21 May 2015 Issue 89 Thursday,Thursday 12st October 2017 Issue 133 GENERAL GENERAL
NURSERY
KG PRIMARY
PRIMARY SECONDARY PRIMARY
SECONDARY SECONDARY
PARIS SCHOOL CLINIC
RIS Book Fair, Sunday, 08 - Thursday, 12 October 2017
Pink Day, Thursday, 12 October 2017
DATE
EVENTS OCTOBER 2017
Tuesday, 17 October Sunday, 22 October Thursday, 26 October Sunday, 29 October to Thursday, 02 November
Year 2 Falcon show Parent Student Conference (Afternoon session) Literary Soiree Years 7 - 11 Innovents Half Term Break for students (excluding Nursery)
Sunday 29 October to Tuesday, 31 October
Staff Professional Development (No students - excluding Nursery)
NOVEMBER 2017 Wednesday, 01 - Thursday, 02 November
Half Term Break for Nursery students
Wednesday, 01 November
Nursery Staff Professional Development - No students
Monday, 06 November
RIS Open Day 09:00 - 10:30 am
Tuesday, 07 November
UKMT Senior Challenge
Sunday, 12 to Thursday, 16 November
FS2 Planting week
Tuesday, 14 November
Nursery Open Day
Sunday, 19 to Thursday, 23 November
Year 1 Field Trips
Sunday, 19 November
Nursery Yellow Day
Monday, 20 to Thursday, 23 November
IBT Exams (tbc)
Sunday, 26 November
Secondary Internal Assessments
Wednesday, 29 November
National Day Celebration
Thursday, 30 November
Martyr’s Day*
DECEMBER 2017 Friday, 01 December Saturday, 02 to Sunday, 03 December
Prophet’s Birthday UAE National Day - Holiday
Sunday, 10 to Tuesday, 12 December
Year 5 Field Trip
Sunday, 10 December
Nursery Blue Day
Monday, 11 to Wednesday, 13 December
Nursery Field Trip
Wednesday, 13 December
Year 4 Field Trip
Thursday, 14 December
FS2 Winter concert
Thursday, 14 December
Dismissal for Winter Break (no noon dismissal)
Sunday, 17 December - Saturday, 06 January
Winter Break for students (excluding Nursery)
Sunday, 17 to Tuesday, 19 December
Staff Professional Development (No students - excluding Nursery)
Tuesday, 19 December
Nursery end of term celebration
Wednesday, 20 December -Saturday, 6 January
Winter Break for Nursery students
Sunday, 07 January 2018
Students and teachers return
Message from the Principal It is always a pleasure to write to you about the very busy school life of our children. In the almost six weeks of school, hectic activities both inside and outside the classrooms are taking place, there is a growing buzz of active and busy children, class assemblies, achievement certificates and parent engagement is visible all around us. We will be holding our first Parent Focus meeting on Sunday 15 th October. All year representatives will become the Focus group for the year and will be involved and engaged in the school’s improvement journey. The school looks forward to understanding parent perspective and in the process, parents may get to learn about the challenges the school faces on a day to day basis as well as have some understanding of the bigger and wider picture. We are beginning to prepare in earnest for the annual KHDA inspection scheduled for Monday 6th November through Thursday 9th November. Though many of you must be familiar with the process, I have sent out a circular explaining what the KHDA inspection means to RIS. The RIS community as a whole plays a role in the inspection process. Parent support is vital in making the inspection process smooth and successful. Some of the ways parents can support teachers and the school are by making sure children attend school regularly and punctually, come well prepared for the lessons, submit homework on time and follow teacher instructions. The most important way parents can participate and support the inspection is by taking the short survey sent out by the KHDA. All RIS staff works very hard to do well in the inspections and would appreciate parent support; please do log onto the link provided below and complete the survey- your support is appreciated by RIS staff and the leadership team. Link: https://www.khda.gov.ae/Parents
Many of our sports teams have been playing fixtures competing with different schools. Our new team uniform is worn with pride by our students representing RIS. Our HOD Games, PE and Fixtures, Mr. Andrew Clements and CCA Coordinator, Ms. Alysha Clements has taken team sports to another level this year. Just in the short six weeks of school, upper primary and secondary school have played 18 matches against Dubai schools. We have lost some and won some but the most important thing is that we have played all the games with true sportsman spirit knowing that winning is important but losing gracefully is equally important. We are very proud of our students and we hope the exposure to competitive sports will help them in all other areas of the curriculum as well. Reading Literacy is one of the National priorities for this year. The school has taken various step to promote reading for pleasure and reading for academic reasons. Please promote reading at home and especially over the weekends. Parents are the best role model and the culture of reading grows and comes from families. Please pay special attention to higher order reading skills, including inferencing, interpretation and integrating of information. Readers should try to make connections to the world, to another text and to one’s own experiences. Let the RIS community evolve into a ‘Reading Community’! Zeba Khan Principal
Summarise – Events/Innovents/GIVE We started the year with our first Innovent, ‘World Peace Day’. Innovents are group events or competitions which we take part in with our sister Innoventures Schools. World Peace Day was celebrated throughout RIS, RWA, CAS and DIA, with children coming to school wearing white as the recognised symbol of peace. We raised 7127 AED, across the school which will be added to our fund to enhance the education provision in Nepal for girls and boys.
This is our final week for the Year 9 - 12 to sign up for the 2018 Nepal trip, a chance to firsthand how and why the GIVE donations are spent in this area. This will be truly eye opening and humbling experience, living and working alongside the families who will benefit from the new schools. Please contact Ms. Emma for any information regarding the trip emmat@rafflesis.com X Factor auditions will commence shortly with RIS students being given the opportunity to show their talents and have the opportunity to be chosen to represent RIS at the next Innovent. Emma Turnbull Events Coordinator
Car Parking The line markings have created a designated space for car parking as well as better discipline that caters to provide parking to cars ensuring that one car does not take up two spaces.
The start of the new academic year has brought a fresh energy to the Eco Drive at RIS. We already have many wonderful things in place at our school and now we have been registered with DUBAI SOLAR SCHOOLS.ORG Together we will continue to maintain the Green Flag status that we received in 2016. We are in the process of reorganising our classrooms to make sure all of us are working together to save water, use electricity wisely and recycle correctly. Watch this space for more Eco news as it happens. RIS Green Team
Message from the Islamic Department In the Islamic Department we are seeking to achieve the concept of worship in the broad sense of all human activities. Good behaviour is the highest goal in all parts of the curriculum of Islamic education. The curriculum of Islamic education is based on values and ethics that came to the Islamic religion, whether individual values such as honesty, chastity and honesty, as well as collective values such as cooperation and brotherhood and love of work and volunteerism, sacrifice and Shura, and by making these values an end to each part of this approach. :أولياء األمور األعزاء نحن في قسم التربية اإلسالمية نسعى إلى تحقيق مفهوم العبادة بمعناه الواسع الشامل لكل فعاليات اإلنسان فغاية ما يهدف هذا المنهج إلى تحقيقه،وسلوكياته وهذا هو المقصد األعلى لكل أجزاء منهج التربية اإلسالمية هو غرس هذا المفهوم بكل دالالته في نفوس المتعلمين وعقولهم بحيث يتم ربط كل مفردات المنهج بهذا ، وربط جميع مكونات منهج التربية اإلسالمية بمنظومة القيم واألخالقيات التي جاء بها الدين اإلسالمي،المفهوم أو القيم الجماعية كالتعاون واألخوة وحب العمل والتطوع والتضحية،سواء القيم الفردية كالصدق والعفة واألمانة على أن يكون ه ًدفا سلوكيًا لكل،والشورى وذلك من خالل جعل هذه القيم غاية لكل جزء من أجزاء هذا المنهج .مفرداته
Moaaz Mansour Head of Islamic Department
Message from the Arabic A Department Dear Parents, Assalamu Allaikom. We would like to introduce the Arabic A department teachers. Our goal is to develop our students in all aspects and this will not happen without continuous support and co-operation from parents. We will be following the curriculum of the Ministry of Education and will be continue the reading programme implemented since last year. We always welcome your feedback and suggestions for the wellbeing of our students. السالم عليكم ورحمة هللا وبركاته حضرات أولياء األمور الكرام وهذا لن يحدث إال بالتعاون المثمر. نقدم لكم أنفسنا نحن قسم اللغة العربية الذي يضم نخبة من معلمي اللغة العربية للنهوض بأبنائنا الطلبة وتفوقهم .البنّاء بيننا باإلضافة إلى برنامج القراءة الذي نتبعه من،نتبع لذلك منهج وزارة التربية والتعليم باإلضافة إلى منهج مدعم من قبل المعلمين كل حسب مستوى طلبته .العام السابق .نطمح للتواصل معكم ونرحب باستفساراتكم واقتراحاتكم لما به مصلحة أبنائنا الطلبة .قسم اللغة العربية للناطقين بها . هبة رئيسة قسم المرحلة االبتدائية.أ .فداء رئيسة قسم المرحلة الثانوية.أ
Fidaa Ibrahim and Heba Al Saadi Head of Arabic A Department
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Dear Parents, Grandparents and Extended family, Young children have a fertile imagination and this is encouraged through the child's natural and self-directed curiosity, independence and experimentation. Once the child is introduced to a piece of material, then experimentation and exploration is left to the child and the teacher takes a passive role, allowing the child’s inner creativity, critical thinking and problem solving to direct learning. Our classrooms use Montessori material which has an inbuilt control of error. This encourages problem solving, encouraging children to take risks to figure things out for themselves. In our Montessori nursery environment children are encouraged to use their imaginations to understand and explore the wonders of the real world, including the marvels of nature and the diversity of cultures. Independent work and a responsible work ethic is a cornerstone in our classrooms. It can be evidenced that children make active choices which allow imagination to be constantly challenged, with children coming up with amazing ways of resolving problems. In their teaching strategies and student interactions, our teachers stimulate children to think for themselves, which encourages originality and creativity and fosters a love of learning. In the outdoor learning environment as well, with the EYFs development goals of Physical development, the children are seen inventing games, new ways of using existing equipment (within the parameters of safety) and building on their creative skills to inspire new ideas of play. Along with innovation and creativity, another key focus area for us is creating an international-minded atmosphere for the children to imbibe and internalize. Towards this aim, our Montessori environment provides children with a strong background to become globally aware and active citizens. Learning opportunities within the daily life of a child require opportunities to develop deeper understandings of language and culture, engage globally, and facilitate conversations that create an intercultural curiosity, tolerance and lasting respect for others. As such, the teachers spend a considerable amount of time establishing the ‘ground rules of safety, fairness and kindness’ in the classrooms. Many desirable and positive attitudes and behaviours are acquired through appropriate role modeling and reinforcement. There is a clear and established agreed classroom behaviour code which has an important role in ensuring the safety and well-being of all. Although the children are free to walk around the classroom, choose their work, sit anywhere and work collaboratively, they are made to understand that they must respect the work of others, not distract peers that are working and treat materials within the class and outdoor environment with care.
Parent Zone This year, as part of our ongoing self-reflective process and reflection on quality, we are adopting iConnect - a new management system software for the Nursery. Hand in hand with this, goes ParentZone. ParentZone is a smart phone and tablet app which brings you closer to your child’s development at the nursery. Soon you will be able to see a timeline of your child’s time at nursery, with photos, videos and notes on your child’s activities. We want to make sure we work with parents to enhance your child’s development, as well as being able to see what he or she is getting up to while in our care. For those parents who have been with us in previous years, this observation platform and ParentZone will replace the Learning Journals that your child (or child’s older sibling) received at the end of the year. Please note that the app has many features however not all these features will be used or applicable to our settings. Birthday Celebrations in the Nursery Everyone wants to be remembered and cherished on the special day that they were born. Birthdays in our Nursery are celebrated following the ‘Montessori Celebration of Life.’ The Montessori Birthday celebration helps the child to acquire a sense of time passing, of how much they have grown and achieved and gives them an early sensorial impression of how our planet and the sun interact with each other. Due to the tender age of the children, the Montessori birthday celebration in class is for the children only. We humbly request you to respect this and have a birthday celebration involving parents and relatives separately at home. In our experience, a child will not be able to fully enjoy and partake in the special day at school as they get overwhelmed when they see their parents in the class. Also, the child’s friends may get upset not seeing their own parents around and the happy moment may end in tears. The teacher will be happy to take photos of the celebration for you. Please ask for details of how this can be done. Kindly do not send big cakes with icing and cream. These get very messy and we also do not have refrigerators for safe storage. No candies, chocolates or edible treats are permitted to be given out as party favours. Any chocolates, candy, lollipops sent will be returned in the child's bag. The birthday child will be made to feel ‘special’, however we are unable to allow balloons, streamers, whistles, hats and banners etc. for the school celebration. Your teacher will ask you for photos for each year of your child’s life and to write a short life story (sample paper will be provided). This is to be brought in to school for the birthday celebration. If you would like the photos to be returned, please let your class teacher know. We look forward to making lots of happy memories. Garima Kapoor Assistant Head Early Years
Didactic material for educating the senses offers the child a key Building friendships and a sense of belonging Using tongs to develop pincer grip
Role play and dressing up is so much fun
Using a magnifying glass to enhance the senses
Sense of Taste - Fruit Salad day in Casa H
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PRIMARY SCHOOL Dear RIS Community, We’re now approximately five weeks into term and RIS is in full swing. We have received notice of our KHDA inspection, which will take place in early November. This is a chance for us to demonstrate all of the very good work that is taking place at our school. It is a time for self-reflection to ascertain where we are and where we are going. Long gone are the days in education when end of unit / term / year test results were seen as the end of the story. Education worldwide has long since moved to a system of ongoing assessment in which results are analysed to make comparisons between different groupings of students, to modify teaching and learning and plan interventions with the aim that no child is left behind. So this is an exceptionally busy time at RIS as we begin to analyse our students’ start points as well as the progress the school has made since its last inspection in November 2016. Inspection times are of course an opportunity for the school to shine, but so then is every day. Getting our children up in the morning and ready for play group, nursery or school is a challenge in itself. I am pleased to see that the modifications we have made to the car-parking have improved the efficiency and safety of morning drop-off and afternoon collection. I am grateful to everyone for the care they take and patience they exhibit at these busy times. Difficult as it is, we do need to ensure that our students are on time to school and proudly wearing their full school uniform. There has been a great improvement as we have settled into the academic year in terms of punctuality but we can improve further still. In Primary School lessons commence at 07:50, and it is easy to calculate the amount of time and learning lost over a year by arriving just ten minutes late. The exciting thing about working in a large school is the sense of activity at all times in different sections of the school. As the Head of a large section, one does of course have an overview of all (or most!) of the activities, initiatives, projects and events taking place but naturally one cannot be in all places at all times nor oversee everything even if one wanted to. The sense of ownership and responsibility for all the different ‘goings on’ in the school is palpable, and really pleasing to see. As a book lover and father of an especially book-loving son, I was delighted with the recent Book Fair and was able to snap up a couple of picture books for him to add to his ever growing collection. It was great to see the excitement of our students as they got to visit the fair themselves and peruse the offerings. There is still something lovely about the feel of a book, as much as technology has widened the opportunities for people to read. We know at RIS that we have still work to do in relation to our boys’ love of language and reading. I know from my own children that as with many areas of childhood development we impart our passion for things on our children. Our children love being read to and engaged in their reading. Edward Copper Head of Primary School
Key Stage 1 News Foundation Stage Someone once said “Montessori is an education for independence, preparing not just for school, but for life.” With a month into school, children in FS have been practicing basic ground rules and foundational skills to set the tone throughout this academic year. Independence is stressed upon from the time they enter their classroom environment till the time they leave. Whether it is putting their own bag away to tiding up after a meal it is the child who is encouraged to perform these tasks. Self-care is another area the children have been working on with regards to independence ie. Washing their hands, putting on their aprons for art etc. It was Maria Montessori that said “Any child who is self-sufficient, who can tie his shoes, dress or undress himself, reflects in his joy and sense of achievement the image of human dignity, which is derived from a sense of independence.” Over the past few weeks the topic impressed upon the children has been “All about me” which covers a large scope of understanding. Apart from talking about themselves, discovering where each child originates from, the children also enjoyed sharing their favourite things as a result of the support from parents, sending in objects in the brown paper bags. They will continue to explore several topics within the year. The next one focuses on Healthy eating which further helps the children in their independence. The children themselves become aware of healthy and unhealthy food and tend to make right choices pertaining to the food they eat. Thank you for adhering to the healthy eating policy and not sending in sugary treats such as cookies, cakes chocolates etc. as well as crisps and other unhealthy items. It is important for the children to start their day right and be able to focus and concentrate within the classroom, this can be achieved through a healthy balanced diet and only with the continued support of yourselves the parents, which we are always grateful for. Specialist subjects are well underway with the children having adjusted with little or no tears at all within the first two week. New to FS this year is the ICT subject, where children have been learning to use iPads as well as a desktop.
Year 1 News The students of Year 1 have had a very busy time in their classrooms. While learning all about Ourselves, students discussed the many similarities and differences between ourselves and our friends. They recognise the importance of embracing our differences. We have gone on a ‘Senses walk’ around the school to discover that we are constantly using our senses and are more aware of our surroundings. We are all excited to learn about healthy eating and what we can do to stay healthy.
The boys and girls of Year 1 have also been busy learning new topics in English and Maths using the didactic materials in the Montessori classrooms. They are discovering greater or less than, large numbers and place values of numbers in Math while in English, we have been introduced to many new sight words. The children have been introduced to creative writing where they begin with mark making for a story and are working towards making a sentence for their stories. Students have started doing homework for Science and reading. As mentioned in previous communication the children are encouraged to do 15 minutes of homework daily and indulge some added time towards reading. Students are becoming more independent in the classroom and are always eager to learn something new. The children enjoy assembly each week where they learn more about our Core values and the importance of each value in our school. We look forward to meeting all the parents for the Parent Teacher Conference, please do book an appointment with your Homeroom teacher via Pick A Time.
Year 2 News In Year 2 we celebrate the things that make us special. We value and acknowledge our different strengths and weaknesses in the classroom across all subjects and help each other to improve each day. This week, the children in Year 2 had the opportunity to attend the official opening of the Magrudy’s Book Fair. Our aim is foster an environment where reading for enjoyment is part of our everyday routine. The children have continuously been demonstrating hard work and determination in Year 2. In science we have been exploring the concept of light and darkness. We explored which objects make good shadows, using our scientific vocabulary, such as “transparent” and “opaque”. We have been completing enquiry activities, making predictions and interpreting the results that we have collected. In mathematics we have challenged ourselves with step by step problem solving, using the CUBES method. English has been very exciting, as we were using the ‘Talk for Writing’ programme to write a recount. We can now appropriately use adjectives, nouns, verbs and time connectives in our writing. In Year 2 we continuously strive to work together in order for us to become successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens. Susie McShane Deputy Head of Primary School - FS2 - Year 2
Key Stage 2 News This week is a very busy week. The Book fair company- Magrudy’s is in school. We had a wonderful opening ceremony where the Year 2 children were a part of the opening ceremony organized by Ms. Susane Joseph, our librarian. We value reading as the most important thing in a child’s development. Reading promotes so many skills and is also a main focus KHDA. Reading Literacy is a focus in all of the core subjects and as a school we have looked at how we can encourage reading in English, Maths and Science. We have started using reading activities every morning and have focused on using “PETAL” reading strategies during English lessons. This strategy gives more focus on how to infer and question as they are reading. Reading Literacy encourages children to reflect, question, justify and is linked to the Blooms taxonomy that all teachers plan their lessons from. On Thursday 12th October, RIS celebrated Pink Day - focusing on cancer awareness. All children were encouraged to wear pink and to use this day to create and present work linked to this worthy cause. Jasmit Kang Deputy Head of Primary School - FS2 - Year 2
Message from the English Department - Primary School We have had a wonderful start to the Year at Raffles International School with many exciting initiatives being implemented to improve reading and writing across the Primary School. This week, we held our annual book fair and children have enjoyed browsing and selecting books. We are due to begin an exciting online reading program in the coming weeks called RAZ kids. The homeroom teachers will create log-ins for students and will communicate with the parents how the students will log in and complete assignments. The teacher will assign levelled readers and comprehension tasks weekly and this will replace the old take home reader program from Years 2 - 6. In Year 1, they will use the program but will also continue sending home physical take home readers. It is highly engaging and children are motivated to read every night to collect stars as part of the reward system. There are a huge variety of books so that the teachers can assign books to deepen their understanding in topics covered in Science, Social Studies and Moral Education. In other news, we have launched Talk for Writing across the Primary School. Talk for Writing was developed by the author Pie Corbett and is a fun, creative yet also rigorous approach to develop writers. Talk for Writing starts with enjoying and reading books. Throughout the school, we place a strong emphasis on children reading stories and enjoying a range of literature . Through regular reading, we want students to build up an extensive and rich vocabulary for use in their own writing.
During the initial ‘imitation’ stage of Talk for Writing, children learn to tell a story off by heart. They retell a story with expression and actions and make use of the story map to support their retelling. Once the story is learnt, children are encouraged to adapt it. At the ‘innovation’ stage the children make the story their own, for example, by changing the character, setting or making additions of more exciting vocabulary. Finally, at the ‘invention’ stage, children write their own text independently. To find out more, read our Talk for Writing information leaflet. Sarah O Donnell and Sarah Mc Mahon Primary School Literacy Leaders
Message from the Mathematics Department - Primary School Raffles follows the Cambridge Primary Mathematics. It is an innovative combination of curriculum and resources that supports teachers and learners through best-practice international mathematics teaching and a problem solving approach. The curriculum frameworks for each subject for Cambridge Primary are organised into six stages. Number
Numbers and the number system Calculation – Mental strategies, addition and subtraction, Multiplication and division
Geometry
Shapes and geometric reasoning Position and movement
Measure
Money (until Year 3) Length, mass and capacity Time Area and perimeter (from Year 4)
Handling data
Organising, categorising and representing data Probability (from Year 5 )
Problem solving
Using techniques and skills in solving mathematical problems Using understanding and strategies in solving problems (from Year 4)
At Raffles International School each child is given the opportunity to think about and solve problems mathematically by using appropriate knowledge, skills, concepts and understanding. As a school we follow the Cambridge Primary Curriculum which aims to ensure that all pupils:
become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils have conceptual understanding and are able to recall and apply their knowledge rapidly and accurately to problems.
reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language.
can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.
This year Raffles International School has invested in Mathletics programme from Years 2 - 6 onwards to enhance engagement in mathematics. Mathletics is an inspiring and engaging online platform for improving and reinforcing mathematics skills. Mathletics is designed to inspire children with the desire to learn and the confidence to succeed. Class teachers will set homework for the children using this program. Children will need to complete the homework before they can access the games on the site. We recommend that you spend time looking at the program with your child so that you can see how Mathletics will benefit his or her learning. Also to benefit our pupils we have introduced Andre Brodie’s Mental Math programme from Years 3 - 6. Every week your child will be undertaking a mental Math test. It is the greatest way of teaching mathematics facts because it teaches automaticity which means that pupils are performing equations quickly and efficiently. We have a Calculation Policy that outlines the calculation strategies (available soon on the website). Shabana Ahmed Primary School Mathematics Leaders
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SECONDARY SCHOOL From the Secondary School Leadership Team The theme of the week in the Secondary School is Tolerance. Each week themes are debated and discussed in tutor groups and assemblies as part of the Moral Education programme. In our diverse, international school tolerance is also witnessed in many areas as students and staff cooperate and work together to create a vibrant and positive atmosphere. Our sports teams have been showing great success and determination. The swim team entered the first gala of the season at CAS. It was a great team performance and we missed out on top spot by just 2 points. With a few key squad members missing, we are optimistic for a win at GEMS Wellington on Wednesday, 25th October.
In addition the U14 football have shown great character in their recent match against SRS. The boys attitude was great, showing full respect for the referee and their opponents. Most pleasing of all, after being significantly behind at half time, despite playing some nice football, the boys showed excellent determination and teamwork to outplay and outscore their opponents in the second half. Congratulations to all our children and parents.
The Year 7 football team played their first match last week. Despite losing a keenly fought game they still had smiles on their faces at the end. Finally the U16 basketball team fought strongly against a strong team from Dubai British School to win 47 -37. Great play was witnessed from Filippo Geneloni in Year 10. Last week in the PARIS garden Year 7 students were lending a hand decorating the garden furniture and showing off their painting skills. Each student volunteered in their own time to create a vibrant, fun area for all to enjoy.
The curriculum evenings for this year were held last week. Not only did many parents join us at the school but another 500 also joined us on our Facebook Live link. This innovative initiative was so popular that it will be repeated for other meetings to allow more parents to join in the different opportunities on offer. Access to the long-term plans for each subject area can also be sought via the QR codes which are on display in the secondary corridor. Feedback from parents has been positive and the information given will support the learning of our students. This year the Secondary School is making a drive to bring literacy into all areas of the curriculum and to encourage students to read more. One way that this is bring promoted is with DEAR time, Drop Everything and Read. Once a week during tutor time on Wednesday for Years 10-12 and Thursday for Years 7 - 9 the students and staff will sit and read in silence. This can be done on devices such as iPads, books, magazines or newspapers. Please encourage your child to bring reading material on these days. In addition to DEAR time we also have a 'Book Swop' area on the top corridor. Students may bring along books which they have read and swop them with books already there. There are sections in different languages too. All donations are welcome. In the next three weeks we will be running different events for the students. These include, Pink Day on Thursday, 12th October and X Factor on Wednesday, 08th November. Photos of all these events will be posted on out Facebook and Twitter pages. @dxbrafflesissecondary. Please follow and like us. Peter Rowlands Head of Secondary School
Bryony Lynch Deputy Head of Secondary School
Message from the English Department - Secondary School The English department has started the year on a very exciting and positive note. We have welcomed two new members who bring with them a wealth of experience. This experience, coupled with the existing team, has led to students being provided with new opportunities within the realms of English. Examples of such are: a drama club, a book club, a club for speaking practice and an IGCSE coursework improvement CCA. There is also a CCA for Years 7 and 8 intervention whereby targeted and differentiated support is provided. In addition to these clubs, there is a Spelling Bee competition currently up and running (entries for which need to be submitted by the 15th October). This is a wonderful opportunity for students to improve their spelling as well as enjoy competing with others in and around Dubai. It is our intention to hold the preliminary round in the first week of December at Raffles International School although competitors will receive their word lists as soon as their applications have been received. The other exciting event is the Emirates writing competition. All students are being encouraged to write a story or poem which centres on the theme of “Memories”. Aside from the main competition, students’ work will be judged internally and the best will be read at the Literacy Soiree held at Raffles World Academy. Details of this event will follow in due course. Should you have any queries or questions about any of the above, please do not hesitate to contact me. Caroline Gaydon Head of English Department - Secondary School
Message from the Mathematics Department - Primary School Well done to our class of 2017 on achieving outstanding Mathematics IGCSE results with nearly a 100% pass rate. I am extremely proud of the hard work and dedication of both the students and teachers in the run up to the exams last term. This has to be the busiest start to an academic year we have ever had. The RIS mathematics department welcomed two new teachers this term, Mr. Maguire and Ms. Darine. Along with Mr Jones, Ms Furey and myself we now have 5 members of the department. We have also introduced 3 new courses. Year 10 have had the option of choosing GCSE statistics, many Year 11 students have started the Additional Mathematics IGCSE course and Year 12 have begun their AS Level in Mathematics. More information about these courses along with resources you can use to help your child at home will be available at our Mathematics Curriculum Information Session on Monday, 16th October. This will take place at 7:40am in the Lecture Theatre. Please RSVP using this link https://goo.gl/forms/TB84kmiwAz9r0O0Z2 so we can be prepared with enough resources and teachers to answer individual questions. The Mathematics Department loves challenges and has recently introduced a weekly challenge on a new display board near our classrooms. There are different levels of difficulty and we encourage all students to participate. Students have also received information about an exciting new challenge taking place. The World Cube Association are holding a Rubik’s Cube competition on the 21st October in Dubai. We have many ‘Cubers’ at RIS that have mastered the algorithms used to solve Rubik’s Cubes. We often see them showcasing their talents during break time. This is an excellent opportunity to compete against other students in Dubai and gain recognition for their amazing talents. Please see Mr. Scott for more details and how to enter.
Lastly, I would like to congratulate the 23 students that made it through to the 2 nd round of the KENKEN competition which took place 2 weeks ago. They competed against other students to be in chance to represent Dubai for the 3rd round which will take place in November where they will compete to gain a place on the UAE team. The results should be with us very soon and will be announced in assembly. Leena Atkins Head of Mathematics Department - Secondary School
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival
中秋节快乐! Zhōngqiūjié kuàilè The Mid-Autumn Festival is the second important festival in China. It is also called “Moon Festival” because all activities are related to the moon. This is a day of family reunions. On that night, families will have dinner together. After dinner, they sit around at a table with a lot of fruits and moon cakes, appreciating the moon which is thought to be the roundest, purest and brightest moon of the year. In China and some other Asian countries, children are also delighted to stay up past midnight, parading multi coloured lanterns as families go to the streets to watch the moon. There are many legends related to this holiday. The most famous one is about the “Lady Chang’E”, who is the goddess of the moon and lives lonely there with a jade rabbit. On the bright night on the Mid-Autumn Festival, when you look closely at the round moon, you might be able to identify a lonely shade of a lady and a rabbit. Students in the Mandarin class heard stories about the Mid–Autumn Festival, practised Chinese calligraphy, read the poems and tasted delicious moon cakes as well. Emilie Wong Secondary School Mandarin teacher