Grade 4 - Termly Reflection

This term has been a busy and exciting one. We have been able to enjoy both cold and warm weather which has meant hot chocolate on cold days and fun in the sun on the warmer days.

Pancake Day is our traditional Spring celebration and the children were quick to mix their batters and become expert pancake flippers. They were so talented that a second batch needed to be made, just to show off their skills.

Arbor Day is about making a difference as every effort makes the world a better place. Thanks to the Grade 7s for nurturing their Yellowwood Tree seeds, we had many trees to plant near the Clifton stream. Any  tree planted with such love can only bring joy in the future. Mandela Day stream clean-up took us back to the Clifton Stream for more exploring and some digging and opening up of the natural pathway of the river. Muddy fun indeed.

Literature week in Grade 4 was all about wild animals and our activities included an African sunset silhouette art piece, lion masks with autumn leaf manes, shows organised by Mrs “Hawks” and braaing Stokbrood. We enjoyed buying a new book or two and writing our own books about wild animals to donate to the Nami Futhi organisation for a local school. Dressed up as book characters, we had a fun day and listened to many African folk tales over the week as well.

Making and trying out different learning tools and thinking maps are an important part of Grade 4. This term we used the invertebrates theme as our opportunity to practice this and the children used these tools to study from and write quizzes. Being able to show them off at our child-led interviews to their parents made them very proud and so they should be. Russell brought his special pet tarantula to meet us, along with an interesting lesson on spiders and arachnids. He really is the cutest spider and having him visit us was a real treat, who says spiders can't be cuddly?

The life skills and farming badges are our out-and-about focus area. The life skill tasks given in term 1 have been an ongoing task and this term saw many of the Grade 4s achieving this badge. We are so proud of their efforts and commitment. We look forward to handing out more next term as well as adding the farming badge to their list of things to be proud of.  The cold winter has not been kind to our farmlands but with new seeds sown we can't wait for new growth to begin. Our favourite hens had 4 roosters visit them for a while and we know there are many children crossing their fingers that the peeping of baby chicks will soon be heard. 

 Grade 4 means the children's first ever Spring Ball. This exciting tradition is one where the children learnt not only how to waltz but to just  enjoy each other's company. New dance moves were shown off and they all looked smart in their formal wear. A special evening indeed, and a good first Spring Ball experience.  

Every Tuesday each class has gone to visit Mrs Falconer and her class. We got to know the children better, played games, did art and decorated biscuits. Mrs Falconer's class is teaching us so much about acceptance, kindness and how everyone is special in their own unique way no matter who you are. We have laughed lots together and all agree that Josh, Steff and Kazie make the best tasting cookies!