A Fun-filled Year of Growth and Learning in Foundation Stage
Our little ones have really grown from strength to strength this year with so much development taking place in all areas. It has been very rewarding to see them master many skills. Some have experienced the joy of writing their own name or cutting out a shape on a line. For others learning to read, write their own sentences or calculating sums has been a highlight.
On Tuesday, 30 November, the students will be meeting their new class teacher from the class they will be in next year. This is what the students are looking forward to: for 2022:
Nikraad Manoucheri: “I am looking forward to doing sums.”
Mackenzie Theunissen: “I am looking forward to doing homework.”
Liam Okebalidiet: “I am looking forward to learning to read.”
Joshua Mpako: “I am looking forward to finding new friends to play with.”
Isabella Oosthuizen:”I am also looking forward to making new friends.”
Myles Xegwana: “I am looking forward to meeting my new teacher and doing homework.”
Jadey Howes: “I am excited about wearing my new school uniform in Year 1.”
Arye: “I am looking forward to making new friends.”
Bronwen Nuthall
Reception Year Teacher
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Monsters
The key to learning any language is practise. Therefore, oral presentations are a pivotal part of the German lesson and gives all the students the opportunity to show what they have learnt in class and to practice their pronunciation. This term in Year 5, we learnt all the vocabulary for naming and describing the body as well as describing the character of a person.
The project was to design a monster as colourful and different as possible and then to describe the monster using all the vocabulary including numbers, colours, plurals and grammar learnt in class.
The oral included a general introduction about the student and a description of their own body including colour of hair and eyes. A vital component to a good oral was using the sentence construction and vocabulary exactly as learnt in class so that all the students were able to understand the presentations.
The Year 5’s invented many very interesting and original looking monsters and they were given very creative names. We were introduced to Gütädid, Laura, Bibi, Lola, Yu-de-cuta 1782, Nina, Blobby and Cerberus to name a few.
They came from very interesting places, as far as Pluto, and as close as Cape Town. They were very creative with all the colours then carefully naming them in German. They included many interesting amounts of body parts; 4 legs, 6 arms, 3 eyes, 2 heads and 2 necks. The description of the character of the monster included many similarities with the students themselves e.g. laut ,lustig und frech (loud, funny and cheeky). We also tested our listening skills, as the class was asked questions about the monster’s description to show understanding of what was presented.
Please see some examples of the students’ work in the photos attached. They did a great job in their presentations.
Well done Year 5’s and looking forward to continuing the journey in German with you next year in Year 6!
Frau Kerstin Pani
Primary School German Teacher
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Learning about Electric Circuits
“There is a driving force more powerful than steam, electricity and nuclear power: the will.” – Albert Einstein
The Year 2 students had an extremely fun and interesting Inting last week with Experi-Buddies. They have been learning about electricity for the past few weeks and this Inting helped build on their knowledge of how electricity works.
Learning about electricity at this age is vital for young students as it teachers them how electricity works, the importance of electricity as well as the hazards that come with it.
We learnt about the different types of electricity, namely: static electricity, mains electricity and current electricity. The students enjoyed this and seemed fascinated by electrical circuits. New terms were introduced to the students, such as: conductors and insulators, open circuits, closed circuits, series circuits and parallel circuits.
Experi-Buddies expanded the student’s knowledge by showing them what a circuit looks like and how it works. The students were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to connect a circuit themselves which was the highlight of the day.
“Talent is like electricity. We don’t understand electricity. We use it.” – Maya Angelou
Erin Hierse
Year 2 Teacher
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The World Of Work
In Year 1, we have been having a lot of fun while learning about ‘The world of work’ in our Global Perspectives.
We have been role-playing a variety of different jobs in class from: ‘The Office’, to the ‘Doctor’s Surgery’, a ‘Shop’ and the ‘Hairdresser’s’. It has been wonderful to watch the students explore, collaborate and use their imagination.
Role-playing for children can really spark creativity, helping develop their language and communication skills while allowing them to make sense of real-life situations.
My students all did very well in their role-playing, they were creative and participated with so much enthusiasm and confidence. Well done Year 1!
Charlotte Cronje
Year 1 Teacher
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Budding Authors…
Story telling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world – Robert Mckee
Not everybody has the ability to write a captivating story and have it published for other people to read. However, watching a child use their imagination, which has no boundaries or preconceived ideas, is the most wonderful thing to see.
Sometimes they struggle to find the right words to start, but once they do, their power of imagination takes over. Forgotten is spelling words and punctuation. They focus on their story. Even students who may be struggling in a language, manage to put some thoughts on paper. While these stories are not necessarily worthy of being published, they are far too valuable to be missed.
When teaching Creative Writing, I tell my class that they need to paint a picture with words. We wrote a story about a sea creature this week and I gave them free reign, with no boundaries. The results were amazing.
Kim Coetzer
Year 2 Teacher
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From The German Classroom Term 4 2020
“Willkommen zurück!=Welcome back!”
These were the first words the students heard me say in the German classroom in Term 4 to welcome them all back to school, online (live streamed) and in the classroom.“Be cool-gnome matter what!”
These are the words from the very cool looking garden gnome from Germany. The ‘Gartenzwerg’, in German is a very popular figure in gardens all over Germany, this all the students discovered in Term 2 in the ‘Das ist Deutsch!= That is German!’ online videos. The ceramic version of the garden gnomes are believed to have originated in Germany and are very much part of the German culture.
In each class one student was chosen to say the “be cool” and the rest of the class answered with “gnome matter what!”, this was a reminder for all of us to stay and keep cool, no matter what happened in this Term 4.
We then discussed the exclamation word ‘Aha!’ and what it could mean when we say ‘aha’. What does it mean in English according to the Cambridge dictionary? ‘Aha’ is “used when you suddenly understand or find something, or learning the truth about something”. For example: “Aha, now I see what you mean!”.
When the students understood that there was a play on the words in the garden gnome’s message, that ‘gnome’ matter what sounds like ‘no’ matter what, then we had a few ‘aha’ moments.
Aha, now I understand!
In German and many other languages ‘Aha’ is used to express the same thing.
But, what else could it mean? If you Google ‘Aha’ then a few meanings pop up, ‘aha’ is short for Alpha Hydroxy Acid and the abbreviations for the American Heart Association and African Hotel Adventures. The famous Norwegian synth-pop band A-ha or a-ha also comes to mind especially since the single: “Take On Me” from the 1980’s is now still playing on the radio after A-ha celebrated its 30th anniversary of the popular song.
The German Federal Ministry of Health took the AHA concept and made it into the acronym for the Corona AHA-Formel campaign this year. This concept was placed in the media and on billboards all over Germany to remind people of the requirements for protecting oneself and others in this pandemic.
A for Abstand = distance/distancing
H for Hygiene = hygiene & hand washing
A for Alltagsmaske = all day/everyday maskEvery class from Year 1 to Year 6 has an AHA ambassador, who is allowed to kindly remind the other students about the AHA rules in the German lesson.
This AHA message was a simple reminder and proved to be very effective in a fun way.
I am very proud of all the students for taking on this task of keeping ‘AHA’ and ‘cool’ in this term at school.
Remember BIS “Be cool-gnome matter what!”
Auf Wiedersehen, bis bald!
Frau Kerstin Pani
German Teacher Primary Schoolhttps://ilikegermany.com/culture/gartenzwerg/
https://www.zusammengegencorona.de/aha/
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/aha
