Friday, 21 June 2013

Tribe in Masi

The Grade 9's went on an outing to a new Cafe in Masi called "Tribe". It was part of their exploration into Entrepreneurial skills. They went for coffee and a meal and needed to report their findings on whether they feel the business will succeed as well as other criteria they were given.

Below are their "brief' summaries for this blog. Their complete reports are done in class.

The visitors report on their time at TRIBE:

“What an amazing experience with all my friends. Apart from the dread and nerves on going to this place. We got there and we were told that there was no firewood to start the fire to cook the fish. Then we were told there was no electricity. I decided to be sarcastic and pick up my phone and said that I was going to call Mugg & Bean™ and tell them to keep me a table and that I will  be there in 5 minutes. Finally after about 2min the electricity was on and then they could make us a latte. Best coffee I have ever had in a while! Then we could sit down enjoy our coffee and ask questions. The service was excellent and I really enjoyed my time there.” – SB -

“It was ok, but there was no electricity. Anyway he had another ideas like burning wood to make a fire, he used the fire to cook. So we learned how to make a fire and braai fish and most of the people had a sheeps head and it was great seeing the white people eat at a place without being a Judge “Muffin”. They said they enjoyed it hey.  The coffee was amazing hey. It’s the best coffee ever you should go and give it a try. Go in Masi and support the black African man! With his Café business!!”   -RM -

“I really enjoyed going to the café. It was different and special. What I liked about going on the outing was the food, the logo, the way we ate, seeing our friends and drinking the coffee. I found it really interesting how Clement made the coffee. He used a big industrial coffee machine to brew it. Then he added the froth and then started with the patterns. The way he did it went something like this: He had some milk in a little metal jug which he poured into the coffee and as he did it, he moved the jug in the motion of the pattern that he wanted to make and that made the pattern. Some were nice and simple where others were so awesome and complicated, like Jordan’s coffee. It had a plant-like thing with two little hearts growing out from the left hand side. Then it had the leaves near the top. Another thing I liked was the difference in the food. It wasn’t like your normal everyday food that you eat for dinner or anything. It was special as in sheep’s head in olive sauce and chicken feet! Talk about different! Some of us ordered the sheep’s head, while others (like me and Jordan) ordered the snoek braai. We both tried some of our Teachers’ smiley, Ben almost… Yes, I’m not going to continue. The sheep’s head was quite nice; not quite what I expected. I’ll just say one more thing. The chairs (I thought) were pretty cool. They were different and Clement made them himself. I think that that is being very creative. I really enjoyed going. I would not mind going again for a cup of coffee.”         –KS-

We went to the tribe in Masi. It was an interesting experience of African food.  The café was an African theme and had wood chairs that looked like the bark of a tree. The big disadvantage was having to wait for our food for an hour. We were entertained by coffee making skills in a coffee machine I AM SURE Masi has never seen before. In the end, it was worth the wait as we had Sheep head, Braai’d snoek and vetkoek.
Over all, would really encourage him to work on time management and maybe having some chips with his snoek. Well done, the lattes were absolutely amazing. A coffee maker of note!” –LS-

Going to The Masi Café was really fun. The Café is owned by Clement he used to work at Food Lovers Market as a barista. He decided to start a coffee shop in Masi and called it ‘Tribe’. It is a really beautiful coffee shop with natural wood furniture that Clement made himself. The walls are painted green and he has pretty pictures and decorations hanging on the wall. He also has his logo on the wall; it was a big one that was made of coffee beans.  The vet koek I had was really good.” – SO -

These are my following thought about the tribe café:
The service was okay it was not excellent though, although he did come ask “how is the meal.”
When we first arrived there, we were welcomed with no electricity and no fire wood so we could not be served right away, we had to wait quite a while and only started to eat 20 minutes before we had to leave to come back to school. which was not great at all, I would have much rather had more time to relax and eat and enjoy the time.
The tables were slanted and were hard to set a cup of coffee on as there were a few people that had complained about that, because the cup would fall off.
The lay out of the shop was very artistic and made me feel very comfortable.
The food tasted great except I would have liked to put salt on it but I could not as there was a little girl that was walking around sucking on the bottle of salt, which made me not interested to use it.
They should have made the lay out of the food much better, because there would be different cultures coming in and would not be used to eating with there hands and dishing up themselves.
The best out of all 3 food choices, the vetkoek was the best.
And last of all is the price vs. the value of the food, was not cost effective and we paid far too much for what we got.
Over all the café was very wonderful and enjoyable to go to, so I would say I had a great time and enjoyed the new experienced.
I would definitely like to go there again but there would have to be more changes to make it more adventurous and interesting to have a fun, relaxing and pleasant time.” –CG-


“On Thursday 20 Jun 2013 our 9thgrade class went to tribe café in Masi.  Tribe has been open for just 2 months.   As a coffee shop in Masi Clement is trying to introduce his love of coffee into the African culture.  In my opinion, I really enjoyed the coffee. The food I highly recommend the sheep’s head it is extremely flavourful and delish for those who like sheep’s head or if you are just looking for a unique wonderful experience.”  -JH-              









                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Thursday, 20 June 2013

The Spur Outing

This week there was great excitement as the Grade 4's and 5's went to the Spur to see how a restaurant was run.
They had a tour of the whole restaurant and everyone had an opportunity to feel how cold it was in a -10 degree freezer!  Each had an opportunity to dish up their own burgers. 
Everyone had a burger, chips and cool drink,which they were allowed to mix and pour themselves. Fanta and Sprite, Coke and Cream soda, etc. The last treat was an ice cream with any sauce they wanted!

Here are just a few comments from the children:
Michaela - I made my own burger and it was delicious!
Oscar - I like using the drink machine- I mixed everything
Hannah - I like seeing the kitchen and learning about the restaurant
Holly-Jane - The drink machine was fun
Christopher E - I like being in the freezer!
Sam - I liked going into the freezer- it was -10 degrees.
Kate - I liked the tour

A great way to end a wonderful term!




Tuesday, 4 June 2013

Classroom Community Skype

The Grade 5's were invited to join a school in NY for a Skype Chat about Community.  The NY class were embarking on a 9 to 9 Skype Marathon talking to schools around the globe about the value of community in  classrooms and our neighbourhoods.


It was our Grade 5's first International Skype and they enjoyed it. They learnt a lot about the school they were talking to and the kind of environment that they learn in and live in.

We were asked to talk about:-

  • our classroom environment
  • how we create an atmosphere of enthusiasm and build community in our classrooms
  • why community is important to us
  • the rules and expectations of our classroom 

...... as well as the community in which we live.  Which was much simpler to discuss!

It was a great learning experience for all our Grade 5's in many ways!  


We look forward to more Skype Chats with other schools in future.

Tuesday, 28 May 2013

All About Me!

The Grade 1's have been doing "All About Me" this term.

We carried the theme over into ICT and they had some information that they needed to collect for homework and then they came back to class and had to type in the information onto a template designed for them.

They are adapting well to the Centre and are learning about what is acceptable behaviour and what isn't. It's really lovely watching them find their way and gain confidence every week.







Well done Grade 1's!

Victorian Outing

Every year our Grade 4's go on a trip back in time where they explore what it would have been like to go to school in "the olden days".

It must be quite a shock dressing in pinafores and hats, writing on slate with chalk, and getting hit by the teacher.

In spite of the strictness of the occasion, the children always enjoy this outing and come back to school with lots of funny stories about what happened "in class".


African Storybook Project

Our Grade 6's are participating in the African Storybook Project and have been writing away busily all term.

They began their stories in class and now have brought their draft with them into the ICT Centre where they are typing it up in PowerPoint and will use Paint to draw their own illustrations.

Their stories will be submitted and judged together with stories from children all over the world. The best of these will be uploaded and used to assist in literacy for Grades 1-3.
Mrs V with her Grade 6's in the ICT Centre

Busy with illustrations.

Loving the project!


The illustrations continue this week and we are looking forward to reading the final product!

Debating Begins

Our Grade 8 & 9's began a new adventure in the Debating arena this term.

Their teacher organised a "mock" debate initially and it was mandatory for all learners to participate. She chose the groups and off they went.

Their first topic of debate was: "Respect is a matter of choice, therefore I am free to respect only those who respect me." An outside judge/adjudicator was brought in for the debate and both teams did admirably, especially considering that it was their first time.

From the outcome of this debate 5 learners were chosen to represent our School at a debate at a Girls School in Town. The topic given to them to prepare for that debate was "We should lower the legal working age to 12" - we had to argue for this.

We lost the debate, but it was a wonderful opportunity, we learnt a lot and look forward to the next one.

Well done to those Grade 8 & 9 learners who took part.

Let the Debate begin.

Moments of the Debate


Submarine Outing

The Grade 3's embarked on a magical outing last week. Their theme for the term has been boats and their Teacher took them through to the Docks where they had a tour of a real submarine.

They had been issued with strict instructions of what they could / could not touch, and they were very well behaved. They had fun climbing down the ladder, looking through the periscope, typing on their navigational equipment and chatting to their tour guide.

Listening to our instructions.

About to board!

Down the ladder!

It's very snug in there.
The girls having a look around
Looking through the periscope
Looking very official.
So many gadgets and instruments!
The boys looking around
Ringing the bell.
 
It was a wonderful outing for our Grade 3's.

They also had to make their own boat that could move on its own. Below is a short clip of the excitement that this added to our day!

Making Maps

The Grade 5's have been learning about South Africa, borders, seas and mountain ranges and their project was to make their own relief map of the country.

It was lovely to see the enthusiasm and creativity of the learners as they embarked on this project and their final products are evidence of this.

Well done, Grade 5's!


Monday, 29 April 2013

Kirstenbosch Garden

The Grade 6's had the most amazing time as we learnt about the 3 different biomes that Kirstenbosch shows.









For more pics, pop over to our Facebook page!

Wednesday, 17 April 2013

Direct Speech

The Grade 6s have been looking at Direct Speech, here's a little look at what they've been up to...




Wednesday, 13 March 2013

Grade 6 SA / Sydney Project

The Grade 6's will be communicating with a Year 6 Class in Sydney Australia next term.

They will be discussing how we live in our cities, democracy, government, and various aspects of our lives in our countries.

The platform we are using is Edmodo. Edmodo looks very similar to Facebook, but it's for schools. Only teachers who can add students and there can be no private communication between any students.

The teacher creates the group and the teacher leads the students in joining the group.  So far, the Year 6 Class have added their Voki avatars to introduce themselves, we have gone to watch and listen to their introductions, and commented on them.  When we come back in the new term, we will create our own Voki Avatars and post them to the group.

We are looking forward to a great Term 2 together!

Everyone busy listening, reading and introducing themselves.

Excited about the project!

it's a girls school?  Whaaaatttt??  

Mystery Skype

Our Grade 8's have been doing map work this term and we have finished up the term with a Mystery Skype chat.

A "Mystery Skype" is an appointment between the class and a guest from an unknown location, who meet at a designated time, and the class, using 20 strategic "yes/no" questions, have to find the city that the guest is from. They work in groups using Google, Atlas's, Globes, whatever they need.

Yesterday they had a practice round with a guest who was from the Western Cape and they managed well, but they were warned that the "real thing" today would be more of a challenge - and it was.

Our guest was from Bucharest in Romania. The first 5 questions they asked him, he answered "no."  This had them on the back foot since they had bargained on at least one or two being a "yes" to continue their questioning.  After the initial shock wore off, they recovered well - and a coupleof great thinkers rose to the fore in searching and questioning initiative.

All-in-all, it was a great experience, we are thrilled to have the technology to be able to do these activities and to be able to speak to teachers and classes around the world.

Our Mystery Guest watching us as we try to locate him!

It was a challenge - but we did it!
Well done Grade 8's!

Monday, 4 March 2013

Maths Fun!

Whoever would have thought that Maths could be FUN!

The Grade 6's have had lots of fun in math as we look at BODMAS.  If you are not sure what that means, ask one of them!


SA Museum Outing!

The Grade 3's went to the S.A Museum to learn more about our heritage. We learnt some very interesting facts about the San and Khoisan people.

We had a lovely picnic in the shade of a huge, old Yellowwood tree! What better way is there to end a lesson on "heritage", than to climb one of our National Symbols!

For all the pics, pop over to our Facebook page in the Grade 3 - 2103 album! Enjoy!



Monday, 28 January 2013

Grade 8 Dinner 2012


The Grade 8 class of 2012 was special in many ways.  Certainly their most outstanding achievement is the fact that they were the very first Grade 8 class of The Rock Academy. They have paved the way for many to come after them. It will be their legacy.

But their journey has not ended. As we speak, they are the very first Grade 9 class of The Rock Academy.  The learners and their parents have chosen to walk this walk with us, and we look forward to the day when they matriculate as the very first Grade 12 class in 2016.

We ended off 2012 with a Grade 8 dinner and an academic award ceremony.  It was a wonderful evening where we could honour our learners and their parents for the hard work and support to the school. Also among the guests were individuals who contributed to the successful completion of this very exciting year.

We commend Mrs Oelofse and the Board for the faith and trust that they have displayed in the Lord whilst embarking on the mission of establishing a high school for those families who want to train their teenagers up in the ways of the Lord.  May you be showered with His grace in 2013. 

Submitted by: Mrs Nass (Grade 8)