Year 2 Problem Solving Workshop
The Year 2’s have been learning about conflict resolution in our Skill’s Programme every second week this term. We split our weekly topics up into; problem solving, conflict resolution, dealing with mistakes and lastly, saying sorry.
We know that students need to learn how to listen to others. Children become more aware of their needs as they get older. They learn how to communicate their thoughts and feelings in a respectful way. They feel inspired to think creatively to search for solutions. No child is too young to learn how to play and cooperate with others, an important skill for young children to develop and grow. There are numerous other skills children learn when you inform them about how to resolve differences, as well:
- Students learn how to listen to others.
- They become more aware of their needs.
- They learn how to communicate their thoughts and feelings in a respectful way.
- They feel inspired to think creatively to search for solutions.
It is critical for children to understand that when they find a solution independently, they receive praise. That way they understand to continue exhibiting the behaviour. Conflict comes up in everyone’s lives, and the most important lesson to teach with these behaviours, is that conflict is normal.
Our last workshop lesson involved some role play where our Year 2’s has the opportunity to act out how they think a potential conflict situation would play out and how they could solve it the right way.
We had fun learning!
Siobhan Hendry
Year 2 Teacher
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Activity Centre Outing – Year 1
This week, the Year 1 students had the pleasure of visiting an activity centre, where they were able to interact in everyday experiences on a smaller scale.
The students spent some time at the mini Checkers where they were able to shop and check-out items they felt they wanted. They were then introduced to the TAH Vet section to role play being a vet, a patient, a shopper and a teller.
After this, they headed to the mini kitchen to learn about healthy and unhealthy foods and decorate biscuits. As teachers, we find this form of role-play and interaction extremely important for young students to participate in as it is beneficial for them on a greater scale when growing up.
The students also had an exciting experience at the mini Capitec where they learnt about money, how to save money and how an ATM works. They then moved over to the “green-screen” section where they learnt what a green-screen is and they could watch themselves on the TV during their interview.
All of the stations the Year 1 students attended taught them new life skills. These life skills ranged from learning how to buy items from a shop with money, healthy and unhealthy eating, how to look after your pet, signs to look out for when your pet needs a doctor, savings and drawing money from an ATM as well as, how to conduct an interview.
This was definitely an experience the students will not forget!
Erin Hierse
Year 1 Teacher
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It’s All About The Skills…
A Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, once wrote – Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
In our education system, while we are certainly not in the business of teaching children how to fish, this quote does make us stop and think. As teachers and parents(myself included), we become so focussed on our childrens’ academic and sporting progress, that we forgot about those so-called ‘soft skills’. It was with this in mind, that the school began our very own skills development programme every second week.
The various key stages and year groups have different goals most suited to their students’ ages. In Year 2, we decided to focus on problem-solving this term. Ms Hendry, Mrs Pani and I incorporated ‘dealing with conflict, speaking up for yourself and how to make amends’. We felt it was an important topic to tackle, as our students are still developing their emotional and social skills and often do not have the words to express their feelings, resulting in conflict or unhappiness.
The students really enjoy these sessions and participate enthusiastically. We role-play situations, looking for various solutions to the different challenges faced in these exercises.
We are looking forward to next term’s Skills Training.
Mrs Kim Coetzer
Year 2 Teacher
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Learning From Our Elders
In Year 1 Global Perspectives, we have been learning and talking about what it is like to grow old.
We interviewed my 90-year-old Great Nana in England (Kathleen Mitchell), live in class and the students had the opportunity to ask their own questions.
Young people of this generation can learn a lot from the lives of their elders. The older person has experienced all sorts of dimensions of life and lived through a very different time to how things are now in 2022.
Their lives can be fascinating to hear about and learn from. Some people are very lucky to have grandparents involved in their lives and they can enrich and bring such joy to today’s fast-paced day to day life.
The class will be interviewing and asking questions of the older people in their lives at home and reporting back their findings this week.
Charlotte Cronje
Year 1 Teacher
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Read, Read, Read
Learning to read can be the most exciting time for young children. Opening up the world of books is an invitation to many adventures.
I asked some of my students why they want to read:
“So I can read stories to my sister.” – Caleb
“I want to make speeches.” – Ingelam
“Because I want to be smart.” – Emily
“So I can help my little brother.” – Iminathi
There is much that parents can do at home to keep their child excited about reading. One of the best ways, is to read to your child. Bedtime is a wonderful time to read to your child and it has the added benefit of helping them to relax and go to sleep more easily.
In the classroom, nothing takes the place of reading aloud to the students. Most students sit spellbound, listening to the stories. They love to add their own opinions on what is going to happen next or why a character should have been kinder.
Every class has a weekly library lesson and Mrs S, as she is affectionately known, reinforces what the students are learning in the classroom in her Library lessons. The Year 1 students are enjoying the fun phonic recognition games Mrs S has introduced to them. They even get to choose library books to put in the classroom book corner.
If you need a moment to relax, find a child to read aloud to.
Ann Cordner
Year 1 Teacher
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Lights! Camera! AND … Action!
In William Shakespeare’s play ‘As you like it’, he writes:
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players”
Children have the innate ability to turn a simple game into a dramatic event. With that in mind, the KS1 Drama and Music Club was established to nurture and develop these skills.
There are so many benefits for children joining a drama and music class:
- They develop friendships and self-confidence.
- It helps them with concentration and reading.
- It further develops communication skills.
- It encourages teamwork and co-operation.
- Assists in building emotional intelligence.
- It inspires their natural creativity.
Young children can create a ‘make-believe’ world, without really trying. It is up to us to nurture and develop the skills they need to transfer this into everyday life. They might not all end up acting on Broadway, or appearing in a television show, but they will have had fun along the journey.
Watch this space… Mrs Cronje and I are optimistic about our Drama Club. The possibilities are endless!
Kim Coetzer
KS1 Drama and Music Club Co-coordinator
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Year 1: Sensory Learning In Art
“There is no must in art because art is free.” – Wassily Kandinsky
The Year 1 students have thoroughly enjoyed their first art lessons for 2022. We have been focusing on the basics of learning about different lines. The students were asked to go outside with some chalk and freely draw different lines they had just learned about, on the bricks.
As teachers, we find this form of practical learning important as the students are not limited to space and creativity, and they are able to express their knowledge in a free manner. Drawing on the bricks, a versatile surface, with chalk allows for a sensory rich activity. By having these sensory experiences that are full, students tend to learn at a more rapid pace. When a student uses chalk and connects to whichever surface we are using, it helps to develop their tactile registration as well as their fine motor skills.
We look forward to using this creative and fun method of learning more often throughout the year.
“The aim of art is not to represent the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” – Aristotle
Year 1 Teacher
Erin Hierse
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Making friends in Budapest
There is so much discussion about ‘all around the world’, interschool connections and online communication right now. Not only is it a fun way for children to explore the world around them, but they can also observe the learning of the other children they are in contact with.
This allows students the opportunity to become a part of the lives of people who live on the other side of the world. Unlike just showing a map of the world in the classroom or exciting pictures from countries we’re learning about, this vivid personal connection both inspires their learning and, in its own way, makes it more meaningful to them.
This week, our Year 2 students got to interact with children from our Budapest school. A country that most of them had never even heard of before.
It was so exciting for our students to see the other students, from our sister school, wearing the same uniform that they wear in a completely different environment.
The wonderful contrast of it being winter over there at the moment and summer here made for a very fun art idea. Our Year 2’s had to make and design their very own popsicles while the other children created their own snowmen and penguins. Students had an opportunity to come up one at a time and introduce themselves, while they very proudly showed off their art pieces.
This has been such an incredibly interesting and exciting experience. Mr. Swart also popped in for a visit to say hi and interact with the students.
A wonderful way to learn and a very unique way to explore the world around them. We can’t wait to meet up with our new friends again!
Siobhan Hendry
Year 2 Teacher
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The Greatest Gift of Reading to Your Child
“Reading is fundamental. In fact, it is one of the most important ingredients to becoming all you can be.” Michael Stutman
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.” Dr Seuss from the book “I Can Read with my Eyes Shut!”
Reading helps develop a child’s brain. Children that are exposed to listening to stories their parents read from an early age tend to do much better at school. From an early age they are being exposed to vocabulary and language development. They start using their minds to imagine and create which are some of the building blocks towards problem solving and critical thinking later.
“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” Emilie Buchwald
Did you know that although reading is so important, 800 million people around the world are illiterate? Many families have no books for children to read. Sadly, in this digital age, it is not just impoverished families that do not have books and don’t read to their children. So how can we develop a love of books and reading in our young children from early on?
Here are some ideas:
- Take your child to the library and sign them up for a library card
- Make bedtime stories a non-negotiable daily ritual
- Ask family and friends to give books as gifts for birthdays and special occasions
- Get books for cheaper from 2nd hand shops or garage sales
- Swop well-loved books your child has outgrown for “new” books from a friend
- Point out words and pictures on sign boards when driving and ask your child what it could mean
- Look for letters and words when out driving on car number plates and signs
- Model reading to your child by being a reader yourself
- Allow siblings to read to each other
- Look at the pictures in a book and allow your child to make up their own story
- Ask questions about the story whilst reading
- Draw a picture of what could happen next or even before they story takes place
- Let your child make their own story book by becoming the illustrator. A parent or sibling can write in the text.
What other ideas can you think of to instil a love of reading in your child? Please share these great ideas with your friends and family. Let us become a community of readers who are raising leaders to inspire a legacy of literacy and have fun in the process.
Bronwen Nuthall
Reception Year Teacher
WATCH: Nikraad reading A story in Reception
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Traffic Light Eating
One of the best ways to help children eat healthy foods is to teach them Traffic Light Eating. Just like when we are driving a car, a traffic light tells us what to do:
Green means “GO”
Yellow means “Slow down”
Red means “STOP”
Green Light Foods
Green light foods are “grow” foods. You want to help children learn to eat as much as they want of these foods, which include all fruits and vegetables. Green light foods are: grown and not manufactured, low in calories, high in nutrients, colourful, and usually can be eaten raw.
Yellow Light Foods
Yellow light foods are “slow down” foods. These foods are okay to eat everyday, in moderation. Yellow light foods include: pasta, rice, bread, tortillas, noodles, eggs, lean meat, chicken, low fat yoghurt, nuts and seeds and whole grains.
Red Light Foods
Red light foods are “stop” and think foods. Red light foods are low in nutrients; high in calories, fat or sugar; or contain artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated oils, or trans-fats. They include: muffins, cakes, donuts, biscuits, cookies, sweets, chocolates, fast foods, pastries, chips, crisps and white bread.
Tips to Apply Traffic Light Eating
Traffic Light Eating makes eating healthy more fun. Learners are paying attention to what we eat, and setting a positive example is the key to turning healthy eating into a regular habit.
We we are excited to start using the Traffic light eating system at BIS.
Water is the healthy option and only drink allowed at school. Juices, cordials, Oros, milkshakes, yoghurt drinks should not be allowed and sent home unopened with an email explaining they are not allowed.
Each teacher from nursery up until Year 2 will display the traffic light eating poster in their classroom. The poster clearly shows which foods are healthy and allowed at school and which foods are not healthy and thus not allowed at school.
Aftercare will also help maintain the traffic light system in the Early/Aftercare. If a child attends a long day in aftercare or early care, then a separate healthy lunch box should be packed.
Red light foods: chocolates, muffins, cakes, sweets, chips, crisps, donuts, cookies, etc. should not be allowed in lunch boxes for class or after care and must be sent home.
Let’s make BIS a healthy eating school improving children’s health which in turn benefits their learning ability and behaviour.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
Charlotte Cronje and Cindy Nunan
Foundation and Key Stage 1 Teachers
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