Changing Seasons

With the cold mornings and dark evenings rolling in, it is safe to say winter is upon us here at ISG. Continuing our Friday afternoon visits to the local area, the children have been observing the natural rhythm of the year and continued writing poetry about the seasonal changes…

“Autumn leaves falling down, down, down…” Anaya

“The leaves are falling down, and all of the leaves are all around.” Rianna

“The trees are always singing and whistling.” Maria

The changing of the seasons also brought along with it a new IPC topic entitled People of the Past. It was so exciting to see how eager the children were to get started and the wide range of interesting and unique people they brought with them to introduce to each other. From writers to activists, kings to musicians the individuals the children selected, came from all walks of life. It was strange to see the great musician Mozart, aka Alexander, giving a cello recital to the astronaut Neil Armstrong, aka Caius, and activist Pocahontas, aka Julia – all happening under one roof on a rainy Monday afternoon!

Developing their ideas further, the children plotted the lives of their individuals on a class timeline. The children were able to show off their impressive measuring skills by carefully and accurately using measuring tapes to plot out the length of their person’s lives. I was so impressed by the children’s teamwork and collaborative skills to ensure every person was placed in the correct place on the timeline! Avni and Noam demonstrated to the other children how to plot where their individual person would go from the century marks. Finally, each person was placed in the correct spot in history! The timeline was the centre point of much discussion working out who has lived to the longest to who lived the longest time ago!  

Stepping back in time, the children have begun to undertake research into what life would be like in a Medieval Ghent beginning with a walking tour if the city! The children were intrigued by a statue of Jacob Van Artevelde who was pointing far of into the distant at the Friday market. Before the guide arrived, the children speculated as to who he was and what he did. Vincent spotted the strong pose, billowing cape and imposing sword first coming to the decision – he was a King! Walking around the back of the statue, Kasper lead the others to the English flag and explained Jacob was not a King, but a duke. When Bruno, our guide, arrived, he unravelled more of the story explaining he was a powerful man who was friends with the English King which was the direction the statue was pointing in! After Christmas, the children will continue their journey into medieval Ghent and discover more about this interesting man…

To help you all get into the festive spirit and spread a little Christmas cheer, last Thursday was the ISG Christmas show. Enticed by Dr Seuss’ charm and quick wit, they immediately fell in love with the dark Christmas tale of The Grinch. The tale of a complicated character with a hatred of Christmas, he learns to appreciate the true meaning behind the festive season. The children wanted to show their love for the poem by presenting a performance piece that brought Dr Seuss’ words to life. Creating beautifully painted winter scenes and carefully constructed puppets, the children were able to retell the poem a moving video. I was so overwhelmingly proud of all the children and the confidence they showed whilst standing in front of such a large crowd!

Finally, I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic Christmas holiday! I am already looking forward to seeing you all in 2020!

Love

Beth