BSAK Primary Newsletter - Autumn Term 22/23 by BSAK Abu Dhabi

NEWSLETTER THE BRITISH SCHOOL AL KHUBAIRAT PRIMARY 2022/2023 AUTUMN TERM britishschool.sch.ae

A MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF PRIMARY

Dear Parents

The staff at BSAK Primary School wish you all a wonderful break after an exciting and busy term. We have enjoyed the many opportunities to share the children’s learning with you and look forward to many more over the next two terms.

The array of experiences on offer have been exceptionally well received by the children and we intend to continue to develop many more over the coming months.

You will have received an email from Mr Collings earlier in the week outlining the School’s new and improved Co-Curricular and Enrichment Opportunities. We are very proud of this fantastic provision and look forward to seeing the children participating in a

range of activities during Term 2. Detailed information about the clubs on offer can be found on the Co-Curricular page of your Parent Portal

We would also be very grateful for your input into your experience of parent engagement. Since Covid we particularly recognise the importance of this in school life and wish to be even better than pre pandemic. With this in mind we are aiming to achieve an externally accredited award for parent engagement. To help us move forward we really need your feedback in the following survey: click here

Please do enjoy a photographic and informative look back at the ﬁrst term of 2022/2023.

WELLBEING PARENT MAGAZINE

If you haven’t already had a chance to look at our Primary Wellbeing Magazine for Parents - please click on the link HERE

Staff Training

We have recently participated in a whole primary school training session on Behaviour is Communication. Whilst COVID has all but gone, we are still seeing the impact that it has had on our children. We see this both inside and outside of the classroom. Our children have had a sustained period of time where their needs have often been met immediately when they were at home distance learning. Appreciating that that is not possible within the context of an everyday classroom has been challenging for a number of our children. Emotional regulation is something we are working on across a range of year groups using our Little Spots of Emotion to develop our children’s vocabulary and empower them to talk about how they are feeling.

Reduced and in some instances missed opportunities to play and interact socially have also impacted how our children engage with one another on an individual and group basis. We are using our Golden Rules (Nursery-Year 2) and our Code of Conduct (Year 3-Year 6) to share a consistent language about boundaries and expectations with our children.

Our Moral Education and Life Skills (MELS) curriculum is being updated (Years 2-6) integrating units on Being Me in my World, Celebrating Difference, Dreams and Goals, Healthy Me, Relationships and Changing Me alongside the Ministry MELS requirements to further support our children and their wellbeing.

Student Voice: Student Lead Initiative

When interviewing our many applicants for Head Girl/Boy and their deputies, lots of brilliant ideas and initiatives were shared. One such community initiative has been a Mile a Day - set up to support ADNOC 26 Miles by the end of the year. As a school we will continue to support being proactive with our physical health and keep a Wellbeing Wednesday mile going into Term 2. This initiative is being run by our Student and House Leadership team in Primary and proves to be both a popular and fabulous start to our Wednesday mornings. A brilliant way of earning house points and waking the brain up and getting ready to learn. If you’d like your child to be involved they can turn up at 7.15am on a Wednesday and add to their House Point totals. For every 4 laps of the pitch they get 1 House Point.

PRIMARY INSIGHTS

Welcome to Primary Insights. This publication is an opportunity for you as parents to take a glimpse into the teaching and learning practices that your child experiences as they journey through BSAK Primary.

This term’s edition focuses on how parents of Year 1 to Year 6 children can engage with their child’s learning through the use of Knowledge Organisers as a point of conversation. Our Year 6 students also share how sound feedback and evaluation practices support them to make progress in their learning, and how they use Bubble Books and Knowledge Notes in Year 6. We hope you enjoy this insight into teaching for learning at BSAK Primary.

Using Knowledge Organisers at home

From Year 1 to Year 6, our students use Knowledge Organisers to give them an understanding of what they will be learning in a unit of study. These Knowledge Organisers act as a useful resource for students to reference core knowledge and vocabulary as they apply their knowledge to independent and group learning.

Knowledge Organisers are posted onto your child’s Seesaw account so that you also can engage with the knowledge and vocabulary being taught. These short videos explain how Knowledge Organisers can be used with your child at home to retrieve information and expand their knowledge.

WATCH: KS2

How to use a Knowledge Organiser

Year 6 - Bubble Books, Knowledge Notes and Feedback

Our Year 6 students have made a short video to share how they use Bubble Books and Knowledge Notes to support their learning. They also explain why feedback is important and how they receive and use feedback to make progress in their learning.

Assistant Head Teacher Mr Chris Saunders Year 6 Leader Mr Jeff Payne Assistant Head Teacher

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Representation is important so we can all feel valued and have a sense of belonging.

One of the many ways we use our library is by bringing all our children at BSAK into our multicultural hub. Every child has the opportunity and is encouraged to come to the library. This is why we feel it is very important to be able to represent all our many wonderful cultures and nationalities in our school and beyond.

Mrs Naheeda Parker Librarian

“A book is a mirror to see ourselves and a window to see into the lives or experiences of our friends”.

Reading is our window to the world and we would like to create a “World Library” with your help.

It would be fantastic if you could donate a new or old book which you loved reading as a child or a book about your home country. These books can be in English or your mother tongue as they will be in our “World Library” section for children to browse and take home.

In the library we will also celebrate as many festivals as we can from around the world enabling children to gain a better understanding of cultures. Through doing this we hope to bridge the gap between students from diverse cultural backgrounds and help children learn about themselves and feel like they have a valid place in our community and the world.

Inclusive literature is necessary to help children feel represented in the books they are reading and develop a curiosity about others.

We aim to celebrate our differences and ensure we treat each other with respect and take pride in our differences.

BSAK PRIMARY TERM 2 CO-CURRICULAR AND ENRICHMENT PROGRAMME

At BSAK, our world class curriculum is delivered alongside an array of engaging co-curricular and enrichment opportunities (CCEs) which complement each other in providing students with opportunities to explore new interests, deepen thinking and develop their talents.

Our Co-Curricular and Enrichment programme has been carefully designed to promote intellectual challenge, broaden and deepen experiences, knowledge, understanding and skills outside of the core curriculum and class provision for all of our students.

BSAK’s Primary CCE programme offers the students, from Years 3 to 6, over 60 additional learning opportunities outside of the core curriculum and the wide range of co-curricular activities provided by our Music and PE departments.

We are extremely proud of this exceptional and unique extended provision, which is carefully designed to deliver the very best opportunities for all students in Years 3-6. Sixth Form students will support in the delivery of each club where possible to add to the experience, drawing on the skills and enthusiasm of our older students. They are fantastic role models for the Primary students.

Pete Collings DeputyHeadofPrimarySchool