Extra Activities
Once Upon a Time Nursery School offers the following weekly sessions, where children in all four classes work towards learning set routines during the year, to be showcased at the annual end of year concert.
Ballet
Ballet (for the girls) and Music and Movement (for the boys) is taught by a professional ballet teacher, to introduce the children to the joy of listening to music, rhythm, as well as physical movement to music. The ballet teacher is Angela Klaasen who is certified by the Royal Academy of Dance and is a member of the National Ballet of Zimbabwe.
Pictures from our 2016 School Concert, "Everything Magical and Enchanting" are posted below. The children are taught set routines to music and then this is showcased at our end of year concert at the Celebration Centre, in the main auditorium and staged to our parents and their families and friends.
Adventures into Music
As the name suggests, we want children to have fun as they begin to explore different instruments and the sounds they make. This cultivates an appreciation of music and rhythm, and promotes self-expression at an early age. They will play their instruments in time with the piano and sing. The teaching in most cases is the imitation and memorizing by the children, of the rhythm of the tunes played by the teacher on the piano. The children learn the words and the actions to the songs and gesture with their hands the meaning of the words. The children learn a sense of timing and to help give children ease of movement to a rhythm. Movement done to different music. Tempo-time, the speed/pulse of a piece of music.The children develop an awareness of space, balance and movement in different ways.The music teacher is Annette Eastwood who holds a certificate from the Performing Vienna Hochschule Musik, Vienna and has over 35 years experience as a Music Teacher. Singing is taught once a week in the First Term and twice a week in the Second and Third Terms. A repertoire of about 30 songs is taught and the best ten songs are chosen to sing on the night of the school concert which showcase the children's song bank. Old classics and modern pieces, like the more popular Disney tunes and updated remixes will be sung.
The children learn a sense of timing and to help give children ease of movement to a rhythm. Movement done to different music. Tempo-time, the speed/pulse of a piece of music.The children develop an awareness of space, balance and movement in different ways.
Grasshopper Gymnastics & Acrobatic Dance
These lessons are delivered by a professional Acrobatic Dance and Gymnastics teacher, because we find that these sessions enhance co-ordination, balance and confidence in the children, and gross motor skills are improved. Sharlinda Fernandes is a fully qualified Acrobatics Teacher with the Acrobatic Federation of South Africa and is a rhythmic gymnastics coach. The children are taught a series of gymnastic moves and Acrobatic Dance steps to music. The children learn new manoeuvres and routines staged to music and learn to complete a series of moves in a "finish" position. The children are learning to flow from one transition to the next in a fluid manner and concentrating on foot work and paying attention to detail. In the Red Group (5 year old class) we incorporate "hoops" as props for the boys and "ribbons Sticks" for the girls when learning the routine for the school concert.
Acrobatic Dance and Gymnastic Displays are showcased in the school garden at the end of the year. Each class stages their performance in front of their parents. This display exhibits the different skills taught throughout the year. The programme follows an initial "warm up" excercise and then leads into a "set routine" to music showcasing the children's ability to bend their bodies, perform acrobatic movements and be able to change direction with each movement.
