Looking Back and Moving Forward:
End of School Year Reflections

As we head into the final stretch of the school year, each teacher, parent and learner should take time to reflect on the highs and lows of the year. What worked? What didn’t? How can you improve for next year? What would you change? What must you leave behind? What did you enjoy learning about the most this year? Whether you’ve had a challenging year, or a year of ups and downs, we encourage you to reflect on celebrating the successes, appreciate the struggles and set new goals for 2019.  

This year we reflect on the extensive development of new resources we made for all phases, in response to member demand. We added Maths video content for our Grade 8-12 learners and made all Grade R resources free to members. Our new academic core content programme from CAPS in the form of interactive E-lessons is now available as a standalone licensed product which covers all the subjects from grade R to grade 7 in Afrikaans, English and Xhosa (Foundation Phase). This can be paid through your norms and standards allocation.  

Unethical behaviour
As we grew our schools' database, we unfortunately encountered some unpleasant individuals who took it upon themselves to try and sell our resources privately to schools. Fortunately, the schools in question contacted us and we were able to act swiftly, but please be aware of these fraudsters who are not allowed to do this. Our support resources are only available from our website and our interactive content is a standalone licensed product which can only be accessed from our head office. 

In the fourth quarter, we encountered two education platforms who were marketing their offerings using the ‘E-Classroom’ name on Google Adverts. We encountered many disgruntled people who had unfortunately been misled by these advertisements. Please remember to check the URL is
www.e-classroom.co.za when accessing our website.

Our members 
We are proud to announce that we doubled our member community this year and are grateful for all the feedback and comments we received which help us continually create a platform for you all to benefit from. Thank you for your constant support and we look forward to a fabulous year ahead for 2019!

Currently in development for 2019

• New Grade 4 English Home Language is being developed with fresh themes and grammar and language activities that extend the learners beyond the basics of what CAPS calls for. We plan to take this through to Grade 7.
• Grade R Life Skills is being rewritten and designed
• New maths content is being written for Grade 4
• New Life Skills content is being written for Grade 4, 5 and 6
• Grade 6 & 7 Natural Sciences & Tech new content and study notes are being written to add to the current offering
• Grade 9 EHL is being written with lesson plans and support resources for learners
• Grade 8 EFAL is being written and will be online from Term 1
• Grade 3 Afrikaans Home Language is being written and will be online from Term 1

We Plan to grow our Afrikaans offering, too, by translating more content for that user base.

Will your kids be in front of the TV these school holidays? Spoil them (and yourself) by sending the kids to summer camp. Sugar Bay is an international summer camp located in KZN. Their transport options allow kids from all over the world to enjoy a memorable holiday, which some kids claim is "better than Disneyland".

Sugar Bay hosts 5, 6 and 7 day holiday camps for kids and teens 7-17 years old. Bookings for December and January holiday camps are now open. The cost includes 3-star accommodation, 3 meals per day, all activities and 24/7 supervision at a staff to child ratio of 1:3. Watch this video to see what Sugar Bay offers, and why it's worth every cent.

Their December & January holiday camp dates are as follows:

• 7-14 December (7 days);
• 14-21 December (7 days);
• 27 December - 2 January (6 days);
• 2-8 January (6 days);
• 8-13 January (5 days).

• Lunch box/foods savers – from R4.90 
• Tumblers – from R1.50
• Juice bottles – R1.80
• Wooden puzzles – from R9.90
• Pool noodles – R16.00
• Hula hoops – from R13.90

Crest Tutoring
Specialists in Afrikaans FAL for all grades. Trained and vetted tutors present private or group lessons in the comfort of your home in Cape Town, the southern suburbs and southern peninsula.
Contact Anneke Potgieter on 076 379 8806
Email - Web

Contact Susanne on [email protected] for advertising rates.

Read – If you’re one of countless people who don’t make a habit of reading regularly, you might be missing out. Reading has a significant number of benefits. Just like any other muscle in the body, the brain requires exercise to keep it strong and healthy, so the phrase “use it or lose it” is particularly apt when it comes to your mind. Doing puzzles and playing games such as chess have also been found to be helpful with cognitive stimulation. Take time to read during the holiday break. Children who see their parents reading become readers themselves.

Turn off the devices! – Think about the negative impact phones and tablets are having on our personal relationships. So, rethink your time these holidays. Play games, spend time with family, see people, walk the dogs, plan an outdoor excursion, create experiential memories for your children. When you feel yourself reaching for your device, hit pause! Ask yourself what could be gained from checking your phone at that moment.
 

Source: meQuilibrium

Sleep – Lack of sleep is impacting long-term health, blood sugar levels and the ability to learn. Catch up on your sleep during the holiday break and set goals to a sleep routine in the new year. Researchers have found that sleep plays an important role in a process called memory consolidation. During sleep, your body may be resting, but your brain is busy processing your day, making connections between events, sensory input, feelings, and memories. Deep sleep is a very important time for your brain to make memories and links, and getting more quality sleep will help you remember and process things better

Laugh – As they say, laughter is the best medicine. Find something to laugh about or do something that will help you laugh. It will make all the difference in your life! Apart from improving our moods, laughter can reduce stress, help fight infection, and reduce pain levels. Two stress hormones, cortisol and epinephrine which suppress the body’s immune system, drop after a dose of laughter. Laughter causes positive changes in brain chemistry by releasing endorphins. It also brings more oxygen into the body with the deeper inhalations. When we laugh, we gulp in air. Because the cardiovascular system is already dilated, the oxygen moves a lot faster to already relaxed muscles giving our internal organs a massage and stimulating circulation. Therefore, we feel so good afterwards.

In closing, while you count down the days and pack up your classroom, appreciate all that you’ve accomplished this year. Enjoy the well-earned break and know that when you come back for the new school year, you’ll bring new knowledge and insights you’ve gained. Thank you all for your support, advice and comradeship this year. We strive to make E-Classroom a safe place for every-one to visit and use our curriculum resources. We wish our E-Classroom family a wonderful December holiday break – travel safely and may you return to school relaxed, refreshed and re-energised for a successful 2019!

“Education is a once in a lifetime opportunity to open children’s hearts and minds to the unbelievable wonder of the universe.”

– Sir Anthony Seldon