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From The Spanish Classroom

To acquire a second language is it very important… to be a good listener.

“Active listening is a valuable technique that requires the listener to thoroughly absorb, understand, respond, and retain what’s being said”.  – Centre of creative leadership.

Becoming an Active Listener

• Pay Attention. Give the speaker your undivided attention and acknowledge the message.
• Show That You’re Listening. Use your own body language and gestures to show that you are engaged.
• Provide Feedback.
• Respond Appropriately.

Prepare yourself for the message:

• Limit distractions. Move away from distractions so that you can pay full attention to the other person. Take note of the person’s tone of voice and body language as well.
• Pay attention to what’s being said, not what you want to say. Set a goal of being able to repeat the last sentence the teacher says. This keeps your attention on each statement.
• Be okay with silence. You don’t have to always reply or have a comment. A break in dialogue can give you a chance to collect your thoughts.
• Encourage the teacher to clarify ideas and offer more examples.
• Restate the key points you heard and ask whether they’re accurate. “Let me see whether I understand you correctly…” is an easy way to clarify any confusion.

If you are listening:

• Look at the person that is presenting.
• Avoid any distractions (close your books, notes, and put away any other objects that can make you lose the focus on the presentation).
• Be ready to answer some questions that the student that is presenting has prepared for the class.

If you are presenting:

• Prepare some questions about the project for the class.
• Try to speak clear and loud enough.
• Bring some visual materials to make it more attractive for the class.

In conclusion, concentrate on what’s being said and think about what the speaker is saying rather than about what to say next.

Almost every week the Spanish students can present an oral project about the different topics that they have been learning: The house, family, weather, the city, food, clothing, animals, and much more. This is a great opportunity to put their communication skills into practice and make the lessons fun, useful and interactive.

Javier Vidal

Spanish Teacher

Mental Health Awareness Month

Year 11 Leadership Inting

On the 7^th and 8^th 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

Business Studies Simulation Game

On Thursday and Friday last week, the Year 7 and 8 students participated in the Banango Traders Business Simulation Game run in affiliation with the Johannesburg School of Finance. This initiative is a great opportunity for students to improve and test their business knowledge by running a virtual business.

The event brought out our students’ competitive nature as they competed in teams against one another in order to generate the highest profit. Many congratulations to the teams in each year group that won and the Year 7s for making the most profit out of the two groups.

“The business stimulation taught us the importance of quick thinking and taking risks in business,” is just one of the examples of positive feedback that was received by the students.

The students undoubtedly left with a first-hand appreciation for entrepreneurs and a new, energetic enthusiasm for starting their own businesses. We definitely have a couple of budding entrepreneurs amongst this group!

Caroline Grix

High School Business Studies Teacher