Panaga School Biweekly, Issue 128

Panaga School Biweekly

MENDARAM World Nursery Rhyme Week

The Early Years children learnt 5 rhymes over the week with Zoe, Matea’s mum, accompanying us on the piano. We finished with a big performance for P2 and P3 in the hall. Well done children for being adaptable lizards and a big thank you to Zoe!

By the Early Years Team

Ocean Treasures With Mr Tobias

A huge thank you to Mr Tobias who spent the morning with Pre-Nursery and Nursery. He spoke about keeping our beaches clean and then we had great fun making lots of different objects and creatures from the beach rubbish.

Mendaram Team

Under The Sea with Mr.Menno

As part of our IEYC learning about the ocean, Mendaram children had a special visit from Mr Menno who showed us his diving equipment to make us like a fish under the ocean. The children were interested to see Mr Menno dip his head in water and blow bubbles with his regulator. We looked at photos of some of the creatures that Mr Menno has seen and watched a video of divers in action. So much new knowledge. Thank you Mr Menno!

By Mendaram Team

In November, our ‘Language of the Month’ was French. The children enjoyed learning a few words in differentlanguages.Mostrecently,we learnt a few words in French with Mila’s mum (Morgane), one of our fabulousparents,whoreadthestory ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ in French. We learnt to say Hello (bonjour)andThankYou(merci).

In the Dance & Drama ASA, we have been working on ‘’Developing Characters” and short Improvised dramas. For the past 2 weeks, we explored making facial expressions that are true to our chosen character and building on this, we put up a short improvised play on two popular stories: THE ENORMOUS TURNIP and THE THREE LITTLE PIGS. Scan the code to watch!

Specialist Assembly

We showcased what we had learnt during Specialist Lessons. In Drama, it was a Tableau of the Funny Bones story. In PE, it was a dance to ‘The Best Day of My Life’.

In Music, we sang songs about protecting the earth. What a treat! TeamWorkmadethe

TERAJA

P4 are enjoying learning all aboutchocolate!Tobeginwith we had a blind chocolate tasting experience, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all! We researched where Cacao trees are grown, and the ‘farm to table’ process that the cacao beans have to go through, to become a chocolate bar. We have also learned about the history of chocolate, and how Hernan Cortes brought the cacao beans to Spain in 1528. We have realised how important sustainably sourced cocoais,toensurethefarmers receiveafairwage.Ms.Agnete came to talk to us about fair tradeinBSP.

P5 Explorer Visit

On Tuesday 29th November, P5 were visited by a polar explorer. DK Najibah Eradah was the first Bruneian to trek to the geographic South Pole. She gave the children insight into how she was chosen for the expedition and shared photos and information about her training and trip. All the children were very excited to learn about her experiences and to ask and answer questions. Who knows she might have inspired a future explorer!

P6 Mayan Festival

Last week the P6 children celebrated the Mayan festival with a battle between the ancient Mayan city of Chichen Itza (P6K) and Coba (P6M). The competition on the Pokotok field was fierce with Chichen Itza winning and taking slaves and farmers from the other city. It was an honour for the priests to sacrifice Chichen Itza’s best Pokotok player at the end of the festival, before feasting together with popcorn and hot chocolate. The children thoroughly enjoyed learning new skills and knowledge about this civilisation in our CE 900 unit.

We had to use cooperation to do the marching and to play the instruments.

I had to use cooperation so we could win.Also communication to get passed to score and win against Coba. Inspirational speech ‘Never Give Up’James

We had to have cooperation and were successful in out act. - Musa

I loved how we had hot chocolate and popcorn and the P6MM dance -Akanksha

It started with our traditional dance.Then we played the game of Pok-a-tok to end the fight! It was tough. Surprisingly we WON! Soon after, sacrifice took place. Then there was a feastMadeline

We had a really intense Pok-a-Tok game but at the end Coba lost the game - Mayesha

P6Team

Did you ever wonder about the fall of the Maya?

Avoir games by P7

In French, the P7 classes are learning the verb ‘avoir’(to have). It is a very important verb in French and the students learnt how to conjugate the whole verb in the present tense. They were introduced to the verb via a song. The next step was to create a game that would revise the verb avoir. The students created snap games and a variety of board games, the most popular being a ‘spin off’ of the game Monopoly. Of course, they also had to include instructions for the games.They really enjoyed making the games and then playing each others’games. This way of learning is a great way to learn grammar. French verbs are very challenging as each subject pronoun has its own verb ending, something that is not seen in the English language. Next step will be writing in French using the different verb forms, in the singular and plural. Well done P7!

MELILAS

Language Leaders visiting P2

This year, 37 students in Melilas are taking part in the Language Leaders programme. For their first teaching experience, half of the group will be teaching P2 and the other half will be teaching P3. On Wednesday, 23rd November, it was the turn of the students who will be teaching P2 to visit the students. They observed Miss Steph teach a German lesson about animals. Miss Steph was really impressed with how quickly the P2 students picked up the German words, including the writing. The Melilas students joined in with the start of the lesson, learning the words themselves. In the second part, they became Miss Steph’s sidekicks and assisted the students with the reading activities. The last part of the lesson, the plenary, took place outside. Miss Steph shouted out a German word and the P2s had to find the correct picture or German word. Then it was the turn for the P2s to become Miss Steph’s sidekicks. They shouted out German words and this time, the Language Leaders had to run to the correct picture/word. Overall, it was another amazing experience. It is just so wonderful to see the oldest students of the school interacting with the younger ones. Definitely a great learning experience for both groups. We cannot wait to see the Language Leaders in action.Thank you P2 for having us.

I want to be a Language Leader too!

Melilas Open Morning

We were very pleased to invite our Melilas parents into our middle years for our first post-COVID parent event.

Our parents got the opportunity to learn alongside their children, meet our staff , see our facilities and get a taster of the subjects we offer.

Thank you to parents, students and staff for making the morning such an overwhelmingly positive event. We hope to invite you back soon for more learning events.

Mr. Rob

School Disco

WHOLESCHOOL

Many thanks to our PTA for organising three wonderful discos for the children, a great night was had by all who attended. Here are some photos from the event, all pictures taken will be shared in the following editionofPSB.

Oman National Day 18th November

We would like to take this opportunity to wish our Oman community the very best for Oman National Day which recently took place. We are grateful for the shared learning and celebrations that were provided by the Oman community for thebenefitofusall.

Panaga School Calendar Photo Exhibition and Choir Performance Melilas Young Reporters

As a lot of you may know, a few weeks ago, the PTA held their annual competition where you could submit photos for the PTA calendar. After school on the 22nd of November, at the Rampayoh campus, those photos were unveiled! It was a stunning event; it opened with Miss Cindy Bin-Tahal welcoming us, followed by a wonderful song being performed by the school choir and conducted by Miss Sarah, our music teacher. Then Marie Tupper (President of the PTA) handed out the certificates to the seven families that won, all of them happy and proud - there were also certificates for all the entrants. Soon after, Miss Tupper and Kamila Rasa-Celik (Treasurer of the PTA and head organiser of the calendar) cut the black ribbon that led to the gallery. Inside, there was an incredible display of all of the photos that made it onto this year’s calendar, printed on canvases and being shown on the projector, the red carpet showing you the walkway. The gorgeous images, combined with the tranquil music in the background, made for a calm, peaceful, and enjoyable experience.

This competition has been running for six years, but this is the first year that they’ve opened a gallery to display the photos, and also the first to have announced the winners as families. This year’s theme was Colours of Nature, and as Miss Kamila has said so nicely, “It’s about Borneo’s beauty, about nature. We thought we should announce the winners as families, as the school is about togetherness.” This year’s number of entries are quite impressive; there were 108 photos entered by 26 families, the images featuring palm trees, crabs, the Billionth Barrel Monument, hornbills, and even turtles!

For those of you wondering, the calendars went on sale on the first of December, and should still be available for purchase. There are 13 photos in total; one for each of the months, and one for the cover. These calendars are a sure-fire way to brighten up your house, remember Panaga by, and they’ll make a great gift for your family! The amazing quality and beauty of the photos certainly capture the colours of Borneo, and even after next year is over, when you look back at them, they’ll definitely bring a smile to your face.

Reported by Lila Gough (M2)