A Day in the Life of Kyiv Nivki Primary School

Friday was a beautiful sunny day in Kyiv and just another exciting day for the students of the British International School in Kyiv, Nivki Primary campus.

In Year 1, the morning started off with a soft start. Before morning registration, the students had the chance to choose activities. During registration students usually say hello in different languages so that day they said it in Spanish – hola. The students did their morning “wake up and shake up” and got ready to start with their first lesson of the day. They revised their sounds and split off into four groups where they did activities and games relating to the sounds they have been learning. The children either worked independently or with a teacher.

In Year 2, students identified letter sounds in pictures and written text. They also practiced their reading skills by reading independently or in small groups.

Year 3 students were inquiring in numbers and language. They are learning how to write bigger numbers and how to use place value. Students were using Dienes materials to build their confidence working with larger numbers and did other activities.

Students of Year 4 were exploring the components of health (physical, spiritual, emotional, mental), how he systems of our body work in different ways and the connections between the choices we make and our health. On previous lessons students explored the skeletal system and on Friday they started talking about the muscular system.

Students of different Years also had art, dance, music, PE and swimming lessons.

The smallest students at Nursery had a lot of fun after the break. They were using the shaving cream to practice writing and recognizing the letter S which they have been focusing on in class. They were also interacting effectively with the teacher and their peers and were showing understanding through play. Afterwards, the students were participating and listening to the morning songs. These songs help students focus on language and improve listening skills.

Children in Reception class are starting to learn their English letter sounds, ready for writing and reading in English. In one of the activities they took turns to pull out a hidden object which starts with the sound they are learning or have learnt. To finish this the students then practised writing the new letter sound with the help of the teacher. This strategy for developing phonic knowledge helps the children create an image in their mind and then they relate the image or object to the corresponding sound. To develop this strategy more, special  body actions are used to create a holistic image for the children and enables them to make more connections using their senses.