Congratulations Year 6, you have GRADUATED!

We congratulate our Year 6 children for their great effort and the incredible progress they have made in all areas of the curriculum. They have achieved the results they worked so hard for, have all graduated and are going to the schools of their choice. We are excited that 10 of our children will be attending our new Middle School (Provo Middle School) and the other 6 children will be going to B.W.Indies Collegiate.

Although we tend to focus on our children’s academic achievements at this time of year, these are not our only focus.

I did an exercise with the Year 6 class prior to their graduation where I asked them to write down their life goals… [Read more…]

I actually can’t believe we have come to the end of the year. The children and I talk often about how quickly the months have passed… And now I must sadly but proudly wish them on their way to YEAR 5! They have been the most wonderful class and I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch to help me learn the wonderful ways of Provo Primary.

It has been a super term (although any tips on how to deal with this heat would be very welcome!).

As promised in our last newsletter, our MAGICAL MYTHS are now published and make exciting reading, involving everything from mermaids and dragons to elves to ghosts and even the Devil’s daughter!

[Read more…]

In my role as Principal, every day I take the opportunity to step away from the office admin duties to enjoy spending time in various classes and sharing in all the learning taking place.  This week, I had the pleasure of teaching a couple of short numeracy sessions with the Year 2 class.

I chose to review and apply their understanding of number bonds/number facts to 10 and 20, using the Cuisenaire Rods. Fitting in with their’ Sea Faring’ class topic, my activities were presented in the context of the children being sailors working for a notorious Pirate Captain (who was known for expecting a hardworking crew, but who also liked to have fun along the way).  I have to say… the Captain was extremely pleased with all of the Year 2 sailors – their key number skills were impressive and fortunately no one was made to scrub the poop deck or walk the plank and feed the fish!

Take a look at some photos of the mathematical adventure we had together as we weighed anchor and hoisted the mizzen! I think the Year 2s will agree that playing and learning at the same time is fun for everyone!

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In computing classes this term Year 6 have been studying animation; and in particular Stop Motion Animation.  We have discovered that Stop Motion Animation is a film making technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they appear to exhibit independent motion when the series of frames are played back together.

With this in mind, Year 6 were charged with the task of creating an animation linked to our topic work: Natural Disasters.  In pairs, individuals had to storyboard a sequence linked to a natural disaster.  When this was completed they had to design a set and then build it.  This would serve as the backdrop to their short films.  Once this task was realised, the students used the app: Animate It on the school iPads to capture individual images which would then be played back to reveal a final animated short film.

The results were fantastic and the final movies showcased earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions and so on.

Please check out the photographs below to see Year 6 in action!  Collaborating and animating to make a super cool short film.

Want to see the films?  Then come and ask a Year 6 to show you them.

[Read more…]

The Year 6 have arrived in Rancho Baiguate, Jarabacoa in the Dominican Republic for their week-long eco-adventure, residential trip.   The trip links well with the topics the Year 6 have studied throughout the year and will be a wonderful opportunity for them to apply their Spanish learning to real-life situations. With horseback riding, jeep rides, ropes course, kayaking, zip-lining, hiking, fishing, swimming and river rafting, along with a visit to coffee and flower plantations on the agenda, it certainly looks to be an exciting week of adventure.

At Provo Primary, we feel that residential field trips integrate academic and social development by providing students with an opportunity to investigate and apply academic knowledge to the outside world, as well as develop their personal and social skills, through a broad range of activities away from their home environment.