From the Head of Primary 18.11.2023

A return to some sort of normality this week after an extended weekend for Deepavali. I hope that you all managed to enjoy the public holiday and a ‘Happy Deepavali’ to those that do celebrate.

We did kick off the week with an inspiring talk from Mr Shavez from One Stop Borneo, an animal and land conservation group working within Sabah. He has particular links to our Gaya house mascot with his incredible work with pangolins. He will be working closely with the school and the Eco Warriors on developing key links across Sabah in environmental awareness and animal conservation. A huge thank you to Mrs Beresford for including all of Primary in this opportunity. 

This was followed by the Year 6s taking part in the remainder of the day with Years 7,8 and 9 developing presentations on palm oil. It was interesting to see them engaging together and discussing both the positive and negative impacts of the production of such a polarising ingredient. The Year 6s presented brilliantly and really made the Primary school proud.

Not only did Year 6 take part in the Global Goals Day, they also had a heart dissection demonstration from the secondary science teachers on Wednesday. They were complimented on their knowledge about the key elements of the heart and other facts about the organ. This falls within another of the events and opportunities to begin the transition to secondary school early for Year 6.

Finally Year 3 hosted the first of our showcase events for the term. This time they focussed on their Ancient Egypt topic with not just information but interactive activities for parents to take part in. It was truly wonderful to see the children teaching their parents as the experts on the activities. Showcases really are one of the best parts of the year, as the children are able to show off the proudest achievements over the term and for parents to engage with the school. A huge thank you to the Year 3 team for their hard work in making the learning impactful, fun and producing such brilliant results.

As promised I have the pleasure of presenting the adventures of Year 3 at Tao Arts Studio to end my newsletter this week:

Last Friday (10th November), Year 3 had their trip to Tao Art Studio. Following our topic of ‘Ancient Egyptians’, the children were tasked to make canopic jars out of clay. The children were excellent with their listening and interest in the activity. All children were engaged and patient with their sculpting of the jars. After a morning of creating and smoothing the clay, to ensure it was would be strong enough when it had dried. Next, we had to wait until the pots had full dried ready for our next activity, this was a good chance for the children to enjoy some snacks with their friends. The second part of the trip involved the children painting the details they wanted on the jar. The children were very detailed with their painting, making sure they covered every part of it. The pots will be returned to the children once they have been fired. A big thank you to the staff at Tao Art Studio for their helpful and caring attitude towards the children throughout the morning. If your child is interested in making other creations, please contact Tao Art Studio. They run lots of sessions for children to learn and enjoy making sculptures. Thank you for all your support with dropping the children at the location in the morning. The children had a very exciting experience.

Enjoy this video!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mr Mark Beresford