answer for themselves. Don’t panic or get anxious when they stumble or stutter, the very idea that you are with them, at that moment, provides them with answers to questions they weren’t even asking.
Children do not need expensive or elaborate toys, as real play only requires toys and resources that are open-minded in nature. That is why so many children are more interested in the toy box that the actual toy. However, it is important to remember that as children grow, and their imagination extends outside the box, the toy inside will define what enjoyment should look like for the majority of their young adult life.
The Value of Play
You say that you love your children,
And are concerned that they learn today,
As am I, that’s why I’m providing
A variety of kinds of play.
You are asking what’s the value
Of having your children play?
Your daughter’s creating a tower,
She may be a builder someday.
You’re asking me the value
of blocks and sand and clay.
Your children are solving problems,
They will use that skill every day.
You’re saying that you don’t want your son
To play in that way.
He’s learning to cuddle a doll,
He may be a father someday.
You’re questioning the learning centers,
They just look like useless play.
Your children are making choices,
They’ll be on their own someday.
You’re worried your children aren’t learning
And later they’ll have to pay.
They’re learning a pattern for learning,
For they’ll be learners always.
– by Laurie Monopoli
So, I would like to end off and say, yes it may just be child’s play, but when you engage and make the most out of playtime, you may even find answers to questions you were never asked.
Jo-Anne Dickason
Nursery Teacher
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Who’s-Done-It Mystery Game
Learning mathematics is not fun for every student. At Blouberg International School, we believe in making mathematics fun and helping students love the learning journey. One way to do this is through interactive mathematics games, such as Who’s-Done-It Mystery – Death at the Jigsaw Shop.
Who’s-Done-It Mystery – Death at the Jigsaw Shop is an engaging mathematics mystery game to motivate Year 9 students to apply their mathematics skills independently to solve the mystery of a crime committed at the Jigsaw shop. The manager is dead, and the week’s takings have disappeared.
There are 32 suspects. There are 5 clues. Each clue gives a fact about the perpetrator and eliminates half of the suspects. The clues are jigsaws. To work out a clue, you must first make the jigsaw. Round the outer edge of the jigsaw are numbers. Each number represents a letter (a=1, b=2, c=3 etc.). The first letter of the clue is underlined and then the clue reads clockwise round the shape.
Students have the opportunity to apply a variety of mathematics skills to solve the mystery: fractions, percentages, directed numbers, and converting measurements.
This week, Year 9 mathematics students paired up, played the game, and managed to eliminate suspects and come up with the real perpetrator’s name.
Here are some of my students’ immediate reactions to this fun exercise:
- Detective Riley Hanning: “This is a serious case; someone’s life is involved here, and we ought to be precise and accurate!”
- Detective Ruby Lee Gallagher: “It’s fun and engaging. How I wish this was my everyday math lesson from Year 1.”
- Detective Oratile Tsotetsi: “This is obviously one of my favourite lessons. A double lesson went quickly without notice!”
Want to take up the challenge yourself?
See below files of evidence collected by the arresting police officer at the shop and try to come up with the perpetrator’s name. You can post your evidence and proofs to my email (given below).
Let’s enjoy mathematics as a family.
Mr Hebert Tapfuma
High School Mathematics Teacher
HOD Science & Mathematics
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