2021 Magazine

58 | Edition No. 24 | 2021 JUNIOR PREPARATORY PRE-PRIMARY INFORMATION "Creativity and fun abound in these classes..." Technology seamlessly forms part of our daily school culture and enhances the learning of our little ones. It allows for meaning- ful engagement, participation and collaboration, while having fun. There is visible excitement when our little people play with our irre- sistible “LEGO Soft Bricks”. Not only do these bricks provide hours of fun for our budding builders, engineers and inventors, they also stimulate little minds and are fundamental in developing foundational skills. Our Pre-Primary children are introduced to Robotics in Grade R and enjoy a wonderful learning experience when exploring the Early Simple Machines sets. Creativity and fun abound in these classes as the children are involved in free building as well as directed activities. Directed activities involve teamwork, fol- lowing instructions and lots of exploring. The children discover ways in which the world around them works by using these simple machines to explore and build axels, levers and gears. Constructing their own ‘crimper machine’ was a definite highlight this year! Computational Thinking skills are encouraged and the children learn the fundamentals of coding using fun games, Sphero balls, and Code-a-Pillars. There is a lot of wonder that swirls around in the Junior Preparatory Robotics Lab. We wonder how incredible it is that 20 learners can each build a car using the same pieces and create totally unique pieces; our Grade 1’s wonder how a simple Duplo spinner can spin an axle like a ballerina; our Grade 2’s wonder how they, as children, are able to produce their own games using Scratch Junior and our Grade 3’s wonder about the possibilities of life on other planets and how to represent their thoughts on the Tynker app. The Grade 1s were introduced to coding with Scratch Junior. They wrote their first piece of block coding that allowed a character to move around the screen. Since then they have coded shapes to bounce when touched and an Afrikaans/ isiXhosa game where you have to guess the correct picture. Exploring the different habitats of insects and animals is what the Grade 2 learn- ers enjoyed during their Project Based Learning classes. In the Robotics Lab they used the information and skills gained, like drawing their insect, to build a game in Scratch. The Action Animal Game was a challenge to code, however, many were eager to share their games with others. When the Grade 3’s explored planets during their Life Skills lessons, they had to showcase their own planet using the coding app Tynker.