Primary Section

This year has been a tale of two halves. However, despite that, it has been another fabulous year of learning in Year 1, filled with questioning, problem-solving and innovations. The children have grown into independent, responsible, creative, resilient learners who have often led their own learning and continued to wow us!

1YEAR 1

Ms S Brady Ms A McGirr Ms N Moran Ms S Nazarian all around us! The list could go on and on.

Whilst we were in school, there were never two days quite the same in Year 1. From the moment our children entered through the doors in the morning there were always new adventures and exciting discoveries. One day we could be busy being crime scene detectives, on the hunt for who stole the Giant’s golden harp, the next we were scientists, exploring ‘how to catch a rainbow’. However, one thing that remained consistent each day was the children’s wonderfully positive attitude towards their learning!.

Some of our favourite adventures this year have included a trip to Dubai Miracle Garden, where we got to discover some of the beautiful gardens and saw some of our favourite characters made from flowers. We also had great fun at Green Planet, where we were taken on a journey of discovery through the layers of the rainforest and learned about the different animals that lived there.

During our Year 1 assembly, we had great fun sharing our learning with visitors ‘Bob’ and ‘Moonbeam’. We were so proud of the children’s hard work and the During our online learning, our Year 1’s have been nothing short of incredible! It was a new way of learning for everyone and their positive attitude remained throughout. They adapted and continued to work incredibly hard. They have worked collaboratively, invented stories together, wrote traditional tales with a twist, filmed weather reports, performed poems, baked cakes, sang songs, made clocks and used anything and everything when learning in Maths, proving that Mathematics really is

confidence that they displayed on stage. We would like to thank all our parents in Year 1 for their continued support and commitment over the year, working in partnership with the Year 1 team to best support the children’s learning. We wish all our fabulous Year 1 children the very best in their future adventures in Year 2.

This year has been an incredible year in Year 2! It has been a year filled with wonderful memories. It is a year which will surely go down in history! Year 2 is a crucial year in the life of a young learner. This is the year where the children consolidate all their learning from Year 1 and prepare themselves to transition into KS2. It has been an absolute pleasure preparing our motivated, eager and enthusiastic learners for their journey into Year 3.

2YEAR 2

Mrs A Olayiwola Ms H Pearce Ms L Reseigh Ms AM Somers Mr A Stenhouse

This year, our wonderful Year 2 students continually displayed the Hartland attributes. With our move to distance learning in Term 2, the children displayed adaptability, resilience, responsibility and independence as they embraced the challenge which they were faced with. Our children flourished and impressed us as they showed commitment and dedication towards their learning. They thrived through this experience gracefully and continued to make amazing progress throughout the year. We could not be prouder and more honoured to have worked with such amazing, positive and contentious individuals. We also thank you all so much as parents for your incredible support this year.

Our year started with ‘Who Makes History?’ Year 2 stepped through our very own time machine and they stepped back in time to learn about significant people, who have shaped the world that we live in. A firm favourite across Year 2, was learning about Neil Armstrong and comparing him to Hazza Al- Mansouri. ‘What Lives on Earth?’ saw us learning about the amazing world that we live in. Our learning, went from the habitats, to food chains to various animal life We took a trip to ‘The Butterfly Garden’ where we discovered an array of beautiful butterflies and we further developed our knowledge of the life-cycle of a butterfly. In Spring, we were finding out ‘How Does our Body Work?’. We learned about the key organs within the body and how these work as well as looking at why a balanced and healthy diet combined with exercise is important to keeping our bodies working.

In English, Year 2 have been focusing on the four types of sentence; statement, command, exclamations and questions. We also focused on using commas in a list, adding adjectives, expanded noun phrases and similes to our descriptive writing. We used an apostrophe for contraction and for cycles.

possession. Some of the children were even able to add inverted commas for direct speech! We have all developed our writing by remembering to include these objectives in our independent writing along with full stops and capital letters. We spent time looking at a range of engaging and fun texts to help develop our writing including ‘The Day the Crayons Quit’, ‘The Monkey With The Bright Blue Bottom’, ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’ ‘Funny Bones’ and ‘Smelly Peter’.

When reading these texts, we engaged in role playing activities to understand the emotions and the feelings of the various characters. We wrote a range of genres including letters to Duncan from the crayons, non-chorological reports about various animals, diary entries in role and recounts to tell the stories we had read. During our Smelly Peter text, we wrote our own versions of the story using ourselves as the main character. We included what colour we turned after eating too much of the same food! In Year 2 we were also able to develop our poetry writing skills as we wrote acrostic poems and began to develop our rhyming poetry too.

This year in Maths we have delved deep into the heart of problem solving and fluency and our Year 2 Mathematicians have excelled. We have enhanced our place value knowledge and learned new methods for all four of the operations, as well as becoming confident with recalling the two, five and ten times tables. The children learned how to present and interpret data they collected into tables and graphs. They really enjoyed carrying out a survey of the most popular ice cream flavour in the class! The year saw the children progress in using all four operations to solve calculations and problems. We gained a deeper understanding of the various calculation strategies we were introduced to and applied them in different real-life contexts. The children explored fractions and enjoyed the practical aspect of sharing objects to represent various fractions. This year the children have thrived in their understanding in mathematical concepts and they have impressed us with their amazing attitude and positivity towards the subject.

Science has seen Year 2 learn about materials and how these can change shape and why some materials are better suited to be used for different objects than others. They developed their learning of habitats and how animals adapt to the habitats they live in. During Spring, Year 2 found out about animals including humans and how they all have basic needs which without we couldn’t survive. Before the online learning, Year 2 found out about plants and how they grow, as well as the life cycle of different plants. It was clear Year 2 loved completing Science Investigations during our Online Learning! From water staying in the glass whilst upside down, to colour mixing in milk and friction causing tissue ghosts to float. It has been such a pleasure watching the children develop into young scientists making predictions and drawing conclusions from their observations.

In Moral Education the children have learned how to be deal with emotions and their feelings. The children understand the concept of what fair and unfair means and they came up with various scenarios depicting each. They enjoyed debating events and justifying if the outcomes were fair or unfair. Moral Education saw the children develop their understanding of how to care for themselves, their friends and families. Through the introduction of distance learning, the curriculum was adapted to meet the needs of the children. Rather than the children learning about how to care for their school environment, they focused on taking care of their home environment. The children really enjoyed carrying out chores around the house and they impressed us with the range of household chores they engaged in. We learned about the qualities of a good friend. The children were amazing at identifying what makes a good friend and sharing their experience of what their friends have done for them, Through Moral Education, the children developed their social skills, emotional wellbeing and their understanding of what attributes an honest, caring and responsible person should have. We must admit, all the children in Year 2 possess these phenomenal qualities!

This year has certainly been eventful and unlike any we have experienced before, however it seems to have flown by just as quickly. As we started our journey this September in Year 3 we were lucky enough to gain a fourth class and welcomed Ms. Hevehan to the team, who has been a most welcome addition. Furthermore, we were delighted to welcome two new wonderful Learning Assistants in Ms Cindy and Ms Francoise, who joined Ms Nilusha and Mr Barry from last year.

3YEAR 3 Mr S Cordelle Ms E Heveham Mrs M Hulme Mr J Maynard

They really do go above and beyond every day to ensure they support the children to achieve their absolute best. It is always a pleasure to witness the transformation of our students, from infants to increasingly independent and risk-taking Juniors. We really feel honoured to work with such determined, inventive and inspirational young people. There have been so many highlights this year it is difficult to choose which ones to mention.

There have been several sporting victories for our Year 3 teams, amazing performances in our Hartland Musicals and Performing Arts Picnics from our promising young actors, and awards galore (to mention only a few). In the classroom, we have Egyptians, The Stone Age and Chocolate. The children have learnt through a range of hands on and practical tasks, presenting their learning in a variety of ways.

In English, the children have developed their reading, writing and speaking and listening skills through exploring inspirational texts. The children delved into the stories of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ by Roald Dahl, ‘The Iron Man’ by Ted Hughes, ‘Pebble in my pocket’ by Meredith Hooper and ‘Gorilla’ by Anthony Browne. They used these stories to create dramas and explore the character’s feelings, emotions and actions in more depth. The children also took inspiration from these texts to write diary entries, letters, stories, reports, descriptive texts and poems. Our texts have also been interwoven with other areas of the curriculum,

covered various topics including: The Ancient when we learned all about chocolate and explored the early civilisation of man. When online learning, the children used this as an opportunity to write balanced arguments, about whether computers could ever replace schools.

This year in Mathematics, we have worked towards a Mastery curriculum with a greater focus on Problem Solving and Reasoning. We have developed our strategies in the four operations concentrating on formal addition and subtraction methods, and formal multiplication and division methods. They have then applied their mathematical skills to solve real life problems.

As always, the learning does not just happen in the classroom. We have been lucky enough to enjoy three trips this year. Our first trip was to Mleiha Archaeological Centre in Sharjah, where we saw the Faya Caves, and walked up into the hills to see where some of the earliest humans resided after travelling from Africa. The children enjoyed searching for fossils and seeing the ancient artefacts in the museum. Our second trip to the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding built upon the children’s knowledge of local history. They learned about how traditional housing was constructed and shared Arabic coffee and dates in the Majlis. Our final trip took place virtually as we were lucky enough to visit the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt and take an interactive tour around the tomb of Queen Meresankh III, which brought to life our topic of Ancient Egypt.

As a school, we have also taken a step into the unknown and finished our year with Online Learning. We have been so impressed with how our Year 3 students (and parents) have adapted to this and we have seen so many wonderful examples of creativity, independent learning and resilience, to name but a few traits. Some of our highlights from the Online learning include; the fantastic balanced arguments based on zoos, the incredible videos on Flipgrid (performance poetry springs to mind) and of course, the amazing home projects on building a pyramid.

Luckily, at Hartland International School we have the most amazing community. You have always been there every step of the way, supporting us in all manner of ways, such as making amazing efforts on dress up days, organising community events and much much more. However, due to the pandemic, you have had to take on an even greater role and we really appreciate all of your hard work and support during these uncertain times. For many of us, we are a long way from home and knowing that we have such a caring and supporting community has really made a huge difference. Thank you all again, from the bottom of our hearts.

This year we will have to wish our students farewell from our virtual classroom and we are saddened that we will not be able to do so in person. Nevertheless, we are so proud of their achievements this year and of the maturity that they have shown in directing their own learning from home. We are confident that they will continue to shine and to exceed expectations.

Thank you for a remarkable year, Ms Hevehan, Mrs. Hulme, Mr. Maynard and Mr. Cordelle.

Year 4 has been a year that the students will never forget. We have seen our students mature, show great resilience and passion for their learning. Throughout the year, the students of Year 4 have impressed us through their kindness towards each other, solidarity together and enthusiasm for learning. Although part of our year has been through Online Learning, in many ways this brought us even closer as a year group as we really saw our students shine. They will be sorely missed when they move to Year 5. We know that they will have yet another successful year.

4YEAR 4 Mrs I McFadden Mr A Sandhu Ms L Wainwright

Throughout Year 4, a holistic approach to the teaching of English reading and writing has been achieved. Through weekly spelling, dictation, punctuation and grammar lessons, students develop skills for composition. To provide the students with opportunities to rehearse these skills, a range of units have been explored. Students have been exposed to a variety of text types including recount, exposition, discussion, persuasive, procedural and explanation texts. Students have an understanding of how to write for different audiences using specific criteria. Emphasis has been placed on editing and improving their writing using both teacher and peer feedback.

During Guided Reading sessions, a range of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and play scripts have been read to develop a passion for these text types. We have used comprehension skills, such as drawing inferences to predict the outcome of stories and discussing the intent of the authors. Through a variety of class texts which have included, ‘The Green Ship’ and ‘The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane’ students have been able to discuss the meaning of words in context as well as ask questions to further develop their understanding.

This year in Mathematics, the students have been able to build on their skills at a deeper level through the Maths Mastery approach. Within each strand of Maths, students have revised their understanding and then applied their knowledge to reasoning and problem solving questions. These have required the students to explain in detail their methods for reaching an answer. Students have been solving real life problems throughout the year including totalling the cost of items for International Day, calculating the area and perimeter of the playground and devising line graphs to display their data. The students have worked hard this year on their mental maths skills, enjoying playing games involving quick recall, to consolidate their learning.

In Topic this year we began by tackling our Big Question: Can we survive without rainforests? The students unearthed the complexity of our planet’s ecosystem and discovered how we all rely on each other for survival. The students debated whether deforestation should be stopped and analysed this question from different viewpoints. The students also considered a way forward, how we can live in a more sustainable way.

The second topic of the year, On Tap, was all about the significance of water. The topic was introduced with students building aqueducts out of recycled materials. The students also learnt about how water travels to our taps through role-play, something we often take for granted. Our class also thought about those less fortunate than us and investigated the impact clean water can have on our health and safety. Our final topic of the year, Adventurers and Explorers, saw the students explore the Americas and Galapagos Islands and those who ventured there. They also learned key skills such as using a compass. Tackling each of the big questions that have come with each topic has given students greater awareness of the complexities of the world around them.

Social Studies has been a student favourite this year. Students enjoyed learning about how humans have impacted the world around them, and particularly the changes made to the UAE’s economy, technological development and environment. The students also learned about key institutions in our community as well as significant figures in UAE history.

We have been very fortunate this year and have had some memorable and fun-filled trips. On our visit to Green Planet, the students were able to see the different layers of the rainforest and learn about many exotic animals. It has been a pleasure for the Year 4 teachers to witness the students grow into confident, independent learners throughout the year. They have become more resilient when faced with new challenges. They have demonstrated the importance of having a growth mind-set and they have supported each other through the learning journey. What a fabulous year we have had.

Year 5 has been a time a great growth and development for our students. We have watched and supported them as they matured into the responsible, and resilient children they are today. They have taken ownership of their learning, always seeking to challenge themselves, and showing commitment to explore their subjects in an open-minded and reflective manner. During the transition to Online Learning, as teachers we learned a lot from our students as we witnessed the adaptability, the perseverance, and above all, the positivity with which they faced every day. We will miss their enthusiasm and their willingness to learn, but we wish them all the best in Year 6.

5YEAR 5 Ms G Dineen Mr T Walsh Ms C Williams

TRIPS Year 5 were lucky enough to go on two trips in a short space of time in Term 2. The first was “Tom Gates Live on Stage” at the Mall of the Emirates. Many of our students were fans of the Liz Pichon’s Tom Gates series before seeing the show, but by the time the show ended they were all fans! Of course, this event was made even more special when Liz Pichon in class where all the children enjoyed debating,

herself came to the school a few days later to give an inspirational session.

A week later Year 5 then had the opportunity to be taken on a ‘Grand Tour of the Solar System” by Dr Maggie, a space physicist, professor, television host, and now children’s author. This tied in perfectly with our Mission to Mars Topic lessons, and Dr Maggie’s excitement and expertise gave us a new insight into everything from the speed of light to plans to build a engaged in a more inquiry, project based style of

base on Mars.

MATHEMATICS

Collaborative learning was the ‘order of the day’ this year in Year 5 where the children worked together to solve problems involving fractions, decimals, percentages and various other elements of the Math curriculum. Throughout the year, the children honed their problem solving and reasoning skills and tackled Math challenges enthusiastically and confidently.

Distance learning provided the children with the opportunity to take more responsibility for their learning and to engage in innovative methods of assimilating their learning in Math. They rose to the challenge and succeeded in making impressive strides on their Math journey, as a class, but in their own ENGLISH During English lessons this year, the children in Year 5 had the opportunity to enter the world of ancient Greece through the eyes of ‘Odysseus’, explore the mystery of Kensuke’s Kingdom, traverse the passage of time with Tristan in ‘The Viewer ‘and hypothesise about Matilda and her mysterious powers.

All of these novels succeeded in providing many opportunities for thought provoking discussions predicting and responding to the events and messages embedded in these wonderful stories. Through creating their own alternative endings for the characters in these novels, the children took on the role of the author and stimulated and fostered their own creative narrative skills.

TOPIC

Throughout the year, Year 5 have explored a vast range of topics, investigated other ways of life and identified features of different cultures and countries. From the hidden secrets of ancient civilisations, the causes and effects of climate change to the infinite wonder that is Space and the solar system, the children have immersed themselves enthusiastically in all areas of Topic learning this year. Our Topic journey continued with gusto during distance learning where the children homes.

learning. Year 5 even evoked their Drama skills and took on the role of a meteorologist when they recorded themselves presenting an adverse weather episode caused by the effects of climate change. I am confident that we have some budding actors in our midst!

Year 5 Residential Trip to Ras Al Khaimah

The residential trip to Challenging Adventure is always among the highlights of the school year for our Year 5 students, and this year was no different. Collaboration, Perseverance, Commitment, Leadership and Risk-Taking, among others, were just a few of the skills that our students developed during their trip.

On November 5th 2019, a group of excited 9 and 10 year olds waved goodbye to their parents and set off for their residential camp in Ras Al Khaimah. The excitement on the bus was palpable as the students sang songs, played games and discussed which activities they were most looking forward to. A sleepover without parents was definitely high on that list!.

On arrival at the camp, the students were assigned their tents and their responsibilities to the campsite by the camp leaders. This was followed by some lunch and then finally, the fun part – activity time. The students were informed about the wide range of activities they would be taking part in over the next 48 hours – archery, rockclimbing, abseiling, desert survival skills and a trek to a local majilis to learn about the traditions and customs of the Al Habsi tribe. We were incredibly proud of the perseverance and risk-taking displayed by our students when they attempted the various activities and overcame their challenges and fears. The students even encouraged Ms. Dineen to tackle her fear of heights by taking part in rock-climbing. She never would have been able to do it without their encouragement and support! The evening treat for the students, was being able to refresh themselves in the campsite pool, which was filled with warm, natural spring water from the local area. After dinner, the students roasted marshmallows, played games and went stargazing. They were very impressed by how bright the stars were in Ras Al Khaimah, compared to Dubai, due to the lack of bright city lights.

The students had an incredible two days at the camp and the bus journey home was a far quieter experience for all involved, with many boys and girls catching up on some of the sleep they somehow missed during the camp! All students agreed that the trip was nothing short of amazing. They developed new friendships and strengthened existing ones and from what we have heard, they are already looking forward to next years trip!

Year six is an exciting yet challenging year for many reasons: expectations are higher, tasks can be more demanding, and the prospect of graduating to secondary school looms large at the end of the year. This, however, has not prevented the children in 6H, 6R and 6T from having a truly memorable year, one which is sure to be remembered fondly as they move on to pastures new. Most striking is how unified this group of young people have become. Despite the lighthearted inter-class rivalry that has developed this year (mostly between us teachers), it is clear that we are one group.

6YEAR 6

Ms S Coyle Ms Nugent Mr D Slack

Within the classroom, we have enjoyed some fantastic topics which have produced extremely high quality outcomes. In English, we have written setting descriptions, persuasive travel guides and diary entries, all inspired by rich literature closely linked to our topic. We have even showcased our work online! In Humanities, we have explored our own personal histories through family trees, learnt to use geographical language, and have delved deeply into global issues such as migration, climate change and endangered species. Closer to home, we have learnt about the cultures and traditions of the UAE as part of our Social Studies curriculum, as well as the rich history of the place we all call home.

Educational visits are a highlight of any school year, and this year is no exception. Our Ecoventure trip to Ras al Khaimah was an unforgettable visit for those who were able to attend. Many children developed skills that they never knew they had, and everyone Some of our year group were fortunate enough to visit Switzerland on Hartland’s annual school ski trip! We even had a virtual visit to Etihad Museum to look at how Dubai has changed and developed over time. This alternative but innovative visit allowed us to ‘travel’ through the museum with our own private tour guides.

This cohort is positively brimming with talent, and our Enrichment programme has enabled pupils to shine. Be it on stage, in the DT room, in the Computing suite, or on the sports field, our children have not only relished the opportunity the develop their interests and talents, but they have positively thrived. Congratulations to everybody who has represented Hartland during interschool competitions this year, or taken external exams. made memories to last a lifetime.

Your achievements have put Hartland on the map! We couldn’t be more proud of everything our children have achieved this year, and of the mature young students they have become. We wish them every success as they move forward into secondary school.

ECOVENTURE YEAR 6

After weeks of anticipation, Year 6 set off with their backpacks and suitcases to Ras Al Khaimah for three action-packed days of activities at Ecoventure. Set against a backdrop of rugged mountains and still waters, this adventure getaway provided pupils with the opportunity to experience a wide range of activities in the great outdoors of the UAE.

Limits were pushed and knuckles were whitened on thrilling activities such as abseiling, kayaking, canoeing and rafting. These gave many children the opportunity to push themselves in ways that were not entirely natural for them and, in some cases, extremely unfamiliar. Resilience, problem solving, decision making, collaboration and leadership were some of the many Hartland attributes on display. Furthermore, the levels of maturity shown by the children as they helped, supported and encouraged each other provided moments of real pride. Many special memories were made – memories that we are sure will last a lifetime.