Shelanti Private School

Different learning styles for unique talents

Hints To Parents

Deidre’s letter to pupils

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This week I want to dedicate my letter to all the learners of Shelanti Private School.

 

The teachers of Shelanti are incredibly proud of you.

 

We know the past couple of weeks haven’t been easy. You had to adjust to a new routine and structure and for some of you is has been really difficult. Suddenly, you can’t spend time with your friends, get a hug from your teacher or attend any of the extra-mural activities that you love.

 

Your home became your school and your parents your teachers. This has been incredibly hard as mom and dad still needed to work and maintain the household. In addition, some of you have siblings, demanding more time from your parents and play dates are out of the question.

 

You are expected to sit in front of a screen and have the same dedication, enthusiasm and work-ethic that would be expected from you, if your teachers were there to guide and encourage you.

 

We also acknowledge that some days are just too hard and that it all seems too much.

 

At Shelanti, you have been taught that with perseverance, grit and hard work you can overcome anything. That when things get tough, you can make good choices.

 

Just remember that we are still here, still planning and creating inspiring lessons for you. You are the reason that we will be here, for as long as it takes, and we will do whatever is needed to get you through this.

 

Covid-19 will be written in History books and in years to come you will be able to tell your own story.

 

May your story be one of bravery and grit.

Hang in there.

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A letter from the Principal

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Have you ever thought who you would take with if you, should you be stranded on a deserted island? You would likely choose people with a specific skill set, that would be most advantageous to the rest of the group. Skills that would ensure not only the survival of the group, but also ensure that they all thrive.

 

We cannot predict how we will act in extreme and testing times, but what we can do, is choose those who we surround ourselves with.

 

In the past couple of weeks, I have been both proud and humbled by my Staff’s dedication to the learners and parents of Shelanti. The staff planned, prior to Shelanti closing for the holidays, for online teaching and any eventuality. They spent two additional days at school, planning, testing and retesting our platforms. They started teaching online from the 6th of April from 8:00 to 14:00.

 

They are doing this despite being single parents, having their own children that need to learn online, coping with their own anxieties and running a household. They have acquitted themselves admirably! In addition, they communicate with one another as a group, and make allowances for those learners who are anxious and uncertain about online learning.

 

To every staff member of Shelanti Private School, I am PROUD to call you my family, my people.

Kind Regards

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Humanity vs Adversity

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Who would’ve thought when we started 2020, that we would face one of the biggest health crises the world has ever seen? This virus reminds us that we are all equal, regardless of culture, religion, occupation or financial status. It reminds us that we are all connected and of how precious our health is. It brought our families home and reminded us of the things we have been neglecting.

 

I have been in awe, during the first few days of lockdown, of how creative, flexible and innovative we as humans are. You only need to look on social media to see how people are finding creative ways to sustain their income. From our own home-grown DJ doing shows online, to small businesses taking off and delivering fruit, veggies and meat to your door. This crisis forced all of us to step out of our comfort zone, think outside the box and venture into previously uncharted waters.

 

It’s also as if humanity and kindness has returned. Never has there been the support that most animal welfare organisations experienced. People willing to foster hundreds of animals within 3 days. Something not seen in 64 years. People offering food to others who don’t have, money to pay rent and prayer for those on the frontlines of this pandemic. There are thousands more examples of this on social media.

 

Humans can never be the same again. We can never treat nature the way we have been. Our footprint is evident now that nature can just be. Changes need to be made.

 

It is also a time that will define all of us. In the words of Charles Dickenson:

 

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”

 

As a staff we are keenly aware of that fact that some parents feel overwhelmed, are single parents, have financial pressure, have more than one child to homeschool, must work from home and keep the household going while doing all of this. The only assurance I can give you is that we are here for you every step of the way. We are a family of people with one goal in mind and that is to see this through and be victorious in the end.

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The 4 C’s: 21st Century Education

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The year is 2019. Technology is ever-evolving. Every day, new job titles and positions are being created. It is for this reason that it is essential for us, as educators, to adapt our own mindsets towards the way in which we present our lessons. It is imperative that we begin to equip our modern learners with the skills which are essential in our modern world in order to succeed in both school and workplace environment. 12 specific skills for the 21st century have been identified, 4 of which we have been applying to our subjects this year, specifically with regards to the coding and robotics classes.
These 4 areas are specifically linked to LEARNING skills and are known as the 4 C’s, namely:
  1. Critical thinking
  2. Creativity
  3. Collaboration
  4. Communication

We have entered the fourth industrial revolution. By introducing coding into our curriculum, and finding the opportunities to include the 4 C’s, both as a stand-alone subject as well as integrated into everyday lessons, we are cultivating CREATORS as opposed to CONSUMERS. We are putting the power into the hands of the learners.

 

As sited by Applied Educational Sciences, “The four C’s of 21st Century skills let students create a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Critical thinking teaches students to question claims and seeks the truth. Creativity teaches students to think in a way that’s unique to them. Collaboration teaches students that groups can create something bigger and better than you can on your own. Communication teaches students how to efficiently convey ideas. Combined, the four C’s empower students to become one-person think tanks. Then, when those students get together, they can achieve almost anything!”

 

As an inclusive teaching and whole-brain learning school, we aim to acknowledge these 4 C’s as well as our ever-changing school and work environment to provide optimal learning opportunities for our learners to explore the abovementioned concepts.

Our vision for coding and robotics at our school is as follows:

Empowering Shelanti learners for the future by optimizing their creativity and problem-solving skills through computational thinking. The creation of a platform on which collaboration and innovation can be developed with confidence and passion, to the benefit of the wider community.

Links to credit as well as additional links:
  1. What are 21st Century Skills?
  2. The 4 C’s of 21st Century Skills
Find out more about our enrolment criteria and book a visit to find out more about the educational experience offered by Shelanti.
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Social Skills – Kindness

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Recap from our last article:
There are 7 basic important social skills for kids to master:
  • Using manners
  • Making eye contact
  • Sharing
  • Respecting personal space
  • Following instructions
  • Listening
  • Cooperating

Even though Kindness is not specifically listed here, it does interlink very closely with all of the above social skills. For the purpose of this article, I have chosen to share how we used the concept of Kindness in one of our Shine Circle lessons here at Shelanti. 

Kindness

Expanding on a previous Empathy lesson, we discussed the concept of kindness and its value within our school specifically. Each child was asked to think of a friend they really like to spend time with and then list or draw a few things that they think makes this friend a kind person. This was the easier part and the children were able to think of various situations where their friend displayed kindness toward them. I then asked each child to list or draw why they think THEY are a kind friend to others… this got them thinking a bit more. In the end, we discussed especially how showing kindness will result in receiving kindness.

We then ended our lesson with another clip from Sesame Street – This time Elmo helped us understand kindness a bit better!

Why is it important to teach children about kindness? Here are just a few….
  • It leads to more happier children
  • Less bullying
  • Better stronger friendships
  • Higher Self-esteem
  • Increases children’s understanding of Empathy toward others
  • Increases a more positive school environment
  • Results in children with a better understanding of Social Emotional awareness
Some tips for encouraging kindness in children.
  • Model it! “Receiving” kindness will evoke a feeling of wanting to reciprocate it to others. 
  • Verbalise emotions and discuss with your child how their chosen behaviour will make others feel. Never accept rudeness when your child is angry. Rather discuss alternatives with them. 
  • Teach your child about the joy of kindness – arrange activities as a family where you can all show kindness to other loved ones or even to the greater community.
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At Shelanti Remedial School we teach children not only about understanding emotion, but we also encourage children to show emotion and to be kind to others.

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Social Skills For Children

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Good social skills enable children to enjoy better peer and adult relationships. Some studies have even found that children with good social skills suffer from far less stress in general. Especially in the school environment where they are away from family and the familiar.
There are 7 basic important social skills for kids to master:
  1. Using manners
  2. Making eye contact
  3. Sharing
  4. Respecting personal space
  5. Following instructions
  6. Listening
  7. Cooperating

Each of these skills is a big topic within itself, so for the purpose of this article, I will focus on one of them and share how we used it in a Shine Circle lesson here at Shelanti Remedial School.

Sharing

We started our lesson with me presenting one banana to a group of 4 learners. I then asked them who would like to eat this banana? At least 3 of them were keen on eating the banana. I then posed the obvious issue, that we have only one banana. What should we do? This was a bright bunch and they fairly quickly suggested we share the banana into equal pieces!

 

We then had a conversation around the benefits of sharing the banana specifically – no one was let down etc.

 

I then moved the conversation to share something that belongs to them. Sharing the banana was easy, as it wasn’t theirs to start with. What if it is their favourite toy or new crayon set? This did get them talking with a bit more serious about how hard it can be to share sometimes.

 

We ended our lesson with a clip-on on how the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street learns a valuable lesson on sharing!

What are the benefits of “good” sharing skills? (Here are just a few of many!)

  • It enables children to make and keep strong friendships.
  • Sharing makes them feel good about themselves.
  • It teaches children about fairness and compromise.
  • It teaches them good negotiating and turn-taking skills.

Some tips for encouraging sharing in your child:

  • Model turn-taking skills as much as possible. With your child, as well as with other adults in your child’s presence.
  • Don’t punish your child for not sharing. Empathise with your child that you understand how hard it is to “give up” something and then encourage turn-taking. Your young child still needs to learn that giving something up for a period of time that belongs to them, does not mean they will not get it back.
  • Praise your child when you see them sharing!
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Empathy

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What is Empathy?

Empathy is the awareness of the feelings and emotions of other people. It is a key element of Emotional Intelligence; empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

Why teach and model Empathy at school?
Educating our youth in becoming committed Empathy role models, is beneficial to them, their peers and the communities they might find themselves in. Young people who show Empathy, are less likely to bully. It helps them to understand and work with others in a calm manner, which ultimately will lead to academic and then eventually career success. Teaching empathy in the classroom promotes selfless compassion and action on behalf of another person or group.
There are 3 different types of empathy
  1. Cognitive Empathy: this is a much more rational and logical type of empathy where rather than engaging in someone’s emotions you put yourself in someone else’s place, seeing things from their perspective. – empathy by thought rather than by feeling
  2. Emotional Empathy: this type of empathy is the most emotional one; mostly seen in people who move into caring professions such as nurses and doctors. People who display emotional empathy not only put themselves in someone else’s shoes but they also experience all the emotions that this person is experiencing.
  3. Compassionate Empathy: feeling someone else’s pain and taking action to help. Like sympathy, compassion is about feeling concern for someone, but with an additional move towards action to mitigate the problem.

At Shelanti Private School, we discussed the meaning of Empathy during our Shine Circle time and then extended to being kind with our words as a sign of Empathy. We learned that we must be “heart warmers” and not “heart wrinklers”.

A poem was shared:

We also discussed what it means to think before you speak:

At Shelanti we will strive to not wrinkle hearts, but make them warm and happy with showing Empathy!
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