Year 11 Leadership Inting
On the 7th and 8th of October, instead of the usual Year 11 annual leadership camp, we participated in an inting hosted on the school grounds. This forged a space for us to develop our team building and leadership skills, and it also unified us as a year group.
Camp instructors came from their stomping grounds at High Africa Adventure Centre, bringing along with them several pieces of equipment for interactive and physically challenging activities. These not only tested our physical abilities and how we navigated around the capabilities of our fellow classmates, but also quickly revealed just how limited our patience is!
For both days, we were spilt into two teams, the members changing slightly each day. This illuminated the strengths and weaknesses each person brought to the team dynamic, and how they could be utilised to ultimately bring the teams to victory. At the end of each day, a winning team, as well as an outstanding leader and camper were chosen. Through games such as “red light, green light”’ with a teddy bear (this stirred an uproar of frustration!), as well as “pool noodle hockey” and a spin on the popular “musical chairs” game, we were able to establish and nurture new ways of communication.
There was an abundance of mind-bending tasks that tested our trust in each other’s abilities, as well as in ourselves. The skill to integrate oneself into team environments was introduced to us, driven by games that included illustrating a story out of a random assortment of picture cards and constructing a sailboat out of geometric wooden pieces. Whether we were human chess pieces or building strange structures with melting marshmallows and brittle spaghetti straws, one thing was for certain: we couldn’t have grown closer as a class after that week.
Yes, we embarked on this inting with the intention of becoming confident leaders, a goal we certainly achieved! However, we also came out as stronger teammates and more self-assured individuals. Communication and trust were qualities that we learned are vital to becoming a valuable team member; also, the skill to be able to listen and follow, as well as to lead. But most importantly, I believe we were reminded of how our individual uniqueness and defining qualities can be used to realise and achieve a common goal.
Kazimla Dyakalashe
Year 11 Student and 2022 SRC Member
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The Shine and Strength Programme
The Shine and Strength personal development programmes aim to equip participants with the knowledge and skills needed to develop greater self-awareness and personal growth. These programmes have been endorsed by the Institute of Group Leaders (IGL). In 2015, the Shine programme achieved the Institute of Group Leaders (IGL) Gold Endorsed Programme criteria.
The target audience is girls and boys aged 11 – 17 years. We have launched this within our High School for Year 7 and 8 this term and students will participate in Shine for girls and Strength for boys respectively.
The programme is broken down into 3 units, with each focusing on achieving specific objectives. The first unit, Worth/Significance focuses on enhancing self-esteem; the second, Strength/Resilience aims to increase emotional intelligence; and lastly, Purpose/Courage encourages participants to dream and set goals for the future.
Group activities and discussions are used to help participants think critically, solve problems, and address problems of delinquency. More specifically, the activities aim to assist individuals in changing unhealthy or unhelpful thoughts and behaviours into healthy, helpful ones. The programme covers relevant topics such as self-worth, emotional wellbeing, healthy relationships, and personal dreams.
Shine and Strength is supported by empirical evidence through doctoral research with findings revealing that graduates of the programme are likely to make positive changes in their own lives. The key findings showed that self-esteem, emotional intelligence, purpose, and mobilisation significantly increased in participants after completing the programme. Examples include Shine graduates applying for jobs, enrolling in training or university, starting their own business, and reporting enhanced social connections.
Melinda Twycross
High School Teacher
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Lights, Camera, Action!
On this past weekend, we held our casting and workshop that was done in preparation for Blouberg International School’s production of Bar & Ger by Geraldine Aron for the 25 – 27th August 2021.
This will be a dinner time show. So bring a packed dinner for you and your companions.
At 9 o’clock on Saturday morning, we gathered outside in the parking lot and because of the gentle heat from the bright sun and crisp wind, we decided to practise outside in the gorgeous weather. We started off with a couple of exercises to help warm our bodies and voices. The exercises included warm ups to loosen our lower and upper bodies – from the tips of our toes to the stretching of our tongues. Thereafter, we proceeded to utter random words and phrases by using our diaphragms to help project our voices so that our teachers, who were standing near the middle of the field could hear us. Finally, after lots of repeatedly thrown words and fully worked out diaphragms, we were ready to start reciting our lines! Finally, we could practise like the talented thespians we knew ourselves to be.
We were then split into groups of two by which each were given a number of pages to practise. We were encouraged to share with helpful feedback with one another before meeting with our instructors, who sat waiting patiently. Throughout the performances, each respective group received constructive criticism and advice from the directors to help us improve our performance and feel more in tune with the characters we were portraying. The means to project out voices is a huge factor in order to reach the audience members, particularly those who will be sitting at the back of the theatre. Afterwards, we took a break to recuperate our energy with pizza and cool drinks – this was such a special treat from our teachers. By enjoying the delicious and cheesy pizza, and fizzy drinks, we were able to get to know each other better and form stronger bonds that helped us feel more comfortable with one another, which contributed to making our acting ability to feel more natural.
Thereafter, we got back to work where we switched up team members, continued flipping pages during practise and carried on with the day. Just before we were about to head to our separate ways and return home, we all lay down on the field for one last exercise that was conducted by Ms. Kerswill. Through calming instructions we were guided into what felt like a tranquil world wherein our bodies and minds became relaxed. In addition to sitting up from our peaceful minds, we bid farewell with a calm and pleasant mind set. All in all, it was a lovely end to a hard days work.
On Sunday around 9 am once again, we found ourselves back at the parking lot of the school. The cold, crisp, morning air sent shivers down our spine and the minute the junior hall was offered as shelter, we raced through the side door and welcomed the warmer area with open arms. We resumed with the workshop starting with a few warm up exercises, before splitting off into our pairs to finish the last few pages of our script. Everyone embraced the emotions of their characters, and we were slowly becoming more and more in touch with the characters we were playing. The relationship between ourselves and our respective characters had eventually taken form – that is having become immersed into our characters . This could be comparable to being a small seed like having slowly grown until we blossomed into something special – we would not just portray the character, but instead be the character.
Throughout this workshop, we were able to achieve a better idea of the play and our characters, as well as feel the nervous excitement that always happened at rehearsals. We hope that everyone will come to experience the curtain rise for this play at the end of August and eventually realize the fruition of our efforts and hard work that we had put into practise. We have certainly learnt a lot over the past weekend and cannot wait to perform in this play, be it in front of an audience, or live streamed. We are ready and excited to share our hard work with everyone. We hope that you will support us by coming to watch the exciting, incredible, emotional, remarkable and heartfelt production of Bar and Ger!
Written By:
Jean-Marie Schoots
Year 11 Student / Bar and Ger Cast Member
All About Recipes
“Cooking with kids is not just about ingredients, recipes and cooking. It’s about harnessing imagination, empowerment and creativity” – Guy Fiery
Last week for Show and Tell, our Year 2’s were asked to each bring a favourite recipe with them to school that they could chat to their class about. They were expected to tell their friends about the ingredients you would need as well as the method and instructions needed to create your culinary masterpiece.
Some leaners made beautiful posters, some drew their own pictures of their desired recipes and others even went as far as actually making their dish at home and bringing some to school to show us. Some exciting recipes included chocolate brownies, sandwiches, banana bread, cupcakes and even some chocolate cake.
Following instructions in any area of life can help young children learn and practice some basic math concepts and build language skills. In this specific area, following a recipe and the experience of creating meals with family and friends can help to build self-confidence and lay the foundation for an understanding in where food comes from, how we use it to express ourselves as well as a good practice in healthy eating habits.
We immensely enjoyed exploring each learner’s foodie favourites. So much fun was had!
Siobhan Hendry
Year 2 Teacher
The Importance Of Growing Up In Reception Year
Last week the students brought in photographs of themselves and to introduce themselves to the class. Some of the children had photographs of when they were a bit younger. It was a reminder of how quickly they grow and that Reception Year is such an important year of growth for a young child. It is a year where they gain so many new developmental skills. Children also need to mature and develop independence so that they are ready for big school in Year 1.
So how do parents develop independence in their children? Here is some advice:
- Routine: Setting consistent routines is important for building independence and confidence.
- Rules: Set consistent rules in the home. Use a balance of positive reinforcement and consistent consequences that are followed through by all caregivers. Teach your child to take responsibility for their actions and make amends appropriately.
- Chores: Give your child chores to do at home. This helps them feel they are contributing in the family home, builds confidence and also teaches responsibility.
- Choice: Allow your child to choose. This gives a sense of freedom, and self- confidence. Too many options can sometimes be overwhelming, so limit the amount of choice when necessary.
- Free Play: Nurture free play and limit screen time. Children learn so much through free play. It helps them interact with the world around them and develop language skills. Play also helps develop fine motor and gross motor skills. It also helps them develop emotionally and socially.
- Problem Solving: Let your child solve problems: Don’t always give them all the answers and allow them to make mistakes.
- Don’t be too Overprotective: Don’t be too over protective or do too much for your child. Encourage your child to speak up for themselves in different situations and try not to answer for them. Doing too much for your child doesn’t allow them to try and do things on their own. This also reinforces that you can do things better, which hampers the development of independence and self-confidence
- Positivity: Lastly encourage a positive outlook in life. This teaches your child that they can choose joy, persevere and overcome in any situation.
Bronwen Nuthall
Reception Year Teacher
Year 6 Leadership Camp 2019
Last week, the Year 6’s traveled to the beautiful valleys of Franschoek where they forged many valuable memories at Big Oak Adventures.
Jumping into the river, climbing the mountains, and playing some intense dodge ball were just some of the activities the Year 6’s were excited to try. They put their fire-making skills as well as their “braai-ing” talents to the test for some delicious burgers. Another great activity taught them how to guide each other while one of them was blindfolded.
It is evident that many valuable leadership skills were acquired in the misty mountain camp.
We would like to thank everyone at Big Oak Adventure Camp for making our experience such a memorable one.
Written by:
Marisa Esterhuizen
Year 6 Teacher
