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KISU Christmas Newsletter
Number 504 ...............................10th November 2021
Director's message
A big thank you to everybody for their support and hard work this term and I hope you all have a safe, peaceful and relaxing festive break.
IT’S CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amongst all the festivals in the world, CHRISTMAS is one of the most celebrated and is popular with billions of people around the world.
There is no better way to get in the Christmas spirit than with a Christmas story. There are some fantastically festive tales that you can share with your family.
Meanwhile you can share these stories as you snack on a delicious cookie and cakes. You can bake a snowman or a Christmas tree.
Get busier during this time in a playful way by making your own Christmas cards and decorate your own Christmas tree.
ENJOY YOUR CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!Some Ideas to Keep Your Children Happy and Engaged in the Holidays
Holidays are great but how long before you hear “I’m bored”?
Here are some ideas to keep your children busy and happy:
1. Create a home cinema
Rent, download or buy the children’s favourite movie, get some snacks such as popcorn and pizza at the ready, dim the lights and sit back and enjoy!
2. Go swimming
There’s lots of fun to be had swimming! Its great exercise too.
3. Do a jigsaw
A good jigsaw can keep everyone entertained for hours on end. Dust off your favourite jigsaw and see how quickly you can complete it as a team.
4. Create a puppet show
Dig out your old socks and the crafts box and have fun creating puppet characters. The endless stories that the kids create will keep their imagination occupied for hours.
5. Do some gardening
Let them help you with the gardening, even better if you have flowers or vegetables to take care of. Not only is it an educational activity that helps to teach children about nature and the environment, but they will also no doubt love getting muddy and discovering insects.
6. Make an indoor obstacle course
Make it as easy or as hard as you like based on your children’s ability, or better still, let them help you set it up and suggest ideas. Use bits of string to create a “laser maze” for them to crawl through, masking tape to mark patterns or areas on the floor that they have to navigate through or repurpose some toys such a hula hoop or play tunnel that they have to complete as part of the trial.
7. Visit the museum
The museum in Kampala has lots of interesting artifacts and your child will love looking round.
8. Let them help you wash the car
Give the gardener/guard an hour off and wash your car together! A win-win for everyone, you get a nice clean car and the kids get to play with bubbles and spray each other with water.
9. Hold your own Sports Day
Create your own sports day in the garden. All you need is a few props such as bean bags, skipping ropes or even an egg and spoon. Make it extra fun by presenting a homemade trophy to the winning team.
10. Create your own treasure hunt
Hide things round the house and create a list of all the items that are hidden for the kids to tick off as they find them.
11. Build a den
Every child loves building a den or fort. Use bed sheets, boxes and cushions to create somewhere they can hide, play with their friends or just relax. You can even add fairy lights for an extra cosy feel.
12. Play with Play-doh
A favourite of children of all ages and generations, Play-doh incorporates messy-play and creativity as they build sculptures of all shapes and sizes.
13. Put on a fashion show
Create a catwalk and let them dress up in some of your clothes or fancy dress. Grab the camera and take some photographs for them to look at afterwards. You may even capture some great shots to be framed and put up on the wall.
14. Get creative and design your own t-shirt or sweatshirt
Dig out some old t-shirts/jumpers or buy some cheap plain ones and get creative with anything you can find to decorate them. Pom poms, pipe cleaners, stick on letters, glitter… the kids will love unleashing their creativity and creating their very own, unique clothing.
15. Go Bird watching
Uganda is famous for its beautiful and abundant variety of birds. Spark their interest in nature and birds by laying out some seeds in the garden and getting out the binoculars. There are lots of apps which will help you to recognize and identify the birds you spot.
16. Make learning fun
Just because it is the school holidays doesn’t mean that they can’t practice their maths or English skills. Keep it simple by having a spelling contest with prizes or practice those times tables on Hit the Button. https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button
17. Bake a cake
A group activity that is lots of fun, especially when they get to lick the bowl afterwards! Whether you decide to bake one big cake or lots of little cupcakes, decorating them is always lots of fun!
Happy holidays!
Primary Award Winners
Primary awards this week are for children who have exceeded in terms of being excellent inquirers. The following children have been selected to receive certificates from their teachers:
Year 6: Emily Segal
Year 5: Elliot Wise; Kevin Nyambe
Year 4: Daniella Nabagala; Belton Kasajja
Year 3:Simon Sichilyango and Atharvi Patel
Year 2: Aadya Shetty and Johannes Esche
Year 1: Liesel Msukwa and Jaythan Cross Kimbugwe
Reception: Miles Mubalya
KG3: Diang Gai
KG2: Ishan Hirji
Specialist Teachers have also chosen pupils in their subject area who have stood out this week for the following reasons:
Primary Musician of the Week is Hawi Monye for showing enthusiasm
in participation and taking the lead in performing Christmas songs like "Jingle Bells" on the recorder, with confidence. Hawi is able to play all the notes correctly on his own. Well done.
Primary Sportsperson of the Week is Yoab Yonas for his outstanding performance and confidence during basketball lessons.
Primary Information Technologist of the Week is Gabriel Sumbu for showing creative design for a greeting card
Primary Artist of the Week is Ninsiima Okelo in Year 1 for her fabulous moving picture ‘pop-up’ story about Father Christmas’ journey home. Her illustrations are excellent and have used different mechanisms to bring the story to life. A great 5 part story to get everyone into the Christmas spirit.
Primary French Speaker of the Week is Emily Segal year 6 for her active participation and readiness to learn in class.
Year 2 Presentations
Year 2 put on an impressive selection of presentations on Wednesday at their social session. It was a wonderful end of term finale! Each child found out about a different significant or famous person from history or even modern day times. We learnt a huge amount about such a fascinating range of people including William Shakespeare, the Wright Brothers, Albert Einstein, Carl Benz, Mother Theresa, Anne Frank and Greta Thunberg.
Very well done Year two for sharing so much knowledge and information, you've definitely taught me some things I didn't know before about some of these people!
Secondary Merit Awards
Year 7 Caroline
Year 8 Shona
Year 9 Bernadette
Year 10 Arianna
Year 11 Elizabeth
DP1 Kartikey
DP2 Elizabeth
The most merits in term 1 were awarded to Caroline!
DP1 Outdoor Ed. Trip
DP1 CAS Trip Report
This year’s DP1 CAS Trip was filled with fun, community support and adventure. Fifteen DP1
students participated in the four-day trip to Jinja and were involved in several activities. Below, I
have listed the benefits of the trip and an overview of each day.
Benefits of the trip:
1. All strands of CAS will be met through various planned activities.
2. Exploring and experiencing the environment and country we live in.
3. Team building activities and development of collaboration skills.
4. Learning about eco-friendly farming methods and sustainability.
5. Developing the skills that the students have learnt in the first few months of the IBDP:
communication, teamwork, resilience and risk taking.
Day one:
The students arrived in Jinja at roughly 12:30pm and took part in their selected activities; Yoga or
Boxing. Both of these activities took place at Nile River Explorers and got our students active after
many months of online teaching
Day two:
On the second day of the trip, the students were tasked with planting 1000 trees with an
organisation called ‘Our Trees Our Future’. This initiative was organised by the company yet
responded to the needs of Bukaya Village. We headed to Jinja Famer’s market (The company’s HQ)
for a briefing of the day and the students learnt about sustainable farming methods.
After the briefing, we arrived at Bukaya’s sports field where the students were greeted by local
community members. Shortly after, the students got to work and planted trees all around the sports
field. Although it was very hot, our students persevered and demonstrated fantastic teamwork.
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, the students enjoyed the slide into the River Nile.
Miss Wigan and Mr Grimshawe took it in turns to join the students, yet two times was enough for
both of us. The students used the slide several times and also used the rope swing competitively.
Day three:
The third day of the trip was filled with several activities that the students had opted for. In the
morning, there were two activities; mountain biking and horse-riding. All of the girls selected the
horse-riding with Miss Wigan and all the boys were with Mr Grimshawe for mountain biking.
In the afternoon, all of the students took part in Kayaking. We were supposed to kayak
around several small islands on flat water. However, the students took far more pleasure in
flipping each other’s kayaks. As a result, the students did not get very far and spent more
time in the water than on their kayak!
After the kayaking, all of the students took the Nile sunset cruise. The boat departed at 5pm
and we returned to shore at 7pm. Whilst on the boat cruise, the students took photographs
of the Nile and enjoyed light finger food.
Day four:
On the fourth day, the students were up early at 7:00am and ready for their Java House breakfast.
We drove straight to Java House (Jinja) and the students indulged in a well-deserved breakfast. After
that, the bus headed back to Kampala. Overall, it was an incredibly successful trip and the students
were ambassadors for KISU.
Thank you to the parents for their ongoing support and communication. An additional thanks goes
to all of the companies that provided such engaging activities.
Day four:
On the fourth day, the students were up early at 7:00am and ready for their Java House breakfast.
We drove straight to Java House (Jinja) and the students indulged in a well-deserved breakfast. After
that, the bus headed back to Kampala. Overall, it was an incredibly successful trip and the students
were ambassadors for KISU.
Thank you to the parents for their ongoing support and communication. An additional thanks goes
to all of the companies that provided such engaging activities.
Year 7 poems about Passions and Fears
Dear Sports by Tanish, Aman, Emma, Bailey, Samaira, Sofia
Dear sports, you are one of the best things that happened to me
You always bring a challenge,
I can never get tired of you
Standing on the court and getting ready to play,
The crowds cheering WHOAH, out of excitement,
I want to talk about how fun you are and your variations.
How could I forget you swimming?
all those evenings we spent in the pool or sea side.
Looking at the sun going down all those
galas we enjoyed
all those medals we scooped,
all those years of training,
you will always be in my heart.
I remember the first time I scored. BANG!
My teammates cheering me on,
I knew from that moment I loved you
You inspired me in many different ways.
You are my true passion.
Oh true friend -football
You’re never boring to me,
Scoring goals is always key,
Football is my living, my existence.
Every second makes me feel like it’s Christmas.
Dear badminton,
The moment I encountered you I fell in love with you,
The time I saw your racket I was like this is what I want to do,
I practiced day and night without stopping,
Like how kids dreams are unlimited by ice cream my dream is you.
Thank you sports for all memorable occasions,
I never thought I'd have so much inspiration,
Sports is magical; tantalizing the mind,
Which helps in many different ways
Thank you sports for everything you've helped me achieve.
For the dreams you allowed me to live.
I will always cherish you.
Dear Art, by Charles, Caroline, Emmy, Alfa
Lines, shapes, images and colors embrace
Your elements; texture, space and value
That’s where I start when I envision you.
I feel it in my heart, as an artist
I will spread my wings and fly
Line, shape, color,
Texture, space and value
The ABCs of awesome Art.
Whether it is detailed or simple
Making art is always magical
And somehow make our smiles twinkle
We are always able to express ourselves
The painting always has a symbol
Drawing techniques are easy to learn.
Only once you’ve learned, you will draw without concern.
If you use your fullest concentration,
Not a single thing in the world ruins your sensation.
Art is not only for show,
It also expresses feelings like sorrow.
Mimicking the way the glamorous grass grows
Especially how the autumn leaves dance in the wind
Paint the flower and watch the canvas glow
Using your paint brush like a weapon
Never feeling like you have to be a pro
Dear art you always bring joy to my heart,
From the bottom of the sea you always fill me up with glee
You’re like a simple strand of hair flying
over and about everywhere
You never fail to please and might then tease
but they’ll never know
The true meaning of your wonderful grow
I am transfixed, transported and transformed,
By you, you are a creator of ideas
Swimming in a sparkling sea of imagination
A magician of sorts birthing thoughts
Of wonderment into pieces of originality
Each creation showcases
My own personal journey
My worries, dreams and ambition
Everything I love and everything I fear,
All in one miracle!