Best schools cape town Tag

Mental Health Awareness Month

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

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

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

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

Art And Design – Performance Art

During term 2 and 3, the Year 1 students have been looking at patterns. In our lessons the students have been asked the question What is a pattern? They have looked at patterns around the world, and even created patterns of their own doing block patterns with potatoes and apples.

We studied patterns in nature and looked at patterns inspired by nature. The students then made animal masks for their Performance Art. In groups, the students created a dance to the song, Circle of Life from the Lion King. Then they performed their dance for their peers.

We had so much fun learning about patterns and really loved each and every performance.

Well done Year 1!

Ann Cordner

Year 1 Teacher and KS 1 Coordinator

Year 2 Sticky Construction Fun

“Through unstructured exploration, we foster the development of imagination and creativity.”

 – Beth Rosenthal Davis

At the end of last term, our Year 2’s were split into small groups and given a bunch of marshmallows and skewer sticks. Their task was to create the tallest tower or most interesting construction, using only the marshmallows and sticks. Each group needed to first take the time to plan among themselves what they would envision building for their creation. They each drew some ideas onto a piece of paper and chatted about how they could bring their models to life, all the while learning to work as a team.

One of the biggest challenges they faced was how to create a strong foundation; one that would uphold and support their creation. The groups experimented with various foundation shapes and angles, very quickly learning which designs would hold a structure up and give support to whatever was to be built above it. Lots of trying and testing was done, but in the end each team had put together an equally unique and very interesting creation.

Sticky hands and lots to play with. So much fun!

Siobhan Hendry

Year 2 Teacher

Matric Dance 2021

 Student Account:

The 2021 Matric Dance was a night not to be forgotten. It was a lovely end for our Matric Class, and an unforgettable sendoff before the start of our exam season. The Aquarium could not have been a more invigorating and mystical venue for such a night, and the presence of the varying sea creatures left most of us in awe. The food provided by the aquarium was delicious and inclusive for everybody, and left everybody satisfied. Lots of dancing and smiles were the biggest take-away of the night, and it was highly enjoyable for all.

Written by Matric student – Gabrielle Luyt

Student Account:

On Friday the 17th of September, the matrics of 2021 attended the formal Matric Farewell. It was hosted at the aquarium and although a different location it was certainly unique! It was so special seeing everyone arrive with their fancy cars, and beautiful dresses and suits, and we had Mr Swart, the teachers, some Year 11s and the parents awaiting our arrival. It was nerve wracking walking up but all the cheers and familiar faces definitely helped!

We soon said goodbye to the parents and began our night inside. There was a professional photographer there and she did an amazing job taking all the pictures and really making them look beautiful. We took lots of pictures in front of the huge shark tanks, and the fishes and sharks accompanied us in the background of most of our photos! She made us all feel really comfortable and I’m sure we’ve got photos no other matric dance has gotten before!

After photos, we stepped into the hall where we would be having dinner. There were round tables positioned throughout the room and they were decorated beautifully and elegantly. The matrics were treated with a buffet of food options, drinks and delicious desserts. I was definitely full at the end of the night! Our favourite, chosen music played throughout the evening and a large portion of our night was spent dancing together as a year group and having fun as our last night together!

Overall I had a lovely time at the Matric farewell and I’m glad I got to spend the night with my peers. It was definitely a special night, and one I will not forget!

Written by Matric student – Chloë Goldman

Valedictory and SRC 2022