education Tag

High School Induction Day 2022

Foreword

Welcome back to Blouberg International School and the start of a new academic year. A special word of welcome to our new families – I trust that you already feel at home.

We recognize that in order to be successful in school, our children need support from both the home and school. We know a strong partnership with you will make a great difference in your child’s education. As partners, we share the responsibility for our children’s success and want you to know that we will do our very best to carry out our responsibilities. We ask that you guide and support your child’s learning by ensuring that

he/she:

• Attends school daily and arrives on time, ready for the day’s learning experience.
• Reads daily to develop a love for reading and to improve literacy skills.
• Shares school experiences with you so that you are aware of his/her school life.
• Informs you if he/she needs additional support in any area or subject.

Looking forward to a successful term and great year,

Mrs Carmen de Villiers

High School Coordinator

High School Induction Day 2022

The high school Induction Day for new students took place on Friday, 14 January 2022. It was organised and led by the Student Representative Council and Matric students, who showed commendable diligence by planning this event from Term 4 and in the last week of their holidays.

Students participated in a variety of games and activities designed to help them to get to know each other better. They were also taken on a tour of the school so that they could be familiar with their subject teachers and the building before their first day. Students were allocated a house and the Year 7s met their tutor teachers.

Something new that was introduced this year was Matric Mentors. The Matric students were allocated Year 7 students who they need to keep in contact with during the school year. The purpose of this is to help the Year 7s settle into high school and encourage student involvement and effective communication.

We would like to extend a warm welcome to all our new students. May your time at BIS be enjoyable and fulfilling.

Ms Sheila Marais

SRC Coordinator

SMART Goals

As we started the new year and embraced the first term of 2022, we thought it was important for the Year 6 students to think about what they wanted to achieve during the term and set S.M.A.R.T goals for themselves for their core subjects.

During this week’s core lessons, we discussed the importance of setting goals and how the setting of goals can help us with responsibility as well as fostering a positive “can do” attitude which increases self-esteem. We moved on to discuss potential goals within each subject and asked the students what they wish to achieve, or what they would like to overcome to make them feel proud. Students shared their ideas of potential goals.

Once our students chose their goals for the term, we discussed how to set S.M.A.R.T goals, track their goals and set themselves up for success.

The acronym for SMART GOALS stands for:

S– Is the goal specific? What would you like to accomplish? The more specific the goal, the more focused you can be in reaching that goal.

M– Is the goal measurable? How will you know you have reached your goal? It is important to be clear about what you are working towards.

A– Is the goal achievable? Is it challenging, but not impossible? Taking it one small step at a time can help ensure success.

R – Is the goal relevant? Does thinking about reaching the goal inspire excitement? Being passionate about what you are working towards is a key to success.

T– Is the goal timely? Do you have a deadline by which you want to reach your goal? Setting an end date can help jump start motivation to begin working towards your goal.

We look forward to motivating and encouraging our students to reach their goals and reflect on it at the end of the term. At home, you can think about setting S.M.A.R.T goals with your children. Visit the website: https://madeinapinch.com/smart-goals-examples/ to learn more about setting these goals at home.

Katherine Nel

Key Stage 2 Coordinator and Year 6 Teacher

Traffic Light Eating

One of the best ways to help children eat healthy foods is to teach them Traffic Light Eating. Just like when we are driving a car, a traffic light tells us what to do:

Green means “GO”

Yellow means “Slow down”

Red means “STOP”

Green Light Foods

Green light foods are “grow” foods. You want to help children learn to eat as much as they want of these foods, which include all fruits and vegetables. Green light foods are: grown and not manufactured, low in calories, high in nutrients, colourful, and usually can be eaten raw.

Yellow Light Foods

Yellow light foods are “slow down” foods. These foods are okay to eat everyday, in moderation. Yellow light foods include: pasta, rice, bread, tortillas, noodles, eggs, lean meat, chicken, low fat yoghurt, nuts and seeds and whole grains.

Red Light Foods

Red light foods are “stop” and think foods. Red light foods are low in nutrients; high in calories, fat or sugar; or contain artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated oils, or trans-fats. They include: muffins, cakes, donuts, biscuits, cookies, sweets, chocolates, fast foods, pastries, chips, crisps and white bread.

Tips to Apply Traffic Light Eating

Traffic Light Eating makes eating healthy more fun. Learners are paying attention to what we eat, and setting a positive example is the key to turning healthy eating into a regular habit.

We we are excited to start using the Traffic light eating system at BIS.

Water is the healthy option and only drink allowed at school. Juices, cordials, Oros, milkshakes, yoghurt drinks should not be allowed and sent home unopened with an email explaining they are not allowed.

Each teacher from nursery up until Year 2 will display the traffic light eating poster in their classroom. The poster clearly shows which foods are healthy and allowed at school and which foods are not healthy and thus not allowed at school.

Aftercare will also help maintain the traffic light system in the Early/Aftercare. If a child attends a long day in aftercare or early care, then a separate healthy lunch box should be packed.

Red light foods: chocolates, muffins, cakes, sweets, chips, crisps, donuts, cookies, etc. should not be allowed in lunch boxes for class or after care and must be sent home.

Let’s make BIS a healthy eating school improving children’s health which in turn benefits their learning ability and behaviour.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Charlotte Cronje and Cindy Nunan

Foundation and Key Stage 1 Teachers

Induction Day in Year 3

On Tuesday, the 30^th of November 2021, our school held its annual Induction Day where the students get to spend some time with their new teacher for the next year.

It is always such an interesting morning. The students are anxious to find out where they are going the next year, and the teachers are anxious to find out who is coming to their class.

As humans, we like familiarity, and anything out of our comfort zone makes us either want to fight, or just kick our shoes off and bolt for the door. (Luckily, no teachers went missing. We were all accounted for.)

In Year 3, we made a 2D lollipop using different coloured strips of paper to cross-cross over each other and pop up. The students were so good at listening and following instructions. We were all so proud of them!

The students also got to play a game called, “Who am I?” Mystery Student. Each child wrote three clues about themselves and the class had to try to guess ‘who they are’ based on the clues given. It was amazing how well the students knew each other, even though they do not come from the same class. This will make the transition so much easier next year.

I asked the students what they are looking forward to in Year 3 next year, and this is what some of them had to say:

“Doing cool work”, “Learning new stuff”, “Writing good stories”, “Enjoying Life”, “Reading books and telling time”, “A locker with a door”, “Learning new subjects”, “Everything”.

The current Year 2 students were very happy to leave with a treat! I am certain that everyone had a fun-filled morning getting to know each other and just forgetting about Covid for an hour or two.

We are looking forward to seeing them again at the start of 2022.

Wendy Menton

Year 3 Teacher

Year 2 Art & Design Fun!

Siobhan Hendry

Year 2 Teacher

Teaching Young Students How To Resolve Conflict Situations

“The quality of our lives depends not on whether or not we have conflicts, but on how we respond to them.” – Thomas Crum

The Year 2 students have been learning in detail, how to resolve conflict situations on their own. We as the teachers, find this an extremely important topic to teach young students as it is an extremely important part of social-emotional learning. Social skills such as co-operation, empathy, and self-control are fundamental to emotional development and conflict resolution.

The students were taught the “Stoplight” method. This method is simple, effective and easy to remember for the younger students in Foundation Phase as well as the older students in KS1.

The method works on the colours of a stoplight. When a student is in a conflict situation (Eg: pushed, hurt, had a friend say something mean to them, etc.), we want to encourage that student not to react the same way back. This is where Step 1: Red Light comes in. The student who has been hurt needs to stop and think of the red light, take three seconds to breath and then move on to Step 2: Yellow Light, where they think of their options on how to resolve this conflict. The may either walk away, ignore, tell an adult or tell the other student that they are not allowed to hurt them etc. Once the student has decided on what he/she would like to do, he/she follows Step 3: Green Light, which is where the student acts upon the choice of resolution. This is a highly proactive way of approaching a situation, as apposed to being reactive.

We feel this method will prevent students lashing out and reacting straight away with the same behavior brought onto them. This method is implemented to try teach students self-control, co-operation and empathy.

“To practice the process of conflict resolution, we must completely abandon the goal of getting people to do what we want.” – Marshall B. Rosenberg

Erin Hierse

Year 2 Teacher

Charming Charlotte

As part of our English Literature Component, the Year 4 students have been reading “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White. The book tells the story of girl Fern, who rescues a runt pig and names him Wilbur. Once on the farm, Wilbur makes friends with Charlotte, a beautiful large, grey spider. They become best friends and face a few challenges together. Although a fictional tale, the story also teaches valuable life lessons such as teamwork, friendship and overcoming obstacles.

Over the last few weeks, the students have been reading the novel in class, sharing their opinions and thoughts in groups and completing tasks based on the novel.

In Art, they created beautiful spider webs and spiders, and to end the unit, they will watch the classic movie.

The students have blown us away with their reading aloud skills as well as their thought provoking questions and answers about the novel. We are very proud of our stars!

Yvette Fourie

Year 4 Teacher

The Year 7 & 8 Art tells a lot more than a thousand words…

Teenagers are unaware of the incredible natural resource they possess: their boundless creativity. Our students are natural storytellers and the depth of their imaginations never ceases to amaze me.

And yet, students approach a blank page with trepidation. When they have to write a story, they aren’t thinking about sharing their ideas and stories. More often than not, they’re stressing about letter formation and proper spelling. However, when they start drawing freely they immediately begin to unleash their ideas. What they may not realize is that they are telling a story as they draw.

Illustrations contribute to the telling of a story. The Year 7 and 8 Art students used photography (Year 8) and paper cutouts (Year 7), inspired by the cut out artworks of Henri Matisse, to discuss and interpret details of the characters, setting and plot, thereby unleashing endless possibilities and unlimited creativity.

The main objective was to harmonise words and illustrations. They exceeded all our expectations when even the smallest details were created with small pieces of paper. We are incredibly proud of their outstanding work.

Ané Gornall & Riaan Vosloo

Year 7 & 8 Art Teachers

Interact 2021

As the 2021 academic year approaches an end, I look back at the many events organized by the BIS Interact Club. I admire the ability of our students to adapt to the challenges that all of us had to face somehow. Our Interact Club members’ enthusiasm and willingness to serve the community has continued forth strongly.

The ongoing support of the BIS family has enabled BIS Interact to organise a stationery drive for Du Noon Primary School, collect tons of clothing for Home of Hope, fill two school vans to the brim with food for Peace Home and deliver boxes of canned food to Amathemba School.

The sandwich-making school competition earlier this year was a gigantic success, with over 4000 content and grateful bellies on delivery day!

Our Interact members also proposed initiatives for the wellbeing of our school, such as the Friendship Day board, where our students and staff could post heart-warming and encouraging messages to their peers. Their Mental Health Awareness Drive included a “green ribbon” civvies day, which was aimed at promoting ways to maintain a healthy mind.

Our last Interact drive for the year is the collection of gift boxes for Sam’s Educational Centre. The students are busy putting together the most amazing boxes to be delivered by “Father Christmas” himself. With the assistance of our Interact members, the event will consist of a surprise hand out celebration, which will take place at Sam’s Educational Centre on Tuesday, 30 November.

We kindly request that the gift boxes be handed in no later than Friday, 26 November, wrapped and clearly labelled with the child’s name.

Thank you for your invaluable support.

Elena Berger

BIS Interact Coordinator

The body Of Science

This term in Science, the Year 6’s learnt about the Human Body. We discussed the different organs such as the heart, liver, lungs, stomach, brain, intestines and kidneys. We also looked at the functions of each of these organs.

In order to understand where each organ is located, the students got into groups and outlined one group member’s body. They then went on to draw the different organs and place them in the correct positions on the body. Each group member had a specific role to play in these creations and the Year 6’s truly impressed their teachers with their creativity and group work.

The students also learnt about the different processes in the body. In order to see that digestion begins in the mouth, the Year 6’s became scientists and did an experiment. They took two test tubes and filled them with water and starch powder. Iodine (which shows the presence of starch by turning a blue colour), was placed in both test tubes and then saliva was placed in one. If the test tube stayed blue then we knew starch was present, if it went clear then we knew there was no starch present. After a while, the test tube with saliva in it turned a clear colour and this proved that the saliva broke down the starch.

Fun facts about the human body:

• You are going to be taller in the morning.
• Your heart beats about 100,000 times a day.
• Your highest blood flow is in your kidneys.
• You can produce enough saliva to fill two bathtubs a year.
• Your blood vessels could circle the globe.
• Your strongest and longest bone is your femur.
• More than half of your bones are located in the hands, wrists, feet, and ankles.

Brittney Hakime

Year 6 Teacher