SummeRISe - Issue 118

89 Thursday, Thursday 15 December 21 May 2016 2015 Issue 118 GENERAL GENERAL

NURSERY

KG FS

PRIMARY PRIMARY

RIS Ski Trip

SECONDARY SECONDARY

PARIS SCHOOL CLINIC

DATE

EVENTS December

Tuesday, 13 December—Thursday, 15 December

Reports issued

Thursday, 15 December - Sunday, 31 December

Winter Break January

Sunday, 01 January

New Year - Holiday

Monday, 02 January

Students and teachers return

Wednesday, 11 January

Open Day

Thursday, 12 January

Nursery Orange Day

Sunday, 15 January

15-19: FS Field Trip

Sunday, 15 January—Thursday, 26 January

Year 11 Mock Examinations

Tuesday, 17 January—Thursday, 19 January

17-19: Nursery Sports Day

Thursday, 26 January

Staff Professional Development

Sunday, 29 January—Tuesday, 31 January

29-31: FS & Year 1 Science Week February

Wednesday, 01 February

Open Day

Wednesday, 01 February—Thursday, 02 February

01-02: FS & Year 1 Science Week

Sunday, 05 February

Master Chef Cake Competition - Secondary School

Sunday, 05 February—Thursday, 09 February

05-09: Year 1 Field Trip

Wednesday, 08 February—Thursday, 09 February

08-09: FS Mathematics Fun day

Thursday, 09 February

Nursery Pink Day

Message from the Principal Can success be instant?

"If you aim for nothing you are sure to achieve it."

Our society is a pretty instant one. We can get to the other side of the world in 24 hours, get hair extensions instead of waiting for nature to take its course, buy special milkshakes to lose weight fast, watch the DVD instead of reading the book. We don't like to wait for things if we do not have to. But there are some things that can not be achieved quickly. Mostly, ambitions have to be worked at; things do not tend to happen overnight.

There are countless famous actors who had unglamorous jobs in burger bars, petrol stations or cleaning in order to work their way through drama college. Often they went to college all day and worked for money all evening. Without this hard slog they would not have been able to get acting jobs and work their way up through the profession.

Sometimes it is easy to think that success just lands in people's laps and occasionally, rarely, it does, but usually it is the result of hard work and determination.

"It is impossible to measure success until you know what you are aiming for."

In life, it is a good idea to set goals and targets. When people achieve their goals, it can build self-confidence and raise self-esteem However, it is important to set realistic goals. Goals that are too high are unachievable and it is easy to become discouraged and disillusioned. It is a good idea to break down bigger, long-term goals into smaller, more manageable short-term goals. As each short-term goal is accomplished, it is encouraging and can be seen as another step on the way to the long-term goal.

GOALS Get help Obstacles Achievable List Simplify Get help: You may need help from someone else in order to identify your goals. Talk to your teachers, family, sports/music coaches, youth leader Obstacles: You are going to face obstacles. You may not always succeed. You may need to stop, think again and set a new and different goal.

Achievable: Passing your IGCSEs at the age of 11 or climbing Mount Everest tomorrow may not be very achievable. Passing a test next week or completing a ten mile hike may be more realistic.

List: Some people find it helpful to make a list of their goals. It is then very encouraging to cross off the goals as they are completed and watch the list shrinking.

Specific: If your goals are too general they are hard to achieve. Being specific means you can see whether you have achieved it.

Seasonal reflection No matter how independent we may try to be, there will be times in our life when we need help. We are designed to be inter-dependent, not independent. We all need somebody to lean on. We need other people and other people need us – it is part of being human.

This is especially true in childhood. When a baby is born, it is completely helpless and totally dependent on its parents or guardians. Without their help it would not survive. As a child grows up it gradually becomes more and more independent. Eventually the day comes when the child is old enough to leave the family and fend for itself. No matter how old we are, we never become completely independent and we all achieve more when we receive help and encouragement from others.

FAMILY Familiar Aid Maturity Interdependence Love Young Familiar: No one knows you like your family. A family can be a safe place to be yourself and know you are loved.

Aid: We need someone to help us when we cannot help ourselves. It does not matter how big or small our family is, even if it consists of only two people, we can still help each other.

Maturity: A family is where we learn a lot about life, and how to become mature. Our families help us grow up.

Interdependence: Families need each other. Family members need to work together, helping each other and allowing others to help them.

Love: No one loves you like your family do. Families are where you can give and receive love.

Young: Children and young people especially need families. You may wish that you were older and had your own home, but when that happens you will probably suddenly appreciate all that your family has done for you.

At this special time, I would suggest that we should reflect on just how important our friends and families are and to give a thought for all those who are less fortunate and/ or are suffering over this holiday season. May I take this opportunity to wish all members of the RIS community a restful and joyful holiday and to those who celebrate, a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year to all.

Mr. Michael W. Clack Principal

RIS Photography Competition to be held in 2017—Examples below

Photo’s by Dariush Eghtedari—Year 10B

December 2016: RIS Dyslexia Awareness month During the month of September, the Learning Support Department raised awareness of Dysgraphia.

Dyslexia and Dysgraphia are both Learning issues. Dyslexia primarily affects reading. Dysgraphia mainly affects writing. While they are different issues, the two are easy to confuse. They share symptoms and often occur together.

This simple table can help you tell them apart.

Meaning…

Dyslexia

Dysgraphia



It is an issue that have difficulty with reading Dyslexia affects writing, speaking and spelling.



Struggling with reading Trouble sounding words Difficulty memorising sight words Trouble following a sequence of action Avoiding reading aloud Difficulty organising thoughts when speaking





Noticeable signs…



    



      

Help at home...



Encourage your child to listen to audio books  Use speech to text tools  Read aloud so your child hears stories above his reading level  Help your child use spellcheck programs designed for people with dyslexia.

Faryal Saeed Head of Learning Support



It is an issue that involves difficulty with the physical act of writing.

It can also affect the ability to organise and express thoughts and ideas in a written form.

Illegible handwriting Difficulty gripping a pencil Spacing letters and words oddly Run on sentences and lack of paragraph break Trouble organising information when writing Poor spelling and grammar Slow writing Incorrect punctuation

Work on keyboarding skills.  Work on correct letter formation using techniques that don’t require writing, like finger writing in the air or in shaving cream.

Dear Parents, We arrange for health related activities to ensure the well-being of our students. We organized a dental check-up for school students from Nursery to Year 6 to promote Healthy smiles of our students.

Together, we can make a difference in the health awareness of our children.

Just a reminder for your attention: During the second term, Raffles International School will be providing vaccination to students under the umbrella of Dubai Health Authorities (DHA)

Vaccination at school will start from the age of 6 years (Year 2). If you agree with your child receiving vaccination at school, send your child’s original vaccination book to the school clinic.

Dr. Reem Ragheb School Clinic

DASSA Swim League The forth round of the DASSA Swim league was held in EIS last Thursday. The students really stepped it up when the mid-way score was announced with only 3 points separating RIS and EIS for 3rd place.

Students competed well throughout the gala, with Orla Lynch, Luca Volani and Michaela Carby finishing first place in some of their events. RIS finished in 3rd place with just 1 point above EIS. Thanks to the parents who came and supported and well done to all students who took part.

1st 2nd

Kings Al Barsha GEMS Wellington Academy

3rd

Raffles International School

4th

Emirates International School

5th

GEMS Metropole School

GENERAL

NURSERY

FS

PRIMARY

SECONDARY

Dear Parents, Grandparents and Extended Family, Careful observation and record keeping are fundamental to Montessori education. Rather than relying on lesson plans for an entire class, our Montessori teachers observe the progress of early childhood students through materials of graduated difficulty. They keep detailed records on individual child’s progress through the curriculum, evaluate children’s learning by observing and documenting their work, and effectively guide children through the individualised curriculum using detailed tracking information for each individual child.

Regular observations have always been the key assessment and planning tools for Montessorians.

Planning relates to the Montessori areas of learning as represented by activities set out within the favourable environment and being prepared to support the children’s individual development. Teachers have schemes of work or lesson plans for all the Montessori equipment and activities available as part of the prepared environment. Preparation of these schemes of work is the key component of the Montessori teacher training. Observations are recorded in the Montessori Record Sheets which are used as a record of children’s progress. This record shows the Montessori activities, organized by areas of learning and outlines the progressive nature of children’s learning. The record is developmentally organised and so charts the child’s development and learning by recording when an activity is introduced. It also records the child’s continued interest in and repetition of the activity and the child’s level of competence, as well as exploration of the activity, reflecting application and imaginative use of the equipment, material or apparatus.

Teachers plan for each individual child using the Individual Trackers which will be completed fortnightly and then adapted as each week progresses, based on regular and precise, high quality observations. The Montessori Record Sheets are completed as teachers observe children working with materials. Teachers also make observational notes which may be transcribed into the appropriate observation form and used in the child’s Learning Journey.

The Benchmark tracking system for the Nursery records progress attainment in the 7 areas of learning for each child. This is updated and available as a reference at the end of every term. Reporting progress to the parents is in the form of the Mid-year (December) and End of year report (June) wherein there is a record of whether the child is progressing (or working on), meeting the criteria or exceeding. In the Nursery, the children have Learning Journeys which include anecdotal and narrative observations, as well as work samples. Parents have access to their child’s Learning Journeys. This serves as a focus of discussion during Parent/Teacher meetings.

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NURSERY

FS

PRIMARY

SECONDARY

Our Montessori Programme meets the EYFS seven areas of learning and our Montessori teachers are trained in making links between the Montessori schemes of work and the EYFS Early Learning Goals.

Through high quality observations, the progress of children is monitored carefully, ensuring that they attain the required age related milestones. Assessment is done primarily through teacher observation of the children during an activity, and it is done both to improve learning and to certify attainments. Most children that have joined the Nursery are likely to be working within the development matters band for 30-50 months having shown competence in the preceding band. Our children make very good progress from their starting points so that by the time they leave, one year later, the large majority are reaching or exceeding expectations for their age.

Garima Kapoor Assistant Head Early Years Learning to Brush

Pretending to be a Dentist

Blue Day

UAE National Day

Dentist Talk

Dentist Visit

GENERAL

NURSERY

FS

PRIMARY

SECONDARY

PRIMARY SCHOOL Dear Parents, Students have been very busy this term to achieve success in all that they have worked on.

Year 3 in particular have produced excellent work relating to their “Circle of Culture” topic. All the children were given the task of representing their country “in a box” This involved children researching about their country, finding artefacts and interesting features related to their own country and art work and pictures of famous landmarks and facts relating to that place studied.

Each box had many different aspects, there were plasticine models, children’s own drawing, artefacts, photographs and postcards representing key facts on the country. This work was later shared with the class as part of a presentation and was assessed by the teachers based on content, facts, and presentation skills. Children were encouraged to question their peers to find out more information and this allowed for all children to learn from each other. This shows again the importance of internationalism in our school and how the children are more confident within themselves, knowing they are able to showcase the positive parts of their home country.

This has also been set as a holiday homework over the Winter Break. This is in preparation for our celebration of International Day in February, which sees a magnificent array of world cultures and traditions. Ms. Zeba has requested that if you are visiting a different country or your home country over the winter holiday then please bring back artefacts representing the country as well as the flag, postcards, and other interesting items.

We look forward to seeing the children’s work and learning more about the internationalism that flourishes at Raffles International School.

I wish you all a very safe, happy holiday and look forward to an exciting new term in January.

Jasmit Kang Deputy Head of Primary School

GENERAL

Nursery

FS FS

PRIMARY

SECONDARY

FS News “Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.”― Maria Montessori.

It is pleasing to see how the children are becoming confident as they work diligently within the prepared environment, learning through their experiences, maturing cognitively and demonstrating a deeper understanding of the daily routine. We recently covered the topic of Plants; it provided a good opportunity for children to explore and care for the plants and observe nature closely.

We were all very excited to celebrate the 45th UAE National Day in school. The students were dressed in the UAE traditional dress or the colours of the UAE flag with pride and explored the different facets of the UAE culture with enthusiasm on that day. We celebrated the day with an outdoor picnic followed by various activities such as; arts & crafts, Henna and face painting. We would like to thank all the parents for their continued support in making the UAE National Day an exciting experience for the children.

The Desert Patch art workshop conducted this week was a great experience for the children. The children enjoyed participating and produced some really beautiful pieces of art with the deco patch technique. We also had the Dental talk with Dr ASP and Nicolas introducing the basic oral hygiene, healthy eating and the effects of plaque through stories and puppets.

We are looking forward to the FS2 Winter Concert. The FS student are excited to showcase their first stage performance. They have been practising with a lot of enthusiasm and effort to perform in front of an audience.

We would like to wish a Merry Christmas to those that celebrate, and to all families, a happy and prosperous New Year.

FS 2 Team

Year 1 News “The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to say ‘The children are now working as if I did not exist’” Maria Montessori Students are becoming less reliant on what they are being told and more so on what they are self-discovering in the classroom, particularly regarding scientific enquiry. As teachers, we are always looking for ways for the children to explore the world around them. This week, students have been using bar graphs when deciding the amount of sugar in different drinks. The progress of the students is apparent, particularly when carrying out such investigations. Children are constantly progressing in different aspects of their lives. It is a privilege for us teachers to recognise and embrace this stage of their development.

GENERAL

NURSERY

FS

PRIMARY

SECONDARY

This week also saw Year 1 students going on a field trip to Green Planet. The trip was very educational and exciting for the students. The students had the chance to explore many creatures of the rainforest as well as learning the importance of caring for our environment. The children are encouraged to remember to recycle in school in order to play our part in reducing pollution and the negative effect that litter has on natural habitats.

We cannot end without wishing all the parents and children a happy holidays. We look forward to continue this journey in the New Year.

Year1 Team

Year 2 News I think if you ask any teacher what the most heartwarming part of their job is, they will tell you it is seeing that ‘light bulb’ moment when a student achieves something new for the first time. Quite often it will have been something they have been working on for some time and it is fantastic to see them progress after all their hard work.

In Year 2 we celebrate student achievement in many ways, most notably with our weekly star of the week award given out at assembly. This award is given to children who have shown fantastic improvements in their skills, abilities, knowledge or understanding over a whole range of areas including both academic and personal and social achievements. We make sure that this is a special and memorable award for the students.

In class we celebrate student achievement each and every day by sharing our best work with our peers so we can work together to achieve more. We gain medals for trying something new, using different strategies and staying motivated. Celebration of student achievement is a great way to let children know that they are on the right track.

Year 2 Team

GENERAL

NURSERY

FS

PRIMARY

SECONDARY

Year 3 News At RIS, we pride ourselves knowing that each and every child is catered for in the classroom. We make sure that our lessons are well differentiated and all children make progress in the lesson. In the personalised classroom, the teacher has the data, information and tracking systems to know what each students can do and the things they are finding difficult. Everyday teaching and learning also offers opportunities for teachers to notice what their students can do, and in the light of this to adapt the curriculum to suit individual needs and interests.

In English, students are writing beautiful play scripts and acting them out for the class. This is a perfect example of learning by collaborating within the group. It is rewarding for teachers to witness their students immense progress.

In science, children are able to investigate keeping in mind the features of a fair test. After investigating they write up the experiment, using all the steps like equipment, method and conclusion. They are given a thinking question at the end of the write-up.

In Social Studies, the children are able to talk about UAE’s culture and traditions. They can compare Dubai from what it was way back in 1970 to now, a progressive international country of the world. They are encouraged to research facts on the laptop about leaps of progress UAE has made. Teachers constantly monitor their research while they work independently.

In mathematics, children are learning about ordering and comparing numbers. After they have finished their task, they also strengthen their concepts through peer tutoring.

We at RIS, give the students more opportunities to get involved, be curious, develop interests and call for the help they need. This raises their level of achievement.

More from our Year group in 2017.

Season’s Greetings and a happy new year to all.

Year 3 News

Year 4 News The Year 4 students went on the RIS Walkathon on Tuesday, 06th December. Prior to the walk, the Year 4 students eagerly raised large amounts of money to donate to the GIVE foundation. On the day, we walked to our neighbouring beach, Kite Beach, where the children thoroughly enjoyed the active experience.

In science, we are finishing up our habitats topic. The children are confident in explaining the different habitats in our environment, animal adaptions to these habitats and human interference with animal habitats. We have also been researching some interesting details about some of the most polluted rivers in the world.

GENERAL

NURSERY

FS

Primary

SECONDARY

In mathematics, we have been studying the topic of time. The children have been working hard on choosing the appropriate strategy to solve different word problems based on time. We have also been reviewing our times tables and mental mathematics.

In English, students have finished up their practice of poetry and the use of metaphors in poetry. We have used similes, metaphors and personification in our poetry writing. The students have created some lovely poems and expressed their creative skills.

Year 4 Team

Year 5 In Year 5 there is a great expectation for students to achieve success on various levels as we are preparing them for Year 6 and ultimately secondary school. On a weekly basis, students are rewarded for their academic, social and behavioural efforts with a Student of the Week award during our upper primary assembly. Once a month students are also rewarded with a Core Value Certificate for implementing the Core Values in their everyday school life.

Individual classes are also presented with the opportunity to achieve the most disciplined class award or the weekly attendance award. Students are also able to accumulate House points on a weekly basis based on their behaviour, homework and transition time.

In English, students have learnt about the features and structure of persuasive writing. They have applied it to persuasive writing including persuasive texts, adverts and brochures. In grammar, the students worked with modality words, connectives and comparatives to aid their persuasive writing.

The focus in mathematics has been learning about transformations including translation, reflection, rotation and symmetry. Students had fun exploring with mirrors, tracing paper, peg boards and other concrete apparatus.

In science, students showed great enthusiasm while learning about the thermometer and how to read it. They used it well in their investigations about melting point and boiling point. They performed well in recording their readings and showing the results in a line graph. Finally, in Social Studies, students researched different types of natural disasters with great curiosity. They showed great independence in completing this topic. They wrote reports and fact files on different natural disasters to show their understanding. Students completed projects on a Natural Disaster of their choice as we closed the topic.

Year 5 Team

GENERAL

NURSERY

FS

Primary

SECONDARY

Year 6 News At the close of Term 1 we can reflect and say that learning was truly holistic. Students took up the challenges of the curriculum and worked their way through various skills and concepts. They learned how to reflect on teacher marking and thus took ownership of their learning. They were able to use IT to reinforce and enrich learning that took place in their classrooms. Use of MyiMaths was a definite asset to students. On the other hand skills of global citizenship, understanding and respecting cultures formed an important part of their classroom work. 21st century skills of critical thinking and collaboration have become much more embedded in lessons. Students prepared and sat their IBT examinations.

The next big step for Year 6 is the Checkpoint Examinations in which preparations have already started.

They will enter a period of review and reinforcing topics and concepts as well as practising examinations skills in the next few months.

Topical assemblies on Oliver Twist and newspaper reports were presented by Year 6 classes. Students collected and donated funds for GIVE foundation during Dress Up Day and Walkathon. Added to these events was the National Day celebration which was celebrated with great enthusiasm and fervour in the school.

We hope the same pace and rigour in academics continues into the next term.

We wish you all a very festive holiday season and greetings for the New Year.

Year 6 Team

GENERAL

NURSERY

FS

PRIMARY

SECONDARY

SECONDARY SCHOOL The complexities of assessment In September 2014, the UK Government made a decision to remove National Curriculum levels and leave schools to decide how to measure progress and attainment. This decision caused concern for schools across the UK and internationally, raising questions as to how to go about life after levels.

Although many schools decided to continue with the levels structure in place, others viewed it at as an opportunity to design measures of students attainment and progress they felt are most appropriate.

Regardless of the system designed, assessment must focus upon:  how well students have learned  what progress students are making year-on-year  all students are on track to meet expectations  implementing tailored support programmes for individual students who are falling behind.

In 2014, RIS formed an Assessment and Reporting Committee to design a new internal structure to measure student attainment and progress. Acting upon comments from previous KHDA inspection reports, the committee discussed the best possible ways to reduce the “copius” amount of data available to teachers and create a system that would be easier to understand for students and parents.

The system implemented by RIS featured a new scale, based upon the assessment practices of Cambridge International Education (CIE), and including simple colours to help students track their progress.

Two and a half years into the new system, students are far more confident in explaining their levels and understanding what they need to do to get to the next band.

Alongside internal assessment processes, there are also a wide range of external testing RIS students are required partake in. The Cognitive Abilities Test 4th Edition (CAT4) is used at the admission stage and in September for all students in Years 3-11, International Benchmark Tests (IBT) in English, Mathematics, Science and Arabic A (Year 7 only) are taken by students annually in the third week of November, GL Assessments in English, Mathematics, Science are administered towards the end of the academic year, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) are taken by participating schools every four and five years respectively and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is conducted globally every three years.

With the wealth of information at teachers and leaders fingertips, it has become top priority of RIS to use data more effectively in helping to understand the progress and attainment of key groups of students. Ongoing training and support has been provided to teachers who are all required to have comprehensive tracking sheets in their classrooms to monitor each group closely.

Although assessment is never simple, RIS is constantly looking at ways to improve the current systems in place and ultimately make sure that students and parents are able to understand the results, reports and data they are provided.

GENERAL

NURSERY

FS

Primary

SECONDARY

With all of that said, Secondary School students and parents received their Mid-Year Reports on Tuesday 13th December via the ISAMS Parent Portal. If parents are having any difficulties accessing the Portal, please contact RISTech@rafflesis.com or the Form Teachers for support.

Additionally, Year 11 parents and students will receive the IGCSE Mock Examinations timetable in the very near future. IGCSE Mock Examinations will take place from mid-end January and provide teachers, students and parents a very accurate picture of the progress and attainment levels.

As always, if you would like to communicate with me regarding anything related to the Secondary School at RIS, please do not hesitate to send me an e-mail, give me a call or stop by the office.

Ian Plant Deputy Head of Secondary

Uneven strides towards the UAE’s National Agenda Targets in TIMSS and PISA The results of the 2015 TIMSS and PISA assessments have just been released internationally, with the Far Eastern powerhouses continuing their domination. Interestingly, the European favourite of Finland has slipped somewhat in the TIMSS rankings, with a score of 512 in Maths now a point lower than Dubai, and 18 points lower in Science. In PISA, whilst they hold their position, they have dropped on average 9 points across each subject, with their drop in Science of 11 points second only to the UAE. This corroborates the findings of Tim Oates at Cambridge Assessment, who discovered that the image of Finland as a country with a progressive education system leading to outstanding results was a myth.

(Finnish Fairy Tales, Cambridge 2015).

The importance that has been attached to these international benchmarking tests as a Key Performance Indicator in the 2021 National Agenda does raise some important points. Firstly, 40 points on the TIMSS/PISA performance rankings is equal to one school years’ worth of achievement. Dubai schools, and the hard work of KHDA, have added a huge amount of value to the education of their students. The average increase across all TIMSS ranking was 41.5 points.

Secondly, the UAE’s PISA scores dropped since 2015 (as with Finland, an average of 9 points and as many as 12 in Science), and whilst TIMSS is both above the OECD average mean of 500 and (in terms of Dubai at least) has made the target of 15th place in Year 9 Maths and Science, the PISA score is firmly rooted around the 45th place. Again, Dubai students outperform those from other Emirates, at least 40 points ahead of Sharjah, the nearest Emirate.

So, there are three burning questions that stakeholders from the Ministry of Education, through education zones such as ADEC and KHDA, to schools and curriculum planners must be thinking about.

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NURSERY

FS

Primary

SECONDARY

1. How can the gap between Dubai schools and the rest of the country (at least one school year of knowledge and understanding across all categories) be closed?

2. How can the good progress in the curriculum knowledge based TIMSS assessments be replicated in the skill based PISA assessments, given the already heavy emphasis placed on critical and higher order thinking skills that there is?

3. How can we address the age-old question of balancing teaching knowledge and teaching skills so that the UAE turns out more and more world beating innovators, scientists and entrepreneurs?

Over the past decade, the UAE has seen a relentless drive to raise standards, from the first school inspections in 2008 through to the launch of the National Agenda in 2014 that gave a renewed purpose to school improvement, and TIMSS and PISA results show their efforts are having a tangible difference.

The What Works sessions (which Raffles International School staff and students have participated in) make this determination palpable on a national level, whilst the efforts of school improvement partners, senior and middle leaders and all teachers have made a clear difference at RIS. In particular, the school’s emphasis on the core values of the National Agenda, and the subsequent development of practices such as critical thinking, innovation and collaboration should mean that when the school reports are published we also should be well on the way to meeting our targets for 2021.

Looking forward to the next cycle of TIMSS (to be conducted in 2019) the current Year 7 students are of notable interest, as learners in this cohort will be among the student population for assessment (when in Year 9), as well as being among the student population for PISA 2021, when the UAE will, without a doubt, have reached the National Agenda targets laid out by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.

Year 7 News The weekly debates have started again, one of our successful initiatives, to encourage the development of our Core Values. I was particularly impressed by the way Year 7 rose to the challenge by diligently researching their given topic and taking the time to apply a range of persuasive techniques in order to express themselves effectively – well done.

Furthermore, Year 7 students have been representing RIS in the DASSA (Dubai Affiliated School Swimming Association) league swimming galas. There has been four galas this swim season and the students have all been placed above third positions. Orla Lynch (who swims for two divisions), Matteo, Davide and Natasha have all been preparing for this season by attending training sessions to develop their strokes and race techniques. The school finished third overall due to their dedication and determination.

As we move into the new term, let us keep up the good conduct and the good work.

Year 7 Team

GENERAL

NURSERY

FS

Primary

SECONDARY

Year 8 News As 2016 comes to a close the Year 8’s have been reflecting on what they have achieved for the year and what is yet to come in 2017. There are many events to look back on fondly – from the National Day celebrations to the walkathon and the various competitions they have all taken part in.

Last week Year 8 celebrated the 45th UAE National Day. As a part of this they debated a range of issues to an audience of mixed Year 7 and 8 students. Many topics were debated, from speed limits to fast food to mobile phones. All the speakers were excellent, not least because they were brave enough to speak in front of an audience of over 100 people. The final winning team who were voted the champions were class 8B, and the individual best speaker was Anastasia Viazmenskaia in 8D. Then in the afternoon the Year 8’s also took part on a mass mannequin challenge, where they had to silently hold a pose for as long as possible – always a teachers favourite as it involves silence. The winners of this were 8C, who were able to hold their poses for a full five minutes.

As Head of Year I wish every member of Year 8 and their families a restful holiday and I look forward to seeing everyone again in January.

Year 8 Team

Year 9 News Do you wake up in the morning looking forward to your school day? If you do, it is likely that you enjoy the positive experiences. We all know that positivity in school relationships is important. It helps us to get work done and feel empowered about our contributions. Acknowledging a student’s achievements and efforts is important. We believe that we should reward the achievements of all who contribute to RIS. This week our sportsmen and women were recognized for their commitment and excellence in matches and training. Sport is just one area where students can excel and progress.

Likewise through initiatives like the Ken Ken challenge. Hyunseok Yoo recently achieved great success in this. Congratulations if we all take a little time to pause, and genuinely acknowledge each other’s achievements this will go a long way to building a flourishing school.

GENERAL

NURSERY

FS

Primary

SECONDARY

The winter break is nearly upon us. During my first term at RIS I have been humbled by the kindness and support given by the Year 9 students. I can genuinely say that I feel very proud to be their Head of Year. As a year group they are approaching their studies with more maturity and focus, which is having a positive effect on their attainment. This has been very much supported by Ms. Gaydon and Mr. Jones as their form tutors. In the coming months as the students approach their checkpoint examinations I look forward to seeing this develop further.

I wish you all a safe and fun filled holiday. To those students celebrating Christmas, Happy Christmas, and to everyone a Happy New Year. I look forward to seeing you all bright and ready to go on Monday, 02nd January 2017.

Year 9 Team

Year 10 & 11 News At Raffles International School we have high expectations of students in all contexts in school and encourage them to aim high in terms of the three key ways of monitoring our success as a school: achievement, attainment and progress.

Students’ achievement is celebrated regularly, both informally and formally, and is an important part of our school culture. Students have many opportunities to strive to be the best they can be not only in academics but also in behaviour, contribution to the school community and extra curricular activities.

We set challenging targets for student attainment and we support all students in working towards these targets. It is ensured that appropriate interventions are in place for students with identified needs. We regularly monitor students’ progress and have a wide variety of strategies to support students in making good progress. Lessons include opportunities for students to reflect on their progress.

Seven of our Year 11 students are participating in the Ski trip in Switzerland along with other students of our school. We would like to wish Khalil, Jad, Musa, Zain, Abdulaziz, Mohamed and Ismail to have a great trip and to all the families of our school seasonal best wishes for a relaxing winter break.

Year 10 & 11 Team