The year 4’s have been inspired by the Eisteddfod Art competition. For the competition, their art needs to include the Nautilus of the Blouberg International School crest and the values of BIS:

Dedication
Excellence
Respect
Responsibility
Integrity
Stewardship
Leadership

The lesson was a great opportunity to discuss these values with the students and was thoroughly integrated with our Global Perspectives learning outcomes.

Learners also learned the skill of paper marbling, which linked to our Science lessons, where they learned about states of matter and density. It was so lovely to share the skill with the learners as it is a lesson that I remember doing when I was about 10 years old.

Many learners are still busy completing the project and we can’t wait to see their interpretation of it.

You can try it at home, but be careful as you need to use oil-based paint. See the following link.

https://youtu.be/_-E1ZZpaIKw

Marlize Keyser
Year 4 Teacher

In Global Perspectives in Year 1, we have been collaborating and producing work in groups.

Group work is so important for students, providing great opportunities for them to develop and practise their skills such as listening to each other, working with others, helping and thinking of solutions

The students have had a lot of fun planning and producing pictures in their groups over a couple of weeks together.

Here are some of their creations:

Charlotte Cronje
Year 1 Teacher

In Art, the Year 6’s have been working on creating their own landscape art pieces.

As a class, we looked at many different images of landscapes, including paintings and photographs. We discussed the following elements of landscape composition: background, foreground, horizon, the source of light, lines that lead the eye, natural features and manmade features.

The students then went on to creating their rough sketches of natural features from some of the paintings and photographs that we looked at. Once this was done, they looked at local landscapes in our beautiful city and sketched the different landscapes, paying close attention to detail.

The final push was picking one local landscape and creating their own variations of a local landscape, using various techniques that they learnt in Term 1 and Term 2.

The Year 6’s really impressed their teachers by creating these familiar landscapes in Cape Town, including Table Mountain, Lion’s Head, the Waterfront, Boulders Beach and many more! We are so proud of the hard work and effort they put into their art pieces and how they have taken what they have learnt and applied it.

“Art is a place for children to learn to trust their ideas, themselves, and to explore what is possible” – Maryann F. Kohl

Brittney Hakime
Year 6 Teacher

Last week, the Year 2 classes were given the task to design and build anything they wanted to… We decided not to be prescriptive, as we were keen to see what ideas they came up with.

They were given the opportunity to plan their designs, identifying items they would need. So on Friday, armed with bags of boxes, glues, empty toilet rolls, decorations and paper, they eagerly waited for their teachers to say, “It’s time for Design and Technology now”.

I was really impressed by how the students worked together, shared decorations and motivated and supported each other.

Some of their projects didn’t come out quite as they had hoped. We discussed the reasons for this and they were able to identify that some glue was not strong enough or some boxes were too floppy.

All in all, it was fun and our students learned some valuable lessons!

Kim Coetzer
Year 2 Teacher

Art is a lot of fun, especially in Year 1. We encourage our students to explore, create, mix colours and use their imagination when it comes to our Art and Design lessons.

They use their little fingers to manipulate various art materials in class using their fine motor skills. As they paint, colour, glue and cut their fine motor skills are developing which in turn enables them to do more things independently from feeding themselves to tying their own shoelaces.

It is so important for children to be able to express themselves and be creative in their own way.

Charlotte Cronje
Year 1 Teacher

 

When we embrace the truth that we are the authors of our own stories, we become empowered to add to the joy and beauty around us.

This term, Year 4’s are going to look at the genre of fiction based on real life problems.

We have a whole audio library of books to enjoy for the next month that deal with everyday problems. After reading how the characters in these books made choices that overcame obstacles, we will be choosing a problem to write about – and then developing our story to ensure that the solution makes for, not only a happy ending, but an enjoyable and intriguing read.

Starting a new term, with a new Head and so many new opportunities, the Year 4’s prepared themselves last term by designing colourful and vibrant inspirational art.

What a great beginning to this new chapter of 2021 – I can’t wait to see how our story unfolds.

Carey Schoots
Year 4 Teacher

One of the most rewarding things as a teacher is observing the students learning as they play and developing their different skills by doing so. Helping them along their journey is part of the fun for everyone!

Everything the Nursery and Pre-Reception students do during their day’s activities contribute to their over-all development.

Children learn creativity, confidence, problem solving, perseverance, focus, dedication, collaboration and accountability through art.

Sensory play also contributes in crucial ways to brain development. Stimulating the senses sends signals to the children’s brains that helps to strengthen neural pathways important for all types of learning.

Children learn through doing. Art is an important part of a child’s world. It’s not only a way for children to express themselves, but it also helps them develop their fine–motor skills. The process during creative activities is more important than the final product. Small–muscle control is needed in order to cut with scissors, paint with a brush and colour with crayons. Creating these works of art builds a child’s self-esteem. The finished product, displayed on the refrigerator or wall, validates a child’s sense of worth.

Another very important activity during our day is building puzzles. Puzzles develop a child’s abstract thinking ability as they must be able to see a space and visualize what belongs in that space. Fine-motor coordination is developed when fitting the pieces into place.

Fine-motor control is developed by playing with a variety of toys such as big and small Legos, wooden blocks, pegboards, beads to thread, play dough etc. These manipulative toys help develop a child’s fine motor skills, which is a precursor to being able to write.

I hope you see play differently, through the eyes of a teacher and the importance of it!

Cindy Nunan
Nursery and Pre-Reception Teacher