21 May 2015 Issue 89 Tuesday,Thursday 31th October 2017 Issue 134 GENERAL GENERAL
NURSERY
KG PRIMARY
PRIMARY SECONDARY PRIMARY
SECONDARY SECONDARY
Careers Day at RIS
Box Appeal
PARIS SCHOOL CLINIC
DATE
EVENTS OCTOBER 2017
Sunday, 29 October to Thursday, 02 November
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
Prophet’s Birthday
Saturday, 02 to Sunday, 03 December
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
Established in 2011, the Advisory Council continues to play a significant role in the improvement of the school through its contribution to the school Board of Directors. The objectives of the Advisory Council are to drive school improvement, expectations of the UAE National Agenda, guide development, monitor progress and hold the leadership of the school accountable for the quality of education delivered. The Advisory Council is fully representative of the school community including: parents, professionals from the community, members of higher education, RIS senior leadership, Innoventures Education group management and a Board Director. Feedback from stakeholders, including parents, staff and students, contribute significantly towards school decision making. The Advisory Council meets formally three to four times a year. The Advisory Council is also informed about various internal and external reports related to the school’s progress, including reports by accreditation bodies, external consultants, summary of parent surveys, the school improvement plan, and academic results. Parent input is also channeled through other forums including focus groups, formally scheduled parent gatherings and direct feedback.
Parent interaction with members of the Advisory Council
At the recent Advisory Council meeting on 27 September 2017, the following were covered:
Review of the start of the Academic Year 2017-2018 and IGCSE results of the first cohort.
Focus for 2017-2018: Further improvement of standards with particular focus on achieving consistency; UAE National Priorities; Innovation as a driving force; Professional development; Enrich CCAs, Innovents and external competitions; GIVE – the gift of Innoventures Education and the philanthropic initiative which has teamed up with Dubai Cares to sponsor the construction of primary schools in Nepal, and other initiatives in the future. The student body has chosen education and clean water as the themes for GIVE funds. Innoventures Education contributes an equal amount of the funds raised by its schools.
Review of role and responsibility of Governance in driving forward the UAE National Agenda. Towards realizing its target of ranking within the top 20 countries in PISA and top 15 countries in TIMSS before the deadline of 2021 Focus on the Emirati students Introduction of Moral Education Formalising further the teaching of UAE Social Studies Improving the provision of SEN Widening the scope of innovation by students Raising further the focus on reading literacy
Enhancements to the inspection framework for 2017-2018, RIS self-evaluation and ratings
Enhancing Islamic Education and Arabic by providing higher levels of challenge and engaging students to raise attainment
Improving teaching and learning by the consistent use of assessment information to inform lesson planning and set appropriate targets for students’ progress
Key enhancements to staffing by adding on eight new positions (one management and seven teachers)
Raising teaching and assessment standards through the Leaders of Learning programme
Enriching the curriculum and co-curricular activities with support from the talented parent community
Key enhancement to facilities including two new state-of-art STEM labs for Primary and Secondary
Following the meeting, there was a reception for parents to meet with members of the Advisory Council and discuss any aspect of the school and education of their children. All members of the Advisory Council tour the school and visit classrooms to observe teaching and learning, and also interact with students. A profile of the Advisory Council members is appended for your reference.
RAFFLES INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBERS AVISHESHA BHOJANI Avi's professional career spans Marketing Services, Media, Private Equity, Investments and Government sectors. At the helm of the BPG Group (www.batespangulf.com) since 1991, Avi consolidates the Group's interests across advertising, public advocacy, public relations, design, activation, media asset management and digital verticals, in the Middle East and North Africa regions. He has also assisted in the conceptualization and execution of a number of strategic Dubai initiatives and has served the Government of Dubai while assisting with the development of Knowledge Economy hubs in Dubai. An Alumnus of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad and Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, Avi is a founding Director of Endeavor UAE, PanIIM Alumni Network Gulf and the Advisory Board of Abu Dhabi Capital Management. Avi is also the Managing Director of Innoventures Education, General Partner of Montana Capital and AMEA Ventures Ltd, and is Chairman of International Management Ventures FZ LLC. POONAM BHOJANI Poonam is an Economics Honours Graduate with an MBA from India's premier business school, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. Prior to envisioning and cofounding Dubai International Academy, Poonam has had significant industry experience working on leading edge technology solutions with a range of organizations across India, Hong Kong, USA, Belgium, Sweden, The Netherlands, Oman and UAE. She is the CEO of Innoventures Education and has served as the President of the Middle East IB Association of Schools and is the Secretary of the Dubai Private Schools Group. DR. SEHAMUDDIN GALADARI Dr. Galadari graduated with Ph.D. from Imperial College, London. He is a visiting Professor at Harvard Medical School and Senior Vice Provost of Research Outreach, and Managing Director of the NYUAD Research Institute. He joined the UAE University in 1991. He has served as Vice Provost for Research & Graduate Studies and on the Advisory Boards of Dubai Harvard Foundation for Medical Research, Emirates Foundation, Abu Dhabi and Chairman of the Medical Research Grant Committee of Sheikh Hamdan Award for Medical Sciences. He has been a visiting Professor at Imperial College, University of Glasgow, Duke University Medical Centre, Medical University of South Carolina and POSTECH in South Korea. ALEJANDRO CARBON Alejandro is the Executive Director of Alternative Products and Analytics at Majid Al Futtaim Finance. Alejandro is in charge of prepaid cards, remittances and mobile wallet businesses as well as running the analytics function for the entire business. Prior to that he has spent 10 years in consulting with McKinsey & Company, working across multiple industries. An MBA with distinction from University of Michigan – School of Business, he brings a keen understanding of strategy, stakeholder engagement and processes to the Advisory Council.
NASSER TALIB IBRAHIM NASSER Nasser studied at the prestigious Higher Colleges of Technology, Dubai. He is a partner at Nasser Group Investments LLC. Prior to this he has had stints with Pepsi (Dubai Refreshments) and Ghandi Electronics (Philips) and the Desert Group where he served as CEO. He has led the diversification and expansion of the group in trading, commercial, interior landscapes and golf and set up a potting soil manufacturing factory. He has been on the Boards of Nasser Group and Al Islami since 1996.
MICHAEL STEPHEN Michael Stephen is a Chartered Accountant and has a Diploma in Portfolio Management with over 20 years' experience in consulting and industry. He was part of the core team of Innoventures Education that set up Dubai International Academy in 2005. Michael started his career in an accounting firm focused on audit, tax, corporate law, and business and investment advisory services. He is a Fellow of the Association of International Accountants, UK and has been on the faculty of a business school in Dubai. Raffles International School Advisory Council
Message from the Principal “Education is a fundamental element for the development of a nation and the best investment in its youth.” Dear Parents, Our inspection will commence the week beginning Monday, 06th November through to Thursday, 09th November, lasting 4 days. The underlying principle of any inspection process is to drive improvement through raising awareness of current strengths and areas for development. Inspection acts in a number of ways to drive and support school improvement:
Raises expectations by setting the standards of performance and effectiveness expected of school Clearly identifies strengths and areas for development Recommends specific priorities for improvement for the school and, when appropriate, checks on and promotes subsequent progress Promotes rigour in the way that schools evaluate their own performance, thereby enhancing their capacity to improve Monitors the progress and performance of schools and challenges and supports senior leaders, staff and those responsible for governance. The core purpose of the UAE inspection process is to support the education statement in the UAE Vision 2021. Achieve a world-class education system Apply a high quality evaluation system Measure the quality of school performance Support school improvement Support students’ outcomes Over the last couple of years in particular, RIS has continued to develop, building upon its achievement and success and also learning how to improve.
Parent Focus Group Meeting
Parent Focus Group Meeting
This year we have introduced the UAE Moral Education Programme in Student Council Meeting on Innovation Years 2 - 10, and the Ministry of Education UAE Social Studies curriculum, in line with the UAE National Priorities and the Dubai Strategic Plan 2021. We have also been focusing on reading levels and we continue to pay more attention to Reading Literacy as another national priority. H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE’s Vice-President and Dubai’s ruler, stated, “our goal is to make reading a daily habit that is deeply ingrained……..” Let us join hands to make our goal a reality. I sincerely believe as a community we are in a great place and I therefore look forward to welcoming the inspectors and inspection as an opportunity to celebrate our educational journey. Please find below the online-survey for parents. It is important to select the correct school name from the list before answering the questions. Parent participation in this survey is very important for the school and I strongly request you to please find the time to take the short survey incase you have not already. https://www.khda.gov.ae/Parents Zeba Khan Principal
With the completion of the X Factor auditions, the judges will be deliberating over the weekend and aim to have the finalists’ names released by the end of next week. Well done to everyone who took part; the judges have difficult decisions to make.
As a result of the generosity of the RIS student and parent community, we will be donating over 300 boxes and bags of essential hygiene supplies to the labourers of Dubai, in partnership with Radisson Blu hotels. Emma Turnbull Events Coordinator
The month of October was an interesting and exciting one for Year 5 and 6 students who were involved in a competition whose theme was ‘TRASH to TREASURE’. Year 6 students made Prezi presentations around this theme and their work in the ICT lessons was outstanding. Take a look at one of these posters that are made by reusing old paper. The Year 5 students are working on using stick animation for the same TRASH to TREASURE theme. Their work will be on a google doc and also posted on the RIS Facebook page so make sure you take a peek. Year 3 and 4 will be having their TRASH to TREASURE competition very soon. If you are interested in doing research then please visit the Environment board near the Library. We wonder who the next Eco Star will be. Let the Green Team catch you doing your best in using the recycle bins properly and you could have your photo on the board too. Check out the first Eco Star today. RIS Green Team
Message from RIS Learning Support Team A warm welcome from the Learning Support Team to our RIS family. As a team, it is our goal to help our students in becoming more confident and an independent learners. We are looking forward to a productive partnership with you to ensure that our students achieve their highest potential. We recognise that in order to be successful in school, our children need support from both home and school. Our Team: Ms Faryal Saeed – Head of Inclusion (SENDCO) faryals@rafflesis.com Ms Kiran Ahuja – Year 5 and Year 6 and Secondary Learning Support Teacher kirana@rafflesis.com Ms Sweta Sheth – FS, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3 and Year 4 Learning Support teacher swetas@rafflesis.com Ms Tabassum Akbar Thakur - Learning Support Assistant for Year 3 and Year 4 Ms Bhuvaneswari Srinivasan - Learning Support Assistant for Year 5 and Year 6 Open communication between the learning support team and parents is essential. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. ‘All children with special needs just need a little help, a little hope, and someone who believes in them’
Faryal Saeed Head of Inclusion (SENDCO)
It is a pleasure for me to take on the role of Gifted and Talented Coordinator at RIS and I greatly look forward to identifying and supporting our Gifted and Talented students. Gifted and Talented (G&T) students are defined as: Students who show evidence of high performance capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop such capabilities. At RIS, we are very lucky to have such a high number of gifted students with a range of talents that deserve support to reach their full potential. One of the key requirements to successfully support our G&T students is to have the help from both parents and teachers. We have many great events that will allow our students to shine – from the Kidzania Brainiac competition, to the KenKen maths competition – as well as CCAs that will help our G&T student challenge themselves. As someone who has worked in the school for three years, I am aware of the range and depth of our students’ talents, and I will do everything I can to help those students reach their full potential. Michael Scott Secondary School Humanities Teacher and G&T Coordinator
What a wonderful time to live in Dubai! 10 days in and we hope you have all been getting out and enjoying your 30 minutes of activity as part of the Dubai 30x30 Fitness Challenge! Don’t forget to download the app and register as a member of the Raffles International School community to log your ‘MOVES’ (you can back date any activities from October 20th) When you download the app you’ll also gain exclusive access to over 1,500 free classes and events, special discounts and e-vouchers at Dubai’s fitness outlets. Open your App Store/Google Play and Search ‘Dubai 30x30’ or follow the link: https://dubaifitnesschallenge.com/download-dubai-fitness-challenge-app/ Once registered with app, join the RIS team: https://dubaifitnesschallenge.com/update-your-registration/ Record you ‘MOVES’ using the app which will automatically add to the RIS school total, helping Dubai become the most active city on the world! Link to tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL_R1nTzvGA#action=share In addition to all our normal great sporting activities, we warmly invite All Students, Parents and Staff to come and join the PE Team for our morning 30x30 sessions from 7:00 -7:30am in the Main Sports Hall. Early entrance is through the Green Gate only (at the rear of the school, near the pool). Sunday Family Circuits
Monday Just Dance
Tuesday Fitness Yoga
Wednesday Boot Camp
Thursday Badminton & Table Tennis
Mr Aeham & Ms Emma
Mr Dewald
Ms Alysha
Mr O’Brien
Ms Keady
Andrew Clements Head of PE and Fixtures
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SECONDARY
Dear Parents, Grandparents and Extended family, Our Montessori environment puts a lot of emphasis on the ‘holistic’ development of the child. Between the ages of 2-4years, a child personality, self-esteem and confidence begins to take shape and children build a self-image. There are big ideas which need to be introduced to little ones in simple ways. Back in the 70’s there was a Broadway show and then a television sitcom titled “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies.” The lighthearted story was about the trials of family life with three young children. The title came from an occasion when the mother was preparing her home and children to be on their best behavior for guests. She had given her kids a long list of do’s and don’ts. Much to her shock, one of the boys got hold of the flower centerpiece and nibbled it to a collection of stems. She moaned that hereafter, her list of behavior standards would include “Please don’t eat the daisies.” Alas, there is just no way to make a list long enough or sufficiently complete to prepare our children for everything they will encounter in the days and years ahead of them. If we were to keep adding to the list of prohibitions and rules as our children grow, one could imagine it being a mile long by the time they were teenagers. Nor is it useful to engage in the style of parenting that discovers afterwards what the problems are, and then makes up rules to match. Playing catch up with guidance can only be frustrating for children and parents alike. Rather, it is important that parents understand that the guidance they are giving now to their young children contains the vital limits that will control their actions through life. That is, they are teaching four basic principles, or Big Ideas, that can be applied to fit particular situations as they occur, no matter the age of the individual. These really are the important values that should help them make important decisions as they learn to control their actions and behave appropriately. The Four Big Ideas to teach your children are: 1. Keep yourself (and others) safe. This applies to behavior on the playground or running into the street, as well as when you get your first driver’s license or are tempted into risky behaviours by teenage peers. Parents should frequently ask the question, “Is that a safe behaviour?” This helps even the youngest children learn to consider and control their actions.
2. Take care of the things around you. Even toddlers must learn the limit of not destroying their toys or messing with the property of others. But this same principle later applies to environmental stewardship, managing family resources, and neighborhood relations.
3. Take responsibility for your actions. Even with your youngest children, they must learn that their choices are followed by results. As children learn that their behavior has consequences, they begin to modify their behaviour to avoid undesirable consequences. As a toddler, this means learning that if I make a mess, I must clean it up, or if I hurt someone, I must make amends. Later in life, this principle means living with the consequences of choices in relationships and job situations. 4. Treat everyone fairly, with respect. Learning that others’ feelings, needs and rights must be taken into account is an important idea that governs moral and right actions. Helping even the youngest children understand this idea lays the foundation for all productive relationships. Only four big ideas, but if you think about it, these are the ideas behind all our laws and codes for behavior. Working with young children to help them understand and apply these principles in individual situations is far more positive parenting than making “please don’t eat the daisies” list. Our Culture topic over the last fortnight was ‘Healthy Eating’ and there was a lot of pointed discussion (even debate!) about what we should be eating as well as the effects different kinds of food has on our bodies. The little ones were introduced to the concept of the ‘Food Pyramid’ and we have enjoyed some colourful, educational craft and fruit salad activity related to the topic. In support of the ‘Awareness of Breast Cancer’ programme we wore pink on the 12th of October. Our children may be young to understand the importance of this campaign, but they are not young to know the importance of staying healthy. We spent time in the classrooms talking about taking care of ourselves and appreciating the doctors who do a lot of work to help us and that there is no reason to be frightened of them. Thank you to all the parents who made time to meet their child’s teacher on the PTC on Thursday, 22 October. A home-school partnership is essential in the early years. Please continue to make use of the drop in days if you have a concern or need some advice. Garima Kapoor Assistant Head Early Years
Free Playing in the Activity Room Threading Beads
Working with the knobless cylinders Arabic class with Ms. Ola
Healthy Eating topic discussion
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NURSERY
PRIMARY
SECONDARY
PRIMARY SCHOOL
Dear RIS Community, Another two weeks have disappeared in the blink of an eye. When I first arrived in Dubai I was told by a friend that time in Dubai just seems to fly; maybe it is the high pace of the city or school or both, but indeed it does. Our school’s inspection upon us and the hard work everyone is putting in is also contributing to the sense that the hands on the clock are speeding up before our eyes! We are all looking forward to the inspection – the feedback from these processes is always very useful in helping schools improve. There is so much energy and drive in the school at this time as everyone seeks to produce the quality sought for. The standards of education are rising all of the time and we are determined to keep apace. It was fabulous to learn that our students contributed the most gift boxes in our recent box appeal for the local workers. Of all four schools in the group, our students’ box collection total far outstripped the totals of the other schools. Very well done. Perhaps this is reflective of our focus this year on moral education; one of the exciting initiatives introduced across schools in Dubai, with the aim of enhancing students’ thinking about others. By the time this edition of SummaRISe is published, students will be returning to school for the second half of the term. We hope that the week’s rest has been beneficial and that everyone is ready for a very packed second half of the term. Term 1 is the longest term and perhaps the busiest. For a relative newcomer I am looking forward to participating in the big events as we lead up towards December.
Thank you for your support. Edward Copper Head of Primary School
Key Stage 1 News Hello Parents, Children in KS1 have recently been introduced to the schools core values, Integrity, Collaboration, Responsibility, Innovation, Achievement and Respect. This is helping them to understand correct choices, working together and respecting themselves and others. The children were invited to the Book fair that opened on Sunday, 8 th October. They were able to visit the Book Fair during their library period, most of the children were excited to purchase various books according to their interests. The year 2 students enjoyed the opening, where they met Mickey Mouse and his friends.
In support of the ‘Awareness of Breast Cancer’ programmewe wore pink on the 12th October. Our children may be young to understand the importance of this campaign, but they are not young to know the importance of staying healthy. We spent time in the classrooms talking about taking care of ourselves and others. Science is being enjoyed by all the children in KS1. Year 1 children have been learning about ‘Healthy Eating’ and making the right choices when it comes to food. Year 2 has been exploring ‘The Earth’, light and dark, whist our youngest children have been exploring ‘How we can for our Teeth’.
KS1 Uniform
FS – Maroon V neck top with maroon skorts/shorts
Year 1 and Year 2 – white shirt and maroon skorts/shorts
PE for all – maroon and gold V neck top with black shorts
Please note, the white and maroon buttoned up collared top is no longer uniform.
Due to the pleasant change in the weather, the children have started enjoying outdoor play time almost every day. We would like to remind you of the ‘no hat no play’ policy to ensure the wellbeing of all students. Susie Mcshane Deputy Head, Primary KS1
Key Stage 2 News What an exciting last few weeks in school! We are busy preparing for the inspection and all staff are ready to show off their fantastic work that is in place. The children are working hard to show their independent learning skills and they work well to show their best efforts in lessons. Children have really enjoyed working in the STEM lab and the classes are heavily enjoying their practical activities. Children are also working hard on their talk for writing activities where English is taught in again,a practical way. Children are more engaged with the text and are able to communicate the structure of a given genre of writing. This is taught then rewritten using a different theme. We have worked hard on children planning their work carefully before moving to a full written piece. Having just had the Parents Teacher Conference, we hope you found the information shared useful for you to providing support with your child’s next targets for improvement. This is very important to ensure parents are involved in the target setting process. It is vital that the child is supported both by home and school and we wish to continually strengthen our home school relationships. I wish you continued support with your children and please do not hesitate to contact me, should any issues arise. Jasmit Kang Deputy Head, Primary KS2
What is Moral Education? The Moral Education program is an innovative, engaging curriculum designed to develop young people of all nationalities and ages in the UAE with universal principles and values, that reflect the shared experiences of humanity. It promotes character building to develop the next generation of role models and leaders, who contribute positively to the long-term health and well-being of society and the wide world. Adopting a logical approach, the program fosters universal concepts relevant to any community. Why Moral Education? In July 2016, a new Moral Education initiative was launched under the directive of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. Moral Education Implementation at RIS: 1. Moral Education Yearly Coverage: Coverage – Year 2 – 10 (Grade 1 – 9) 66 units – 6 units per year group with allocated Learning Outcomes 2. Moral Education Time Allocation: At RIS Moral Education will be delivered as a separate subject using some of the time allocated to Social Studies.
1 x 55 minute Social Studies UAE National Curriculum lesson (cross curricular LOs/links with Moral Education) 1 x 55 minutes Moral Education lesson (cross curricular LOs/links with UAE Social Studies National Curriculum) Form lesson – Circle of Culture with a Literacy focus (Guided Reading – e.g. one station with a Circle of Culture focus)
3. Moral Education Curriculum yearly layout: Term 1: Year 2 – 6 Pillar 1 (Character and Morality) Pillar 2 (Individual and the community) Term 2: Year 2 – 5 Pillar 1 (Character and Morality) Pillar 4 (Cultural Studies) Pillar 3 (Civic Studies – Year 6 ONLY) Term 3: Year 2 – 5 Pillar 2 (Individuals and the community) Pillar 4 (Cultural Studies) Pillar 1 and 2 (Character and Morality; Individuals and the Community – Year 6 ONLY) 4. Assessment: No formal assessment is required in the first academic year 2017 - 2018 of implementation, however, an assessment framework is being developed. Please note: RIS will be reporting on this 2017 – 2018 Lizane Van Der Wath Year 3 Homeroom teacher, Social Studies and Moral Education Coordinator
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NURSERY
PRIMARY
PRIMARY SECONDARY
SECONDARY
SECONDARY SCHOOL Once again the Secondary students have been extremely busy displaying their talents in a variety of ways. Firstly our new sixth form students have participated in a workshop based around the theme of leadership and careers. The first seminar was hosted by RIS, with students from other Innoventures schools, and was run by McKinsey. During the session students were able to discuss and explore different routes for careers and higher education based on what they felt were their individual strengths.
Head Girl: Alia Meas Head Boy: Tomasso Mondini Sports Leaders: Filippo Genelioni, Aneeka Khan, Jaindu Gunasekera Eco Team Leaders: Safa Ahmed, Jennah Kunhi
Student Support Leaders: Hee Woo Yang, Kim Menezes Events Leaders: Eliza Makhmakhanova, Varina Motwani Congratulations to them all. These leaders will then be supported by their teams of students from Years 7 - 9.
Year 7 Team Sports
Events
Mediha Azhar Orion Sandeep Constantina Digrintaki Mohammed Almarzarooei
Eisa Kalsekar Laura Ganever Noah Alfardan Yehya Al Agha Vihaan Kapoor Jaidev Yadav Hessa Alkadeeb
Meera Himid Christian Gammerio Said Tokaev Abdulmouin Al Sahen Yassin Abdellitif
Sarvesh Nandagopal Youssef Zayed Ronak Vohra
Eco Ji Soo Hyun Beatrice Corelli Abdel gader Vihaan Kapoor Jaidev Yadav Hessa Al Kadeeb Noah Alfardan Yehya Al Agha Fatima Rizwan Louise Ngakuru Virginia Guidi Victoria Kelly Anushka Kabboor, Mariya Venediktova
Students support Ania Yousfi Zarah Ghafoor Habiba Radwan Mirza Begg
Jasim Kunhi Kiersten Fabregas Anushka Kabboor, Mariya Venediktova Virginia Guidi Victoria Kelly
Year 8 Team Sports
Events
Eco
Students support
Zeeshan Zia Tamara Almasri
Anaya Chaudhry Dia Malik
Samina Azimi Vishtteh Isobel Rahman
Abdul Rehman Lina Abbas
Romane Bonafous Yann Karningufu
Alaya Inan Chenuki Gunesekera
Sueda Sahinoglu Mereym Amandurdyyeva
Alex Kelly Aala Abdalla
Osha Almazrooei Natasha Joshi
Sanjana Mundhwa Ossama Eliwa
Malak Ragab Jannis Gauder
Shaikha Alkadeeb Fatma Nasser
Sports Muhammad Rizwan Muhammad Zafar
Events Mohammad Binthenaiyeh Tarig Bashari
Eco Ilyasa Ahmad Kimberley Menezes
Students support Sofia Dallolio Hissa Almehairi
Ali Amiri Rayyan Nusaly Mauro Liz Soto Luke Cairns
Theo Karamitsos Tanisha Aslam Seif Eldin Mark Flores
Safa Ahmad Jennah Kunhi Nazi Abdul Inam Zia
Safiyah Himid Rofaida Saleh Sara Hassan Kristine Cherian
Year 9 Team
Each team will meet once a fortnight and will be involved in putting forward ideas for RIS and leading initiatives. On the sporting front our teams continue to go from strength to strength. The result of recent performances is below: U16 Boys Football lost 8 - 5.There was a noticeable improvement in performances from last time. With continued hard work, a win will surely come soon. U16 Girls Basketball won 24-15 against Greenfield Community School and 50 -44 against RWA. The students fought hard and demonstrated some excellent team play. U12 Girls Football won 3-2 last Thursday. The delight on their faces was clearly seen on their return to RIS. Well done girls!
Now as we move to the end of the first half term of the year, the students can be justifiably proud of what they have achieved in a short space of time. All students should now have received their CAT data and will be using this data alongside their teaching staff to help inform their learning and targets. This information was also used to inform their end of year targets in the recent reports for progress check 1 and at meetings with parents at the parent teacher conference earlier this week. The turnout of parents for the PTC from Secondary School was extremely high, which has led to us putting on another session this Sunday, 29th October from 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm. Thank you once again for supporting your children in such a positive manner. We wish you well for your half term break and will welcome you back on Sunday, 5th November. Peter Rowlands Head of Secondary School
Bryony Lynch Deputy Head of Secondary School
This week has been dedicated to ascertaining the progress of all students. A variety of skills have been assessed through language and literature examinations across all year groups (except those students who are taking English as a Second Language). This is the first year that this has been done will prove beneficial in preparing students for the ICGSE in English Literature course. In addition, the students have been exposed to deeper order text analysis which will hold them in good stead for those crucial end of school exams. Another exciting piece of news is that we now have eleven candidates for the Spelling Bee competition. The preliminary round will take place in the school on the 21 st November. All the candidates have their word lists and are looking forward to the challenge ahead. The team is also supporting the Emirates writing competition. The theme this year is “Memories” and students can either produce a poem or piece of prose to submit. Additionally the team will be judging entries, the best of which will represent the school at the Literacy Soiree which will be held in RWA next March.
The week ahead will be “business as usual” which I am certain sure the students will be pleased about. The teachers now have the responsibility of the marking of the tests and providing constructive feedback. Results will be shared with the students in due course. Caroline Gaydon Head of English Department Some exciting news to start with this week - Results are in for the 2nd round of the KenKen competition and I am proud to announce that there are 6 students who have got through to the 3 rd round from Raffles International School. Well done to Adham Eiwa, Vihaan Kapoor, Orion Sandeep, Mariya Venediktova, Mirza Begg and Seohyun Noh who will go on to represent Dubai in the next round where they compete to be in the UAE team.
With the first half term nearly over, it is nice to see students settled into their mathematics classes. For anyone that requires additional support, help on homework or just wants to drop in with a few questions, we have several afterschool mathematics sessions available for them to attend. More information is available from mathematics teachers. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your wonderful wishes during the recent parent teacher conference. I will be leaving for maternity leave at half term to have my second baby and will return in the new year. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact any of the mathematics teachers or Mr. Rowlands during this period. Leena Atkins Head of Mathematics Department
Last week, the students from Year 12, participated in a Leadership Training Course through PreparED by MODUL University, Dubai. This course looked at work-readiness and challenged the students to expand their understanding of the business world. Students were questioned about their understanding of what it takes to be a good leader, to identify the skills one needs to stand out in a crowd, and to look at ways to take part in engaging, hands-on leadership skills.
“A real leader uses every issue, no matter how serious and sensitive, to ensure that at the end of the debate we should emerge stronger and more united than ever before." Nelson Mandela
In Secondary, 10A have just completed their third Mindful Meditation session, and have done really well. Some of their feedback was that Mindful Meditation has been: Relaxing Helps them when they get stressed Helps with their breathing Meditation is a new refreshing experience The silence feels good So far we have done the mindful eating meditation, the body scan, and the three minute breathing space. Our final session will be on visualization and thoughts.
Mindfulness is a state of active, open attention on the present. When you are mindful, you carefully observe your thoughts and feelings without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to your current experience, rather than dwelling on the past or anticipating the future. So why practice mindfulness? Through mindfulness we get to appreciate the difference between mindlessness living and reactions versus more mindful decisions. Mindlessness often gets us into trouble, rushing around without real purpose, and missing out on “in-the-moment” experiences. The ‘breathing space’ mindfulness practice, is great to use in times of stress and difficult emotions. Mindfulness can also be used as ‘habit releasers’ to bring more mindfulness into daily life. The ‘body scan’ mindfulness practice, allows us to reconnect with our emotions and thoughts. On Monday, 9th October we had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Saliha Afridi, from Lighthouse Arabia, who delivered a very engaging talk on Value-Centered Parenting (which is part of Dr. Saliha’s Conscious Parenting Series). Here a few tips.
How to Incorporate Values in your Parenting: Walk the walk (do a self-analysis, are you acting congruently and consistently with you values)? Be explicit – Talk with your kids about your values during structured and unstructured times. Let your children make decisions, good and bad decisions are important as long as you talk about them after wards. Interact with value driven people to counteract the popular culture. Participate in value driven activities, such as volunteering as a family. Live Values. Things you might want to consider and do: List the values you want your children to learn. List the values your children are getting from popular culture and technology. Compare the two lists. What limits expectations, and consequences have you established that communicate healthy values. What steps can you take to ensure that your children get your value messages over those of popular culture. If you would like to find out more about your own values, Dr. Saliha suggests the following website: http://www.viacharacter.org/www/Character-Strengths Prisca Toland Secondary School Counsellor