A unique Primary School, offering a British based, child centred education in the Turks and Caicos Islands
Launchball is a physics-based Flash game produced by the Science Museum in London.
It’s a great game that those of you who are familiar with ‘The Incredible Machines’ and ‘World of Goo” will really enjoy.
The aim of the game is to get a ball from a starting position to a ‘goal’ by placing additional blocks onto the grid-based screen. Blocks include springs, slopes, magnets, lights, mirrors and so on.
30 levels to complete and a create and share section, too. The challenge is on!
Mrs. Mary and Mr. David are teaching Spanish this year. They are following the units provided in the UK “Framework for Languages”.
The first unit is called Yo (All about me). In this unit children learn to greet others, say how they are and introduce themselves. They begin to respond to and ask questions about their name and age. They learn to count, read and write numbers. They discuss linguistic diversity within their class and learn that Spanish is spoken in many places around the world.
The framework ensures that children”s learning in each year group is guided through clear stages of progression and that they are challenged.
Teaching involves a wide variety of active learning and collaborative activities. The children explore and learn Spanish through games, songs and rhymes, simple conversations and role-plays activities, interactive whiteboard and computer activities and independent worksheets.
Here are a couple of fun websites to share at home: BBC Primary Spanish and Online Games Let us know if you find any others or have any good resources that we can use at school.
As a school we like to promote nutritious eating habits and at our playtime snack each morning, we encourage the children to choose to eat their healthy snacks first.
It was wonderful today to see so many children and teachers throughout the school with a wide variety of healthy choices. A big thank you to all our parents for supporting us in our endeavors to promote healthy eating.
See a slideshow of some of the healthy fruit and vegetable snacks that were being munched on and were caught on camera today!
What better way to sum up our first day back Provo Primary than looking at these smiley faces. Walking through the school today, it was truly evident that the children and teachers were excited to be back. New children settled well and old friends were pleased to see each other. The classrooms looked wonderful and the children were eagerly engaged in their first day back activities. At playtime, it was lovely to hear the familiar sounds of the steel drums and children happily at play in the playgrounds. A wonderful start to the new year!
Please take a look at our first day at school in the slideshows below. Some classes have more photos than others and I can’t promise you that everyone is in them, but it does offer you a glimpse into the day in the life of your child that I am sure you’ll be happy to see.
Early Years (Preschool, Jnr. Kindergarten and Kindergarten – Well done especially to all the 2 and 3 year old Preschoolers who had their first day ever at school today!
On Friday 26th June, our six Grade 6 students graduated from Providenciales Primary School. Each student made a speech highlighting memories of their time at the school and they were presented with a diploma. Four of graduates will stay on at the school for Grade 7. One has chosen to go on to the British West Indies Collegiate School here on island and one is off to Buckingham, Browne and Nichols in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We wish them all well with their future endeavours.
The Grade 6/7 entertained the school and their parents with two performances of their end of year production of ‘The Lion King’. Creating the show with help from some of their teachers, they worked hard together to write and learn their parts, choreograph their dances, and practise their singing and recorder playing. They displayed amazing acting, dancing, singing and musical talent and the audience was thoroughly captivated and entertained. Well done, everyone, a truly outstanding production! Watch highlights from the show in the movie above and see a slideshow of photos.
The day of the Fool’s Regatta raft race finally arrived and each team eagerly met at the beach with their raft to make their final preparations. As well as Fastest Raft, prizes were being awarded for Best Design and Best Spirit.
For the “Flame ‘n’ Go’s” team, tensions were running extremely high as they had not had the opportunity to test their boat in the water! Both other teams had completed their water trials earlier that week and were confident that they would float. It would all be down to race technique and speed across the water.
The race itself was extremely exciting and closely contested from start to finish. Watch the video above to see the outcome! Also, see a slideshow of some superb photos of the day with some fantastic close-ups of the raft race.
A big thank you to the team mentors for coaching and guiding the teams through the process, sourcing materials, and their much needed technical support. Reported by Mrs. Stefanie.
WIV 4, our local TV station, also made this report on the event.
Earlier this month, we were invited to take part in the raft race at this year’s 19th Fool’s Regatta. The Fool’s Regatta is one of the social highlights of the year in TCI. It is always a fun event and this year the proceeds will go to the Volunteer Fire Fighters and the new National Sailing Centre. The emphasis is on the getting the children involved with hobie-cat, boat, caicos sloop and home-made raft races for all to take part in.
The opportunity to build, decorate and race a raft was a challenge that was eagerly accepted by eighteen of our children from Grades 3 -7. Over a period of two weeks, the children worked in teams after school to see their design move from the drawing board to water.
The “Flame ‘n’ Go’s” team created a spectacular pink and orange craft using an inflatable mattress and plywood; “Peace Out’’ opted for an extremely lightweight creation made of plastic piping and 8 five gallon water bottles; and “The International Boat”, our heavy weight contender, consisted of a wooden frame surrounding two extremely large flotation devices. Look at the slideshow to see the stages of construction. Reported by Mrs. Stefanie.
The teachers were treated to a delicious ‘Teacher Appreciation Breakfast’ this morning provided by a very generous and thoughtful group of parents. There was a variety of amazing dishes including some scrumptious home-cooked goodies. Thank you – it was all really yummy and thoroughly enjoyed!
Swimming lessons for our Kindergarten, Grade One and Two children started last week with great success. The aim of the first session was to assess the children’s confidence, water skills and swimming ability. All the teachers were thoroughly impressed with the children’s efforts and are now ready to further develop the children’s skills in the following weeks. A big thank you to the Turks and Caicos Yacht Club for allowing us to use their beautiful pools. They are perfect for teaching swimming at this level. Also to Carolyn for taking all the photos so that we can all see our children learning this important life skill. Parents, please email the school if you would like the password for the movie above.
At Provo Primary School, we think our teachers are very special, they work extremely hard and not only teach, but offer guidance, emotional support, care and many other things to our children. They are a huge part of their lives.
Anybody who has spent any amount of time with a large (or small) group of children will know how exhausting this in itself can be. At the end of the day or the week, teachers are tired, but they still do more.
Sometimes we forget all the extra things that our teachers do. We think of their work day as 8.30-3.00PM with long evenings, weekends and holidays to relax. This is, not entirely true. Teachers often work long hours outside the classroom, planning, preparing or marking work, sorting classroom materials and putting up displays, writing reports, even sorting out cupboards and preparing for hurricanes. All this they do in their own time, at weekends or before and after school.
What normally keeps teachers going is the children. Our reward is seeing them develop from the beginning of the year to the end. The hugs, the pictures, the smiles make our efforts all worthwhile.
This week is a time when we can all appreciate and think about the things that teachers do. Thank them and tell them they’re doing a good job, notice their displays and think about all the love and hard work that they have put into them. Smile and encourage them, when they look tired and understand that it takes a very special person with a kind and unselfish heart to be a teacher, especially one who works at Provo Primary.
THANK YOU,
Alison
Our Grade 5/6/7s were inspired by the beauty of flowers and how they touch our lives with their vibrant colours and tender petals. Here are three of their soul-touching poems …
I LOVE YOU SO DEAR
My beautiful flower,
White like new fallen snow, scent sweet like a lollipop,
Yellow center like the sunset at the end of the day,
Each petal curling like a great teacher’s hair
Laying lightly on her beautiful face.
Three boastful buds, dark purple with yellow dots
Like stars in a never ending night, waiting to be let loose
And see the world around them.
Oh Flower tell me how you feel,
Are you sad or happy, would you wish to be anything but?
I wish to be you, do you wish to be me?
For you are so small and I am so big,
Your buds are patient, waiting, just waiting to be let free,
I know you’ll be as sweet and soft as the one in front of you.
ROUGE
This flower as red as a cherry
Petals like ruffles on a ball gown
With vibrant yellow, in between,
You could pick this flower to say I Love You.
If this flower could talk, what would it say?
Would it be modest? Would it be kind?
If this flower could dance,
Would it dance like a ballerina?
A modern dancer?
A jazz dancer?
If this flower could wish, what would it wish for?
A beautiful world?
Love, like the love of Romeo and Juliet?
Faith, like the faith of a teacher has in her student?
And what about me?
What would this magnificent flower think of me?
Me,
Me,
Me…
CRIMSON GARLAND
A dash of crimson, in a bright flowing gown,
The petals wither on the wind, as detailed as a finger print,
The tree swelters in a molten volcano.
O flower, O flower, what are you feeling?
O flower, O flower, what do you wish?
For you are a touch of radiance in the gloom of the murky forest
You have enough power to bring out the joy in a still tree
You are a phenomenon of dominance.
O flower, O flower, do you feel envy?
O flower, O flower, Never fear because you are phenomenal,
Phenomenal, phenomenal.
Our 2008/2009 Yearbooks arrived today and everyone was eager to collect their copy and immediately started flicking through its colourful, photo-filled pages. This year we have two yearbooks, a Preschool-Grade 5 book produced by Krys Mann and a Grade 6/7 book produced by the class themselves. Both are packed full of memories of our year and I am sure they will be enjoyed for years to come.
For the past five years, Krys has worked diligently to put together these amazing books. The collection is a wonderful record of the children’s time at the school for each family to treasure forever. It is also an amazing historical archive of our successful school, highlighting the happy, creative and holistic approach that we believe compliments our highly academic curriculum. I am sure that I am joined by many grateful children, parents and teachers in thanking Krys, we all truly appreciate all the hard work, time and effort that you put into creating these for us.
Six room poems began with students writing a draft on a paper divided into six sections or rooms. In the first room, the students described a strong image of something that they had seen outside in nature. In the second room, they described light and colours associated with their image and in the third room sounds they might have heard. The fourth room was for any questions about their image, the fifth room for writing feelings and the sixth room for repeating words. In the final draft, the students could use any or all the rooms to create a poem. Here are two examples of the stunning six room poems written by the grade 6/7 class.
THE VALLEY
A beautiful valley down below
A valley with the greenest grass A field of Welsh flowers so yellow The surrounding world crowned with radiant light Smothered in the sound of peace Speechless by the power of Nature and its amazing features.
THE WONDERS OF THE VIBRANT SUN
A fire like ball Sinking into the plains of Africa Casting its vibrant light onto the land Creating shadows behind anything in its path, All you can hear is the brushing of trees, And the movement of wild animals, taking everything in. It made me wonder why in Africa the sunset is so unique. And then it was gone, leaving behind a beautiful bright sky Full of oranges, reds and yellows. Spectacular, Spectacular, Spectacular…
Our Grade 3 class visited Cheshire Hall today. Cheshire Hall is a 200 year old Cotton Plantation. It is a historic site and the ruins are looked after by the National Trust. The Grade 3’s have been studying the cotton industry as part of their TCI Social Studies curriculum and visiting the site really brought the topic alive.
Whilst at the ruins, the children took the opportunity to check up on the tree that we planted on Earth Day. They report that our Jamaican Caper is doing well!
For the past 8 years, Mrs. Bonnie and Mr. Joel have been coming to the island to volunteer at Provo Primary School. We love having them here and the children really look forward to their visit each year.
Mrs. Bonnie is an extremely experienced teacher and lives on the beautiful island of Victoria in Western Canada where she currently teaches university student teachers.
Whilst at Provo Primary, Mrs. Bonnie will help out in a variety of ways with her main focus being on poetry, science and Grade 6/7 guided reading. We look forward to some exciting activities such as squid dissection, which I know is amongst one of both hers and the children’s favourites. Mr Joel will help with teaching swimming this month and will also teach some American history.
We really appreciate them giving up their time to be here with us again this year. Thank you Mrs. Bonnie and Mr. Joel.
Our ‘ Body and Brain Triathlon’ incorporated three challenges: Spelling, Mathematics and Aerobics. The event was a phenomenal success with the children rising to both the physical and mental challenges. They all did their best with their spelling and number activities and enthusiastically danced, skipped, yoga stretched, shot hoops and circuit trained to achieve their personal best in their class aerobic activities.
We would like to extend a big thank you to all the families, friends, community supporters and other generous donators, not to forget the children themselves, for their enormous efforts.
Today during their PE lessons, the children throughout the school had the opportunity to take part in a modern dance workshop, led by choreographer Luis Kavouras and students from the University of Nevada Las Vegas’ (UNLV) Department of Dance.
After watching a few short performances that portrayed different styles of dance, the children were taught a sequence of movements from ‘Icarus’, a modern dance piece choreographed by Luis. The children thoroughly enjoyed this experience and it was truly amazing to see all ages, together, performing alongside the dancers.
Click on to learn more and to see some short movie clips of the children performing the ‘Icarus’ piece… [Read more…]
Congratulations to our Grade 3 winner in the recent Red Cross’ National poster competition. The poster competition was judged by art professionals, independent of the TCI Red Cross. Entries were judged based on the theme “Power of Humanity/People Helping People”.
This is the 200th post on our blog and to celebrate, let’s pass on some interesting facts about the number 200:
In support of the TCI Red Cross Appeal Week, we had a special ‘Red and White Dress Down Day’ and raised $117. The Red Cross is the world’s largest independent humanitarian and voluntary led organization. The purpose of this week is to raise the awareness of and raise funds for the Red Cross. The funds raised will help the Red Cross assist in preparation, response and recovery to emergencies. Some of the children also have designed posters for a competition and others attended the ‘Build a Red Cross Emblem’ Fun Day. Thank you to everyone who has helped support this worthy cause.
‘Sunflowers’ was the theme for the Junior Kindergarten Mother’s Day Tea Party today. The children and mums performed to each other ‘ You are my Sunshine’ and ‘You are my Sunflower’ songs. The children also sang, “Welcome to our Tea Time’, ‘I Love Her and She Loves Me’ and ‘M-O-M-M-Y’.  A delightful tea, with homemade cookies, cakes and snacks was served, with each child giving their mum a teacup cookie that they had decorated for them to enjoy. The event linked in well with their topic on growth in which the children have learned all about plants. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the tea party – what a lovely way to celebrate Mother’s Day!
The theme for this year’s National Trust lead Earth Day celebrations was ‘A Green Generation”. We joined together with other primary schools on the island to participate in a tree planting ceremony at Cheshire Hall (a National Trust heritage site). We chose to plant a Jamaican caper seeding. When we had finished planting it we celebrated by chanting out “We’re green and we’re cool, at Provo Primary School” and each of us gave our tree a special hug! It’s great to think that in years to come we will all be able to visit our school tree and remember how we celebrated our awareness of the environment on Earth Day by planting it. Click here to download a movie of us planting our tree.
Play some fun Earth Day games here.
All the children from our Preschool to Grade 6/7 classes enjoyed our annual Easter Egg Hunt today. Many thanks to our dedicated PTA parents who helped organise this egg-citing egg-travaganza!
In term 1, we used kits to build 3 types of bridge: a Roman Arch bridge from clay ‘bricks’, a truss bridge using triangular sections and a suspension bridge.
In term 2, we did ‘The Bridge-Building Challenge.’
We were given 15 x 50cm lengths of 2mm square balsa wood.
We had to build a bridge:
* measuring 40cm long and 5 cm wide
* that weighed less than 100g
* let a model car freely roll across the ‘roadway’.
* support a mass of 2kg
All of our bridges passed, so . . . we added more mass until the bridges collapsed! Our 2 best bridges supported 7.5kg! See a slideshow of all our bridges and them being tested.