The Year 5 children were able to take part in an exciting field trip yesterday! They visited Harambee, a local NGO here in Nanyuki. They graciously welcomed the childreb to spend a day with them, learning what they do here in town and for the community.

They have a workshop with large-scale machinery to build with both wood and metal. The children were able to see all of this machinery in use, learn the names and see what they make with it all. They take pride in their work, sell to the community, and hire local masons to train them well in this trade.

They also do beekeeping at Harambee, building the hives, collecting the bees, and selling the honey. The children learned all about bees, how they live and work in the hives, and how Harambee uses that honey for their business and the community.

Harambee has a large garden where they grow fruits, vegetables and herbs. The children walked around the garden, learning about the different plants, and even tasting fruits right off the trees! They learned about how some plants are medicinal, some grow better than others here in Nanyuki, and the life spans of different plants/trees.

Everything on the trip was educational and fun, but the best part was the food. Harambee makes their very own PIZZA in their homemade Italian pizza oven! The children were able to watch the pizza being made—from their fresh and homemade ingredients—and see how the pizza oven works.

The Year 5s loved their field trip and the educational opportunities it gave them linked to their learning from this term!  Thank you to Harambee for hosting and a big thank you to Mrs Lettsome for organising this trip.

Children from FS1 to Y8 are currently being challenged to see if they can Read to the Top of the Mountain. Each child is being asked to read at home at least five times each week. Every child has an individual mountain they need to ‘climb’ by recording their home reading each week. They then get the chance to be part of the whole school ‘mountain climb’ by collaging a large scale picture in our library. The challenge is running for six weeks and we hope to have a complete mountain by the end. Please feel free to visit the library to see how we are getting on. All children who complete the challenge, by reading at least five times for all six weeks (including during half term), will receive a certificate to prove that they ‘Read to the Top of the Mountain’.

At Braeburn Nanyuki we have been obsessed with Poetry for a few weeks. On Friday 18^th January we held the finals of our poetry recital competition for the children in Years 1-3. The children in Years 4-8 followed in assembly the week after on Friday 25^th January. Then on Saturday 26^th January three superstar performers took part in the annual, Nairobi Academy Verse Speaking competition in Karen. 

Mrs MacKay and Mrs Gould were delighted with how enthusiastic the children across the school were about auditioning for the competitions. 

The auditions for the Nairobi competition were held before Christmas and resulted in Hayley (Y2B) representing the school in the Under 8 category, Chloe (Y3) representing the school in the Under 10 category and Fynn (Y5) representing the school in the Under 12 category. All three children are very keen performers and excel in theatre and public speaking. They took part with absolute dedication and were well-prepared after practising thoroughly. Mrs MacKay was overwhelmed by how well all three children performed and they should feel very proud of themselves. We are proud of all of them and are thrilled that Hayley placed 2^nd in the Under 8 category – the highest placing child in all the Braeburn schools!!!

The in-house finals were also of a high standard and judges were under pressure to choose between the entrants. Children all selected, practised and performed a poem of their choice. There were funny poems, classics, home-written verses and poems that held strong messages. Both finals were extremely enjoyable and there were lots of proud parents in the audiences. Thank you to everyone for coming to support and well done to all the competitors and winners!

Winners in the in-house competition:

On Thursday 24th January BNIS held the first of three swimming galas. The children in Years 1-3 gathered together with much excitement to show off their swimming skills to their parents. For some this was their first time taking part in a swimming gala and for others, they have swum many lengths!

To open the show, eight girls from Years 5-8 treated the crowd to a magnificent demonstration of sychronised swimming. Despite having only had a single rehearsal, the group looked professional, elegant and composed. It certainly brought a smile to all the watching children and adults faces - thank you girls, and thank you to Mrs Bebbington for expertly training them in such a short space of time!

The children in Year 1-3 then took to the pool to show off their skills. They flutter kicked, froggy swam and free styled their way down the pool with, and without aids.  It was amazing to see how well children had progressed year on year, and also how determined those who are not yet free swimming were. Children who had never swum a full length achieved their goal on the day and parents were delighted with what they saw. 

Mr Masafu and Mr Franco organised an event that ran without hitch and showcased almost every child's ability - thank you to them both.

The gala ended with a parent race, three mums took to the pool and were fantastic role models for their kids.  The tumble turns were absolutely professional!  This unnerved the men slightly but we still had four dads step up to the mark.  It was a strong start from all but sadly one got delayed after looping his arm into the lane tape!  Thanks to all parents who attended and particularly to those brave enough to compete in the parent race!  

The scouts had a great time last weekend during the Mega Scout’s Camp was held at Batian’s View in Naromoru. The three day camp was packed with loads of challenging but exciting activities including: tree climbing; tent pitching; shelter improvisation; knot tying and cooking food in the woods. Working in age group patrols, the scouts demonstrated how exceptional they were as self managers, effective participators, resourceful thinkers, reflective learners, independent enquirers and team workers.