Time to switch on!

Due to the weather and covid, January and February were maybe not the most cheerful months, but UP has managed to keep up the good spirits. Pupils have enjoyed the IPC unit ‘Switched on’ in which they researched how information technology is used in our society. During programming lessons they have learned about some of the many commands and sequences to use, and later they have started to build and explore robots. Especially the programming on Scratch was popular, and when we were thinking about the future and careers, several pupils have stated that they would like to learn more about it.

Our IPC-values of the two past months were Thoughtfulness and Morality. Pupils have started to think about these two complex values. ‘Stop, think, do the right thing,’ sounds easy, but is sometimes not so simple.

During the last week we have also discussed Digital Wellbeing. We encourage pupils to be careful online and to talk with their parents about what they do online. When linking the personal values to our ongoing IPC-unit, most UP pupils realised that they need to show the same values online as IRL. Pupils discussed what they think is wise behaviour online, and what behaviour is not good at all. They also talked about how hurtful and embarrassing it is to feel that someone has tricked you – and why they therefore should not trick or prank others. Staying safe online is very important, without getting so careful and scared that we all miss out on all the great aspects there are with a world wide web (www). Without internet, pupils wouldn’t have learnt how to code online using Scratch.

Children in the bilingual program had the opportunity to go to our ‘wijkbibliotheek’ in Nieuw-Gent. We encourage all of them to keep reading their books, to watch Karrewiet, and to use Dutch as much as possible outside of school. Special mention to the pupils who tried their best at tackling the difficult spelling rules of verbs in Dutch (including ‘verleden tijd’ en ‘voltooid deelwoord’), because those are very complicated! Goed gedaan!

Pupils following the English programme continue focusing on different subjects in depth. Monday morning lessons with verbal and non-verbal reasoning are very popular. During these last few weeks, pupils have also started making their own crosswords, a great way to practise both vocabulary, spelling and problem-solving skills.

Monday 21/2 we celebrated International Mother Tongue Day by reading books in all the languages represented in our classroom. It was great fun to guess what the different texts were about. Tuesday 22/2/22 pupils agreed that there were too many twos in the air, it was a real 2sday! There were no birthdays during the last two months surprisingly, but luckily we were able to have a little party for Carnival before the holiday. We are now all longing for spring. We are already planning a few trips again so that will definitely be something to look forward to! Enjoy the Mid-term break everyone.