Nursery Tackles Responsible Hygiene
It’s probably not surprising that learning about hygiene and self-care at a young age contributes to healthy social and emotional development. Encouraging independent self-care skills has a significant long-term impact on children, and attempting to complete these self-care tasks, builds on their confidence and promotes a healthy lifestyle.
Good hygiene expands further than just using hand sanitizer in class – it’s about keeping our surroundings clean and maintaining that cleanliness whenever possible. That’s why this week, during our Skills Programme, Nursery took the opportunity to learn about taking responsibility for our personal hygiene – as well as for the hygiene of the classroom.
We embarked on a fun-filled adventure to the garden, where we cleaned all the class toys with warm water and soap. The students worked as a team, learnt about germs and enjoyed cleaning all the crevices of their much-loved toys.
The best way to encourage good hygiene habits in our little tots, is to be a good role model and to set the standard at home. Keeping the conversation going will not only normalize the responsibility, but it will also ensure that the children are keeping their body happy and healthy. Self- care is the most important skill we can learn and starting today, no matter the age, will ensure self-love.
I am so proud of how far the little tots have come and I am so excited to put this new skill to good use in our future lessons.
Jo-Anne Dickason
Nursery Teacher
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Show and Tell – My Family
Last week, the Foundation Stage classes learnt about different families and what makes each family special.
The little ones are always very excited to do Show and Tell, and even more so when they have the opportunity to talk about their families.
The student were thrilled as they arrived at school with their beautiful posters, eager to share their presentations with their friends. It is always such a pleasure to see the little ones so proud to tell their friends about their mom and dad, siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins and even the very special furry friends that make each family special.
A big thank you to all the parents who helped the little ones prepare their presentations. It was so lovely getting to know everyone who forms part of our BIS family!
Monique Meyer
Reception Teacher and Foundation Stage Coordinator
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We are family!
We are learning all about me and my family in Pre-Reception. Talking about our families at school gives the students the opportunity to talk about what is most important to them. This topic also helps them realise that family, the people we live with, is something we all have in common, regardless of how our families look! Some families have siblings, some have none, some families have parents, and some have none.
The students enjoyed learning rhymes and songs and reading about families. They brought photos of themselves to school and we made a “wall of me” as we are also like a family in class. We loved marble painting and made beautiful art. The students also presented their first show and tell by telling us all about their family.
Martie van Dyk
Pre-Reception Teacher
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My Holiday!
A huge welcome back to all our Year 3 students who arrived last week relaxed, recharged and ready to start a new school year. We kicked off the year with a three-part activity about their holiday. Students first shared with the class, any interesting activities that they had enjoyed during the holiday. This was also a great way in which to get to know the students as we chatted about surfing, zip lining, hiking and karate lessons, amongst other exciting adventures.
The second step involved the students drawing a ‘snapshot’ of themselves enjoying one activity during the holiday and then explaining their ‘snapshot’ to a classmate.
Lastly, the students wrote a few sentences in the form of a short news article to match their ‘snapshot’.
Thank you, Year 3, for a very interesting and informative start to the year!
Mandy Goch
Year 3 Teacher
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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
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Year 5 Goals 2020!
The Year 5’s started off the term by thinking about how we wanted this year to go. We realised that a good way to check if we are making progress in the year is to set goals and try and achieve them.
We decided that there are a few steps to setting a good goal:
- Pick a goal. This must be something you want to achieve and that you can work towards.
- Break your goal down into steps. How are you going to go about achieving that goal?
- Ask yourself if you need to ask for help with achieving your goal. Remember that goals are something you need to work on for yourself, but you can always ask for help achieving them.
- Get started, do your best and keep trying!
With this in mind, the Year 5 classes set some goals for 2020.
Ife – I aim to get my pen license and a prize giving certificate. I also want to do well in Netball.
Ciara – I want to work on improving my Maths.
Grace – I would like to get an A is most of my subjects.
Brunice – I aim to improve my handwriting.
Hanaa – I’d like to improve my story writing.
Lily – I aim to improve my piano skills.
Callie – I want to work on my Spanish this year.
Declan – I’d like to get Best Sportsman for soccer.
We are all excited about being together in Year 5, and helping each other achieve our goals! We wish the rest of the school a wonderful year!
Year 5 Teacher
Every Child Shines
Last week the Year 4’s had to set some personal goals for themselves to end the year in the best possible way. It was wonderful to see all the different goals that the students wanted to achieve. Goals varied from “improving my piano skills”, “respecting and accepting myself for who I am” to “giving my old toys to charity”. I noticed that there were so many students that wanted to do well in their progression tests and achieve a high mark at the end of the year.
It is clear that we’ve reached that time of the year where they might start to feel a bit overwhelmed and stressed about the upcoming tests and assessments. It is so important that we, as teachers and parents, encourage our children to do their best but it should not be something that causes them so much stress and anxiety. I recently read a beautiful quote that really stuck with me:
“Don’t compare your child to others. There’s no comparison between the sun and the moon. They both shine when it’s their turn” – Unknown
This quote really inspired me to start thinking differently about the way we think about these tests and the way that we speak to our children in general. I read a marvellous article on https://www.momspresso.com that summarized the impact that comparing can have on children:
The article states that every child is different and that in the present age, where competition has spread its tentacles in every walk of life, it is crucial to teach our kids to be grounded. And comparing him at each step will just not help. He should be taught to better himself with each day, not to be better than his counterparts. It is natural to know where our child stands amidst others, in this world of ranks and percentages and wherein everyone is bidding for that coveted seat in a top school or university. But to constantly harrow him as to how others are better than him will fill him with inferiority complex.Here are some prime reasons as to why we should not compare our children with others:
- It leads to self-doubt.
- It causes pangs of jealousy.
- It can make your child negative.
- They will feel like they don’t have your support.
- It can make them extremely nervous and cause anxiety.Instead of comparing your child to others, rather encourage and motivate them to better themselves and teach them to love and respect themselves.
Here are some easy tips to motivate your child:
- Let them set realistic goals for themselves.
- Celebrate their accomplishments – no matter how small.
- Encourage them.
- Take interest in what they do and spend time with them.
- Discover their passions and use it to help them achieve their goals.
- Always remain positive.
- Ensure that they know you love them no matter what.Inspired by the quote about the moon and the stars, my class had to decorate and colour in a picture of a moon and a sun and was encourage to be as creative as possible. The creativity and uniqueness in their picture reflects their own uniqueness. We are all different and that is what makes us special.
I wish all the students that are studying for the upcoming tests and assessments all of the best.
Always remember: You are worthy, you are blessed and you are loved.
Mrs Ria du Plessis
Year 4
From the Principal’s Desk, 29 August 2019
Dear Parents
We have had an immensely busy term thus far and this got me thinking the other day about goals.
We navigate through our lives running from one task to the next, sometimes missing beautiful moments along the way. It feels like we barely blink and our children are walking, going to school, graduating, getting married and suddenly it is time to retire.
Perhaps it would be good practice for us to sit down and take stock of where we have been, where we are now and where we want to go. This is a wonderful exercise to teach our children as they work towards their goal of graduation. However, the ultimate goal of graduation must also be met with balance.
Teaching our children to enjoy the journey will ultimately help them achieve success. It is all too easy to lose sight of your goals when you are overwhelmed and stressed. Taking the time to allow yourself to breathe and enjoy the moment will help you re-evaluate yourself and your goals. This introspection will lead to healthier, happier and more successful individuals entering the adult world with confidence.
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. – Albert Schweitzer
As we are nearing the end of the third term, I would like to remind parents to start purchasing the correct uniform for the summer months. It is very important that the students wear the correct uniform and that we, as parents and teachers, encourage them in this endeavor. In doing so, we instill a sense of pride in the students with the end goal that wearing the correct uniform is not a chore, but a matter of honour. I therefore urge parents to prepare now for the change in uniform next term.
Last night was the opening night of our high school’s musical production ‘Little Shop of Horrors’. Although a successful opening night, it was disappointing to see the lack of support for our students and for the burgeoning cultural program at our school. The students and teachers have worked incredibly hard to put this performance together and last night was an awe inspiring showcase of their talent. I encourage all our students and parents to purchase tickets for the last two performances as we owe it to the students to support their efforts and to support the growth of arts and culture within our school community.
Regards
Edna