Foundation Stage Recognition Ceremonies
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
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What My Pre-Reception Students Love Most About School
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
Foundation Stage Farmer’s Day
For the past two weeks, the Foundation Stage has been learning all about farming. The students have learned about many different aspects of farming, including the types of farms we get, the animals that usually live on farms, the roles and responsibilities of the farmers and their laborers as well as the various products that farms produce. We have all learned the important role that farms play in our lives and we appreciate how hard they have to operate to produce the items sent to the marketplace.
To experience all that we have learned about this, a Farmer’s Day Breakfast was arranged. With much excitement and many shrieks of joy, our phase got to engage with live animals in a petting zoo. The students were taught how to handle smaller animals like chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, tortoises and a pheasant. They also got to groom and feed larger livestock such as sheep and goats. Each class made a farmer’s breakfast together, where skills such as cracking an egg, buttering bread and whisking were practiced. Finally, to really conclude our farming experience, we planted beans, which are being protected by our very own scarecrows! We will water our beans daily, leave them on the windowsills for warmth and light and wait patiently for them to sprout – just as farmers do with their crops!
We encourage parents to continue reinforcing the skills that we have learned from our farming unit at home. Being practically involved in cooking, gardening and animal responsibility will always be an asset towards any child’s development!
Kim Hahn
Reception Year Teacher
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From Boxes to Rockets in Reception
The Foundation Stage students have been learning about Space. As one of our art projects we decided to make rockets. The students were delighted to use their creative skills to make their own rockets using recycled items such as boxes, bottle tops and egg cartons. Each student was allowed to use 2 boxes and any of the other materials on the table to construct their rocket. We decided not to paint our rockets so that we could easily see how what components were used in their construction.
Construction play is an open-ended activity that is proven to make a difference in the way children think and complete tasks. These are some of the skills children develop through this kind of play
- problem solving skills
- spatial awareness
- fine motor skills
- hand-eye co-ordination
- sensory awareness
- challenge and perseverance
- measurement
- self-confidence
- decision making
- creativity
- social skills
There really is so much more to construction play than meets the eye. Box construction is also a fun and educational way to keep your child engaged at home. What will your next project be?
Bronwen Nuthall
Reception Year Teacher
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FOUNDATION STAGE AND JUNIOR PRIMARY FUN SPORTS DAY 2022
We recently hosted our annual Fun Sports Day, where all the Foundation Stage and Junior Primary students were dressed in their class and house colours, disguising the field as a moving rainbow.
It was also an exceptionally important day for Nursery, as it was the first time our students partook in such an event, and it definitely showed. Some of our students jumped over the mini hurdles, instead of under them and some even skipped the obstacle course completely – all for a chance to tackle their tutu-wearing teacher waiting at the end.
When it came to the races, we had a few tears, a few walkers, and even a few crawlers. I could have sworn that we practised the week before, but that’s no biggy – because they did eventually get to the finish line, and I suppose it’s all we could ask for.
We ended the day off with much-deserved ice cream and said our goodbyes to the students, thinking the day was over, and that they would not remember the few short hours we spent in the sun. However, on Monday, I was greeted with big smiles and lots of burning questions about that special day. “Did you see my daddy, teacher?”, “When can we go to the big field again, I want to practice for mommy?”, “Why were you and Teacher Lissa wearing tutus?”, “Where were your school shorts teacher?”
I realized that it may have been a few short moments for us but for our students, as little as they are, they engrained every detail in their heads. They were able to participate in a big kid activity, and they were so proud! So, even though the obstacle course and the races didn’t go quite as planned, they still remembered everyone who showed up to support them, and they laughed about how silly their teachers looked.
So, I think if we can take anything away from that day, is that it was the first of many happy sports days for our students and that it is not the activities that make them memorable – it is the people that cheer on the side lines.
Thank you to everyone who came and cheered for our little ones – they remembered you.
Jo-Anne Dickason
Foundation Stage Teacher
(Photo Credit: Brendan Atti – BIS Year 10 Student)
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GIRAFFE HOUSE
Every term we have many exciting things happening, but none as exciting as an outing day. When outing day finally arrived, the little ones in Pre-Reception and Reception came to school very excited for the trip to Giraffe House.
The students and the teachers had a lovely time as always. We saw many amazing animals from little baby lemurs to big, beautiful giraffes. The students also attended a lesson presented by the Giraffe House staff, teaching them about the animals housed there. The students were very brave as some of them were asked to hold snakes and bearded dragons; luckily no one had to touch the big spiders!
On our return to school, the students shared some of their most memorable parts of the day. It seems the giraffes won as their favourite, that and off course going on the bus, which is always very exciting.
Monique Meyer
Foundation Stage Coordinator
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Holiday News in Reception Year
The students have come back from the term 3 break and were brimming with excitement to share all the interesting things they had done in the holiday. These are the most memorable things they did:
Sofia Haskins (6 yrs old): “I went to a sleepover with my friend.”
Omime Ogumah (6 yrs old): “I went to the braai and pool.”
Nikraad Manoucheri (5 yrs old): “I went to the dentist.”
Rume Oriesa (6 yrs old): “I went to the zoo.”
Chaitrika Kotari (6 yrs old): “I went to the pool.”
Kaedy Frey (5 yrs old): “I went to my granny’s house.”
Grayson Muller (5 yrs old): “I went to the dolphin show.”
Tiwatope Olanrewaju (5 yrs old): “I went to the braai shop.”
Zion Durojaiye (5 yrs old): “I went to the beach.”
Ariah Mukubvu (5 yrs old):” I went to the park.”
Amelia Engelbrecht (5 yrs old): “I went for a walk with my dog.”
Joshua Mpako (6 yrs old): “I went to shop.”
Chiamaka Davidson (6 yrs old): I went to the pool.”
Jonah Atson (5 yrs old): “I went to my cousin’s house.”
Bronwen Nuthall
Reception Year Teacher
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Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…
This week we learnt all about different sea animals. How some live in the ocean and others can live both in the sea and on land. The students loved learning more about the sea: who doesn’t love sharks and jellyfish!
We did the following hands on learning activities this week:
Numeracy: The students had to find different numbered shells in the sand to complete the number line.
Literacy: The students wrote their names and sounds in the sand with the shells, this activity strengthens their pencil grip.
Fine motor activity: The students enjoyed building and creating ocean sculptures while developing their problem solving, fine motor and social skills at the playdough area.
Construction area: We have added boats, ocean animals, shells and gems to our construction area. The students were very excited to build something new, which will extend their thinking as they build something different than they usually do.
Arts and crafts: The students made lovely crafts this week practising and developing their scissor and fine motor skills.
Music and Movement: The students shake out the sillies by copying the actions of the ocean animals. They had to “wobble like a jellyfish”, “clap like a seal”, “slide like a sea snail” and “leap like a dolphin “ .
Sensory Area: We created an underwater sensory bin filled with water beads and sea creatures for some imaginative exploratory play.
We reminded the students to be safe when they go to the beach and follow the following rules:
- Wear a hat with a wide brim to shade your face and neck.
- Sunglasses can help to protect your eyes.
- Cover up with a t-shirt to protect your shoulders and upper arms.
- Always wear sun cream.
- Drink lots of water.
- Just swim where it is safe.
- Make sure you can swim NEVER swim alone and make sure you are always supervised by an adult at the beach.
We also encouraged the students to get involved in protecting the ocean by:
- Reduce and recycle.
- Joining a beach clean up.
- Asking shops and restaurants if they have plastic-free alternatives.
The students had a blast doing all of the activities.
Martie van Dyk
Pre-Reception Teacher
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A fun way to learn our initial sounds of words in Pre-Reception
A fun way to learn our initial sounds of words in Pre-Reception
It is important for children to learn letter-sound relationships because the English language uses letters in the alphabet to represent sounds.
Phonics teaches this information to help children learn how to read. Children learn the sounds that each letter makes.
A fun way through which the Pre-Reception students learn the initial sound of words is… I would like to introduce you to a very important member of our class. His name is the Sound Monkey and the students take turns to take him home with them and find something that starts with the letter of the alphabet that we are learning about that week.
The students are always very excited when it is their turn and can’t wait. It is always very interesting to see what the sound monkey has in his bag the next day. It’s usually things that I did not even think of.
It is very interesting to see how quickly the students have been learning the initial sounds of words in this manner. Now let us see whose turn it is today!
Cindy Nunan
Pre-Reception Teacher
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Shaping Positive Eating Habits
Wow! What a busy week it has been. Our main focus in Nursery this week has been on Healthy Eating, and believe me when I tell you that I have had to explain why chocolate is not a fruit more times than I have had to sing “Let it go”, and that’s A LOT.
Explaining to our students why their chips and chocolates should not be eaten in the morning, is similar to arguing with a qualified lawyer about the law, it hardly ever ends well. However, as the week progressed, our little ‘pre-lawyers’ began enjoying learning about healthy eating so much, that we actually had to send some of the unhealthy snacks back home, and that itself is like a snowy day in summer.
This has reinforced my belief that teaching young students about healthy living does not have to be done through a strict, structured routine, but rather through fun, play-based activities. Play-based learning helps support our children’s desire to explore and interact with the world around them. Providing them with opportunities to explore and learn about foods, separate from meal times, not only exposes them to new foods but allows those fussy eaters to explore non-preferred foods in an encouraging way.
As our school follows the wonderful Traffic Light System, our students are already aware of the foods that are not healthy, but maintaining that diet can be tricky with toddlers. So this week, we introduced healthy eating through colour, exploration and a lot of gentle encouragement. Some of the students helped create a healthy eating colour chart that explored the principle of ‘eating the rainbow’ and even chose some of their favourite fruits and created crafty fruit baskets for our next picnic. We also explored shopping for fruits and vegetables, and students picked out various healthy foods that we can find at the grocery store.
By making healthy eating fun, engaging and hands-on, our students found it less daunting to face the vegetables on their plate and supported our long-term goal of building a foundation for lifelong healthy eating habits.
Jo-Anne Dickason
Nursery Teacher
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