Intaka Island
The week before last, our Year 2 students went out to Intaka Island at Century City. They were given the opportunity to explore nature in all its wonderful ways.
We looked at various small organisms under the microscope, were given a guided tour around the island, spotting and appreciating the little birds, bugs and flowers around us. After the wildlife watching, were given a guided boat tour around the canals, appreciating the views around us and learning more about the conservancy.
This is definitely an outing we can recommend for the whole family! So much fun was had by all!
Siobhan Hendry
Year 2 Teacher
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Year One Barnaby Bear Day
“Travel leaves you speechless. Then turns you into a storyteller.” – IBN Battuta
The Year 1 students and teachers thoroughly enjoyed an eventful day, traveling from country to country (class to class), learning about the different countries Barnaby Bear had travelled to and tasting all the delicious cuisines each country had to offer.
Barnaby Bear is the bear we learnt about in Geography that travels the world to visit different countries. He sends the teachers post cards which explains in detail, the sites he visits, the transport he uses to get around, the seasons in each country and the temperature he is currently experiencing.
The students in Mrs Cordner’s class represented America, Mrs Cronje’s class represented England and my class (Miss Hierse’s class) had the privilege to represent India. The students flew from class to class where they got to do some fun activities and learn some interesting facts that symbolized the country they had travelled to. They then enjoyed some delicious snacks and cold drinks which each class offered. The students were dressed beautifully and walked away from the day with more knowledge on America, England and India as well as full tummies.
The Year 1 teachers are extremely grateful for the parents help and support in making the day a successful one.
“Wanderlust. (n.) A strong desire for or impulse to wander or travel and explore the world.”
Year 1 Teacher
Erin Hierse
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Foundation Stage Recognition Ceremonies
It was with great excitement that our little ones in Foundation Stage came to school ready for the end of year Recognition Ceremony. Every year we take time to acknowledge the amazing progress our little ones have made. They have all worked so hard and we are incredibly proud of them.
Each class got the chance to perform a song or a poem before receiving their special certificates. We want to say a big thank you to all the parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who are always there to support and encourage the little ones on their learning journey.
We can’t do it without you!
Monique Meyer
Foundation Stage Coordinator and Reception Year Teacher
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What My Pre-Reception Students Love Most About School
I can’t believe that it is already the fourth and last term of the year! The students have grown in leaps and bounds. They come to school eager to learn and participate in the daily activities. The classroom is always full of cheerful laughter, inquisitive questions and daily chitter chatter. I am so proud of each one of my students, they have all grown in different areas throughout the year.
I asked my students what they LOVE doing most in Pre-Reception and this is what they said:
Alex: “Making friends.”
Keneo: “Playing with my friends.”
Aubrey: “Painting.”
Victoria: “Playing outside.”
Kai: “Building blocks.”
Jefferson: “I like to play on the monkeybars.”
Emily: “Doing art.”
Chaitra: “I like to be friends with everyone.”
Jasper: “I love playing with playdough.”
Cayden: “Playing with the wooden blocks.”
Dylan: “To give my teacher hugs and laying with the train tracks.”
Amelie: “I love doing art and painting.”
Ava: “Playing outside.”
Suhaila: “I like to draw.”
Aksharath: “I like to play with the wooden block with my friends.”
Athena: “I like painting.”
Edyn: “I like to play with everything at school.”
Nozhin: Loves to colour in.
I love to see the students in my class learning through play, interacting with each other and most of all happy to be at school.
Cindy Nunan
Pre-Reception Teacher
Meal plans from the Year 5s
In Science, the Year 5s have been looking at the digestive system. We learnt that animals, including humans, need a balanced diet to be healthy. While a balanced diet for a zebra might include a variety of grasses and leaves, humans are a bit more complicated than that. We found out that we need to eat meals and snacks, which have a variety of food groups – including lots of fruit and vegetables! Once we knew the theory, the Year 5s used their knowledge (and some research on the iPads) to create a healthy meal plan over three days – and I must say they gave their teacher some ideas for what to cook over the next few weeks!
Here are some of the delicious meals that were suggested:
Breakfast:
- Avocado on wholewheat toast with 2 scrambled eggs
(Sehan Singh)
- All-Bran flakes with sliced bananas mixed in
(Lereko Tabohane)
- Muesli with yoghurt and blueberries.
(Nivad Manouchehri)
Lunch:
- A bowl of pasta with mixed vegetables and cheese.
(Zahrah Allie)
- A bagel with tomatoes, mozzarella and lettuce, with a smoothie on the side.
(Wanda Ahadzadeh)
- A burrito with peppers, cheese and lettuce.
(Keira Nicholl)
- Mac and cheese with sliced cucumbers.
(Tinashe Chivaka)
Dinner:
- Pap and steak with spinach and sliced tomato.
(Pelumi Olawoyin)
- Butternut, baked potato and chicken pieces
(Isabella Schultz)
- Omelette with mushrooms and sausages.
(Okuhle William)
Snack ideas:
- A smoothie with 1 cup of frozen strawberries, 1 cup of frozen peaches, and some yoghurt and milk.
(Shanna-Rose Jenkinson)
- Salti crackers with some snoek pate, feta cubes and pear slices.
(Emily Rӧhlandt)
- Carrot sticks with hummus.
(Mika Bhyat)
- Carrots and peanut butter, with some grapes (do not put peanut butter on the grapes!).
(Dicla Tona)
- Strawberries with yoghurt and honey.
(Alistair Mouton)
- Wholewheat grain crackers, light cream cheese and mixed berries.
(Talicia Nyausaru)
Of course, it helps to know WHY a meal is healthy – and the students had that covered too!
“The pasta, beef and vegetables were healthy because there were different food groups that can help our body in different ways and give us nutrients.”
(Ileana Dias)
Watch this space – next up for the Year 5s is a video oral where the students make one of the meals on their meal plans and then tell us about it. Masterchef Junior, here we come!
Hannah Kirkaldy
Year 5 Teacher
WATCH: Khanya Luthango’s Healthy Food English Presentation and Oral
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Foundation Stage Farmer’s Day
For the past two weeks, the Foundation Stage has been learning all about farming. The students have learned about many different aspects of farming, including the types of farms we get, the animals that usually live on farms, the roles and responsibilities of the farmers and their laborers as well as the various products that farms produce. We have all learned the important role that farms play in our lives and we appreciate how hard they have to operate to produce the items sent to the marketplace.
To experience all that we have learned about this, a Farmer’s Day Breakfast was arranged. With much excitement and many shrieks of joy, our phase got to engage with live animals in a petting zoo. The students were taught how to handle smaller animals like chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, tortoises and a pheasant. They also got to groom and feed larger livestock such as sheep and goats. Each class made a farmer’s breakfast together, where skills such as cracking an egg, buttering bread and whisking were practiced. Finally, to really conclude our farming experience, we planted beans, which are being protected by our very own scarecrows! We will water our beans daily, leave them on the windowsills for warmth and light and wait patiently for them to sprout – just as farmers do with their crops!
We encourage parents to continue reinforcing the skills that we have learned from our farming unit at home. Being practically involved in cooking, gardening and animal responsibility will always be an asset towards any child’s development!
Kim Hahn
Reception Year Teacher
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Why do we do ‘Show and Tell’ at school?
I think we all recognise the importance of public speaking in our workplaces. Public speaking should begin at school where children form social bonds and learn self-confidence along the way. ‘Show and Tell’ is a popular way used in schools to develop these public speaking skills.
Here are a few ideas that parents can use to develop these skills at home:
Observe the Journey Game
- Whilst driving, walking or on public transport, ask your child to describe as much of their surroundings as they can within one minute!
- Get them to think about shapes, colors and what is happening.
- After multiple attempts over days/weeks your child will begin to speak more clearly and sharpen their observation skills which are essential for speaking well.
- The Woof Game
- This hilarious game will build your child’s ability to think Choose a common word like it or be.
- Provide your child with a topic to speak on for thirty seconds.
- Every time the chosen word is to appear in their speech they should replace it with woof.
Imaginary Animal Game
Get a group of family members, neighbors and friends together with your kids.
- Ask each group member to think of an animal and give them one minute to think of how they would describe that animal.
- Each member must then be questioned by their fellow members on the size, color(s), habitat and other attributes until they discover what animal it is.
For more fun, games go to:
https://kidsactivitiesblog.com/30784/public-speaking-for-kids/
Above all, remember that practice makes perfect and to have as much fun as you can along the way…
Kim Coetzer
Year 2 Teacher
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From Boxes to Rockets in Reception
The Foundation Stage students have been learning about Space. As one of our art projects we decided to make rockets. The students were delighted to use their creative skills to make their own rockets using recycled items such as boxes, bottle tops and egg cartons. Each student was allowed to use 2 boxes and any of the other materials on the table to construct their rocket. We decided not to paint our rockets so that we could easily see how what components were used in their construction.
Construction play is an open-ended activity that is proven to make a difference in the way children think and complete tasks. These are some of the skills children develop through this kind of play
- problem solving skills
- spatial awareness
- fine motor skills
- hand-eye co-ordination
- sensory awareness
- challenge and perseverance
- measurement
- self-confidence
- decision making
- creativity
- social skills
There really is so much more to construction play than meets the eye. Box construction is also a fun and educational way to keep your child engaged at home. What will your next project be?
Bronwen Nuthall
Reception Year Teacher
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CREATIVE WRITING
The Year 4’s have been expanding their creative writing skills by working on descriptive introduction paragraphs to a fantasy story.
Mrs. Mahomed’s students have excitedly taken up the challenge and have created some fantastic introduction paragraphs that will leave you wanting to hear the rest of the story.
“The sky was all shades of purple and pink. The wind was pumping. Cassie, a little eight-year-old girl was walking outside in her garden when she came across a seemingly endless tunnel, it was made of what was thought to be trees. The trees were alive, they had a mind of their own and they were muttering. Just then the wind started to blow so hard that it almost blew Cassie away while her long blonde hair and baby blue dressed swayed in the wind too. Just then, Cassie heard a voice calling her from the tunnel.”
Written by Isabella Heidmann (Y4NM)
“It was a Winter’s morning when suddenly a figure dashed passed the window. I barely recognized what it could be but I do remember it was misty blue in colour and had large wings. A strong and glorious body with magical snowflakes that dazzled from it. Wherever it went Winter followed. It almost looked like a dragon. Its body was covered in sharp icicles. It was truly a magnificent sight and I wish I could see the dragon one more time.”
Written by Sachin Gramoney (Y4NM)
“Long long ago in the midst of time there lives a dragon, a quite small dragon. It lives in the bone chilling Winter months where freezing winds howl through the night and snow falls through the day. The dragon sleeps through the warm months and is awaken on the first day of Winter. Today is that day! He comes out into the fridged world and spreads his large wings to fly.”
Written by Eshwar Mudaly-Jansen (Y4NM)
“It was a dim and cloudy night in the city, a huge shadow had appeared out of nowhere. “A dragon!” shouted a civilian in fear. It had blazed through the big tall buildings of the city, crushing and wrecking everything in sight.”
Written by Caleb Ajayi (Y4NM)
“I am going to tell you a tale about the snowflake dragon. You see, deep in the snow forest where cold breezes and heavy snow storms live you will find the snowflake dragon. Don’t go there unless you dare. There’s poisonous snow snakes and wild wolves. It is dangerous everywhere. The wolf’s breath is as cold as dried ice and he breathes hot snow. When you get caught in his breath you will disintegrate.”
Written by Chloe Stewe (Y4NM)
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MARHABAN BIKUM FAA MISR (WELCOME TO EGYPT)
Salim walakum. In term four, in some of our subjects, we are covering the topic of Ancient Egypt. This is by far my favourite term of the whole year. Not only because it is the most exciting term, but also I can talk about Ancient Egypt all day, every day. I am certain that my passion around this topic has certainly infected the students in my class. They are even selecting readers in the library around the subject to find out more.
In English, we are reading stories, completing comprehensions and writing sentences about Ancient Egypt. In History and Geography, the students are doing research and completing a poster and presenting an oral using various topics, like Pharaohs, Gods and Goddesses, Mummies, these are only but a few examples. In Art and Design, the students have drawn Ancient Egyptian pots. For the last two weeks, they have been designing Ancient Egyptian necklaces, fit for a Pharaoh.
The Year 3 students spent a lesson drawing and colouring in their necklaces with pastels to brighten up the necklace. They then spent another lesson embellishing their necklaces with old jewellery, beads, sequins and glitter. I have to say, this year’s necklaces have truly outshone previous years. I was so proud of how each child planned their necklace with outmost care and precision, and took the time to ensure that it was their best work. I will leave you to decide which ones are the best!
We are all looking forward to the next Ancient Egyptian project!
Wendy Menton
Year 3 Teacher
