1. Windhoek International School
Primary Years Programme Newsletter Unit 1
An International Community of Learners
YEAR 5 PYP NEWSLETTER AugustOctober 2015
Dear Parents, Guardians and Caregivers,
New unit of inquiry
Our first unit of inquiry falls under the organising theme of “Who We Are”.
An inquiry into the nature of the self; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social and
spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities and cultures; rights
and responsibilities; what it means to be human.
The central idea is: Children have rights and responsibilities.
The children will inquire into:
>Reasons to establish rights
>Responsibilities that come with rights
>How actions can change access to rights and opportunities
Social studies: Social organisation and culture
Related concepts: Communication and Citizenship
Transdisciplinary skills:
Thinking skills: Dialectical thought
Social skills: Accepting responsibility
Communication skills: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing, Viewing & Presenting
SelfManagement skills: Organisation
Research skills: Organising data
Windhoek International School, Private bag 16007, Windhoek, Namibia. Tel. 061 241 783 Fax 061 243 127
website: www.wis.edu.na
4. Windhoek International School
Primary Years Programme Newsletter Unit 1
An International Community of Learners
In specialist subjects your child will be learning
French: (Ms Catherine Mousseau)
We will start the year by brainstorming on the rights and responsibilities of each one in the
French classroom and we will create our classroom agreement (Je dois / Je ne dois pas).
We will revise the greetings and how to give basic information about "myself".
We will also learn to talk about the clothes. We will introduce the basic vocabulary and we will
revise the colours. The students will learn how to describe the way they dress and the way
somebody else dress.
Portuguese: (Mr. Naftal Chivure)
We will start the year by brainstorming on the rights and responsibilities of each one in the
Portuguese classroom and we will create our classroom agreement.
In Portuguese the Year 5 students will also revise the greetings with games including speaking,
acting and singing. Then, they will focus on "myself":
Students will be learning how to introduce themselves ("Como te chamas? "Eu chamome(...);
"Ele chamase..."; "Quantos anos tens? "Eu tenho... anos;" Onde moras? "Eu moro ..." practising
games to remember the names, age of everybody in class and reading and listening the story
“Ola, queres ser o meu novo amigo?”
ICT: (Mr. Danai Maramba)
Welcome back to another exciting year. During this unit, students will practise accessing their
school email. This will give us access to Google Apps for education where we will be creating,
sharing and collaborating on documents throughout the year. Since we will be working on the
Internet a lot, students will earn a digital passport from digitalpassport.org. This will teach them
how to stay safe when working online.
Creative Wheel: (ART ) Ms Genie Albrecht
We have had a good start to the new academic year. We have been discussing our agreements
and affirmations with plenty of student input on running smooth art lessons and leaving the
weekly art lessons with a positive feeling of, “Yay, I could do it!” With focus and trying our best we
are all winners and champions, BUT only if we THINK about what we are saying and doing in our
creative work and RESPECTING everyone and art works, art materials and the art room.
Windhoek International School, Private bag 16007, Windhoek, Namibia. Tel. 061 241 783 Fax 061 243 127
website: www.wis.edu.na
5. Windhoek International School
Primary Years Programme Newsletter Unit 1
An International Community of Learners
This year our CREATIVE WHEEL as been altered. Instead of a consecutive 12 week session it
has been split into two separate sessions of 6 weeks each. Don’t worry it boils down to the same
amount of time:))
We started off the year working on the ELEMENT OF TONE, exploring a variety of shades of
colours, creating depth to pictures by using different pencils, charcoals and pastels. Students will
demonstrate that any colour can have an infinite number of tones.
Physical Education: (Mr. Fernando Beukes)
In unit one students will focus in healthrelated activities. Students will identify realistic goals and
strategies to improve personal fitness. They will perform fitness testing during week two, identify
three components that they would like to improve, inquire into strategies to help achieve these
goals (realistic). Students will perform fitness testing during week 6 and see if they improved or
not.
Library: (Ms Astrid zu Bentheim)
During this unit, the students will look at different illustrations about children's rights and reflect on
the impact these illustrations had on each of them.
Supporting your child’s learning at home:
Collaboration from parents in their child’s learning is vital. All learning is based on previous experiences and the
knowledge the child holds now. Our programme is childcentered and based on real life experiences.
You can contribute to your children’s learning by sharing personal stories of your personal rights as a adult
responsibilities of being a parent as well as in the workplace. You can do this by asking questions, by giving examples
or by modeling general responsible actions. Finally, parents can talk to their children about how some children around
the world do not have a voice but a lot of responsibility.
Also reading the class blog or information on the D6 and checking the language focus or math links that we are
exploring with your child will help to establish links between home and school. Please continue to take the time to
support your child with the daily reading; this encourages the children to enjoy books.
Warm regards
The Year 5 Team
Mr. Marc, Ms. Natasha and Ms. Ester
Windhoek International School, Private bag 16007, Windhoek, Namibia. Tel. 061 241 783 Fax 061 243 127
website: www.wis.edu.na
