Keep Calm And Create A Calm Space
Emotions play such an important role in our lives. It helps us to think and behave in certain ways. They help us to build relationships, avoid or resolve conflicts better. Emotions help us make decisions for the future and helps us cope with what we are dealing with during the day.
We start feeling emotions from when we are little, and as we grow and mature, we learn how to identify them far better and hopefully become more skilled in how to express them appropriately. With practise we get better at understanding what we are feeling and why.
Just for a moment, think about what you did today versus what you did yesterday. Did different emotions on different days, allow you to behave in different ways? Are you more tolerant today than you were yesterday? Have you smiled more today than yesterday? Have you made some rash decisions based on how you were feeling? Have you made the best decisions you could have made so far this year?
Emotions can last for a second or for an hour. They change constantly throughout our day. Emotions are part of a person’s character. Without them we would be robots.
We read emotions from facial expressions, body language, hand gestures, tone of voice and even eyes. Notice the feel of a handshake, a hug or a touch. These are many cues that help us to pick up on someone’s emotional wellbeing.
Many adults today find it difficult to identify what it is they are really feeling, let alone be able to express their emotions appropriately. Am I angry or just irritated? Am I happy or just proud? There are so many emotions that are closely linked and can be misunderstood. There are so many different emotions that sometimes it can be impossible to recognise them all. It can also be very confusing and extremely challenging.
Being able to accept what you are feeling allows you to become more self-aware and self-compassionate. I know this can sound all airy-fairy, but being able to have a good emotional intelligence, to me, is far better that having a good IQ. This will help you in all aspects of life, in the workplace and in relationships that you build along the way.
Using a feelings wheel helps us to open up our feeling’s vocabulary and learn to understand the extent of them a lot better. Once you have used the feelings wheel for some time, you won’t need to go back and look up what the feeling is, you will identify it straightaway.
There are many students today that need assistance with feelings and emotions, and need to learn some healthy strategies to overcome or face them head-on.
I have a number of feelings wheels and charts around my class to help my students with their emotions. I have a dedicated calm space for my students to retreat to whenever they feel overwhelmed or need a place to ‘check in’ with themselves.
You can create a calm space in your own home for your children, or even for yourself. When children see that you use the space, it allows them to realise that we, as adults, also have emotions and sometimes need to refocus and recentre.
This calm space is different to a time-out space for consequences. It is a place of safety. Children are not to be sent there by a parent, rather it must be a child’s choice to go there. You can suggest it, but it should not be enforced. This space does not have a time limit.
Decide as a family, where this calm space will be. Decorate it together if that’s something that they might like. You can even give the space a name.
Leave them alone in their space to reflect, to let out some anger or other emotions. Try not hover around them or speak to them. Allow them this time to be on their own.
You can include some calming tools in your calm space to help them with self-regulation. Some good ideas are therapy putty or a stress ball to squeeze, a liquid timer or a glitter jar to look at, books to read about emotions, calming cards or positive thinking cards, a teddy bear, or some simple calming toys, such as a Rubik’s cube, that keep their minds busy. Some nice, calming smells can help too. I use lavender in my class, and my students love rubbing it onto their temples. This relaxes them completely. Believe me, I have used it several times!
Embrace your emotions, and talk about them with your family, your friends, your colleagues. The more we accept that we have them and that they are a normal part of our lives, the more skilled we will become, and your EQ will be what people talk about instead of your IQ.
Wendy Menton
Year 3 Teacher
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Auto Museum Outing
To fully appreciate the future, we need to appreciate the past.
Our Year 4 classes visited the Wijnland Auto Museum in Joostenberg vlakte, as part of the Transportation unit that we have been studying in History.
Throughout the term, we have investigated the various types of transport, how transport has evolved over time and the importance of the different modes of transportation.
During our visit to the museum, the students learned about cars and how the design and technology has changed over the years. We saw various amazing antique cars, army tanks and even went inside an old passenger airplane.
We cannot wait to discuss this topic further in class.
Yvette Fourie
Year 4 Teacher
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Litter Challenge
“Educating our children is a key ingredient in the recipe to save our Earth!”
This week our Year 2’s did a school litter pick-up! Before we went out we had a small class discussion where we reminded ourselves about what litter was and chatted a bit about what a good strategy would be in order to cover the area we were going to cover and pick up as much litter as possible. The students were excited at the idea of helping to make their school a cleaner place!
We made a plan to tackle the field and the surrounding areas, a few students carrying some plastic bags for any rubbish to go straight into, all of us walking in our smaller groups across the field making sure to keep a look out for any litter that may be laying around.
All of the students took their role in this clean-up very seriously and seemed to enjoy themselves as they went. Well done Year 2’s, you are making a difference!
Siobhan Hendry
Year 2 Teacher
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Going On a Dinosaur Hunt…
In our class we have been learning about dinosaurs. We have had lots of fun reading dinosaur books, drawing dinosaur pictures and even doing a show and tell about dinosaurs. The little ones were very excited to share some of the things that makes their favourite dinosaur special.
“I like a t-rex because it is a predator to plant dinosaurs” Aiden Jackson
“Stegosaurus, because it has cool spikes on his back and tail” Jayden Aire
“My favourite dinosaur is a triceratops, because it has spiky horns on its face” Liam Okebalidet
“My favourite dinosaur is a triceratops because it’s very harmless and it also has very sharp horns” Naleli Tsietsi
“My favourite dinosaur is a t-rex because it can roar load” Alupheli Mango
“I like a t-rex because it goes fast” Kason Frey
“I like t-rex because it hunts for food” Isabella Dunkley
“My fvourite is a brontosaurus because it is a herbivore and it eats plants” Leah Laguma
“I like a flying dinosaur because it can fly and it can glide” Leonardo Elsmore
“I like a pterodactyl because it can fly” Likani Moleejani
“I like a velociraptor because it can run fast and it has sharp teeth and nails, and it can hunt prey very easily” Emmanual Chukwumeka
Monique Meyer
Foundation Stage Coordinator and Reception Year Teacher
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Spring Has Sprung In Arts And Craft This Week
“Reuse the past. recycle the present, save the future” – Unknown
In KS1 Arts and Crafts Club, the students have been making use of recycled goods to create a beautiful flower to welcome the start of Spring.
Teaching students about spring helps to develop life skills, observation skills and promotes a love for learning and nature. Helping children notice and celebrate the signs of spring is a wonderful way to sharpen their observation skills. This helps students to learn how to focus, to be present, and live in the moment. Observation skills help people become better writers, scientists, and global citizens. Using nature to teach these skills can shake children and parents alike out of the rut of the normal day-to-day life.
Using recycled goods such as bubble wrap and bottle tops help students realise that these items are goods and not waste. We can reuse them for Arts and Crafts activities, not allowing them to be thrown into bins or left lying around on the floor around us. Teaching students to reduce, reuse and recycle (the three R’s) can create a ripple effect on the lives of their loved ones around them.
We encourage students and parents to continue trying to follow the three R’s.
Year 1 Teacher
Erin Hierse
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The Magic In Allowing Learners To Take Control Of Their Own Learning
In Year 3 this term we have been exploring the concepts of natural disasters, the water cycle and global warming. The students had the opportunity to discover these topics through their own research, whilst using the Ipads. They have slowly built upon their prior knowledge, lesson by lesson. With Geography as the subject, global warming as the topic and Google at their fingertips, the students decided to take the lesson in a different direction.
Once the students had begun their search and discovered what both causes and alleviates global warming, they discovered some images that they wanted to recreate.
The students had found an interest and wanted to pursue an activity that they had come up with themselves. Each one of them chose to represent the information they had learnt with something that summed it all up into one image. Pictures were produced, that represented our earth in two states and they were drawn and coloured in by the very hands that may one day construct the solutions to the problems we face.
Autonomy is developed through our students having some choice and control in their lessons, and if the knowledge and learning objectives stay the same, then does it matter how they discover it?
Kirsten Stoffberg
Year 3 Teacher
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States Of Year 5
We all know that our children matter. What the Year 5s have been learning recently is that they are also MADE of matter.
We have been looking at the particle model and states of matter in Science, and the students have explored the topics in a variety of different ways. They have used their textbooks to learn independently and peer-teach each other about processes like boiling and melting, practising the skill of reading information to pick out salient points, as well as their communication skills (and producing some useful posters for the classroom walls in the process).
They observed what happens when a solid is dissolved in water and described the process on the particle level, while reminding themselves that while you may not be able to see the salt in salt water, you would definitely know it’s still there if you tasted it.
They practised their Science enquiry skills by looking at available equipment and figuring out how to test the effect of temperature on the rate of dissolving, writing a practical report to systematically record their findings.
Now they are turning their hand to some research, using the iPads to look up some information about the properties of water.
Throughout the topic, I have been impressed by the students’ willingness to jump into the world of Science and test things out, whether it be research skills, observation skills, or designing a fair test. It would be fair to say that the students have been vibrating with energy – much like their particles!
Hannah Kirkaldy
Year 5 Teacher
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Exploring Intaka Island
A very excited group of Year 1 students left school to visit Intaka Island on Thursday, 25 August. After a brief introduction to the origin of Intaka Island and the eco system found there, the students set off in groups to explore this small island in the middle of our busy city. Intaka Island’s wetlands and canals demonstrate how engineering and natural processes can be used to improve the conservation of water.
The students took a walk around the island learning about the medicinal plants and seeing how many animals and birds they could spot from the ‘hide’. We were extremely lucky to walk past a freshwater crab and to spot a Pied Kingfisher and a Malachite Kingfisher.
A highlight for the students is the boat ride on the canals, spotting the birdlife and some pets in the gardens of the townhouses.
Intaka island is a wonderful example of sustainability. They use solar power energy, energy through the use of a wind turbine and various bio digestive systems to supply their own gas and wormery’s to create their own compost and liquid fertilizers. The students learnt all about recycling, compost and the importance of sustainable living. The students also learnt how Intaka Island uses their own grey water and black water system to sustain their building and plant life.
It was a fun, interactive and very informative outing, which you can see from our photos!
Ann Cordner
Year 1 Teacher
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Looking After Our World
For Global perspectives in Year 1 this term, we have been learning about ‘Looking after our world.’ As part of the topic, we have been looking at the problem of ‘litter.’ The list of social problems caused by litter and rubbish is extensive.
Litter creates safety, fire, and a variety of human health hazards because of the organisms attracted to it. Oprah Winfrey says, “If every person picked up just one piece of litter today, there would be over 300 million fewer pieces of litter.”
The Year 1 classes have been on litter walks around the school grounds and picked up litter together. We have also made a classroom display from some of the litter we have found and the class have worked together to raise awareness about litter to educate others in our school. They’ve created some fantastic, colourful and interesting posters to raise awareness about litter in our school environment.
If you would like to view some of their work, it can be found in the Year 1 classes!
Charlotte Cronje
Year 1 Teacher
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Observing The Weather Using A Wind Vane
Our budding Year 5 meteorologists (a physical scientist who observes, studies and forecasts the weather) have been learning all about the wonders of the weather in Geography this term.
They started by learning about the four main elements of the weather (temperature, wind, rainfall and cloud cover) and how these can be used to describe the weather. They are currently completing a 2-week weather project, where they need to observe and track the weather on a daily basis. These observations require the use of various weather instruments, such as a thermometer for temperature; a rain gauge to measure rainfall and a wind vane to measure wind direction. Using these instruments accurately is a skill they need to master and demonstrate over the course of the project.
But we can’t accurately measure wind direction without an instrument to help us, so, the Year 5 students started the project by designing and making their very own creative and colourful wind vanes! The idea behind making these weather instruments was that they could then be used by each student at home when making their observations on the direction of the wind.
Great fun was had by all when they put their wind vanes to the test outside on the school field! The direction of the wind (moving air) is the compass direction that the wind blows from. On the day the Year 5’s did their test, the wind was blowing in a northerly direction. They knew this because they had first accurately plotted the 8 compass directions on the ground, using a compass.
We are looking forward to seeing the results of their investigations on weather at the end of this exciting project!
Cindy Drury
Year 5 Teacher
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