DP Newsletter December

DP Newsletter

Welcome Students, Parents and Raha Community

Greetings!

As usual, it’s been an extremely busy first term this year with lots to celebrate in our Diploma Programme beyond the classroom. Some highlights include our Grade 11s out at the Louvre looking to make connections for their Theory of Knowledge exhibition, a Visual Arts Extravaganza and our Under 19 sports teams competing strongly against teams opposition from around the world. It’s so good to be back out in the community again as we get all our programming up and running. For those that could join us, we hope you enjoyed our National Day festivities as we look forward to the next big community event in February, International Day.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support of what has been an exceptionally busy term for us. Wishing you all the best over the break ahead, whether travelling overseas or enjoying the beautiful UAE winter weather.

Best wishes, Paul Ede Head of Secondary

FROM MR. AND REW DP COORDINATOR

Dear DP Community,

It’s amazing that the first term has come to an end already and what a term it has been! It feels like normality is finally returning to the world, with parents coming in for conferences; National Day transforming the school to a mass of colour and excitement; sports teams back competing; school trips running again and concerts, arts exhibitions and theatre returning in abundance!

Mock Exams

The Grade 12 Mock Exams will begin the first day back after the winter break and will last two weeks. Students should sign in and out at the main gate, using their student IDs. Please do not enter through any gate other than the main one, as we will not be able to register you accordingly. The exams will begin on time, so do not be late.

Grade 11 Conferences

These will be held the second week after the break, on the 11th of January. It is extremely important that you use this opportunity to discuss your progress with your teachers, following up from Term One reports.

Work/life balance

The winter break is a time for you to catch up on work, but also to catch up on relaxing. It is extremely important that you balance your time wisely. You don’t want to start the new year behind, but likewise you do not wish to start it exhausted. Take time out, enjoy the company of your friends and family, but don’t let your studies nag at you: if you think you need to do some work, it probably means you do. If you haven’t seen daylight for three days, it’s probably time to take a walk outside. Make a schedule and keep to it.

I wish you all the happiest of holidays wherever you are and if you are celebrating Christmas I hope it is a very merry one for you and your families. Take care wherever you are and enjoy whatever you are doing. We all look forward to seeing you refreshed in 2020.

Mr Andy, atomlinson@ris.ae

HEADS OF GRADE

Grade 11

Our students have had their first taste of the DP and it has been a challenging term, especially as the previous few years have been inconsistent. It will be important to check in with your child as the year progresses. The rigors of the Diploma programme can become very overwhelming so it is vital that good habits of self management are developed and practiced.

• Utilising the many study opportunities provided during the school week

• Breaking the workload into smaller more manageable chunks

• Setting timelines and plans of action

• Forming study groups to support one another

• Getting enough rest, exercise and eating properly

I would like to remind you of the support we have in place at school for both our students and you as parents: Ms Claire as Head of Grade 11, Ms Mellissa our school counsellor, Ms Naomi as our Deputy Head for Well being and Mr Andrew as our DP coordinator.

I wish you all a restful winter break!

Ms Claire

MS. CLAIRE ARMSTRONG clairearmstrong@ris.ae

Grade 12

Ho! Ho! Ho! Class of 2023,

The time is upon us. There is snow on the ground (somewhere), cheer in the air and assessments! As we are preparing to enter the holiday season, due be purposeful and balanced with your time. Enjoy you family. Enjoy your friends. Enjoy your studies.

Mock Exams will be beginning as soon as you return from Winter break. Please be prepared. Your Extended Essays should all be done, and we are now moving on to the next phase of Project Graduation!

If Santa happens to visit anyone’s home this December, please be nice so that you will receive:

• Black trousers

• Raha issues uniform shirt

• Black zip up hoodie

• All black jumper

• All black shoes, all white shoes or a combination of those 2 colors only.

Also, you teachers, supervisors, DP Coordinator and Head of Grade are all very busy. Please do send us reminders if we owe you LoR’s.

Congratulations to:

• Giulio Galatro

• Ethan Ni

• Calvyn Coetzee

• Youssef Abdelrahman

These Seniors lead Raha International School to a 2nd place finish in the Under 19 World School Games International Basketball Tournament! They and Coach Stephen George committed their time and energy for months in preparation for this international event, and the represented Raha supremely well. Go Raptors!

Mr Walter

MR. WALTER CLARKE wclarke@ris.ae

CORE SUBJECTS

Extended Essay

Grade

11

Grade 11 students are currently working on their research questions with the help of their supervisors. All students should already have the subject and supervisor selected in the Extended Essay tab on ManageBac. The process continues with the main reading and research stage when students spend time on finding and analyzing several primary and secondary sources, winter break is an excellent opportunity to do this. After the break, we will hold the first formal reflection meetings with supervisors, and the students will be entering their Research Question (RQ) and 1st reflection on ManageBac, by March 2023. I will be sharing detailed information with the students about this meeting. I encourage students to review as many assessed samples as possible, and the subject specific section on the EE website at this stage. There are direct links through MB, but feel free to contact me, and I’ll be happy to guide you.

Coordinator

I wish everyone a restful, enjoyable break!

Grade 12

Congratulations to all students who have completed their final Extended Essays! After mock exams, the essays will be checked, and reflection 3 meetings will be held before we get ready to send the essays to the IB. This was one of the largest tasks in the DP, and successful completion should be celebrated. In February, we will be holding the last formal reflection meetings, which will be followed by entry of reflection 3 by the students, supervisor comments and IB submissions, which will be the official ending to the Extended Essay process.

I wish everyone a restful, enjoyable break!

MS. MUGE OKUR mokur@ris.ae Extended Essay

CREATIVITY, ACTIVITY AND SERVICE (CAS)

Important CAS Dates:

9th December 2022

Grade 11

CAS check in and communication home Expectations:

• Students have at least two experiences logged on Managebac.

• Students have started logging evidence towards and reflecting upon these experiences.

Grade 12

January 2023 CAS Project is complete. February 2023 CAS interview 3 will be completed. April 2023 All CAS completed.

MS. TANIA TUFT ttufft@ris.ae CAS Coordinator

THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE

In Grade 11 TOK we have brought the term to a close with a visit to the Louvre Abu Dhabi. This trip has served as a stimulus for our first major piece of assessed work the Mock Exhibition, a 650 word response to one of four prompts. It was a wonderful trip, and I would like to thank all of the students for behaving well and representing Raha in a positive manner. It is likely to have been the first school trip for many students in a long time and it was a pleasure to see students engage with the art and artifacts on display at the museum while also having time to relax and enjoy the space of the museum in a less formal manner. Students Mock Exhibition will be due on the first week back after the winter break and from the work I have seen so far the Louvre seems to have offered the perfect catalyst for this work. Please ask

your sons and daughters about this work, many of them have very insightful comments regarding the objects they have chosen.

In grade 12 TOK we have been writing the TOK Essay, the final piece of assessed work in the course. Students will submit a draft of this essay in the last week of term. Students will receive feedback on their essays after mock exams when they return from winter break and will have a final oppertunity to improve their work. Please discuss this work with the grade 12s; the assessment requires them to look across their subject areas, personal experience and general knowledge and draw links between them in their response. The work they have completed thus far, I believe, speaks to the astute, discerning, and plural perspectives that students at Raha exhibit; this is something that should be celebrated.

TOK Exhibition

TOK Louvre Trip

COUNSELOR

Great work DP! We've made it through term 1!

Grade 11: I hope you were able to take away something that you connected with during our wellbeing lessons. Next term you will spend this time on your CORE subjects. The DP can seem overly challenging and overwhelming at this time but fear not, we're here to support you as you reassess your game plans and set new goals for 2023. Winter break is a good time to take a well deserved break and power up for Term 2.

Grade 12: It's been a busy, jam packed term. The mocks are around the corner, but I do hope you prioritize maintaining your wellbeing as well. Quick reminder that this is your sleep, movement and nutrition. The key is to balance is planning and consistency and most importantly, being realistic when setting goals and expectations. I wish you the very best of luck for your exams! See you on the other side of 2023.

DP I would like to invite you to look back at the year you've had and note your challenges and wins and celebrate all you have accomplished. We are all very proud of you for being the wonderful people you are! Thank you for the many chats and laughs this year! �

Ms Melissa mjayawickrema@ris.ae

University Team

UNIVERSITY APPLICATIONS

From the University Counselling Office

Grade 12:

We are in the high season of university applications to destinations in the U.K., U.S. and Canada. Some students already have offers! Students are encouraged to apply before winter break, so they can use their holidays for studying for Mock Exams. Learn from alumni, using holidays for university applications, and not seriously preparing for Mock Exams, has led to bad endings in May. The value of Mocks is to you learn if your current approach to exam preparation is effective enough, or do you need to adapt/modify your approach. Mocks also contribute to your grade 12 transcript scores, which is a permanent record. Last year, for those students with excellent Mock Exam Results, I forwarded these results to their universities to strengthen their applications.

MR. BRIAN MARSHALL bmarshall@ris.ae

Grade 11:

For universities, you should be in deep research mode to assist you in formulating your university plan for next year. Keep attending university visitations to Raha campus. Attending Night School is very effective way to gather and comprehend information to possible destinations. Next sessions are listed below. Holidays are another great opportunity to visit university campuses, not necessarily to talk to someone, but to get a sense of the type of campus that appeals to you. Many students make final decisions on the campus itself. Those students planning to apply to the U.S., you should be signing up for their first SAT/ACT this spring.

MS. JENNIFER LEATHER jleather@ris.ae

Night School

University Series

6:00pm on Thursdays

University Application Information Sessions

Winter Term

Jan. 5th – Northern Europe (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland)

Location – DP Study Hall

Jan. 19th Central Europe (Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Hungary)

Location – DP Study Hall

Feb. 16th – Southern Europe (Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece)

Location – DP Study Hall

Mar. 2nd Southern Hemisphere (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa)

Location – DP Study Hall

Mar. 16th Western Asia (Turkey, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt)

Location – DP Study Hall

Alumni

Ms

Estee

Caplan, Class of 2011

DP was hard, I won’t lie. But it was worth it in the end because it meant that university wasn’t all that hard (for me).

Working in Admissions, parents often ask me about the benefits of the IB and, more specifically, the DP. I always give them this example: In my first year English course, the first assignment was to read a chapter in the book we would be studying and write a 550 to 750 word commentary essay on it. Many students around me gasped and started discussing how hard the first assignment was. I agreed, it was a hard task. But it was hard for me in a different way. They were worried about writing a minimum of 550 words or understanding what a commentary was. I was worried about staying under 750 words. I was used to writing 1500 word commentaries. Turns out, university and my courses were easy to navigate thanks to Raha and the IB. I knew how to research and ask the right questions, I knew how to find and cite quality sources, I knew how to manage my workload and time efficiently. I spent more time figuring out how to live on my own, and being responsible for myself, rather than learning how to learn, or managing my learning and I still use many of the skills I learned at school today.

There is much more I could say but, in short, Raha and the IB helped me grow, learn and become the person I am today.

Football: RIS U19 Football Players competed for ADISSA Glory on Saturday 26th November, reaching the semi finals and unfortunately losing on penalties. The team did not lose a game through normal time and were fiercely competitive throughout. All 13 school in a positive way. Well done to them all and we look forward to the next challenge in 2023, The ADE

Basketball: The U19 Basketball team came an agonizingly close second in the World Games, played at NYUAD

Rugby: The U19 Rugby Team came together at the last minute and had more fun than any of the other teams and were competitive against far more experienced players.

Cricket Stadium. Massive thanks to Grace O’Dowda who was the player coach.

Visual Arts Extravaganza

Our Grade 12 Arts students shared their plays, visual art and experimental films in the Arts Centre. We can’t wait for the next one!