THE RAPTOR
REPORTER WINTER 2019
IN THIS ISSUE Khalifa City Campus Groundbreaking Arabic & Islamic Teaching & Learning Review Seven Stars Tranportation Improvements New addition to Communications New brand update Campus improvements update Entrepreneurship programme update Staffing/recruitment update Term 1 highlights
IMPORTANT DATES 12 Dec
Last Day of Term 12:00pm finish 5 Jan
Term 2 begins
WINTER BREAK REMINDER Admissions and administration offices will remain open over the break. Office hours will be: Sunday - Thursday 8:00am - 4:00pm Please note we will be closed on 1 January 2020 as it is a public holiday
From the Office of the Principal
FROM MR. IAIN Dear Parents and Raha community, We hope you have all enjoyed a wonderful start to this new academic year. It has been an exciting term and I’m sure everyone is looking forward to the upcoming break! We have been fortunate to once again have an excellent group of new teachers join us this year. They have settled in well and so have the 435 new students we welcomed in September. We are thrilled to announce that we have been shortlisted for a global award for ‘Student Pathways to Higher Education’ in the International School Awards 2020. These are the most prestigious global educational awards and huge congratulations must go to our Director of University Counselling, Brian Marshall, for his incredible hard work in supporting our students to get into the universities of their choice. The winner will be announced in London in January. We hope to have good news soon… This term has been incredibly busy with a huge number of events, and whilst this newsletter can’t capture them all, we hope to share some of the highlights. Wishing everyone happy holidays!
- Mr. Iain
Raha International School
KHALIFA CITY CAMPUS BREAKS GROUND Raha International School held a ground-breaking
of New Zealand to the UAE; HE Fouad Chehab
ceremony on Monday 18 November, celebrating the
Dandan, Ambassador of Lebanon to the UAE; HE
start of construction of its new Branch Campus,
Muhammad Imran, Ambassador of Bangladesh to
Raha International School, Khalifa City Campus.
the UAE, representatives from Taaleem, and staff, students and parents from Raha International
The ceremony was attended by Dr Tareq Al Ameri,
School.
Acting Executive Director of Licensing from the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK), HE Arthur Spyrou, Ambassador of Australia to the UAE; Consul, Mr Richard Jud, Embassy of Switzerland; HE Matthew Hawkins, Ambassador
Work on the new campus will be underway shortly.
We will be welcoming new students from EY1 to Grade 2 in the new building from September 2020, with the rest of the campus being ready for other grades in September 2021. We know the timeframe for the Early Years opening is short, but we have full confidence in the team and the project management. Sign up to the Raha Insider’s Group to receive monthly updates at https://risabudhabi.typeform.com/to/EjtfLS
The Earl Raha Intern Khalifa C
ly Years at national School City Campus
ARABIC & ISLAMIC TEACHING & LEARNING REVIEW received some very constructive suggestions for
As part of our ongoing commitment to Arabic and
improvement and the team are already embracing
Islamic studies, we requested a full review of
this
this department from external parties earlier this
department’s annual improvement plans.
month. We were delighted with the outcome of this
the
into
it
incorporating
and
feedback
evaluation. The findings showed that the standard I want to say a huge well done to the Arabic and
of teaching and learning, together with attainment
Islamic teaching team – they are undoubtedly one
and progress, is high across the school.
of the strongest of any international school in the !UAE
Additionally, the overall feedback we received was incredibly positive and demonstrates the school’s high performance when compared to other international schools in the region. We also
استعراض لتعليم وتعلم اللغة العربية واإلسالمية كجزء من التزامنا المســـتمر بالدراســـات العربية واإلســـامية
هذا وقـــد تلقينا أيضًـــا بعض االقتراحـــات البنـــاءة للغاية بهدف
،طلبنـــا مراجعـــة كاملة لهذا القســـم من جهـــات خارجية في
التحســـين ،وقـــد تبنـــى الفريـــق بالفعـــل هـــذه المالحظات
وقـــت ســـابق من هـــذا الشـــهر .و لقـــد ســـعدنا بنتيجة هذا
ودمجهـــا في خطط التحســـين الســـنوية لـــإدارة.
التقييـــم فقد أظهرت النتائج أن مســـتوى التعليـــم والتعلم إلى جانـــب التحصيـــل والتقدم مرتفع فـــي جميع أنحاء المدرســـة.
أريد أن أقول أحســـنت فريق تدريس اللغة العربية واإلســـامية
باإلضافـــة إلـــى ذلـــك ،كانـــت ردود األفعـــال اإلجماليـــة التي
-فأنتم بال شـــك من األقـــوى بين المـــدارس الدولية في دولة
تلقيناهـــا إيجابيـــة بشـــكل ال يصـــدق وتوضـــح األداء العالـــي
اإلمارات!
للمدرســـة بالمقارنـــة مـــع المـــدارس الدوليـــة األخـــرى في ا لمنطقة .
SEVEN STARS TRANSPORTATION For those parents whose children use the bus, we hope you are enjoying the new bus app developed by Seven Stars, in conjunction with the school. The health and safety of your students remains a priority for us and this new tracking app provides us all with live information on bus journeys, delays, passengers and when children are dropped off. We hope you are enjoying this additional service. Please contact transportation@ris.ae if you have any queries or issues with the app.
NEW ADDITION TO THE COMMUNICATIONS TEAM Please join us in welcoming Abigail Alexander who has joined Raha as Communications Officer. She has been with us for over 1 month now and is supporting the Marketing & Communications and Admissions departments. She is responsible for parent communications and social media
so you will definitely be
hearing from her through the year.
New logo
As
many
of
you
know,
we
have
been working on a rebrand for Raha International
School.
We’re excited to unveil our refreshed brand identity and begin the rollout as we move into Term 2. Have a look at some of the imagery of the new logo and iconography that will be used around the school.
THE RAHA BRAND Beyond the ordinary
Flags
Iconography
Signage
UNIFORM Just a reminder that the Raha uniform will be changing for 2020/21.
We have met
with many suppliers and are now testing the quality of a select few. Full details will be available in the New Year.
CAMPUS IMPROVEMENTS The Early Years
The Early Years have been enjoying their new Library space after it was closed for renovation.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
PROGRAMME One of the biggest assets we have as a school
Both of these groups of students are almost ready
is our parent community. Not only do we have
to launch their projects to the Raha community, so
families from all over the world, but we have
keep your eyes peeled!
families from across a diverse range of businesses and industries who bring a depth and breadth
The second part of entrepreneurship at Raha is
to our community that is unique. As part of the
our internship program, open to any student
Entrepreneurship Program and Raha, I am hoping
16 years and above. The aim of this program
to tap into that wealth of experience as we build
is simple: to immerse our older students in
towards our Summer internship program for 2020.
real-world experiences in a range of different industries; to help our students build the skills
As some parents will no doubt be aware, there are
critical to possible future career paths; and to
two strands to the Entrepreneurship Program. The
help our students make informed decisions about
first of these is entrepreneurship: taking student
future study choices. We were fortunate enough
ideas about what is possible and helping them to
last year to be able to run a pilot program for
turn vision into possibility. Entrepreneurship is not
our internships, placing students in a number of
specifically about business, it’s about ideas and
fields from engineering to hotel management with
giving the students the structures in order to turn
significant local businesses such as Etihad, the
their ideas into lasting, meaningful projects and
Grand Hyatt and Hilton Capital Grand.
enterprises. One of our main ambitions through entrepreneurship at Raha is to help students build
This year, our focus is to increase the number and
the confidence and skills to see their ideas as a
scope of positions available to students. To these
pathway that leads to new and exciting outcomes.
ends I am seeking possible opportunities from amongst our parent body.
Entrepreneurship is also about engaging with the world in a meaningful way – becoming leaders
At this stage you don’t have to confirm any
of the local and global communities in which we
involvement, though if you can see an opportunity
live. Thinking up solutions to issues of global
for any Raha students to intern with your
significance and having the courage to implement
organisation over a portion of the 2020 Summer, I
these. To these ends, student we have two student
would love to hear from you. Please also feel free
teams currently competing in the Global Social
to email me if you have any questions about our
Leaders competition, Compossible, looking at
program at gscorgie@ris.ae
ways to cut food waste with in the Raha and wider communities, and Energized to the Core who are tackling the question of health and fitness as a way of combatting diabetes amongst young people.
STAFFING
UPDATE I am delighted to be able to announce the new senior staff structure in the Early Years for the both campuses. Please join me in congratulating: Raha Gardens Campus Head of School– Eileen Butler Deputy Head – Anne Watkins Khalifa City Campus Head of School - Nicola Neethling Deputy Head - TBC With the new campus opening this September, we have started our staff teacher recruitment much earlier than normal. Ensuring that we have the highest quality staff for both campuses next year is a top priority. We have already appointed many of the required teaching staff for the new campus. This weekend we also hosted a regional fair at our school for the first time. This was attended by over 200 candidates. We will be hosting a further fair in February and attending two international fairs in January. This is a very busy time of year for the senior team but it is a critical part of our role, as hiring the best teachers for your children is incredibly important. We look forward to updating you on progress with our recruitment at the end of Term 2.
Term 1 Highlights
Eddie the Penguin Saves the World Raha’s youngest performers took to the stage on 13-14 November for their musical theatre production and they were amazing!
THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA The weather couldn’t stop ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’ performance from going ahead and aren’t we glad! EY
students
had
perfomance and
a
wonderful
time
at
the
getting dressed up for tea.
LOUVRE TOUR GUIDES The Education Panel at the Louvre Abu Dhabi
Our students have been to the Louvre to practice
asked students to become tour guides and prepare
their ideas and presented to the general public on
unique
December 4th and 6th.
presentations
that
truly
demonstrate
‘student voice’ and student choice’.
HYDROPONIC FARM TRIP Grade 3 students took a trip to a hydroponic farm, focusing on the unit of inquiry: How We Organize Ourselves and tying into the concepts of production, processes and manufacturing.
FRENCH DELF EXAMS We’re so proud of Grade 10 student Mario Gonzalez Pineiro and his teacher Miss Aurelie Ng Tat Chung, seen here with the French Ambassador, Mr Ludovic Pouille. Mario was named the top French DELF B1 student in the UAE.
FENCING CHAMPION Congrats to Laila Al Seiari on her gold medal in the U15 National Fencing Championship. This is her second gold in two years and we couldn’t be more proud.
FILM STUDIES GUEST LECTURER DP Film Studies had the privilege of a visit from Robert Shaye, film producer, actor, director, writer, and founder of New Line Cinema. New Line Cinema has released many films including A Nightmare on Elm Street, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Mask, and much more!
UAE 48TH NATIONAL DAY Celebrating National Day is always one of our favorite days of the year!
In loving memory of Ben Rehana
He is greatly missed by us all. This newsletter has been written in memory of Ben.
THE RAPTOR REPORTER | WINTER 2019
