The School & The Classroom

I will fondly remember all the moments i spent in the school and in the classroom as a first year student of Education, not only has it solidified my decision to stay in the course but it has also taught me a lot about myself and about learners.

Let’s talk about lunch time when the burning soup wafts through the entire neighborhood and the sizzling sound of kids running around , their excited voices becoming more prominent and the only time teachers take a breather & fixing themselves with cups of coffee or tea.

The Assembly ,the only time where everyone in school the gathers for prayer and affirmations. Positivity to start the week always floating on an all time high. We had the most wonderful moments.

Creative Arts in Life Skills.

LettersCreative Arts – Arts in the foundation phase is one of the most exciting and important part in the Life Skills. Arts is a natural skill that can not be taught and it is rare. One can only become better at it if they have good support structures. Life Skills is the only subject that provides these learners with the opportunity to practice and develop their Artsy skills.

Creative Arts allows the learners to engage their imaginations and express themselves, it allows them to explore and gain control over their emotions- I for one have been lucky enough to receive a trillion of heartwarming letters from those who couldn’t verbally express themselves ! Inventive thinkers are always discovered through ( Life Skills – creative Arts)

Learners Interview

I had some knee-slapping hilarious yet informative interviews with grade 3’s asking them about their day to day school life and what makes them look forward to coming to school everyday. I got all different expressions of the same thing – Happiness.

There are few a pleasures left in this world and one of them is allowing yourself be taught by a child and let them share their school experiences. The young liberal minds taught me the truth behind the saying ” each one teaches one ” because i not only enjoyed their dialogues but i learnt so much from them .

School short trip

Our School Pheladi Nakene Primary School visited another school in centurion namely Irene Primary School for sports and many other out door activities.

The purpose of the short trip was to observe and provide learners with experiences outside their own schools. It provided ground for both advantaged and disadvantaged learners to have social interactions with one another and share their social and cultural experiences through games that were played.

They had fun and there was even a pizza challenge where learners were given a large pizza and learners who finishes theirs first at a given time wins a certain prize.

School Fun-Day

School Fun-days are an important part of learners educational life at any level and in the Foundation Phase -Life Skills, everyday is fun day because allowing learners to break up the routine of school work and indulge in games is healthy and makes their school life and learning more enjoyable.

The Learners had a lesson on “How people lived long ago” during a life skills period & their teacher had them play indigenous games / games that people played a long time ago before Technology invaded us .

Although the school doesn’t have enough facilities, the weather and the space was perfect and allowed for an outdoor fun day where learners were excited and being outside added the benefit of allowing the them to actively take part in all physical activities of their interest.

Learners took part in games like Diketo, Morabaraba, Kgati, and drie stokkies just to mention a few. The involvement, participation and interest was very beautiful to watch and it was very educational as well because all games played were in line with our Heritage and cultural background.

The teacher constantly used the phrases ” my roots” ” my games ” ” my future” to remind them that the games played were the identification of South Africa’s heritage.

We also read old stories , discussed old food , clothes , houses and all the technological limits that existed in the past. People lived the best way they could, with what they had and made most of their lives with all there was available to them, the same way we do even though they are born in a time where they only get to experience new inventions and discoveries and constant exploration of new possibilities, the learners showed much interest in learning about “How people lived a long ago”. It was an amazing Fun-day.

Representation Matters

Teaching Practice for the year 2019 starts on a great note as i walk into a Foundation Phase classroom that looks very colorful, inviting , informative and interesting at Pheladi Nakene Primary School in Mamelodi .This came to be because of a subject called Life Skills.

Although the classroom was a true representation and reflection of all the subjects found in the Foundation Phase, the relevant visual stimuli came to be because of Creative Arts , which is one of the sections of Life Skills in the Foundation Phase.

The learners were periodically given class activities during Life Skills in which they were expected to create display items such as The National Flag, Animals , Plants, Alphabets , Planets, Language related posters and Mathematics charts all around, all things displayed in this class covered most of the topics that are done in Life Skills.

it’s true when they say ” Arts exists because life is not enough”- this classroom is a learning home , very warm and stimulating and the only place we’d all want to be in. There’s so many beautiful things about Foundation Phase classrooms, and Life Skills is the source of them all. A space that allows learners to grasp concepts so quickly and easily through their own creativity and thinking.

A healthy habit i’ve adopted recently as Foundation phase teaching student is to always familiarize myself with and be super conscious about all the things that are central to the holistic development of learners i.e all things concerning the environment, social life , physical growth , emotions and personal well-being’s and truly this classroom allowed me to tune into that goal and each step that brings me closer and further from this goal.