High School German
Did you know that German is the most widely spoken mother tongue in Europe? It is also spoken in many German-speaking communities around the world, including South Africa. An impressive 1000 German companies are world leaders in their business. When it comes to science and research, Germany is also right at the front of the pack. In the last 100 years, more than 70 Nobel Prizes have been awarded to Germans, solely in the field of natural science and medicine. It is also a popular place to study; German degrees are highly valued by employers worldwide.
Not everyone realises the doors that German can open – be it in business, science or education, not to mention gaining access to the rich cultural heritage of original German literature.
The Cambridge syllabus aims to foster not only a knowledge of the language but also to create cultural awareness and sensitivity. This is an invaluable skill to have and makes for well-rounded, empathetic individuals with a broad outlook on life.
I have included some snapshots of this term’s German classes.
Renate Yotti
High School German Teacher
Art & Design In Year 1
Art is a lot of fun, especially in Year 1. We encourage our students to explore, create, mix colours and use their imagination when it comes to our Art and Design lessons.
They use their little fingers to manipulate various art materials in class using their fine motor skills. As they paint, colour, glue and cut their fine motor skills are developing which in turn enables them to do more things independently from feeding themselves to tying their own shoelaces.
It is so important for children to be able to express themselves and be creative in their own way.
Charlotte Cronje
Year 1 Teacher
Here are some of the fun creations and artwork our children have made:
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InterSEK 2021
InterSEK 2021
InterSEK is a competition in which SEK/IES schools from around the world compete against each other in a variety of tasks. The ongoing pandemic meant that the 2021 event had to be held virtually. Blouberg was one of 23 schools to compete in this prestigious event, which ran from 3 to 7 May.Ten High school students were selected to participate in the various events: Daniel Moodie, Shaylee Brandt, Jagadish Mohanty, Shameek Singh, Oswald Pieterse, Catherine Fortuin, Angelic Lossy, Remofilwe Shuping, Samia Naidoo and Adithya Maharaj. There students were briefed before the school holiday and preparation began in earnest upon their return to school. Blouberg participated in 9 events, namely Programming, Virtual Chess, Mathematical Photography, Creating Songs, TikTok Video, Escape Room, Artistic Photography, SEKscience and A Look to the Future.
We are proud of the fact that our students made it to the final round of several events. Daniel, Shaylee and Jagadish won 3rd place in both Programming 1 and 2. Catherine Fortuin was a finalist in the Mathematical Photography and Remofilwe Shuping was a finalist in the Artistic Photography.
Our students shone even in events in which they did not place. I feel that special mention should go to the team that participated in the SEKscience with their fingerprint experiments, as well as the team that participated in A Look to the Future, who designed a robot able to dispense hand sanitizer. The chess players played 9 games of chess one after the other, even managing a few wins. Such concentration is admirable indeed.
Remofilwe Shuping and Angelic Lossy looked amazing dressed in traditional attire for the opening ceremony. Their video even made it onto the highlights of the closing ceremony.
I have no doubt that Blouberg shall continue to go from strength to strength. This round was good. Next round will be even better!
Sheila Marais
High School Teacher
Winners of 3rd place in the Programming Event! Photo left to right Jagadish Mohanty Shaylee Brandt Daniel Moodie
Winners of 3rd place in the Programming Event! Jagadish Mohanty Shaylee Brandt Daniel Moodie
Finalist Artistic Photograph Entry by Remofilwe Shuping Year 9
Finalist Mathematical Photograph Entry by Catherine Fortuin Year 9
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Announcing the First BIS Exceptional Eisteddfod Experience (Grade 1- Grade 13)
It is with great excitement that we are offering an internal Eisteddfod at BIS this year.
Eisteddfod literally means a sitting (eistedd = to sit), a reference to the hand-carved chair traditionally awarded to the best poet in the ceremony during the first Eisteddfod in 1176 in Wales.
An Eisteddfod offers a chance to build confidence and skills through performing to an audience, and provides helpful notes from expert adjudicators from outside our school. Whether you can sing, dance, act, recite or play an instrument, it’s a unique opportunity to meet others in the same field and compare performances.
Performing in an eisteddfod gives participants:
- A goal to work towards.
- Greater focus to their practice.
- Expert feedback from external experts – the comments being more useful than the marks.
- Performance experience – because of COVID, the opportunity to perform to an audience has been restricted. An internal Eisteddfod offers a chance to play to a group of people, while maintaining correct procedures.
- A chance to build confidence and skills.
- An opportunity to see and share with others taking part.
The “rating” of the candidate is then expressed in different “levels” of awards (diploma, gold, silver, bronze, etc.), which indicates the candidate’s progress in terms of his own knowledge, skills and understanding relevant to the particular genre.
We would like to encourage our students to take advantage of this great opportunity.
“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.” ― Peter Pan
Year 2 ICT Lesson Fun
“The mind, once enlightened, cannot again become dark.” – Thomas Paine
In ICT class, our Year 2 students have been having some fun learning about algorithms. In computer science, programming and mathematics, an algorithm is a sequence of instructions.
They received some instructions to follow on how to create a robot. Some of the instructions included drawing the head, face and body of a robot as well as creating a fun background and even more importantly – giving their robot a name!
The students learnt how they can use algorithms to describe ordinary activities in our everyday life. For example, we can consider a recipe as an algorithm for cooking a particular food. This will help them to understand how coding works when we code games and programs.
At this stage, the students are using the iPads to create some algorithms on Grok Learning by building their robot on the iPad.
Year 2 Teacher
The Benefits Of Gardening For Children
In the Foundation Stage we have decided to grow our own little class gardens in planters outside our classrooms. Gardening offers so many fun and interesting opportunities for the students and teaches them invaluable lessons.
They learn about the different types of flowers, vegetables and herbs and what they need to help them grow. It also offers an opportunity for the children to learn about different shapes and colours, etc.
Gardening engages all sorts of senses. They can feel the texture of soil, seeds, flowers, etc. They get to smell all the beautiful flower scents and see all the colourful petals. It also helps develop hand-eye coordination as well as physical strength.
If children grow their own vegetables, they gain a keen interest in eating them. Growing vegetables not only teaches them the hard work that it takes to grow them but also a sense of achievement! Growing any sort of flowers or vegetables requires daily attention and care. The students take turns to water their little gardens. They quickly learn if they are not watered regularly and taken care of they won’t flourish.
We have seen here at school, gardening is a good way to teach responsibility. The students are learning to be patient while waiting for their flowers and vegetables to grow. They need to remain engaged in the process and keep looking after their flowers and vegetables even when there are no clear results, but the anticipation makes the moment their flowers or vegetables sprout even more exciting!
Cindy Nunan
Nursery & Pre-Reception Teacher
Learning More About Colour
- Mixing colours – We used our hands to mix different colours. (blue + yellow to make green and yellow + red to make orange and blue + red to make purple)
- Colour sorting – Students had to sort colourful beads and blocks into piles of colour.
- Books – We read different stories with lots of colour in them.
- Rainbow Collage – We made a beautiful rainbow collage by sticking different coloured shapes on the rainbow template.
We enjoyed completing all of the activities in class. Wishing all our families a colourful weekend!
Martie van Dyk
Pre-Reception Teacher
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From the Principal’s Desk, 22 April 2021
Dear Parents
Thank you to all the many parents who joined us for our parent meeting on Tuesday. Your interest and support is much appreciated. A recording has been sent out for those who were unable to attend. I will be sharing a google form during the course of next week and will appreciate your input and honest feedback. In the meantime, I remind you of our school’s mission statement. It is important that we remain aware of this so that we can align our vision and goals accordingly and ensure that we are consistent.
Mission Statement – Blouberg International School aims to empower all its students to become educated, lifelong learners, by teaching the English National Curriculum together with Cambridge International Education in a caring, dynamic, creative, encouraging and nurturing environment.
FEATURE PHOTO
Our main newsletter photograph features Ms Yvette Fourie. Yvette started at the school in 2006, as a Year 2 teacher. After a few years she moved over to Pre-Reception and then for 4 years as a class teacher she taught Year 3. She loved being a class teacher, however her passion is sport and she knew that being the Head off Sport was what she wanted to do. In 2019 she took the position of Head of Sport. She is passionate about her school and it is her vision to build a great sporting culture within the school and provide our students with top class coaching in all sports. She is extremely proud of all our sport stars.
Did you know that Yvette:
- Loves reading crime novels about serial killers and has a bookcase full (300 books).
- She is very scared of spiders!!!!
- She was born in Botswana and spent most of her childhood on their family farm.
- She loves studying and has completed a number of courses and diplomas in education.
- Her dream is to foster a baby rhino.
LONG WEEKEND
Parents are reminded that this weekend is a long weekend, with Monday, 26 April (School holiday) and Tuesday, 27 April (Freedom Day) being no school. School will re-open on Wednesday, 28 April at the normal time.
WEEKLY THOUGHT: Perseverance
“Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.” – Newt Gingrich
Too often we think, “Well, I truly have persevered a great deal – it must be time for a break.” Or maybe this sounds more familiar: “I have persevered for such a long time now; I am sure that success is imminent.”
For those of us that think perseverance is reflected in these statements, Gingrich says: “Nope, you may not be there yet.”
True perseverance is to “keep on going on” long after you think you have done enough, waited long enough, and worked tremendously hard…
In the trying times we face worldwide and in our country, we need the perseverance Gingrich is referring to. Things might even get worse before getting better. We must prepare ourselves for this, buckle up, roll up our sleeves and persevere.
If you know you’re heading in the right direction, keep on walking, do not be deterred, do not rest, do not change course, and don’t slow down. Keep going. Persevere.
Have a brilliant weekend, don’t give up…ever!
Andre
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From The Principal’s Desk, 16 April 2021
Dear Parents
Thank you so much for the warm welcome to Blouberg International School. It was wonderful to be greeted by so many students and parents on Tuesday and I was immediately touched by the smiles and warmth. I look forward to a wonderful time at the school and getting to know you all better.
FEATURE PHOTO
Our main newsletter photograph features Mr Julian Harrison. Julian has been with the school for nearly 10 years and currently holds the position of High School Academic Head and is, most certainly, the glue that holds the High School together. For those who do not know Julian very well, here are 5 facts about him.
- He holds a degree in dietetics.
- He is a qualified architectural draughtsman.
- He hates flying and therefore does not fly anywhere.
- He is part of a bowls team who have been the champions for the past 2 years.
- He is a true South African – He has braaied EVERY DAY since January 2021.
Thank you, Julian, for your commitment to the students, staff and the school.
OUR VALUES
Please be reminded of our school values. Respect, Integrity, Dedication, Responsibility, Leadership, Excellence & Stewardship. We use these values to ensure that our students become responsible adults who will make a positive difference in our country.
It will be appreciated if you could use these same values, at home, while parenting your children.
Together, we make a difference.
ONLINE PARENT MEETING
We have scheduled an online parent meeting for Tuesday, 20 April 2021 at 6.30pm. The meeting is an opportunity for me to introduce myself to you. It would be great if you could join me for 30 minutes.
Please use the following link: meet.google.com/upe-rdgk-pdb
I look forward to spending time with you.
Every week I will be sharing a WEEKLY THOUGHT with you. I find these very interesting and often they lead me to improving what I do. I trust you will enjoy them too.
WEEKLY THOUGHT: Thinking Clearly
“The first step to think clearly is to question what we think we know about the past” – Peter Thiel
In response to this statement by one of PayPal’s founders, most people will remark, “Much easier said than done.” But Thiel’s view is 100% correct.
Most of us find ourselves working in the same careers, living in the same towns, and applying the same patterns of thought which we’ve known for decades. But what if where you live and what you do are no longer satisfying or sustainable, leaving you emotionally, mentally or financially at risk…What then?
Thiel suggests that we press “Ctrl + Alt + Delete” (at least to an extent) in our thinking and ask ourselves the following:
- Are all my assumptions about life correct?
- Am I on the right road?
- Do I have the expectation that this road will lead somewhere?
- What new innovations are realities today that were not around a couple of years ago?
- Can I use these technologies to my benefit?
Thinking is a lost art, but it is one of the most worthwhile and essential exercises any human being can engage in. After all, we have been given the wonderful ability to use our minds!
But we must not only think – we need to think CLEARLY.
May Thiel’s advice bring us all to the point where we can start the process of thinking clearly.
Have a brilliant weekend, make time to just sit and think.
Andre
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Welcome Back To Term 2
The High School staff welcomes all students and parents to the second term of 2021!
We hope you all enjoyed the well-deserved holiday. We also wish to extend a special welcome to our new principal, Mr. Andre Swart and wish him the very best for his first term at BIS.
Term 2 is a busy and important term. June examinations for Year 7, 8, 9, 11 and 13 start on the 7th of June 2021 and the Year 10 and 12 students start their Prelim examinations on the 31st of May 2021. Prelim examinations are extremely important in preparing students for the final IGCSE and AS Level examinations at the end of the year.
The High School will have online parent/teacher meetings next week and parents are encouraged to book with the relevant subject teachers. A letter has been sent on Engage regarding the online meetings and how to book.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
Julian Harrison
Head of Academics High School