Outing Tag

The week before last, our Year 2 students went out to Intaka Island at Century City. They were given the opportunity to explore nature in all its wonderful ways.

We looked at various small organisms under the microscope, were given a guided tour around the island, spotting and appreciating the little birds, bugs and flowers around us. After the wildlife watching, were given a guided boat tour around the canals, appreciating the views around us and learning more about the conservancy.

This is definitely an outing we can recommend for the whole family! So much fun was had by all!

Siobhan Hendry
Year 2 Teacher

It was with great excitement that our little ones in Foundation Stage came to school ready for the end of year Recognition Ceremony. Every year we take time to acknowledge the amazing progress our little ones have made. They have all worked so hard and we are incredibly proud of them.

Each class got the chance to perform a song or a poem before receiving their special certificates. We want to say a big thank you to all the parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who are always there to support and encourage the little ones on their learning journey.

We can’t do it without you!

Monique Meyer
Foundation Stage Coordinator and Reception Year Teacher

I can’t believe that it is already the fourth and last term of the year! The students have grown in leaps and bounds. They come to school eager to learn and participate in the daily activities. The classroom is always full of cheerful laughter, inquisitive questions and daily chitter chatter. I am so proud of each one of my students, they have all grown in different areas throughout the year.

I asked my students what they LOVE doing most in Pre-Reception and this is what they said:

Alex: “Making friends.”
Keneo: “Playing with my friends.”
Aubrey: “Painting.”
Victoria: “Playing outside.”
Kai: “Building blocks.”
Jefferson: “I like to play on the monkeybars.”
Emily: “Doing art.”
Chaitra: “I like to be friends with everyone.”
Jasper: “I love playing with playdough.”
Cayden: “Playing with the wooden blocks.”
Dylan: “To give my teacher hugs and laying with the train tracks.”
Amelie: “I love doing art and painting.”
Ava: “Playing outside.”
Suhaila: “I like to draw.”
Aksharath: “I like to play with the wooden block with my friends.”
Athena: “I like painting.”
Edyn: “I like to play with everything at school.”
Nozhin: Loves to colour in.

I love to see the students in my class learning through play, interacting with each other and most of all happy to be at school.

Cindy Nunan
Pre-Reception Teacher

In English this week in Year 1. we have been working on our creative writing skills as we dramatised stories of our adventures in Space. Turning our desks upside down in class, we pretended they were our ‘spaceships.’ The students worked in groups and had a lot of fun acting and narrating out their space adventure stories. We then used the ipads to video their stories before writing about them. The class has a lot of fun working together and creating their own space adventures!

Clara Chassungo wrote: “I am going to space, I’m taking my brother, Geraldo and am also taking my mum and dad. We are going to look at all the different planets and we are landing on the moon! We will land at 3 o’ clock in the morning and we see aliens and footprints. We will jump in the sky…”

Buhle Sibiya writes: “ I am going to space so I can see the 8 planets in the galaxy and I am taking Ozzie, she is my friend. We landed on the moon and we saw aliens and we are going to land…”

Charlotte Cronje
Year 1 Teacher

Our weekly programme that is derived from the Cambridge curriculum helps us perform different exercises and play games that are skill based and always motivate teamwork rather than focusing on individual skills only.

We learn about our bodies and how we can use them to the best of our abilities within the sports fields.

The curriculum is based on the sporting codes we provide at BIS, thus, it is important for students to participate and enjoy the different skill sets taught throughout the year as per the curriculum requirements.

As coaches we want our students to participate in different activities and expose them to different types of sports within our lessons, hence we provide the support that is needed to achieve this goal.

We cannot achieve all of this without the help of our lovely parents, so we ask that our lunch boxes are filled with health conscious nutritious food on a daily basis.

Promoting good eating habits is vital to a child’s development physically and mentally, It is said that eating healthier 80% of the time and doing 20% exercise compliment each other.

What Experts Say

“The 80/20 rule approaches healthy eating with a message of moderation-80 percent healthy choices and 20 percent flexibility for less healthy option. Nutrition professionals back this approach, as it is feasible for all, allows for variety of foods, and avoids deprivation.” – Chrissy Carrol,RD,MPH

Let’s try and pack a healthy lunch box.

We are most certainly improving and setting the tone at our PE lessons every week and I (Coach Mpho), am getting the greatest joy seeing the improvement and the strides that our students are making, getting the idea of how to move the body over a game of dodgeball, soccer, handball and more.

Also knowing the amount of power needed to make a short or long pass, throwing skills, learning new games and most of all having fun with your peers and improving your game.

Week 6 – Handball skills, teamwork, accuracy and movement.
Class – 5HK

ATL skills observed – Listening and communication skills, self-awareness and sense of urgency – teamwork

Planning

The students warm up by taking a jog around the 5 aside court ,do shuttles that incorporate push ups, sits, lunges, jumping jacks/body weighted squats to get the blood flowing and the heart rate going.

They then go into stretches from neck to toes, whilst illustrating and explaining to them which parts of the muscles they are stretching and the importance thereof.

In this case, a class is split into 2 teams that verse each other etc. (red vs orange team)

Instructions are as follows:

1. No one is allowed to keep the ball for more than 3 seconds creating a sense of urgency in their play.
2. Teams have to pass to everyone in their team to have a legitimate goal awarded, which creates a team effort where everybody participates, teams are not allowed to run with the ball which forces them to work together – teamwork.
3. Teams are allowed to pass the ball by either bouncing or no bounce, two-handed passes for more accurate passes.

Objective
The objective of the lesson is to establish and develop good communication skills, passing accuracy and most importantly following the rules of the game and applying all the skills taught throughout the curriculum.

Assessing
Can a student apply themselves through the activity that is focused and based on team building?
Can they pass, throw and catch the ball?
Can they be creative in terms of movement and creating space on the field?
Are they calling for the ball, communicating to their teammates?
Do they understand the rules of the game abide by them?

The students attitude, enthusiasm and the will to do better is as important as his performance.

In Closing

As the winter season slowly drags on to its end, we welcome Spring and the sunshine. I am grateful for the support that has been shown by our BIS family, parents, teachers, ground staff and all who make our school united and warm throughout the soccer and netball season by rooting for our students.

I also wish congratulate all our junior and senior Tennis teams that represented BIS in Sun City last week as well as all our soccer and netball boys and girls who participated with much courage and enthusiasm in all their matches this season.

Well done to you all, we are all very proud to be part of the winning mindset.

Mpho Mahlangu
PE Teacher