Visual Arts
Human beings are innately creative and enjoy a deep sense of pleasure and connectedness through exploring and developing an appreciation for the arts.
Our Visual Arts teachers love working with students to develop an eye for the beauty of the world around us and to help students of all ages learn the techniques to be able to represent what they see and feel visually. Through individual exploration and study of local and world artists from both the past and present, students gain an appreciation and understanding of how art can be used to express themselves.
Students in both the primary and secondary school benefit from the expertise and talent of our Visual Arts teachers and their regularly scheduled lessons with them. Teachers in the primary school are also very keen to have children explore and represent their thinking and learning through art, so include this is in their lessons as well.
Performing Arts
Lighthouse celebrates the performing arts and views it as a meaningful way of exploring feelings and emotions and working with others to depict a message and scene.
In the primary school, drama is used within regular classrooms to share experiences and deepen learning and understanding in the subject areas. We also have opportunities for those who particularly love drama and the performing arts to deepen their appreciation of this through participation in our drama club and in our Lighthouse Has Talent Show. All students take part in our end of year production as well, singing, dancing and acting together.
Music
Music stands at the centre of Lighthouse culture. We have much to celebrate and what better way to do that than through song and music making!
Music is featured in our weekly assemblies, at special events and performances as well as in our daily life at school. Our primary classrooms are musical places, with singing and dancing at various points throughout the day. The Secondary school also has a staff and student band who meet regularly at breaks for a jam session or to prepare for and lead music for key events.
Our specialist Music teachers also provide music lessons for students in Reception – Grade 9. Here, students learn to express themselves by creating music on instruments, using their bodies and through singing. Music lessons are designed to be interactive and to encourage the students to communicate by responding to music. Students are also given a platform to share their learning in front of an audience and are taught how to give constructive feedback to their peers. These lessons ensure inclusivity and are designed to be fun while learning about music theory, notation and history.
We also have a very exciting partnership with the National Conservatoire de Musique, Francois Mitterand in which music lessons with their tutors are offered once a week after school from the Lighthouse campus. Our students and any interested community member can benefit from this partnership at a very low cost.
Clubs
It is our goal to help students experience and discover a wide range of club activities to broaden their horizons and to help them develop areas that are of particular interest to them.
In this way, Lighthouse students from Grades 1-13 choose from a wide range of free and paid club activities that take place during school hours. Club offerings vary each term but have included forest school, wood working, drama, cooking, chess, debate, science, eco-schools, Zumba and aerobics, Bible, ocean economy, comic book drawing, origami and paper craft, painting, audio-visual, art and craft recycling, gardening, board games and sewing – just to name a few!
Community
When your child joins Lighthouse, they are not just joining a great school. They are joining a family made up of people from around the world. In fact, when your child joins Lighthouse, your whole family becomes part of ours.
As a school, we actively work to engage our families and the community beyond our school. We are blessed in so many ways and work hard to actively engage, support and reach out to those around us. Some of the ways that we do this are:
- The location of our school – we are proud to be part of the Calebasses community
- Our scholarship programme – we want to be financially accessible to all
- Parent volunteers – we love having parents on campus, helping and sharing their unique knowledge, experience and passions
- Family information sessions – throughout the year we offer many opportunities to ask questions, learn more about what we do and how to be involved with their child’s learning and with healthy parenting
- Family fun days and sporting events – these happen throughout the year
- Free Adult ESL lessons – these sessions occur weekly and are there for anyone who wants to learn more English
- Community library – besides our school’s own library, we have a library for anyone in our community who would like to borrow both English and French books
- Community service – if we see a need, we like to get involved! We regularly clean up our local community, beaches and local reservoirs and get involved with animal protection and sterilisation programmes. We are involved with local care homes and hospitals.
- Fundraising – we regularly fundraise or collect donations for charities, hospitals and children’s care homes
Health and Nutrition
Why School Lunches Matter
Since its inception, Lighthouse has always provided meals to all of its students. When there is so much work to be done in delivering the curriculum in a meaningful and engaging way, why did we take on the extra work of basically running a child-focused restaurant that feeds about 650 people per day?
The answer is simple. Food is really, really important! Besides the nutrition needed for healthy growth and development, what we (especially children) take into our bodies has an enormous impact on our ability to learn, focus, manage behaviour, and stay alert. We want nothing but the best for your child, and this is just one way that we are committed to caring for all of your child.
An enthusiastic team of people help plan and prepare a menu that supports Lighthouse’s mission. In addition to lunch, students receive snacks consisting of fresh fruit and other healthy baked treats throughout the day. We also aim to expose children to teaching on nutrition and give them opportunities to cultivate their own food on campus.
Why do we require that all students eat the snacks and lunch provided by the school?
- To promote high nutritional standards: students benefit from a varied diet with a high component of vegetables and fresh/raw ingredients. It is a challenge to provide variety and freshness in an individual packed lunch from home, particularly in a tropical climate.
- To ensure optimal readiness for learning: research proves that nutrition impacts brain function.
- To reduce waste: students may eat as much as they wish but are monitored to discourage waste. By preparing lunch at school and serving it fresh, we also avoid a lot of packaging waste.
- To minimize social and cultural barriers: food and mealtimes can either enforce or break down group-based identity. We want our students to unite as a school community, appreciating a wide range of food which is served to everyone equally. At the same time, we are responsive to food restrictions based on religious grounds or allergies/other medical conditions.
- To involve students in the production of their own food: by identifying food origins and being involved in food preparation, students become better eaters and conscientious consumers.
- To cultivate healthy eating habits and culture: research has found that eating together as a family (sharing the same food) helps children learn how to make healthy food choices, to communicate with others and to master table manners. Lighthouse promotes a strong ‘family’ culture within our school we can build to the development of healthy eating habits for our students. Food brings people together.
We understand that young children in particular can have a limited palate and show ‘pickiness.’ Again, research has shown that patient and repeated exposure to different food helps children out of this. Our meal programme aims to gently help them develop their taste and appreciation for a wider variety of food, for their own health and well-being.
Sport
At Lighthouse, we see sport as being an essential element to a well-rounded education and yet another way that we are committed to helping students develop in all areas. Through our PE and Sport Programmes, we aim to help students develop a long-lasting love of sport and being physically active. In a world of increasing screen-time and unhealthy lifestyle choices, now, more than ever, our kids need to be physically active.
Through participation in individual and team sports, students learn new games as they develop their gross motor and coordination skills. Beyond that, sport helps students to develop their self-esteem and self-confidence as well as how to work in a team, share ideas, take on leadership roles, encourage others, build resilience and integrity, as well as how to win and lose with grace and humility. It is also good fun, with laughter and joy as students build relationships through activity.
At Lighthouse we offer PE lessons with a PE specialist as part of our weekly timetable. Beyond that, students have additional sport time built into our day where they choose and participate in free and paid activities both at Lighthouse and at other venues. Sport offerings vary throughout the year depending on the season. Some of the sport we offer are swimming, tennis, football (soccer), netball, cross-country running, athletics, volleyball, rugby, playball and basic skill development.
Various inter-school events, meets and competitions are regular features of our school life and we love the chance to compete against other athletes and ourselves and to show our school spirit. We also hold an athletics meet at a local stadium once per year for our athletes to really shine!
Our College & Career Counsellor
The University/Career Counsellor serves the students and families, primarily from Grade 9 to Grade 13, by providing a program to assist students in discovering their strengths and interests, exploring career alternatives and finding institutions of higher learning which will meet these interests, strengths and values. The University Counsellor assists students with future planning including: academic preparation for college, meeting both graduation and college acceptance requirements, university searches, school and financial aid application, scholarship searches, testing, recommendations, and transition to university or career field.
Learning Support
At Lighthouse, we want all students to flourish and develop into the people that God created them to be. We also view each student as an individual with their own unique set of strengths, needs, passions and interests. Although we all learn at different rates and in different ways, some students have additional needs that require specific support. To ensure that these students have access to high-quality learning experiences, Lighthouse has a dedicated Learning Support team who work with students, families, teachers and external support providers to reduce barriers to learning, achievement and engagement for all students.
Although we aim to be fully inclusive of all learners, it is important to us that we offer the right environment for children to thrive in. To do this, we must make sure that we can provide what your child needs so as to set them up for success. If your child has additional needs, please contact us. We would love to meet with you and see if we can welcome your child to Lighthouse.
Outdoor Education
We believe the experience of learning by doing in the outdoors is essential for healthy growth and development, and has a positive effect on every other area of life, including academic achievement.
Our annual Outdoor Camps are the highlight of the Outdoor Education Curriculum at Lighthouse School, combining all 6 Curriculum Topics in one adventurous experience. The feedback from our five day camps have been overwhelmingly positive. For the latest Outdoor Education Newsletter click here.
Here is our Top 10 Camp Learning Opportunities:
- to have fun and socialise in a healthy way
- to engage with nature and embrace God’s creation
- to overcome fear through adventurous activities
- to grow in character through physical and mental challenge
- to develop faith and an understanding of God through guided reflection
- to disconnect from technology and the pace of modern life
- to discover identity, strengths and weaknesses
- to develop leadership capacity to serve God and people
- to improve critical thinking and problem solving ability
- to return to every-day life with fresh gratitude, peace and motivation
We thank God for safe and successful camps. We also thank the teachers and support staff who give so much time and effort to make them happen. Thank you!
‘I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.’ (Psalm 9: 1-2)
FarmLab
FarmLab is an innovative integration of aquaponics, hydroponics, and traditional cultivation within the Lighthouse campus. Its objective is to provide a space for Lighthouse students, from Primary through to Secondary schools, to learn about sustainable food growth and experiment with various methods of achieving this.
Currently, middle school classes are involved in growing vegetables and fish at the FarmLab. Once fully operational, the aim is for students at most year levels to actively and regularly use the space to learn about food production and participate in growing a variety of crops for consumption through the Lighthouse school kitchen.