th Thursday 21 May 2015 Issue 89 Thursday, 09 February 2017 Issue 121
GENERAL GENERAL
NURSERY
KG FS
PRIMARY PRIMARY
SECONDARY SECONDARY
FS and Year 1 Science Fair
PARIS SCHOOL CLINIC
DATE
EVENTS February
Sunday, 12 February
Nursery Open Day
Monday, 13 February—Tuesday, 14 February
Year 1 Mathematics Fun Day
Wednesday, 15 February
Staff Professional Development
Thursday, 16 February
Mid-term Break
Sunday, 19 February
Mid-Term Break
Monday, 20 February—Thursday, 23 February
Primary School Sport Day March
Thursday, 02 March
International Day
Sunday, 05 March—Thursday, 09 March
Nursery Artist Week
Sunday, 05 March—Thursday, 09 March
Book Fair
Tuesday, 07 March
Open Day
Thursday, 09 March
Nursery Art Exhibition
Sunday, 12 March—Wednesday, 15 March
IT Week
Wednesday, 15 March
Nursery Sports
Tuesday, 14 March—Thursday, 16 march
Years 7-11 Camping Trip
Wednesday, 15 March—Wednesday, 15 March
TechnoRISe
Message from the Principal Dear Parents, I would like to share with you some excellent news that is indicative of the achievements of our students and in turn, a reflection of the quality of teaching and learning at our school. This week I received the news from the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), that 20 of our students are amongst the top achievers in the Middle East in English, mathematics and science. Each year thousands of children across the region sit assessment tests International Benchmark Tests (IBT) 2016 – International Assessment for Improving Learning in English, mathematics and science and this year we have done even better with 20 students from Primary and Secondary scoring 100% and they will soon be presented with their Honour Certificates and Award for Excellence. In addition this week, RIS students participated in the Innoventures Education Arabic A/ B and Islamic Competition and our Primary and Secondary students won 20 of the top awards. Well done to all our students and thank you to their teachers for their dedication and professionalism. Finally, this week RIS was one of only a handful of schools across Dubai to deliver a presentation to hundreds of teachers, administrators and students at the KHDA What Works Conference. Our teachers and students were excellent ambassadors for our school. Michael William Clack Principal
Message from the Vice Principal and Head of Primary School Leading a Healthy Lifestyle Importance of Breakfast Breakfast is the most important meal of the day…….. yet a large majority of children skip breakfast. The most common reasons that children give for not having breakfast is getting up late in the morning, rushing to be on time for school and not having and the time available before they have to head out of the door.
At school, a hungry child can lose concentration in class, have no energy for playtime, is easily tired which overtime may affect academic progress. Teachers often complain about the adverse effect on classroom behaviour from children who come to school without eating breakfast. A calm and healthy breakfast every day is the best defence against this happening. It also helps children to get into good habits that they can carry through life. What is in your child’s lunchbox? A healthy lunch keeps active children alert and focused and gives them the nutrition they need every day. No matter how healthy your child’s lunch box is, it would not provide any nutritional value if it does not get eaten. Involve your child in putting snack and lunch together, get them excited by knowing what is in the box, and check the lunch box at the end of day to see what is consumed or regularly left. This will give you an idea of what your child enjoys for snack and school lunch. Many websites provide good lunch box tips for parents of school aged children. Ask your children to research and make a menu for their five days at school. Children love to help in the kitchen. They start to learn cooking skills, they feel they can be helpful and they also take lots of interest in the food packed in the lunch box. Eating together Eating together is a great way to spend time as a family. Apart from many other advantages to having meals together, it also gives you the chance to be a role model for healthy eating. If children see you eating and enjoying healthy food, it encourages them to do the same. Five simple ways to help your child stay healthy: get active each day; choose water as a drink; eat more fruit and vegetables; switch off the screen and get active; and eat fewer snacks and select healthier alternatives. I would like to see more children eating a healthy breakfast before heading to school for the day. On another note, UAE Year of Giving, is a great opportunity to focus on instilling qualities of empathy, generosity, sharing and caring. In school assemblies, I have been talking to children on what ‘giving means’ to them. Year 4 to Year 6 children have expressed their ideas on ‘giving’ in the art form.
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The ‘Art of Giving’, an art department initiative, will sell/auction children’s art work collected through the years and the proceeds will go to a deserving charity. This will lead us to the International Day celebration where more parents will be able to purchase art work done by RIS students. Furthermore, we have now launched a book collection campaign as one of our initiative in the ‘Year of Giving’. Each child is asked to donate a book or more of their choice. The collection of books will be donated to a deserving school to spread the love of reading. This will be a gift from the RIS student community.
Please support the initiative and talk to children on what giving means to them. ‘Do not become pre occupied with your child’s academic ability, but instead teach them to sit with those sitting alone. Teach them to be kind. Teach them to offer help. Teach them to be a friend to the lonely. Teach them to encourage others. Teach them to think about other people. Teach them to share. Teach them to look for the good. This is how they will change the world. (Author unknown). Let us take the opportunity to teach children ‘it is better to give than receive’. Zeba Khan Vice Principal and Head of Primary School
GIVE UPDATE We are very happy to share that we have now submitted funds to Dubai Cares for our second and third primary schools in Nepal. This would have not been possible without your kind donations and support from our board of directors. With the help of Dubai Cares and Buildon, we will be visiting the sites of these two schools. The trip will take place in November 2017. During this visit, we plan to ‘break ground’ of the two schools and help build the foundations. We would like to invite our students to be a part of this wonderful trip. The trip will take place in November 2017 but we will be selecting students in March and April. We will be choosing 6 students from each Innoventures Education School to participate. If you are interested, then please email the following people in your respective schools. Raffles International School: Ms. Emma Turnbull – EmmaT@rafflesis.com Collegiate American School: Ms. Megan Richardson – meganr@casdubai.com Raffles World Academy: Mr. Andrew Jennings – andrewj@rwadubai.com Dubai International Academy: Mr Marc Whitehead – marcw@diadubai.com Our first cohort of GIVE ambassadors organised assemblies in each school to advertise this noble project. We hope your child had a chance to attend the assembly to understand more about what this experience entails. If there are any more questions, please email the teachers mentioned above. Innoventures Education is very happy of the opportunity that our students are given. Our students will not only have a chance to build the school that will educate many Nepali citizens but they will also have a chance to live with the local community. Some of the cultural activities from the first trip included morning yoga, learning to sew and learning how to make bread. However, the feedback from our first cohort was that the interactions with the local community were the most treasured memories they will have from their visit. In the meantime, please look at some pictures from the site of our first school which we helped to build in November 2016. You can see that the local community have almost finished the structure. This is all thanks to you. Let us continue giving as we have done and let us continue to improve the lives of this wonderful community.
Join our GIVE Team
Work is almost finished on the main structure
Final additions to the roof
Learning Support department February Awareness Month: Low Vision and Irlen Syndrome
In UK, Low Vision is a term used for eyesight that cannot be fully corrected with spectacles and/or contact lenses, so that the adult or child still has a vision impairment. Students with low vision needs may be sensitive to light and glare. They may squint, turn their head in an attempt to see better and/or rub their eyes frequently. They may have difficulty with colour differentiation and have headaches frequently. A functional vision assessment aims to help the child and their significant people understand how the child uses their eyesight to get around and access learning materials at school. Most assessors expect to see children and young people at least once yearly and assessments are particularly important at times of transition – for example, to Secondary School, further study and work. Some strategies that can help students with Low Vision: Enlarge small amounts of text, pictures, diagrams, charts on photocopier Provide large print version of the text Change appearance of text and/or background Black print on white paper is usually best. Extra time to complete assignment
Reduce glare from windows and lights, as much as possible
Assistive Technology tools with Universal Design features (such as large button calculators).
A video magnifier may provide the best access to diagrams, graphs, maps, mathematics, forms and other print material not stored on a computer.
Special features on Video Magnifier:
Magnification up to 60 times High contrast white on black or black on white Moveable line markers to help keep reading position Full color Selectable foreground & background colors Split screen capability when computer monitor is used as the monitor
“All Children with special needs just need a little help, a little hope and someone who believes in them” Faryal Saeed Head of Learning Support
Sports News Tag Rugby Team RIS 35 – 25 Gems Wellington RIS tag rugby team recorded their first victory on Monday. A very impressive start to the game saw Saif run past GEMS and score in the opening minute of the game. The boys have been training twice a week and working hard on a sport they have never played until last month. A flurry of tries followed for both sides including some impressive footwork from Ibrahim and Omar. The second half saw Rakan, Igor, Faisal and Andrew score tries to secure the win. The captain Andrew showed some silky passing skills to his teammates. Well done to the team. DASSA Netball League It is the first time for RIS U12 and U14 girls’ netball team to compete in the DASSA league. At the start of term both the U12 and U14 competed in the IVEC Netball tournament and learnt a lot of valuable lessons since then. The standard and pace of the game was very new to some of the girls and the experience really helped. The girls worked extremely hard on their fitness and skills in training since then. U14 RIS Vs Jumeira Baccalaureate School JBS got off to a good start by getting a few scores on the board and looked confident in attack. RIS started a little nervous, giving away consecutive penalties but the girls settled after Philippine scored. This boosted their confidence and they started to move the ball a lot quicker than JBS. The game was extremely close throughout. RIS were leading by 3 points at one stage in the 3rd quarter but JBS came back fighting and the last quarter was point for point nail biting stuff. Tasneem was solid in defense and Gayoung intercepted and worked hard throughout the game. Aneeka worked tirelessly at centre and Philippine moved out to cover the court. Michaela gained confidence in the 2nd quarter and she was on fire with passing and movement around the attacking circle. Polina had her very first experience of Netball and with ease she slotted into goal shooter. Her basketball skills payed off as she was top scorer and cleverly moved around the circle. Unfortunately for RIS, JBS saw the game out with a one point win. It was a highly entertaining game and Michaela Carby received RIS player of the match. All the girls put in a great effort and the confidence and improvement was massive since the last IVEC tournament. The U12 team were scheduled to play Gems First Point this week but unfortunately GEMS had to forfeit the game. However, RIS received the winning points. Both U12 and U14 will play Sunmarke School in the next DASSA fixture.
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Dear Parents, Grandparents and Extended Family, Food and nutrients help to form strong teeth and bones, muscles and a healthy body; a good diet can also protect your child against illness now and in the future. Young children’s need for energy and nutrients is high but their appetites are small and they can be fussy eaters too. It can therefore be a challenge to get a child’s diet right. Pre-school children can normally eat the amount they want, even if it seems they are not taking in very much. At this age children are often good at regulating their appetite. As their appetites tend to be small, providing food on a ‘little and often’ basis is recommended. If they are not hungry, insisting on larger amounts of food can create a battle and lead to longer term issues with food. Adequate, healthy and nutritious food and drink are essential for children’s current and future well-being. It is important for children to be provided with regular drinks and food in adequate quantities for their needs. These must also have the appropriate range and amount of vitamins, nutrients and minerals. Food and drink must be properly stored, prepared and must comply with dietary and religious requirements. In addition, we are required to comply with the Dubai Municipality Food Control Department with regards the safe handling of food items. As part of the Healthy Eating Policy for Raffles Nurseries, we make sure that all staff understand the children’s dietary and religious requirements and of the need to meet these appropriately to promote children’s healthy growth and development. We aim to ensure that our teachers and Class Room Assistants will be good role models and a positive influence on the children’s knowledge, attitudes and behaviour towards food and a healthy lifestyle. These are put into practice on a daily basis at meal times as well as being promoted as part of our general curriculum activities, for example, when covering themes such as All About Me and My Family, Healthy Eating, Personal Hygiene etc. Such experiences are also encouraged in a more formal way within the nursery curriculum. For example, growing food items like lettuce and tomatoes (while planting), tasting foods from other cultures (during ‘Tell us about your culture weeks and International Day celebrations), exploring the various colours/smells etc. (Senses topics). In addition, stories such as “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”, “I Don’t Like Peas” etc. are used during Library sessions, group and circle times with activities to encourage the children to discuss the benefits of good food and healthy eating. The importance of exercise and living active and fit lives is discussed during the course of the year with our children.
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Please find below the guidelines for Food/Snack sent from home: Parents will be advised if their child is not eating well. Fizzy drinks and fruit squash should not be provided. Diluted or pure unsweetened fruit juice can be sent in the snack box. Children will not be allowed to have dessert if they do not eat their main course. Parents of children on special diets will be asked to provide as much information as possible about suitable foods Teachers/Assistants will sit with the children when they eat and encourage good eating habits. Children will sit when eating or having a drink. Parents are asked not to send sweets, crisps and other snack foods to the Nursery. For Birthday food, please refer to the Birthday Celebration note given in the beginning of the year. The nursery is a Nut and Chocolate free environment The children must bring a reusable water bottle We encourage Healthy Eating. Any junk food in the snack/lunch box will be sent back home. Parents are required to send snacks/lunch with home prepared food which does not require re-heating It is the responsibility of the parents to check Expiry dates on pre-packaged food that is sent to the nursery.
We look forward to encouraging Healthy Eating Habits in our Nursery children. Garima Kapoor Assistant Head of Early Years
Circle of Culture-parental involvement
Building mathematical skills
Practical Life activities lay the basis of independence and concentration...
Leader of the day watering our plants
Montessori Time - Spindle Box
Circle Time - Concept of 12 months in the Year
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PRIMARY SCHOOL FS News In Foundation Stage 2, Science Week was an exciting experience for the children. They started their week by working on an experiment in their classes, exploring and formulating a hypothesis. The week progressed as they continued to observe their experiments and ended it by displaying their conclusions. Other classes were invited to visit as the children displayed their findings with pride. Our little scientists seemed excited as they predicted, explored and observed throughout the week. They continued asking a lot of ' how and why' questions which shows that their inquiring minds are beginning to evaluate and think critically. The students were proud to display their experiments and happily shared it with their parents as they ended a week of investigation. Apart from being little scientists, they continued their learning journey while working with more advanced Montessori materials. As we begin the second semester, they seem more confident and motivated to move to the next stage of learning. The Early Years Room continues to offer invaluable experiences of learning through play. The FS2 students appear to be more mature by playing amicably with each other and working collaboratively in groups. The children are getting comfortable in initiating play and resolving conflicts with their peers independently. This demonstrates remarkable progress. We could not be more proud of our young learners in FS. FS2 Team
Year 1 News Year 1 have been working very hard. The high frequency words sent home weekly are common words, words that appear very often in written texts. They are a mixture of decodable words (words that can be sounded out) and tricky words (words in which the English spelling code works in an unusual or uncommon way, which means the words have to be learned and recognised by sight). In mathematics, the children are working on identifying different relationships between numbers, for example this number is 10 bigger than 5. The Science Week was exciting for the students, they got a chance to explore different experiments. They have been making predictions, carrying out their experiments and then recording what they observed. There have been ice melting experiments, floating and sinking experiments, magnet experiments and many more fantastic scientific experiments. The children are looking forward to their Field trip to adventure HQ this week. Here the children will be able to develop their team building skills and refine their large motor skills. The children will be exposed to rock climbing, zip wire and walking on a balance.
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Each month during Circle of Culture we talk about a different country. A parent of a chosen country comes in to discuss and share information and key facts about the important landmarks. If you would be interested to come in and share information about your country, please do inform the Homeroom teacher. A big thank you to the parents who have come in already. In Year 1, we have introduced the House Points system, which is being followed in the Primary and Secondary School. Our aim is to encourage teamwork and to help their transition into Primary School. The children will be awarded house points for wearing the correct uniform, walking nicely in a line, participation in group lesson, being helpful to our friends and displaying good behaviour. There are four different colour Houses and each child will be put into a House. The homeroom teacher will be informing you of the House your child has been allocated. We would recommend that you purchase the House colour caps, to support your child’s sense of belonging to his/her House. Children will wear the caps for activities throughout the year relating to the House system. In Montessori classrooms children make creative choices in their learning, while the teacher encourages challenge to motivate them in the whole curriculum. Please continue to encourage your children to talk about their learning. Kindly continue to encourage your child to read at home. This will also make a significant difference in their writing. Thank you for your continuous support. Year 1 Team Year 2 News It is more important than ever to teach our students about adopting a healthy and safe lifestyle both in school and at home. This includes, social and emotional wellbeing, making healthy food choices and the importance of exercise. In Year 2 we promote this as much as possible through our curriculum outcomes. In January during our Social Studies lesson we introduced our students to the national “No Sugar for 30 Days” initiative introduced by Sheikh Khalifa for the month of January. We undertook an “eggsperiment” using eggs to show the corrosive effect drinking sugary drinks, like coke, can have on our teeth. We even found that orange juice made the egg change colour so may not be a completely ‘healthy’ choice of drink. This week we have been learning all about self-esteem and the importance of knowing your strengths and weaknesses and being confident with these. But to build self-esteem you need your friends help too. We have been learning that by pointing out your friends’ strengths and giving them a compliment you can also help build their self-esteem and this in turn can make you feel good about yourself at the same time. Year 2 Team
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Year 3 News Year 3 children have been active participants in a myriad of cross -curricular activities. They are excited to make more friends, learn new skills and bond with their activity teachers after school. In mathematics, children have been introduced to the formal operations of multiplication and division. The focus is on understanding the operations and on finding patterns and strategies related to certain factors, with the eventual goal of gaining fluency in using all basic multiplication and division facts. Students gain this understanding and fluency by being able to represent and interpret multiplication and division in a variety of ways, including equal groups, arrays and by developing an understanding of the mathematical relationship between multiplication and division. Year 3 children have also been working on adventure stories and are gaining confidence in planning, writing and editing their own stories. A good adventure story has the ability to draw us into a world we might otherwise never explore. Here are a few tips for digging into an adventure book with your child: When you read aloud with your child, build in time at the end to talk about what you have just read. When they have questions, dig deeper. Watch for the tidbits of the story that interested them the most and read more about that in another book or online. Sometimes when you are reading, there is no time to dig deeper. (If you are reading before bed, getting into additional research could make bedtime really rough.) In those cases, make a mental (or actual) note and bring up the discussion again at a better time. Think of questions to help your child imagine what it would be like to be a part of the story. Let your child make up an alternate ending to the book or a chapter. Talk through ways the plot could have gone a different way. The goal is to allow the adventure in the story to spark curiosity and a love of exploring something new in your child’s heart and mind, and most of all, to enjoy the adventure of reading. "There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island." — Walt Disney Year 3 students continued to seek information through observation, exploration, and participating in science investigations to learn about maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle as well as caring for their teeth. Good health, wellness, fitness, and healthy lifestyles are important for all people. Increasing the span of healthy life is a principal health goal. Health is more than freedom from illness and disease. The dimensions of health and wellness include the emotional (mental), intellectual, physical, social, and spiritual. A positive total outlook on life is essential to wellness and each of the wellness dimensions. A “well” person is satisfied in his/her work, is spiritually fulfilled, enjoys leisure time, is physically fit, is socially involved, and has a positive emotional- mental outlook. This person is happy and fulfilled. Our students are eager and enthusiastic about adopting a safe and healthy lifestyle and we look forward to seeing them eat healthy balanced snacks and lunches at school.
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Some of the wonderful Social Studies projects on famous people around the world can be viewed on our display boards. Learning in a global classroom offers students the opportunity to increase their awareness and understanding of other cultures, promotes critical thinking, and helps to develop an appreciation for other points of view. International experience and a global education help shape students who are good at managing their time, able to think critically about and analyze situations, able to communicate effectively, and who view the world from a much broader perspective. Class photographs are always a special time to record little moments that are precious but easily forgotten. Our students’ faces shone brightly with pride and were captured in a beautiful way to remember the school year. I am sure that you are looking forward to receiving these tokens of school memories. Year 3 Team
Year 4 News Year 4 have had an interesting and busy fortnight . In English, we have been studying our historical fiction text, ‘Escape from Pompeii’. We have compared features of this type of text with other texts before writing our own version. All students have now created their own historical fiction story using a range of features which we have studied over the weeks. Students have let their imaginations run wild during this and have produced some wonderful stories with detailed characters from a roman background. We have learned many important lessons from this topic. In science, we are now introducing different experiments with electricity and are gaining knowledge on electrical circuits, their components, insulators and conductors and will be carrying out some research on some famous inventors. We will revise our safety rules to encourage children to always be safe when using electricity at home or in school. In Social Studies, we are continuing with our unit on the Romans timeline, houses and the army. We will connect it to our English skills by writing and reading about this era. We are focusing on overall development of reading and comprehension skills. In mathematics, we are starting ‘Data’. It is going to be lots of fun gathering data from one another and around the school and representing this data on an appropriate graph. We are hoping to look at some healthy eating charts to see where students are promoting and a healthy lifestyle. We will look at a range of graphs including tally carts, pictograms, bar charts and line and dot graph. Overall, we are having a wonderful start to the second term. Year 4 Team
Year 5 News Year 5 have had the privilege of visiting UNHRD (United Nations Humanitarian Relief Depot). This was a real life experience for our students who were able to closely relate their learning through the topic of migration in Social Studies.
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The focus of the field trip was to create awareness of challenges faced by people around the world, when struck with a natural disaster or a conflict and how they are supported by different organisations. Year 5 were able to get an insight on real life scenarios and as part of the critical thinking activities students were also able to apply their knowledge in calculating the size and quantity of emergency supplies. Students were able to engage in discussion to share their understanding of migration and particularly focusing on pull and push factors behind them. Year 5 remained enthusiastic engaged throughout their visit and used this opportunity to find out extensive information about the role of UNHRD and the level of support they provide around the world. Students were amazed to find out UN response units were able to reach people within thirty six hours anywhere around the world as they have depots and warehouses located in many key countries. Students were excited and eager to learn throughout the planned activities. This gave them a feel of responsibility towards helping those people in need and provided an experience of steps involved in organizing relief. Year 5 students working in a team exercise to open a tent which is used to house vulnerable people who may suffered in a conflict or a natural disaster. Year 5 Team
Year 6 News As the term progresses we can be sure of one thing: every student is working and applying to prepare themselves to the best of their abilities for the Checkpoints ahead. The result of mock examinations have given them a good idea of their strengths and areas to work on. Teachers have created dedicated subject groups on Edmodo and a range of practice papers have been uploaded for students. In coarse of the next few weeks we will be reviewing topics from Year 4 and Year 5. The field trip to the Green Planet was an eye opener for our students. They have linked their learning in Science about deforestation to English writing and produced persuasive letters to express their opinions on logging. The visit also enlightened students about the innumerable species that thrive in rainforests and how the ecosystems operate there. Coming up‌ Sports day on Thursday, 23rd February and Transition Talk to Year 7 on Monday, 13th February. Year 6 team
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SECONDARY SCHOOL Leading a Health Lifestyle
As a Physical Education and sport fanatic, I have especially enjoyed writing this article on healthy lifestyles. I remember that my whole upbringing revolved around sport. Whether it was PE lessons, representing my school teams, playing football on the streets or watching my father play cricket my teenage years where active and enjoyable. I continued my passion for sport when I signed a professional football contract for Hull City AFC in 1996. Although my dream of turning professional was achieved, my career was short lived. Three years into the game I was told I was no longer good enough to continue playing at that level. It was at this stage that I decided to pursue my love of health and sport in the USA. I started my BEd. degree in Physical and Health Education at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point as well as playing American Football, running the Intramural department and helping to coach the women’s football team. Needless to say, life was busy and incredibly active. Inside the classroom I was learning about the importance of healthy lifestyles, diet, biomechanics, kinesiology, physiology, psychology…….the list goes on…….. Through all of these experiences I was able to gain a very good understanding of what it takes to lead a healthy lifestyle. As defined by the World Health Organisation, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (1). At Raffles International School, we promote and advocate healthy lifestyles through our curriculum, both during and after school. Needless to say the most obvious link is Physical Education, although all subjects can impact a student’s view on health and the importance of it in our daily lives. Looking at current statistics in the UAE, leading an active lifestyle is more important than ever before. In 2015, it was reported that obesity in the UAE was twice the world rate. So what can students do to help lead an active lifestyle? Below are some basic questions to ask yourself first (2): Are you able to maintain a healthy weight (a BMI of 18-25), or are you successfully losing weight to attain a healthy weight? Do you eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily? Do you exercise 30 minutes or more, 5 times a week? After answering these questions it is very important to then create a schedule and plan for an appropriate exercise, diet and rest regime. These three key elements are vital in leading a healthy lifestyle. 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 ianp@rafflesis.com References http://www.who.int/about/definition/en/print.html http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/4-steps-healthy-lifestyle
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Year 7 News A safe and healthy lifestyle is something that everyone should integrate into their everyday lives. A healthy lifestyle is not just about exercise it is also about your diet that includes aspects of a balanced diet. You should be consuming at least five handfuls/portions of fruit and vegetables a day. These types of foods contain vital vitamins and minerals that keep the body healthy and free of disease. Instead of ordering a greasy takeaway, you should tuck into a nutritious, home-made salad. Come to school with a healthy, nutritious lunch that will support your busy school days that require high levels of concentration. Furthermore, you should be doing at least one hour of moderately intense exercise a day. These sessions should not only be to benefit your body’s health but to encourage you to look after yourself more. Year 7 Team
Year 8 News One of the most important challenges facing young people today, and in Dubai especially, is how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. There are so many opportunities for students in Year 8 to eat unhealthy food and not to exercise, and it is understandable as to why this is a concern not just for us but for the Government of Dubai. I asked some students in Year 8 what they did to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and what the school could do to encourage more healthy eating. Here are some quotes from out students as follows:
“I do lots of exercise – swimming especially” says Luke Cairns from 8C “I’d like to see the school build a skate park, because its great exercise for your whole body, abs and everything” “I make sure I eat lots of healthy food” says Mohammed Khalid in 8C;“such as fruit or rice cakes. I’d like to see more healthy food in the canteen to eat everyday”
“I do exercise – swimming and jump rope” says Seo Jin in Year 8D “I’d like to see more healthy food like different salads in the canteen”
“Me too;” says Seif in Year 8D “I’d like to see more healthy food in the canteen.”
The Year 8’s are certainly very committed to living a healthy lifestyle, and we will be spending more time as the year goes on developing their knowledge of how to live healthy in Dubai. Year 8 Team
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Bowling Trip
“Green Note Field Trip ” Hana Feteha
Bowling Trip We recently arranged a field trip for the students who got the highest green notes amount from their year group. The students were taken to The Magic Planet, located at the Mall of the Emirates. Many of the students enjoyed the field trip as it was fun. The school bus left at 3:40pm and the students were allowed to wear their own clothes.
In my opinion, it was a very nice idea for a reward trip. It was after all a reward trip. It rewards the people, who worked very hard through the term or semester to get Green notes.
Everyone I think perhaps will agree, that this was very fun and enjoyable. And to make it more enjoyable, people who went to the trip saw Mr. Scott’s [Head of Year 8] child, Alexander.
By Hana Feteha (Year 8A)
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SECONDARY
Year 9 News This week the students in Year 9 have been working very hard to achieve their best possible scores in their Checkpoint examinations. Once the results are received and have been given to the students their teachers and I will be discussing strategies for interventions and support that we can put in place in order to address any gaps related to their learning. One area which has been proven to affect a student’s performance is a healthy lifestyle; daily physical activity, having a healthy nutrition intake, reduced television usage and eating a healthy breakfast. At RIS we are working with our students to promote healthy lifestyle.
The following four points summarises the key areas which can influence a student’s academic performance: Students with better health and wellbeing are likely to achieve better academically. Effective social and emotional competencies are associated with greater health and well-being, and better achievement. The culture, ethos and environment of a school influences the health and well-being of students and their readiness to learn. A positive association exists between academic attainment and physical activity levels of students. There are numerous opportunities for Year 9 students to get involved in physical activities within school. We have a very successful football team and we have a number of students who are playing sport at a high level. A study identified that children engaging in physical activity had a positive effect on academic performance across all subjects and final GCSE examination results. Students engaging in sport and physical activity achieved 10-20% higher in their IGCSE’s. In addition to encouraging the Year 9 students to adopt a healthier lifestyle we have also been focusing on creating a positive ethos and mindset. Students who are confident about their learning and who have a ‘growth mindset’ believe their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. They are able to persist when faced with challenges. Pupils who can set goals, manage stress and organise their school work achieve higher grades. and parents can really help to support this.
Good luck to all the students. If you wish to discuss any of the issues please do not hesitate to contact me. bryonyl@rafflesis.com
GENERAL
NURSERY
FS
Primary
SECONDARY
Year 10 & 11 News Young people’s health, well-being and educational success are closely related. Especially during the examination period when it is often easy to forget the basic principles of living a healthy lifestyle when preoccupied by late night and early morning cramming sessions. Stress levels can be higher than usual before examinations and can lead to a variety of medical illness such as headaches and stomach upsets. Did you know that what you eat and drink can affect your examination performance? What is the best diet to follow on examination day? Iron and B vitamins are important in order to maintain physical and mental energy necessary to study well. Iron-containing foods include red meat, cereals and spinach. Foods that contain B vitamins include whole-grains, wheat germ, eggs and nuts. Fish and soy are other foods that are said to help boost your brain by providing the nutrients it needs. Protein-rich foods are considered to be brain-boosters and can lead to greater mental alertness. Healthy food choices on examination day include eggs, nuts, yogurt, and cottage cheese. On examination days, stay away from foods made of white flour, such as cookies, cakes, and muffins, which require added time and energy to digest. Avoid foods that are high in refined sugar, such as chocolates, desserts, and sweets. Also avoid certain food combinations such as protein and starch together. These substances require added time when they have to be digested together. Many students fall into the trap of turning to coffee or energy drinks to help them study. You may think that it will help you study into the night — or pep you up for an examination — but it is more likely that you will not be able to focus and concentrate. Combining a healthy, balanced and varied diet with regular physical activity has a positive effect on educational success and encourages students to stay focused, motivated and happy in school. Year 10 & 11 Team