Boom-chicka-holiday!

After a few busy weeks, the tempo in the Upper Primay classroom now starts to slow down a bit. This last week before the holidays, Upper Primary pupils are finishing off a few tasks, but they also have time to help Miss Maija deliver ISG Christmas cards to all the neighbours here at De Pintelaan, sing songs, listen to our very exciting class book 'No talking' and do arts and crafts to surprise near and dear ones.

Upper Primary pupils have wrapped up their IPC-unit 'Being human - human being'. They showed their learning in different ways - by writing questions and answers about the brain, the lungs, the skeleton and the heart, by writing a non-fiction text (a non-chronological report about a certain body part) and also by sharing their learning and knowledge in classroom discussions. Upper Primary pupils really loved this unit, they asked if we couldn't continue the unit the whole year and learn everything about the whole human body. Unfortunately, we don't have the time to do that... so I suggested that the ones interested in learning more should continue their enquiry independently! It has been a great joy to see how eager pupils have been to learn more. They now know and understand many of the scientific terms that describe the different parts of the body and the complicated systems that make sure a human being stays alive! And after the Christmas holidays, Upper Primary pupils will start with a new exciting IPC-unit...

Together with Miss Ana, Upper Primary pupils have written comics. The stories about the lonely robot are just lovely - and the whole process of learning how to use our LEGO Education kit to make a digital version of these comics was frustrating, interesting, creative, hard - and lots of fun!

The end-of-term fun, a trip to the ice-skating rink in the city centre, was great fun - and turned in to a big adventure when it started snowing heavily! The children had a great time on the ice and also had a very cosy afternoon when we all were back at school again!

We also had a fantastic Christmas show. The children sang and danced and made everyone feel the holiday spirit. The recorder group showed their progress, the Primary choir sounded lovely, pupils played instruments and showed their capacity to perform in front of an audience - and Upper Primary pupils were super nervous, but managed to overwin their stage fright and sing Boom-Chicka-Boom! The audience, families and friends, were impressed and really enjoyed our show! Afterwards, pupils were tired, but very happy!

In March, ISG Primary pupils will participate in a big happening here in Belgium - The Battle of the Scientists! Pupils have voted and we now have our five finalists. There is still a lot of work to do before the actual battle. When we return to school after the holidays, different work groups will start working with their different tasks. It is a big thing, hosting a big event like this, and this will be an fantastic opportunity for Primary pupils to show their independence and capacity to take responsibility for different tasks.

Upper Primary had a lovely surprise one day in November when Miss Teja came to visit us! It was lovely seeing her and we hope she will come and visit us soon again! Kaaru came back to visit us again one day this week, and she happily joined our art class. We also hope that Romeo will come and visit us soon and let us know what his life is like in France, now that he has moved back there! We always miss the ones leaving us, and we always look forward to new students who will join our class. Tomorrow we will wish everybody in Upper Primary, and everybody at ISG, a lovely Christmas holiday! Relax, have fun, play, rest and come back to school in January, fully charged with lots of energy to learn and have fun! During our last school day 2017, we celebrated Kihachi's birthday and we ended our Autumn term with a delicious treat!

Season's greetings from all of us to all of you! See you next year!