Mental Health Awareness Month
The High School dressed in green civvies today, in support of Mental Health Awareness Month.
Everyone’s lives can sometimes become overwhelming and we as a school, want to empower our students when it comes to mental health, encouraging healthy dialogue and support for sufferers.
“The month of October has been declared Mental Health Awareness Month with the objective of not only educating the public about mental health but also to reduce the stigma and discrimination that people with mental illness are often subjected to.” Quoted from https://www.gov.za/speeches/mental-health-awareness-month-2021-13-oct-2020-1232
The BIS Interact Club members have placed posters around the school with tips and good habits that can help maintain good mental health. During the civvies day today, students were given green ribbons to show acknowledgement and support for this important cause.
We would like to thank all our High School students for coming together and embracing this wonderful initiative.
BIS Interact Club
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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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Year 5 Effective Studying Workshop
This term is a big one for the Year 5s. It marks the first year of upper primary school – and with it, the dreaded June exams! Exams don’t necessarily have to be stressful though – after all, they are intended to help us by showing us where we are confident in our work, and where we still need some help. Through preparing thoroughly for exams, we can focus more on their benefits, rather than on the stress they can cause – and so our Year 5 Inting this term focused on just that.
First, we practiced setting up a timetable to organise our studying, fitting in all the work we need to study, without having to cram and stress. Organising our time is the first step in combating exam stress – it breaks the work into manageable chunks, and shows us that we actually do have time to fit in everything we need to. After all, how does one eat an elephant? One bite at a time, of course!
We also spoke about preparing ourselves, inside and out, to make sure that we are in the best frame of mind for learning. The first step to doing this is making sure that you are healthy, so your brain can function at its best. This means enough food, water, rest and exercise – after all; healthy body, healthy mind! Speaking of the mind, we practiced the power of positive thinking. We made positive mantra cards to remind us of our goals, and how amazing each of us is. We also learnt a few grounding exercises, for when the stress does get a bit much – or for when our brain seems to be running in circles.
Finally, we looked at some study techniques, thinking about various ways of studying (and trying a few out while we were at it). Whether you enjoy studying by organising your notes into mind maps, or by teaching your teddy bear how to multiply and divide, it’s a good idea to have a few different study methods in your study toolkit.
Above all, we learnt that when it comes to studying for exams, everyone is different. What works for one of us might not work for another – and part of developing into an independent learner is figuring out what works for you. Hopefully all our Year 5s are a few steps further on that exciting journey!
Hannah Kirkaldy
Year 5 Teacher
