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CARLSWALD HOUSE PREPARATORY | MAY - JUNE 2017 | NEWSLETTER 2

NEWSLETTER FROM THE DESK OF MR TAGG

Dear Parents. I hope this finds you well. Welcome to our May/June Newsletter for 2017. My article this month surrounds the topic of effective school management. No doubt, we all agree that a school that is thriving is made up of a number of very important parts: A dedicated and passionate teaching team, special children and their supportive parents and a management team that leads and supports all the role players to ensure that the process of education runs smoothly and is effective. I came across this article below which speaks to the importance of an effective management team in a school and which I believe we at 345 and CHP have, but are poised to take to the next level in our growth and development. I am very happy to announce that we have revised our management structure and will be appointing 3 new Heads of Department as of the 1st July 2017. These are all internal appointments which speaks volumes about the staff development and caliber of teacher we have at CHP 1. Head of Department – Junior Phase (Grade 1-3) – Mrs Jessica Muller 2. Head of Department – Senior Phase (Grade 4-7) – Mrs Tracy Sowerby 3. Head of Department – Thinking Skills, IT & IT Integration, Pastoral Care Grade R-7 – Mrs Rhian Johnson

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in each photograph.

SAS

This team will be complimented by: Head of Department – Sport - Mr Anthony Lord Head of Department – 345 Nursery School – Mrs Chrisna Kock This revised management structure will now boost 345 and CHP into the next stage of our growth and development and provides for specific focus and interest to be paid to all the areas of our education offering within our 3 schools and I believe that we will continue to grow and find success with your support – ultimately benefitting our very special children at 345 and CHP Enjoy the article. Schools need leaders who have a vision for improving quality and learning outcomes, and who are also effective at ongoing management tasks. Schools need leaders with a vision for improving the school’s learning environment within a well-functioning school-based management (SBM) system. SBM involves setting school directions concerning students, teacher development, and allocation of material and financial resources. Effective management impacts motivation, commitment, and student and teacher success by: Facilitating school leadership that is both appropriate to the unique context and needs of the school community, developing and implementing school improvement plans, establishing fair and effective teacher appraisal systems, structuring classrooms and schools according to school needs, building partnerships with the community, and ensuring that frameworks exist to support the functions of all school departments and personnel.

https://learningportal.iiep.unesco.org/en/improve-learning/schools-classrooms/school-leadership-and-management

Regards

Stewart Tagg Headmaster

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Fantasy play encourages children to pretend and actively experiment with social and emotional roles in life... but more importantly, it’s so much fun! Using their imagination, we had beautiful princesses, brave superheroes and even a dancing fairy. Why sit and work inside, when we have a beautiful playground to help us learn. We spent some time in the sandpit and practiced writing all our letters. Writing in sand or any other media helps to develop control and writing grip as we learn letter formation. One of our themes this month was all about learning more about Elephants. We had fun creating elephants from different media and pretending that we all live in the savannah and have long trunks. Building Lego provides tools to develop lateral thinking and improves creativity, it also teaches kids to think in three dimensions. We spent some extra time working in groups to practice communication skills and how to work together to solve problems.

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GRADE R-D

The learners really enjoy getting their hands dirty, so this hand and finger painting was an activity that kept them interested for quite some time. Using different media for painting is also something exciting for the learners, in these pictures they are tracing their hands and then using feathers to paint.

Dress up time is a free play activity which the children thoroughly enjoy. Dressing up as different characters opens up their minds and allows them to explore their imagination. We would love to include this into our play time a lot more as the children develop many necessary language skills.

Rotation tables are still an exciting, effective way of learning for each child. They all get the opportunity to grow in many aspects, building skills - fine motor skills, social skills and building knowledge on concepts taught. The learners have a lot of fun while learning and their enthusiasm is great.

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GRADE 1 - H

GRADE 1-H

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Handwriting We started writing our weekend news as well as fully constructed sentences this term on lines! It has taken some practice but it’s safe to say that they really have improved so much through it all!!!

Life Skills One of the Themes that we dealt with this term was called ‘Insects’. The children had to compare two insects in the form of a ‘Double Bubble Map’. They really enjoyed doing this and it was interesting to see all the differences that they had noted and where they had gotten their information from! Please have a look at the ‘Double Bubble Map’ we did!!

Maths and Rotations A new Maths concept that we have introduced this term is called the ‘AB’ pattern method with the use of shapes. This means that the children are first given concrete apparatus in which they need to make a specific pattern using the ‘AB’ pattern method with different shapes They then are given a method and they need to complete it. This also all forms part of our Math’s rotation.

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GRADE 1-J

The Grade One J classroom is happy place where learning and exploring happen every day. This term we have been learning about insects. We used a Double Bubble Map to compare and contrast different insects. We loved researching about the different insects. Many of us decided to work with a friend to create our Double Bubble Map. Thinking Maps are a great way to show what we know. In our Numeracy lessons we have been learning to work co-operatively. We have our weekly counting jar where we all take turns to count objects and record our counting. The counting jar helps us to count accuracy, put objects into groups of two and to practice the concepts of more and less. We have been exploring the concept of capacity. For our capacity lesson we decided to make use of the winter sun outside. We measured the capacity of different containers using water. We are learning to take turns and help our friends in our group. We love exploring the different geometric shapes and we have been experimenting with geometric patterns. Together with our friends we are learning about the properties of shapes. The Grade Ones are enjoying school and are always surprising their teacher with their love for learning. We have been so busy doing but sometimes we need to take a break!

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GRADE 2-K

Hello Autumn! We love the beauty that Autumn brings to

CHP… We had fun exploring our beautiful gardens and having little playful moments with our friends.

We have been busy learning about mass during Mathematics. We used balancing scales to measure heavier, lighter and objects that were equal. We used iPads to learn about the way objects look from different views.

English Rotations are always fun! We

wrote about our favourite farm

animal, worked with dictionaries and

played games to reinforce concepts.

We aslo learnt the dairy process, so no

more wondering “Where milk comes

from”.

Double Bubble Map

We continued with the introduction of our Thinking Maps. The children learnt how to Compare and Contrast using a Double Bubble Map. They had fun comparing and contrasting different animal species and shapes.

A proud moment in Grade 2K for Murunwa!

Beautiful handwriting…Keep it up!

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GRADE 2-Y

GRADE 2-Y

The second term set off to a busy, yet fun start, focusing on farm and wild animals as our theme. The class was tasked with teaching us about the various animals, which they researched using iPads, and defined using one of our thinking maps, the Circle Map.

The learner’s created posters and performed oral presentations on their favourite farm and wild animals. We were treated to some very interesting facts in the wildlife presentations, learning about a large variety of South African wildlife from the Big Five to the little five, as well as our beautiful birdlife.

In Mathematics, we have focused on position and view. The learners were tasked with using iPads to take photos of objects from different viewpoints and then presented them to the class. We have had loads of fun weighing different objects using informal measurement, learning our vocabulary of Heavier Than, Lighter Than and Equal To. We have also been applying our place value concept to complete double-digit addition and subtraction sums.

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GRADE 3-M

SOME OF OUR

FABUUS

ART!

GRADE 3-G

Grade 3G are enjoying a Mathematics lesson on time. They now know how to read both analogue and digital time.

Grade 3G learners are busy with rotations during their English lesson

Bubble Maps were introduced in Grade 3 during term 1. Our learners are now confidently able to construct their own creative Bubble Maps.

Learners got to make their own money for Mathematics and they pretended to buy items from each other and receive change

Thrass is an important part of everyday for 3G learners.

Grade 3G are enjoying a Mathematics lesson on time. They now know how to read both analogue and digital time.

National slipper day was celebrated in Grade 3. Our learners were excited to show off their slippers to their classmates.

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GRADE 3-R

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GRADE 3-R

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To celebrate Africa day we learnt about other African countries by making flags. We also learnt a phrase in the language Oromo to show the other classes another way to say Hello.

In the process of becoming a thinking school currently we are in the phase of introducing Bubble and Double Bubble Maps to the learners. Bubble Maps are effective for developing vocabulary and considering adjectives they could use in their writing. In groups, learners made Bubble Maps using coloured cardboard and pegs to describe healthy and unhealthy foods. Double Bubble Maps are used to contrast two things, ideas, people, countries, cultures and anything. In Mathematics the learners had to compare 2D and 3D shapes using the Double Bubble Maps. This exercise helped them to understand the difference between the two.

Learners had so much fun selling cupcakes and doughnuts to the rest of school. It is always important to expose them to opportunities where they can learn how to transact with money.

IPads The learners are getting used to incorporating iPads in the classroom. Our new theme in Life Skills is Insects. Learners have been searching the Anatomy of Insects using the application called Kiddle for their research project in class. In Design and Technology learners have been making pamphlets of their favourite holiday destination with the help of Kiddle on the iPads.

We are so proud of the Grade 3’s for upping their game with recycling. We thoroughly enjoyed eating our ice-creams as a result of WINNING the paper competition.

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ART CLASS

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At the end of last term the Grade 3s drew beautiful zebras. They developed their listening skills while drawing the outline of the zebra’s head. Once this was completed they applied their knowledge of patterns to create the black stripes. A 3-D element was added to the picture when they made colourful cut-out flowers which the zebras nibbled on. We started off the term with a bang and the children created fishbowls using pastels and watercolour paint and they added sand to add texture. They squealed with delight while scribbling on a piece of cardboard to create the beautiful wallpaper background. They were challenged when using black card to make a table on which the bowl could stand. Towards the end of last term the Grade 4s embarked on a weaving project and they made gorgeous flower pots. It was a challenge to get started but once they had found the pattern, they enjoyed watching their weaving grow. This term they have been introduced to the famous artist Pablo Picasso and used his portraits as inspiration for their artwork. They drew a portrait of a person and used pastels to colour. The background was created by smudging pastels and adding watercolours to create a multi-medium effect. The Grade 5s and 6s ended the term by designing a Mandala on white material using wood glue. Once it was dry they used watercolour paint to add the finishing touches to their batiks. The first project this term really grabbed their attention. They practiced persistence as their cutting skills were challenged while creating intricate designs from black card.