DCIS Newsletter September and October 2019

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STEAM Week - A Different Lens Last week was our first STEAM Week of the academic year. In the Primary School, children have been attempting the first MIT Challenge – A Different Lens. This challenge was inspired by the MIT Professor: Felice Frankel https://felicefrankel. com/ and was centred around scientific images. Here is a summary of how the challenge was attempted in each year group: EYFS have enjoyed learning about what STEAM is and accepted their first challenge with much excitement! The children have been shown how to use the camera app on the iPads and some of the functions, such as the zoom, and were then hunting around the classroom and outdoor areas to take scientific photos. The children in EYFS loved being photographers for the week and took some amazing photos! The children loved sharing their photos with the class. Year 1 had a whale of a time with our STEAM work this week. We learnt about the meaning behind STEAM, why it is so important in today’s world and what we would like to invent if we had the chance. I think a robot to make and do as we command, was definitely top of the Year 1 list! We learnt about the photographer Felice Frankel and then made our own pin hole cameras. A top time was had by all! 6 In Year 2, the children loved this first STEAM Challenge. During their first lesson, the children worked on developing their learning powers of CCP (Curiosity, Creativity and Problem Solving). They were then thrilled to use macro lenses attached to iPads to capture unusual images around our school grounds. The children then learnt how to edit them using some basic tools on the iPads. Finally, the children learnt about the incredible image – The Pillars of Creation (https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/thepillars-of-creation). They used this to inspire them to make their own cameras – of the Pin Hole variety! They then tested them in the playground to see if they worked. In Year 3, the children particularly enjoyed the problem solving challenge. They were excited to explore the school grounds as nature detectives, as they were given the task of finding evidence of food chains, which they found in the form of half-eaten leaves and ants’ nests. All the Year 4 classes really enjoyed revisiting CCP and we are going to try and have this mindset more as we do our Project Work, English and Maths. We have used the work of Felice Frankel to inspire our photography skills whilst on a trip to the Science Centre. We used the macro lenses to take close up photos of various scientific objects which really showed the textures in great detail. Finally, we made pinhole cameras (however we have not really had the opportunity to test these yet and are waiting for a nice sunny, haze free day to try them out!) Year 5 have explored ‘persistance of vision’ for their STEAM activities this week. This is the phenomenon where a series of photos sequenced and shown to us at a speed quicker than a tenth of a second fools our eyes and brain into seeing a moving image. We discovered how this works by creating flipbooks, zoetropes and thaumatropes. In Year 6, children were challenged to take some science inspired photographs. The children also enjoyed making their own camera obscura. A device, which was used to create images, shortly before cameras were first invented. Mr Baines Year 2 Teacher and Primary STEAM Leader
DCIS Year 8 Headteacher Reward Mr Bull thoroughly enjoyed meeting the Year 8 Headteacher’s Reward winners this morning. The key theme in all their nominations was kindness, something that we are particularly proud of. The students enjoyed hot chocolate and brownies and had some great discussions with Mr Bull about the things they love about Dover Court and the things that they would like to see improved. Congratulations to: Reyna (8LC) - Reyna has received outstanding achievements in the Nord Anglia Education Creative competitions. She is a kind and hardworking student who truly takes advantage of every opportunity available to her. Isuka (8LC) - Isuka is a joy to have in every classroom. He is polite, engaged, and offers the most mature and well thought-out answers routinely. Isuka is kind to both his peers, teachers, and anyone with whom he comes in contact. He is an incredibly valued student at Dover Court. Hailey (8DS) - Hailey has had an amazing start to the academic year. She has shown fantastic resilience to difficult situations in this time and flexibility to new routines and situations. Erwan (8DS) - Erwan has been the leader of a number of initiatives in form time and has an unwavering dedication to DCIS, whether that be linked to representing the school, helping to run activities or helping his peers. Anastasia (8AN) - Anastasia is an exemplary student who is kind-natured, sensible and amicable. This is demonstrated throughout school on a daily basis. It was a pleasure to have Anastasia represent Dover Court as part of the World Scholar’s Cup competition. Zac (8AN) - Zac invests maximum effort into all of his tasks. He can be relied upon to motivate himself as well as his peers. It is a pleasure to have him in our form group. Thomas (8HV) - Whilst on the World Scholar’s Cup, Thomas showed superb camaraderie by encouraging peers, checking how they were feeling, and consistently having a smile on his face. I was very proud that he was representing Dover Court. Sophie (8HV) - Sophie has made an excellent start to her time at Dover Court, settling in incredibly well and being prepared to get involved in the wider school community by applying to be a House Captain. The next Headteacher reward is for Year 9s on the 1st of November. Charity Awareness Day Share A Dream is an online social engagement platform, designed to engage Nord Anglia Education schools, students and teachers in outreach activities. As an intuitive solution for social responsibility engagement, Share A Dream helps facilitate the good work happening in every Nord Anglia school community, and gives students and teachers the power to effect positive, lasting change through activities. Dover Court has a history of extensive charity work and with the launch of Nord Anglia Education’s Share a Dream initiative we have worked on a new charity programme. During term three last year the Dover Court students had the opportunity to select the charities that the school would support over the next two years. Friday 11th October was our first Charity Day of the year and a range of activities have been going on on campus to raise money and awarenss. All students were invited to a non-uniform day for a a small donation, the new charity collection boxes placed at the entrence were a great success and the children enjoyed putting their donations in the boxes. The students had created some wonderful posters that were displayed in the foyer. 8MM and 11ML had worked hard all week in preparation for their bake sale in The Lounge. The students had baked all the goods on sale, made posters and ran the stand, all by themselves. They would like to thank all parents and staff for supporting them and helping them help others. The Spot in the Red Dot Restaurant saw a number of busking performances, all performing to raise funds. A wonderful day, truly showing that our students embrace the Dover Court vision. 7
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DCIS Newsletter September and October 2019

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