KISU Primary Newsletter

At KISU we try to make our behavioural expectations known to all members of the KISU family. We regularly remind students of how we define bullying - "it is repeated verbal or physical abuse or harassment which caused physical or emotional harm." All of us at one time or another have done or said things that have upset or hurt other people; the difference between this and bullying is that it is not repeated simply so that another person suffers. The biggest weapon we have in tackling bullying is communication. Children need to feel safe in talking about their situation and at KISU we encourage children to talk to whoever they feel most comfortable with. If, as parents, you feel that your child is a victim of bullying, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can intervene and put things right. We would be naïve if we thought that bullying has never happened at KISU but whenever we come across it we do our best to deal with it swiftly and decisively.

How many of you were told by your parents or even have told your children "If someone punches you, then punch them back"? At the same time you have probably been told "two wrongs do not make a right". At KISU we believe that no child should be hit, punched or kicked and encourage our students to try to resolve conflicts in a non physical way.

At KISU we believe that discipline serves three main purposes:

1. Preventative - if students are clear about expectations and consequences then they are less likely to break rules.

2. Supportive - if students are unfortunate enough to be a victim of poor discipline they will be supported by the school and consequences applied to those that break the rules.

3. Corrective - students who have broken rules are helped to modify their behaviour so that rules are not broken in the future.

We have a tiered discipline policy which clearly sets out the consequences for different offences and a progressive level of consequences if behaviours are repeated. The type of punishment or sanction will vary depending on the rule that has been broken and whether the child has broken this or other rules before.

Now that we have settled back into school, we are helping our students, not only to do well in English or Maths but also to become good people.

noun

1. the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium.
   

   "television is an effective means of communication"
   

2. means of sending or receiving information, such as phone lines or computers eg 'satellite communication'.

What is the best definition of communication?

Communication is simply the act of transferring information from one place, person or group to another. Every communication involves (at least) one sender, a message and a recipient. When communication occurs, it typically happens in one of three ways: verbal, nonverbal and visual.

Why is communication important?

Being able to communicate effectively is perhaps the most important of all life skills. It is what enables us to pass information to other people, and to understand what is said to us.

Do you remember a childhood game ‘Chinese whispers’? In this game, one person’s message would be passed along a line of people, and by the end, the message could end up being completely different. This childhood game is an adulthood reality. Miscommunication happens daily at work or at home.

Communication is key and being a strong communicator gets you far in life. Although not everyone in life is a natural born communicator for many different reasons, there are proven ways to improve your communication skills.

10 ways to be a better communicator:

Listen Well

To be a good communicator, you first have to listen well. By paying attention, you get every important detail of the communication, and you also improve on how to communicate back well.

Be to the Point

The majority of miscommunication happens when there is too much needless information. Keep your communication concise without compromising on the importance of it.

Know Your Listener

You have to know who you are communicating with, and have to gauge what type of communication they are going to understand. Know your listener.

Assertive & Active Voice

The language you use in your communication should be assertive and active. This form of language instantly grabs the attention of the listener or reader. They will latch on to your every word and the right message will be passed on.

Body Language

Body language is a great way to communicate without words but can still have a profound impact. Keep a positive body language like an open stance and eye contact. This is subconsciously read by the other person, and their body language also becomes positive.

Always Proofread

People assume they have not made a mistake and hit send on their written communication. Do not do this. Proofread what you have written once or twice before sending.

Take Notes

When you are being communicated to, take down important points in the communication. This is a very simple but effective method to ensure there is no miscommunication.

Watch Your Tones

Most miscommunication happens because either of the parties involved was not speaking in the right tone. Don’t be too loud, don’t be too soft, and don’t be rude or condescending. Always communicate politely and respectfully with everyone. Everyone deserves respect!

Right Frame of Mind

When you are about to communicate, be sure that you are in the right frame of mind. Tiredness, frustration, sadness, and anger, among other range of emotions, can hamper what you want to communicate.

Speak Directly

Directly communicate with the person you mean to. In many organizations, communication channels are created with many needless people passing on the messages. As we know thanks to the Chinese whispers game, this does not work when there are too many people. Just communicate directly with the person you mean to.

Communication has a substantial impact on our personal and professional life – practicing great communications skills will have a positive impact on achieving success and happiness in life. Everyday, make someone happy! Be seen as a person you want others to want to communicate with.

Which of the following are you? Which of the following do you want to be? Which of the following will get the outcome you desire more easily? Which of the following do others deserve you to be towards them?

Passive

Individuals who use the passive communication style often act indifferently, yielding to others. Passive communicators usually fail to express their feelings or needs, allowing others to express themselves. Frequently, a passive communicator’s lack of outward communication can lead to misunderstanding, anger build-up or resentment.

Aggressive

It’s often apparent when someone communicates in an aggressive manner. You’ll hear it. You’ll see it. You may even feel it.

The aggressive communication style is emphasized by speaking in a loud and demanding voice, maintaining intense eye contact and dominating or controlling others by blaming, intimidating, criticizing, threatening or attacking them, among other traits.

Passive-Aggressive

Passive-aggressive communication style users appear passive on the surface, but within he or she may feel powerless or stuck, building up a resentment that leads to seething or acting out in subtle, indirect or secret ways.

Assertive

Thought to be the most effective form of communication, the assertive communication style features an open communication link while not being overbearing. Assertive communicators can express their own needs, desires, ideas and feelings, while also considering the needs of others.

Year 6: Kiara Blagojevic

Year 5: Samwiri Karugire

Year 4: Asmara Mohammed and Diane Le Gouadec

Year 3: Yassin Mohamed

Year 2: Veronique Palmer

Year 1: Akudzweishe Chinembiri

Reception: Solange Worth and Jordan Kirungi

KG3: Lina Rida.

KG1/2: Adhil Midha

Some of the reasons suggested by Class Teachers ...

"You deserve this because you articulate your ideas clearly in both your written work and class discussions. Well done!"

"Your confidence this term has really blossomed. You express yourself well and you contribute many intelligent ideas to our class discussions."

Specialist Subject Awards go to...

Artist of the week: Myra Ashaba Y5 for adapting Paul Cezzanne techniques to create a great landscape drawing, to complete in his style next session (From Mr Nsimbi)

Information Technologist of the week is Isaac Segawa Y2 for learning how to download suitable images suitable for his work (Mr Nsimbi)

French speaker of the week is Samwiri Karugire Y4 for being ready to recall and share new ideas with his friends in class (Ms Proscovia)

Musician of the week is Chaahat Goyal Y6 for consistently working hard with enthusiasm in all the music activities. She sets an excellent example of behaviour and participates fully in class - great job! (Ms Janice)

In Kindergarten 2 this week our focus story has been ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. The children planted their own beanstalks, they explored the giant's castle in the clouds, we made our own beanstalks, participated in Jack & the Beanstalk yoga, designed our own golden eggs, built a castle in the clouds and explored the bean sensory tray. Child initiated play at its best! Every time we explore a new story or a topic our indoor and outdoor activities evolve around the topic, children share and bring their prior knowledge and individual experiences to enrich our learning through play.

This week, Year 4 children had great fun exploring sound through instruments and rice grains! Their current science topic centers around sound and focuses on how sound travels and how the intricate parts of the human ear work in alignment to enable us to hear.

I said to some year 4 children, "I hear you are studying sound in Science at the moment (great pun), can you tell me how we hear sounds as I am not quite sure?"

To which the child raised their hand to respond with great enthusiasm.

"I tell you what, so that I can hear all of your ideas, why don't you have a chat about it with the people around you and then I can travel around the room and listen in to all of your discussions?"

What I learnt from the children was the following...

Sounds are made when objects move and vibrate. The vibration makes the air around the object vibrate and the air vibrations enter your ear. You hear different vibrations as different sounds, but you cannot always see the vibrations. If something is making a sound, some part of it is vibrating.

I clarified with the children...

"So if there is no noise, there must be stillness?"

"Yes," they all agreed.

And if something is moving, then you would always hear it?"

"Yes" they agreed!

I asked them to listen carefully so see if they could identify the source of some different objects moving, what did I move to make the sound and in which direction did the sound vibrations move towards their ear from?

I reminded them what they had agreed, "So if something moves, it creates a sound and you will always hear it".

I asked them to close their eyes once more as I moved as quietly as I could out of the room and disappeared! I listened in to the conversation that followed from behind the door and the children's discussion raised so many interesting scientific points, it made me smile...

I love it when children are forced to think deeper, debate, discuss differences of opinions, explain their ideas and extrapolate. Challenging children further forces them to think beyond the obvious, look at the bigger picture and question and explore ideas. Science lends itself so well to encouraging children to explore on the back of what they have found out and even ask follow up questions themselves.

On a typical Friday afternoon our two Year 4 classes come together to take part in a weekly general knowledge quiz. This is a great opportunity for our children to develop their social skills by working in a team, as well as a way to reinforce many of the lesson objectives and skills we've explored during the week. As our class is culturally diverse and extremely multitalented we find the children share and learn a lot from these sessions. Can you answer all of the following questions?

Which five countries share a border with Uganda?

How many wives did Henry VIII have in his lifetime?

What's the name of Harry Potter's pet owl?

How many sides does a decagon have?

How do you say 'Goodbye' in Finnish?

Well, Year 4 with their combined experiences could! Each week the children organise themselves into teams, choose a team name and work together to pitch themselves against the other groups! Along with the academic questions we also include a range of questions from the arts and popular culture. You'll be surprised what your children know! As teachers we are very proud of their knowledge and continual development - and every day we learn something too!

As part of their assembly this week, some of the Year 5 children went head to head with a selection of very nervous and intimidated teachers in a mental maths competition. Obviously the confidence of the learners was high with nothing to lose, however, I could see Mr Polan's knees knocking together as he walked onto centre stage! The year 5 children that took part all knew their times table facts very well, however, I do believe that they were pipped to the post by Team Teachers, purely because the teachers were occasionally a split second faster to recall some of the answers. Well done all for having the confidence to take part (both pupils and teachers), it's a scary spot to be, on stage in the spotlight. Thank you Ms Haskins and Ms Farah and thank you Year 5 for your great song which was enjoyed by the whole audience.

Ms Varsha and the Reception children led the Early Years assembly this week entertaining the rest of the children and teachers. Their performance, a retelling of their class text, We're Going on a Bear Hunt, saw them travel through the long, wavy grass, through a deep, cold river, through the thick, oozy mud, through a big, dark forest, through a swirling, whirling snowstorm and into a narrow, gloomy cave, but they weren't scared!

Here's a link for your children to enjoy the story once more as Michael Rosen, the author, shares his own story.

Some of the teachers across the school have kindly requested that I follow up my request 3 weeks ago regarding student snacks that are brought in from home. It seems fairly widespread that students are regularly bringing in family size crisp bags, slices of cake and other unhealthy snacks. This type of food doesn't fit into what we define at KISU as a healthy snack and isn’t helping children to stay energized and focused! Some students are struggling with energy levels which could possibly be due to the transition back to school from online learning. We always encourage pupils to make healthy choices in the canteen by trying to persuade them to add the salad and vegetables on offer daily to their plates (sometimes pupils even admit that they like something they tried and they thought they didn't like it!) Please can children bring in a healthy snack to see them through the morning? If anyone is stuck as to what a healthy snack could include, ask our Reception children, they know all about healthy food and where it comes from, as do our KG3 children. Great work in the garden this week guys!

Bonjour and welcome to our French corner this week!

Here are our top reasons /benefits of learning French:

1. Connect!

One of the most rewarding aspects of the human experience is our ability to connect with others. Being able to communicate with someone in his or her language is an incredible gift. Bilinguals have the unique opportunity to communicate with a wider range of people in their personal and professional lives. Knowing the language opens up your world literally and figuratively. You will be humbled by the kindness of strangers. You will build lifelong friendships. And for these reasons alone, you will see the reward of learning languages for many years to come.

2. Advance Your Career

Language skills can be a significant competitive advantage that sets you apart. They are among the top eight skills required of all occupations—no matter your sector or skill level—and the demand for bilingual professionals is rising exponentially.

3. Deepen Your Connection to Other Cultures

A second language is the most direct connection to other cultures. Being able to communicate in another language exposes us to and fosters an appreciation for the traditions, religions, arts, and history of the people associated with that language. Greater understanding, in turn, promotes greater tolerance, empathy, and acceptance of others—with studies showing that children who have studied another language are more open toward and express more positive attitudes toward the culture associated with that language.

4. Strengthen Your Decision Making

Studies show that decisions made in your second language are more reason-driven than those made in your native language. Contrary to popular assumptions, when we deliberate in a second or third language, we actually distance ourselves from the emotional responses and biases deeply associated with our mother tongue. The result? Systematic and clear-headed decisions based on just the facts.

Language acquisition is a tricky process and parents are encouraged to actively engage in the lives of their children as the children need lots of support to achieve proficiency. If you do not know French, why not try to learn some French from your child? See if they can teach you what they have been taught!