April / May 2025 Spring News
Our Activities This Spring
José is in year 5. He is just one of the students embracing activities at The University of Life this spring. “It’s my legacy.” he told his teacher, explaining that his mother, aunt and uncle were all students here before him!
This spring we have started additional projects running parallel to our usual classes of maths, Portuguese and IT. We want to develop curiosity, a love for reading, and a thirst for information in our students. Here are the topics.
Honesty – Year 2 Professions fair – Year 6 & 7
Respect – Year 3&4 The stock market – Year 8 & 9
Responsibility – Year 5
In May we celebrate Mother’s Day in Brazil. We will be reaching out to the hard-working Mums and Grandmothers who work hard to provide for their children in our community.
An empty balloon is no fun
In the same way, our lives might feel deflated if we are not filled with the purpose and joy that comes from knowing Jesus.
In this picture, children are holding their balloons they have just blown up. Their breath represents the importance of filling their lives with God’s presence.
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15:4
Welcome, Ruth – new year 5 teacher
My name is Ruth and I am 27 years old. I am single, an only child, and live with my parents. My parents are both Christians and I have the same Christian faith.
My journey with The University of Life began in 2006 when I became a year 2 student. The three years I spent there were incredible and profoundly changed my life. I developed important skills like singing and good communication. One memory was winning a prize for the best presentation in my class. From that day forward, I developed a dream to be a journalist.
However, at the end of year four, I left the project for family reasons but was able to finish my education, and my professional life took the direction of an educator. I have worked in private and public schools as an inclusion assistant for children with learning difficulties.
Consequently, I have learned so much about empathy, the value of sharing knowledge and the impact that a teacher has on their students.
God has a sense of humour because I distinctly remember my disappointment at having to leave the University of Life when I was about to enter the year 5 classroom. Today, I am the year 5 teacher in that exact room! That is why it feels extra special to have this opportunity and responsibility.
The University of Life forms character and cultivates Christian values. We want to nurture not just good students but good people. One example of change happened recently in my classroom. A boy was sharing about his birthday and explained that someone had broken an egg on his head as a joke (saying it was a birthday tradition), but that he hadn’t liked it. We discussed this and agreed that it was not very nice behaviour.
Two weeks later, another boy in the class came to me and confessed that he had broken the egg and had been feeling convicted about it. He apologised, and I thanked him for asking for forgiveness. As we study respect and responsibility as one of our activities this month, it was a great example of how our students are developing values for their lives.
I am delighted to be working here. I love the team of staff, and I have lots of ideas. You can count on me!
