Gifted and Talented

I am enormously excited to announce the start of our Gifted and Talented program. We are beginning this term with 2 groups: one group of mixed Grade 5 & 6 students and a second group of mixed Grade 3 & 4 students. We plan to roll this out and add an additional group of grade 1&2 students. Selection was made based upon children’s academic results as well as their results on verbal and non-verbal reasoning ability assessments. We pride ourselves on the learning support we offer to our children who require that additional support and all of our teachers are very used to differentiating within their classes and catering to the needs of a wide spectrum of abilities; allowing all to work to their potential. We do acknowledge however that we have a number of children who are of a very superior ability given their age and the idea behind these Gifted & Talented classes is to provide an opportunity for them to work together and really extend themselves. The focus will be on activities which require them to really ‘think outside of the box’: to problem solve, to think logically and critically, to work collaboratively and to explore new concepts and ideas.

Jungle Memory

We began our Jungle Memory training this week. The first session was very straightforward and the level of challenge will increase gradually over the course of the program, based on the children’s individual levels of progress. It is a program scientifically proven to boost learning outcomes for students with working memory difficulties. Working Memory is like a post-it note, a space for our brain to write down (or remember) and work with information. The bigger the post-it note, the more information we can remember and process. The bigger the post-it note, the better the grades. Jungle Memory works on making your child’s post-it note bigger. Latest research is now suggesting that Working Memory, more than IQ, is a greater determining factor on academic success. So, the more we can train this crucial area the better. Children will train for approximately 20 minutes every morning before school for an 8 week period. Just like any other muscle, the brain can be trained!

Code Breakers

Last week we began this years’ round of Code Breakers. Code Breakers is a special club, which takes place in school for 6 weeks, once a year, providing children with a boost to their reading. This is done through lots of practice in ‘breaking the code’ which is the written word! We arrange for each child in the club to read twice a day in school, once with their classroom teacher and once with another adult. We really rely on our volunteers and this year is no different in terms of the fact that we have received the support of a number of committed volunteers. My sincere thanks to: Kelcey Grandsire, Zaneta Burton, Gordon Burton, Maggie Gwillam, Mrs. B and in February, Myles and Diana McDowell and DP Akierra Missick. We consistently see fantastic results from this focused intervention.

Read, Write Inc. Phonics Tutoring

I am delighted to be using this program with children identified in our Grade 1 & 2 classes. It uses the proven strategies of Read Write Inc. to raise standards and catch children before they fall behind! The program contains speed sounds cards to teach all of the 44 sounds and their corresponding letter or letter groups, each with a lively mnemonic to make the sounds easier to learn.

Then there are two colour coded word card collections made up of the most common decodable words that feature in the accompanying storybooks. It provides an exciting alternative to the highly acclaimed Jolly Phonics which we use in our JK and SK classes. With focused, 20 minutes practice sessions every day, that take place away from the classroom, it’s a safe bet to assume the one-to-one program will help our children make the necessary progress. Children using these materials will learn to read very quickly because of the structured and rigorous approach to teaching phonics.

‘Reading is not just the foundation but the whole building itself.’

If you would like to get involved with our exciting new literacy projects please contact khinks@internationalschooltci.com