Yearbook 2017 by Raffles World Academy

RAFFLES WORLD ACADEMY

www.rwadubai.com

Message from the Head Girl & Head Boy Head Boy Message The position of head boy has offered me a great deal of experience in leadership, communication, and understanding. It has also taught me a lot about myself, making me aware of character traits I had not taken note of before. It was through my interactions with the faculty and the student body that I was able to identify some of my strengths and weaknesses and work on them to better myself. I learned that it is a responsibility to treat others in a respectable manner, setting an example for other students to follow; I realized the importance of being open-minded when listening to others’ concerns, suspending my own point of view to understand that of the other person; and last but not least, I understood the value of keeping my word and living up to my promises, for those are the bonds that among us create trust, which is imperative for the healthy growth of any society. I still have a lot more growing to do, but this experience has, without a doubt, put me on a path of self-improvement, and for that I am humbly grateful. Thank you all for this opportunity that you have given me, and for the lessons that you have taught me; I will cherish them for the rest of my life. Now it’s time to make money! All the best, Ibrahim Al Mustafa Head Boy

Head Girl Message During my time as head girl at RWA I had learnt what family truly meant. I feel as though I have become part of the walls of this school since 7th grade. My time at RWA will always be part of my most fondest memories. Being head girl taught me that getting power of a position will always mean that one has to acknowledge that and not take advantage of their influence. Being part of a family that is involved in politics means that being Head Girl has given me experience of what its like to lead on a smaller scale. After all, school is where you are allowed to make mistakes. The real world is less forgiving. Nevertheless, it was a pleasure to lead along side the head boy an amazing group of young people. All the best, Alia Ghobash Head Girl

Yearbook Team 2016-2017 Our experience in the yearbook committee can be summed up in a few words; hectic, stressful, time-consuming… but also new and fun and I think that making a good memory or experiencing something new, interesting and fun outweighs the negatives in this equation. Stress and other such negative emotions are a constant in modern life and that’s why we value such experiences so much. Our time at the yearbook committee, aside from all the deadlines, was really exciting. It was interesting to see the different views people had on life through their quotes, and it was fun because we met new people along the way and we love meeting people. It was fun designing a new template and working with the other clubs and committees to put a part of the yearbook together. It felt nice to be a part of a big project and so we say that we enjoyed our experience at the yearbook committee. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Mary Rozoriyo (School Secretary) and the Yearbook Team for all of their efforts and hard work in creating and producing this year’s comprehensive edition. Additional thanks goes to Dr. Armeena Tabassum (Head of Primary School) and Mrs. Lucy Horsham (Assistant Head of English Department, Secondary School) for proof-reading and editing the text. I hope that you all enjoy reading and reflecting on the past year as much as we have.

Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Table of Contents Message from the Head Girl & Head Boy

Message from the CEO

Message from the Principal

RWA Team with the CEO

Senior Management Team

Innoventures Education Team

School Leadership Team

Human Resources Team

Administrative Staff

Advisory Council Members

IVEI Events

Parents Association [PARIS]

Message from the Library Managerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Desk

School Clinic

Primary School Highlights Message from the Head of Primary

Message from the Deputy Head of Primary

Message from the Dean of Studies and PYP Coordinator

Message from the KG Coordinator

Primary School Staff Photographs

KG 1

KG 2

Grade 1

Grade 2

Grade 3

102

Grade 4

116

Grade 5

130

Grade 5 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; PYP Exhibition

142

Message from the Arabic Department

144

Message from the Islamic Studies Department

147

Message from the Head of Art Department

148

Message from the Head of Physical Education

154

Message from the Sports Coordinator

157

Message from the Head of Modern Foreign Languages

160

Message from the German Mother Tongue Department

163

Message from the Digital Learning Coordinator

165

Message from the Head of Student Support Services - Primary & Secondary

166

Message from the Counselling Department

168

Message from the Eco Club-Primary & Secondary

170

Message from the Anti-Bullying Committee

174

Secondary School Highlights

Message from the Head of Secondary School

182

Message from the Deputy of Secondary School

183

Secondary School Teachers

184

Message from the IBDP Coordinator

188

Grade 12 Graduation Photographs

189

Message from the Dean of Students

192

Message from the Middle School Coordinator

193

Message from the Head of Grade 6

194

Grade 6s

195

Message from the Head of Grade 7

201

Grade 7s

202

Message from the Head of Grade 8

208

Grade 8s

209

Message from the Head of Grade 9

215

Grade 9s

216

Message from the Head of Grade 10

222

Grade 10s

223

IGCSE Awards Ceremony 2016-Photographs

228

Message from the Head of Grade 11

232

Grade 11s

233

Message from the Head of Grade 12

238

Grade 12s

239

Message from the Head of English Department

243

Message from the Head of Mathematics Department

250

Message from the Head of Science Department

252

Message from the Head of Arabic Department

258

Message from the Head of Islamic Department

262

Message from the Head of Humanities

265

Message from the Head of Business St., Economics & Enterprise

266

Geography

268

History

270

Environmental Studies

272

IB Psychology

273

Message from the Head of Expressive Arts

275

Message from the Head of Physical Education

280

Message from the Head of Modern Foreign Languages

300

German Mother Tongue Department

306

RWA MUN 2017

308

World Scholars Cup

310

The Duke of Edinburgh

312

Borneo Trip

320

Beijing Trip

321

Interact Club

322

Student Representative Council

323

Student Representative Council â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Talent Showâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;-

324

Theory of Knowledge [TOK]

326

Creativity Activity & Service [CAS]

327

Message from the Head of ICT

330

Message from the CCA/Events/GIVE Coordinator/English Teacher

334

Grade 12 Blurbs

339

Support Staff

380

Signature/autograph

383

Message from the CEO We pride ourselves in being child-centric in every decision we take and this is what drives us to improve professionally. Being an Innoventures Education staff member is a learning experience and one that I feel humbled to be a part of.

Poonam Bhojani CEO Innoventures Education This has been a wonderfully successful year in all of our Innoventures Education Schools and Nurseries! No matter where we might be in our journey as learners and as an organisation it never ceases to amaze me how one can always find numerous ways to further improve. In a city of sparkling innovation, it is my pleasure to witness this in action in classrooms, corridors, fields and playgrounds, on a daily basis. In the words of Walt Disney, “If you can dream it, you can do it” and this is clearly exhibited in our schools in the work done by our students and our staff. As an organisation we have continued to grow in numbers to over 7,200 student learners supported by over 1100 members in our workforce! Our mission to empower students with a holistic, rigorous and international education resonates very clearly in the interactions between these learners, to ensure that every child is encouraged to grow academically, socially, and graciously. This synergy is not only confirmed by the ever-improving examination and test scores, but is also very visible in the delightful events and activities that set our schools apart from many others - from sporting success and participation, to debating, film-production and Arabic Writing. Our children are explorers, creators, inventors, artists and ecologists. I can confidently say that each child is astonishingly skilled, talented, and unique in so many different ways. These learners are a credit to our schools and to their parents.

In the words of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum “in the race for excellence there is no finish line”. Over the course of the year, every one of our schools has successfully completed accreditation, authorisation or re-authorisation process. The range of organisations providing these approvals clearly demonstrates our diversity as a group of schools: The Council of International Schools; International Baccalaureate; New England Association of Schools and Colleges; and the British Schools Overseas. Our success has been acknowledged in the annual improvements to our KHDA inspection ratings, with one of our schools retaining its stature as the only “Outstanding” IB continuum school in Dubai so far! International-mindedness at Innoventures Education is not just restricted to our scholastic work. The Gift of Innoventures Education (GIVE) initiative, set up as part of our 10-year anniversary commemoration, continues to go from strength to strength. With the funds raised from the flourishing activities that our students organise, GIVE is now in a position to establish four primary schools in the Western region of Nepal. This initiative is with a view to extend the reach (and gift) of Innoventures Education to children from around the world who are unable to access quality education. GIVE serves to highlight not only the commitment of Innoventures Education to advocate international education, but also that of our students to supporting their peers from all over the globe who are less fortunate than themselves. It is a huge achievement and fills me with great pride and humility. As ever, I am looking forward to the next academic year 2017-2018, acclaiming further successes and celebrations of learning. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the families who entrust Innoventures Education schools and nurseries with the care of their most valuable asset - their children - and encourage everyone to take an even more active role next year!

Sincerely,

Poonam Bhojani CEO Innoventures Education

Message from the Principal We achieved a fantastic relationship with our parents. Anecdotal evidence and the results of our surveys indicate that parents are a lot happier with the school, and that communication has much improved. This is incredibly important. It is only by working together that we can achieve the best education for the children in our care. I do hope we can build on this relationship next year and beyond. Our students achieved success academically. In IGCSE several students achieved 8 A* and A grades. Some highlights from the 2016 IB cohort; Ariyana Chowdhury, Angus Dickeson, Isabelle Hartung and Iyat Khalid all attained 39 points for their IB Diploma. This represents a fantastic achievement. The overall Diploma pass rate at RWA was 98%, compared to the world average of 79%. Our average points score was almost 10% above the world average of 29.8.

Timothy Roberts Principal I am delighted to write my first foreword for the RWA Yearbook. It is hard to believe that a whole academic year has been and gone. It really does feel like only yesterday that I assumed my role as principal. In fact, the notion of pace probably speaks very pertinently to the day to day life at our school. There is so much that takes place each and every day, over and above what one may call the normal lessons, that we often forget to take a step back and reflect on our achievements. The yearbook is an ideal opportunity to do this. This year our focus was to raise student achievement at RWA. I want to make it clear here that I use the term achievement, rather than attainment deliberately. Many schools and indeed some outside agencies focus solely on attainment. I view achievement as a much better measure of a child’s, or indeed an adult’s success. In mathematical terms one could express the difference thus: ACHIEVEMENT = ATTAINMENT + PROGRESS In other words, achievement measures the difference in attainment over time. What did the person know, understand and be able to demonstrate at point X, compared to what they know, understand and demonstrate at point Y. This is where RWA excels, particularly so this year, where there have been many achievements compared to previous years.

This year also witnessed a significant rise in the number of students who achieved distinction and high distinctions in English, maths, science and Arabic in the 2016 IBT. (International Benchmark Test). In total from the primary school we had 238 distinction and high distinctions award winners, with one student from the primary and two from secondary winning the IBT 2016 Honour award for excellence in English, maths and science. Furthermore, one of our 7th graders won the ISFO-2016 award. He scored the highest mark in the world and was invited to participate in the ISFO in Singapore. We achieved in a wide variety of sports events. Our teams competed successfully in both the Innoventures Education events and in the DASSA leagues. Further, we now have many more students engaged in sport throughout the school. We achieved in debating, where our secondary school team won the Innoventures Education debate competition. I am hopeful that our primary school team will achieve similar success when their IVEI event takes place. When they win, I will be sure to put that achievement in next year’s yearbook. We achieved success in the World Scholars Cup, I remember very clearly the assembly to celebrate their success. I awarded over a hundred medals to our students, a glowing testimony of their achievement. We achieved in regard to our KHDA inspection. We improved in 24 areas and are now one of only a handful of schools In Dubai with a single “acceptable” on their score sheet. This too will disappear next year as we continue to build on our success. The E-Teams achieved the Eco-Schools Green Flag status. Next week we will be recognised by DEWA, who will visit RWA to present a prize at our assembly in recognition of our efforts.

Message from the Principal [contd.] The ABC (Anti-Bullying Committee) achieved success with a student-led inter-schools conference and workshop on combatting bullying and creating a positive happy atmosphere in schools. The Literary Soirée was hosted by RWA as was the recent TEDx. The ‘X’ Factor, talent show, secondary school play, and re-cycled fashion shows highlighted student creativity, ingenuity and talent. We achieved in music, with fantastic individual performances and our school band “The Undecided” performing regularly. This year we established our first primary school choir and they performed at a number of key events. The highlight of which was their brilliant performance at the ‘Choir Fest’ Dubai. We achieved success in the Innoventures Film Festival where two of our primary students from grade 4 won the award for the best actress and best documentary film. We achieved success in visual arts, where nine of our primary school students won the Environmental Drawing Competition organised by the Emirates Environmental Group.

We achieved in our community relations. The Box Appeal and Water for Workers, proved that our students can take action to improve the lives of those less fortunate. We achieved in celebrating the diversity of our community, with amazing celebrations for Eid, Diwali, and Christmas around the World. The National and International Day events were a highlight of the school year. Though to be honest, the National and International Day was not an achievement as I have defined it here, they are always a highlight, or so I have been told. Let’s make them even bigger events next year. As I read through this yearbook, I am filled with a tremendous sense of optimism for what lies ahead at RWA. Next year we can achieve even more. Let’s continue working together to make RWA an even more special place, where children achieve their goals and realise their dreams. Tim Roberts Principal

Christmas Celebration at RWA

RWA Team with the CEO

School Management Team

Poonam Bhojani

Michael Stephen

James Roberts

Marie de Villers

CEO Innoventures Education

Director-Finance & Administration

Director of Standards

Group HR Manager

Innoventures Education Team

Top row ( from left)– Sandeep Agarwal – Group Accounts Manager, Rony Thomas – Group Procurement and Facilities Manager, Arjun Ghosh - Analyst, Marie Therese de Villiers – Group Human Resources Manager, James Roberts - Director of Standards and Assessment, Mihail Kouzev – Director of Sports and activities Center row ( from left)–Dina Mohammed Yehia - Group Regulatory Compliance Manager, David D’Souza -Group Finance & Accounts Manager, Prasadini Dekker - PA to the CEO, Uttam Yadav - Manager – Technology Operations, Hitesh Bhagat - Head of Technology, Navneet Singh Katoch Group Administration Manager Bottom row ( from left)– Sheela Dey - Group Admissions Manager, Dr. Indira George - Medical Superintendent, Samira Sarafandi – Director of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Poonam Bhojani - Chief Executive Officer, Michael Stephan - Director Finance and Administration, Shraddha Chabria Lulla - Marketing and Communications Specialist

Primary School Leadership Team

Secondary School Leadership Team

Human Resourses Team

Marie de Villers Group HR Manager Innoventures Education

Judith Sequeira HR Executive Innoventures Education

Majed Omar Obaid Almajed Almehairi Public Relations Officer Innoventures Education

Nisha Naidoo HR Executive Innoventures Education

Abdul Rahim Public Relations Officer Innoventures Education

Jasmaine Sayed HR Executive Innoventures Education

Rosal Brual HR Admin Assistant Innoventures Education

Accounts Department

David Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Souza

Sandeep Agarwal

Praveen Moras

Group Finance Manager

Manager - Group Accounts

Accounts Assistant

Christel Opena Accounts Assistant

Administrative Staff

RWA Advisory Council Members

Innoventures Education Events

RWA STUDENT ALI HILAL AND THANI AL MEHAIRY JOIN OUR GIVE TEAM IN NEPAL

Give builds schools in Nepal

Innovents Peace Day

It has been another eventful year at Raffles World Academy. With 2017 being the year of giving, it has been a source of great pride for us to be a part of the GIVE Initiative. Together with our sister schools we have been able to now raise the funds to sponsor our fourth primary school in Western Nepal. The last scholastic year also saw our first cohort of teachers and students go to Nepal to help build the first school that we have sponsored. We are very excited about the relationship we have created with Dubai Cares to make this project a success.

On September 21st, our students joined hands to help celebrate peace. We commend out student body for taking the initiative to hold some assemblies and give presentations about this sensitive topic. Some of the highlights of the day include a presentation on conflict resolution, a peace sign formed by our students and also a short skit on conflict resolution staged by our drama students.

As we look ahead, we will be sending 6 students and 1 teacher from RWA to Nepal to join 18 other students for work on schools number 2 and 3. This trip will take place in November 2017. Raffles World Academy will continue to join the Innoventures Education group in their endeavour to give as much as possible and thus give a chance to our students to learn how rewarding this act can be. In addition to the wonderful work with GIVE, our school has also participated in and hosted many Innovents that took place during the year. Innovents debate competition at collegiate american school In the month of October, our students performed admirably well and came first in the competition that saw our sister schools present. We congratulate Akshay Ashok, Armaan Moosa, Shreyansh Misra, Arundhati Sridhar, Faisal Qureshi, Siddarth Gautham, Maryam Daya, Kali Mcdermott and Owen Dowley on their achievements.

Innovents give walkathon On November 19, students from Grades 3 to Grade 8 managed to raise a whopping 42,000 Dirhams that will go towards the Adopt a School project in Nepal. The fundraiser was organised by our CAS students who organised a walkathon event at our campus. Prizes were given to the highest fundraisers on the day. Around 800 students joined teachers in walking around our sport field on the day. We were all overwhelmed by the generosity of our school community. Innovents box appeal During the month of September, our students helped to fill 400 boxes for the Radisson Box Appeal. The boxes were filled with essential items that will be used by the many labourers working on the construction sites of the UAE. The above-mentioned events are only a few of the many on offer in the Innovents calendar. We include the full calendar of Innovents from this year. Colin Scicluna CCA/ Events/GIVE Coordinator/English Teacher

Innoventures Education Events

OUR STUDENTS MEET THE LOCAL COMMUNITY IN NEPAL

OUR TEAM GET TO VISIT A SCHOOL THAT WAS COMPLETED LAST YEAR

ALI WORKS ON THE CONSTRUCTION SITE IN DHNAGADI, NEPAL

OUR STUDENTS MAKE THEIR WAY BACK TO DUBAI AFTER 8 DAYS IN NEPAL

RWA STUDENTS POSE WITH THE BOXES FOR THE BOX APPEAL

OUR STUDENTS POSE AFTER DELIVERING THE BOXES TO RADISSON BLU

RWA CELEBRATE THEIR WIN AT THE INNOVENTS DEBATE COMPETITION

OUR DEBATE TEAMS POSE WITH THE TROPHY

PEACE DAY AT RWA WAS FILLED WITH JOY

FUAD FROM RWA PLAYS THE VIOLIN AT THE INNOVENTS NIGHT OF INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

THE RWA TEAM THAT COORDINATED THE GIVE WALKATHON

OUR STUDENTS CELEBRATE ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISER

TEDx

From the Desk of RWA Parents Association [PARIS] Even as this is written, Spring is in the air, and while all of us living in Dubai will definitely miss Winter, we all also know that without change, there would be no butterflies! This academic year, has been a year of big changes for both RWA and PARIS (the Parent Association of RWA). As humans, we all are initially wary of the change, hesitant about accepting it, weave it into our lives with resistance, and then sit and look back and marvel that the change worked out for the best after all! And so it has been for PARIS! The year started with the awareness that we had to work with an almost entirely new Senior Leadership Team. But any uncertainties in our mind were laid to rest

when with met up with them and were introduced to all the brilliant new ideas brimming in their heads. Mr. Timothy Roberts, Mr. James Lynch and Dr. Armeena Tabassum and their respective teams have been extremely supportive of our academic initiatives set for this year. They have added value to our work and encouraged us in myriad ways on how we can help make life for students at school more interesting and educational. We value all your support and the time taken to talk to us, and on behalf of everyone, we want to say a big THANK YOU to all the positive changes we see happening around us in the School! For the benefit of the new members of PARIS, I’d like to do a little intro – We are the Parent’s Association at Raffles World Academy and call ourselves PARIS. By virtue of being a parent at RWA, you are automatically a member of PARIS. There is an elected Executive Committee that forms the core of PARIS and heads various functions but all decisions are taken on a majority vote as a democratic body. The focus this year has been on supporting Academics in a way that generates a thirst for knowledge in the young minds of our children. In this regard, our Focus Groups have been doing some excellent work which was perused by the KHDA during their annual inspection. We are proud to say that the Parent Body in RWA was granted an OUTSTANDING rating by none other than the KHDA themselves! Our Chairperson for this academic year was Saira Haseeb Khurram. She is a veteran on the Executive Committee of PARIS, having held various roles over the past 5 years. This year she led the team with her vast realms of experience and high doses of enthusiasm. She gave her Team a free hand to explore

and put their own ideas into action and while allowing them this space, she was also there to gently steer an idea on to the right path if there were any deviations. Under her leadership, PARIS has worked closely with the Management, Teaching Faculty and Students of RWA to ensure that we are well on our way as a Parent Body in achieving the KHDA Directives and Objectives. This was achieved by including a lot of fun activities which only enhanced the primary objective of Learning. Saira was ably assisted by Georgia Vaitl and Nadia Valli - who are the Vice Chairpersons for the Secondary School and Primary School respectively. Georgia additionally also handles the role of the Secondary School Parent Coordinator. She is also instrumental in working along with the School Counsellors and conducting a Career Fair which till last year was aimed at students studying from Grades 9 to 12. This year, she plans to include several Grades from Senior as well as Junior School and percolate the idea of various interesting careers which will inspire the minds of our younger students. Nadia has been the quiet but steady rock behind the Chairperson. She doesn’t say much but her actions speak much louder than words. She is always there with a ready smile, to lend a helping hand at every event that PARIS has organized this year. She has an amazing Can Do attitude.

Farina Moti, our Focus Group Coordinator and another familiar face on the Executive Committee, has been instrumental for several new initiatives undertaken by PARIS since it was formed. A big part of what we are today is because of her. Farina, this year, oversees the activities of all our Focus Groups. Aalya Janahi is our Cultural Liaison and is a treasure trove of information as far as Emirati Culture and Traditions are concerned. She helped with the National Day Celebrations and every conversation with her is like getting an education on the Culture of the Country that all of us presently call home. She was also a great help during International Day and encouraged the support and presence of UAE on this festive day. Safeena Lakdawala is a newbie to our team, but what she lacks in experience, she makes up for in enthusiasm. She has taken on the dual responsibility of Treasurer and the Islamic Focus Group Coordinator. The latter was her brainchild and she hit the ground running in September 2016 even as most of us were getting used to the fact that the new academic session has already begun! She was instrumental in organizing the “Haj Creativity Challenge” and “The Flavours of Eid” which showcased to the Students, the different ways in how Eid is celebrated around the World. She has worked closely with the Islamic Department to conduct “The 99 names of Allah” Calligraphy Competition. She is currently working on a project with the CAS students in renovating the prayer rooms at school. Andrea Marchon is a parent who thinks of the School as her Home! She is our Primary School Parent Coordinator and always has her ears to the ground. She is up and running at the slightest sign of something going wrong in primary school. Andrea has a great working equation with the entire Management, Teaching Faculty and Parents of Primary School.

Abeer Badran is our Secretary, and despite having a full-time job that takes up a lot of her time, she has been superb in handling one of the busiest roles on the Executive Committee. It wasn’t a role of her choosing but she accepted it and worked at it with all her heart. She has been on the ball with keeping all PARIS registered RWA parents up-to-date with what’s been going on within PARIS.

Ieva Teresa, Paola Cadei and Barbara Mandolesi are the force behind our version of the “Cupboard under the Stairs” which is our Second Hand Store! They have run it beautifully for the last 2 years and even now this little gem continues to run despite the fact that Paola had to relocate a couple of months back. Our three Musketeers have now become two.

From the Desk of RWA Parents Association [PARIS] has perfected the art of balancing her dual role as a Parent and a Teacher at RWA! She is always giving us another perspective which helps clear our vision and focus better! This year she, along with our Chairperson Saira, were instrumental in PARIS going paperless. She has been working closely with the Eco Group at School to maintain the GREEN FLAG status at RWA. Qamar Jahan is our Arabic Focus Group Nike Ruijter-Schaap is literally the lady who keeps us on our toes – she is our P.E. Focus Group Coordinator! She is a Certified Yoga Instructor and has been conducting Yoga Classes for RWA parents and friends at a very nominal charge, every Sunday and Thursday mornings on school premises. She has assisted the P.E. Department with the Beach Runs for various classes and also led the PARIS team in organizing the distribution fresh cut fruit and vegetables. These were given for free to all the Students, Teachers and Parents on their Sports Day. She was ably assisted by Farina Shaikh who is also a fitness enthusiast. Myrta Napoletano, our Science Focus Group Coordinator, is like a racing car firing on all cylinders; she is always raring to go! She has teamed up with Luisa Ghiringhelli Mazza, who with her sense of rationality and calmness helps the group to function at

its optimum efficiency! They have worked closely with the Science Department and our ICT Focus Group to get primary and secondary students to work on an Arduino project to build and program traffic signals. This was a pilot project, where PARIS fully sponsored 6 Arduino kits. Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. This tremendously helped with building an interest in Science and ICT. This was a big success; the school is now purchasing more of these kits owing to the learning value they have added. The ICT Focus Group, led by Dina Al-Amudi, supported the ICT Department during ICT Week (5th to 9th of February 2017). The focus this year was on Internet Safety. Grades 5 & 9 presented their Arduino projects during various assemblies. Dina has been a blessing to have on board the Executive Committee. She is one member who is always on top of things and you never have to follow up with her for anything!

Coordinator. This was the very first of Focus Groups to be formed under the PARIS wing and has always been a special one. Qamar is passionate about the Arabic language even though she is not a native speaker. And this passion combined with a zeal for getting the Students interested in Arabic is what makes her perfect for this role. She was instrumental this year in sponsoring prizes for the Students at RWA who walked away with the top honors at the Arabic A & B writing competition conducted by Innoventures. Marzia Imran is the Homework Focus Group Coordinator who initiated this Focus Group this academic year. She coordinates with the EAL Department. Together they ran a pilot program for Grades 3 and 5. This was a success and next year she is looking into the possibility of including other grades too. In the Executive Committee, Marzia is the quiet and dedicated one, who always meets expectations. Lamia Bin Saleh handles all communication and advertisement for PARIS on Social Media ad Edmodo. She is clear in her thoughts and communication and fits

the bill perfectly! She is always on top of posting all important info on all mediums. And I am Sangeeta Praveen, the Communications Coordinator. I am responsible for writing the PARIS Newsletter and the article for the Yearbook. Having a flair for writing, this role was a match made in heaven. The Newsletters have been more achievement oriented this year, covering only what PARIS has achieved during each term. Undoubtedly, the highlight of this year was the unveiling of our School Mascot which was entirely sponsored by PARIS! He was a big hit with all the kids in Primary and Secondary and he enlivened the RWA Sports Days and all other Sporting Events that took place in or out of RWA! RWA was the first Innoventures School to have a Mascot !!! So three Cheers to that!! ☺ Go STALLIONS!!!! Apart from this, PARIS donated AED 2,000 towards the hosting of the first ever RWAMUN. It was a big success and we see this event growing from strength to strength in the coming years. PARIS also contributed towards International Day (AED 3,000) and National Day (AED 5,000). The Drama Department was given AED 3,000 to help with the Production of the widely appreciated Secondary School Play “The Secret Garden”. We have also worked very closely with the School Clinic and Doctor (Dr. Janine) in helping with the awareness and advertisement of the various workshops and activities they have hosted or arranged throughout this academic year. In the pipeline, is a proposal to fund books and other resources for the School’s Library with special focus on Arabic and other foreign languages. This proposal is for the annual gift that PARIS gives to the school every year. PARIS will also be awarding the security and cleaning staff of RWA with a lunch and cash as gifts for their hard work throughout the year. We shall also be hosting a Teachers’ Appreciation Tea before the end to this academic year. The new Executive Committee for the next academic year will be elected by April 2017. We would like to say a big THANK YOU to all the current members of the Executive Committee for all the help and support accorded. Nothing can be achieved without a Team and finally it is Teamwork that makes the Dream work! If any of you would like to play a more active role in PARIS or would like to be part of our mailing list for next year, please email us on paris.secretary@gmail.com. You can also follow us on Facebook – PARIS RWA. We wish you and your family all a very cool and amazing summer!

Trayle Kulshan, the Eco Group Coordinator,

From the Desk of RWA Parents Association [PARIS]

Sair Haseeb Khurram Chairperson

Georgia Vaitl

Nadia Valli Vice Chair

Abeer Badran Secretary

Andrea Marchon Pr. School Parent Coordinator

Safeena Lakdawala

Sangeeta Praveen Communications Coordinator

Aalya Janahi Cultural Liason

Leva Teresa Second Hand Store Coordinator

Paola Cadei Second Hand Store Coordinator

Barbara Mandolesi Second Hand Store Coordinator

Farina Moti Focus Group Coordinator

Nike Ruijter-Schaap PE Focus Group Coordinator

Farina Sheikh PE Focus Group Coordinator

Myrta Napoletano Science Focus Group Coordinator

Luisa Ghiringehell Mazza Science Focus Group Coordinator

Dina Al-Mudi ICT Focus Group Coordinator

Vice Chair / Secondary School Cordinator

Treasurer Islamic Focus Group Coordinator

Trayle Kulshan Eco Focus Group Coordinator

Qamar Jahan Arabic Focus Group Coordinator

Marzia Imran Homework Focus Group Coordinator

Lamia Bni Saleh Social Media Coordinator

From the Library Manager's Desk “Today a READER, Tomorrow a Leader “ – Margaret Fuller

We are very proud of our library and are passionate about books and reading! It is our mission to connect the terms Library & Librarians as being positive and that they represent an engaging and innovative hub of learning, exploration and discovery for our RWA school community! Shama Mansoor Library Manager

Author’s Visit Debi Evans and the crew

DEAR Drop Everything and Read

Rose the colorful witch and her students @ World Book Day 2017

RWA Library Readers in a row

Secondary school research participants

The 3 musketeers

School Library

The Library Team

Two heads are better than one!

The Storyteller Lady Jane Sedgwick with our grade 2 students

School Clinic 21st century Healthcare RWA clinic promotes the biopsychosocial model of Health and safety; catering for the large multinational community, providing professional and high standard medical help, support and advice. Effectively and consistently involved in the whole school wide range of events, the Health Staff is expertise, with the support of the management team, contributes to the ongoing improvement of existing polices and safe practices. Staffed with a full time Dr. (Jinane Chalouhi) and two full time nurses (Suma Raj and Nerissa Osero), the Health teamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s motto remains the same: safe schools for healthy and academically successful students. RWA Health Office

School Clinic

Message from the Head of Primary School Dear RWA Community, We have come to the end of another incredible school year. I am so proud to be able to serve this wonderful community for two successful years as the head of primary. Thank you for all your support and faith in me. Thanks to the constructive feedback from our parents, and the commitment of our teachers, our primary team has come through in big ways over the course of this year, and together we have brought about many changes that have impacted our school and community in many positive ways. The yearbook is a testimony to all our accomplishments over the past few months. Academically, this has been a stellar year. Our commitment to be amongst the highest achieving schools in Dubai academically is close to fruition – and we are obviously speaking as a school that is proud to be non-selective in our admissions. Our results in standardized GL, TIMSS and IBT assessments have shown an upward trajectory with thrice more students attaining distinctions and high distinctions in the recent IBT tests. This year the KHDA- DSIB inspection report was very positive, resulting in the primary school ratings being upgraded in 19 different quality indicators. I am confident that with the sustained support of all concerned and our dedication and persistence, our school will only continue to succeed. Thanks to our talented visual and performing arts department, visual, dramatic, choral and musical performances continue to enhance the cultural life and the creative side of our primary school. As evidenced in these pages, this year witnessed spectacular performances of the school musical, X Factor Talent competitions, and National and International day cultural performances. Our newly formed Junior Choir ‘Raffles Trebles’ earned a lot of recognition for their fabulous performances in many events this year.

Environmental awareness has been further heightened in the school this year through the RWA planting day, and the continued efforts to make RWA an eco- friendly school. Our students have continued to participate in the many charity events this year and contributed generously to the GIVE initiative of building schools in Nepal launched by Innoventures. Thank you so much for your generosity in supporting these events – there is no doubt that it will make a difference and teach our students to be compassionate and caring individuals. Our PYP Exhibition continues to improve each year in its quality of presentations and choice of topics. To our Grade 5 students, congratulations on your achievement! The primary teachers wish you all the best as you move to the next phase of your education in the secondary. Parents, if this is your last child to leave the RWA primary school, the staff would like to thank you for your support and for the guidance that you have provided to your child (ren). In conclusion, I take this opportunity to congratulate all students for their hard work and extraordinary accomplishments. I extend my grateful thanks to the entire RWA community for your continued support. Best wishes to those of you who are moving on to go to pastures new, I wish you everything you could hope for. For those who are with us next year, I hope you have a restful, safe and replenishing summer with your families, and I look forward to welcoming you in the next academic year to continue our journey ‘towards outstanding’, as I truly believe that the journey is just as important as the destination itself…

Best wishes, Dr. Armeena Tabassum Head of Primary school

This yearbook also bears witness to the participation and success of our students in the numerous sporting events throughout the year. I offer my sincere congratulations to our PE staff, sport coaches and pupils for their contribution to the success of the school. So many students have learnt the skills involved in being part of a team, learning to win and lose, and being responsible to their commitment to training. Thank you to all our teachers for giving up many hours to develop the skills in our students. Our teachers have had a big year of learning too. They have been involved in major curriculum development projects this year, including – focus on enhancing literacy, science teaching, conceptual teaching and learning, Next Step Marking, Assessment for learning, effective technology integration, Differentiation, making learning and thinking visible, leadership training, as well as many other short PD pathways related to their own personal growth. You can be assured that your children will continue to receive the best education possible.

Message from the Deputy Head - Primary School It seems to be a recurrent theme at RWA that each year is a ‘big year’ with so much happening; pardon the cliché but 2016-17 was also like this. There were a large number of highlights to this year for me and the school, most notably some of our school’s fantastic events including National Day, Flag Day, International Day, and Planting Day. One other key highlight this year was the huge number of fantastic assemblies I got to watch and be a part of. This year we moved to single grade assemblies with this being much more successful. These assemblies were a great opportunity for classes to share what they have been learning about, as well as focusing on the various PYP attitudes and attributes that we seek to develop in our students. It has also been fantastic to see the large amount of parents that we have at each and every one of our assemblies. Speaking of parents as a school we are extremely lucky to work with such a fantastic parent group, PARIS, who are supportive of where we are headed as a school. A number of times we have spoken to PARIS with ideas we have had and they have supported us with these. Two such examples of these were their support of the Arduino project in Grade 5 as we seek to enhance our STEM education at the school. The second was their support of Planting Day, a new initiative this year where we have sought to boost the green spaces around the school. A key focus of this year for me has been to enhance the movement of our students around the school. With almost 1200 students in the primary school it is very important that students move around in a safe and calm way. This year H.A.L.L. (Hands to the side, all eyes forward, lips closed and low speed) has been introduced and has been a big success. Having something simple like this that students from all grades could follow has meant that they have been moving around much more calmly and safely, also dramatically reducing the incidents/accidents we have in the hallways. One final key focus for this year has been on the enhancement of our Co-Curricular Activities (formerly After School Activities) at RWA. Part of our mission at RWA is to developed balanced and holistic students. In previous years we have found that there has been a large number of CCAs which have not been accessed,

and the others that were popular filled up very quickly. To address this issue we have increased the number of offerings of our very popular CCAs such as Book Club, Math Club, Coding Club and Football Club. We have also limited the initial signup to 2 CCAs/child which has meant that the number of students able to access our CCAs has increased. This will continue to be a focus for the school next year with our seeking to tap into our parent community more to help use their expertise/passions to further enhance our CCA programme. Thank you to all of the students, teacher and management team for making this year so successful. I genuinely think that we are on a very good path as a school and I look forward to continuing this journey with you all next academic year. Best regards, Damien Marshall Deputy Head - Primary School

Message from the Dean of Studies & PYP Coordinator This was my year of understanding as the PYP Coordinator at Raffles World Academy. Using the knowledge gained last year, I was able to guide the teaching and learning in a more caring and empathetic way. Meaning I worked more collaboratively with the RWA school community to ensure we all had the same vision and same enthusiasm for teaching and learning. Bringing in a greater focus on learning through inquiry continued to be a success and has made learning more transdisciplinary, allowing students to make more meaningful connections with their learning. I must thank the collaborative efforts of classroom teachers with specialist teachers for creating such authentic connections in learning. The successes of RWA would not have been possible without the commitment and cooperation of the entire RWA community, especially all the knowledgeable teachers and inquiring parents. We are continuing to push our teaching and learning in a constant effort to provide the best learning experience for all students at RWA. Collaborative planning is one way we are ensuring our lessons continue to be creative and innovative to inspire student learning and development. This collaboration allows the sharing of ideas and strategies between teachers of the same grades, teachers

of different grades, specialists and the PYP Coordinator. Furthermore, a greater focus on the use of data is allowing us as educators to get a better understanding of what students specifically need to continue being successful on their learning journey. Currently we look at both external assessment data from the GL assessments done by all students and the internal assessment data collected by teachers each unit. Looking at this data for trends, teachers bring in unique strategies for their students. As RWA continues to find ways to creatively use this data, the learning of students at the school will continue to be more dynamic. In the future I envision a truly inquiry-based learning environment that is centered on creating holistically educated students who are ready for an ever-changing world. Continued commitment to the teaching and learning the collaborative work of all members of the RWA community makes me confident that the vision of the school and its members will be reached. Nick Gastaldi Dean of Studies & PYP Coordinator

Message from the Lower Primary School Coordinator “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world ...» Albert Einstein Another school year has flown by ever so swiftly, at Raffles World Academy, the fact that we never seem to slow down, makes time pass by ever so quickly! It seems like we just started the school year a few months back. We only realize that the year is about to end as we notice how much our children have grown in confidence and are chattier than ever. The roles seem reversed when the children are telling their teachers what to do, and asking adults a string of questions. Our children in the Kindergarten have indeed grown and developed well, through the stimulating environment the teachers have provided. I write to you, a very proud Lower Primary School Coordinator, at the end of a very successful and rewarding school year. The highlight of this year has been the DSIB inspection, during which, Phase 1 (Kindergarten) moved up in seven indicators. This incredible achievement is a testament to the hard work and determination by our kindergarten staff, who persevere to ensure that in-class provisions are always of the highest levels. Kindergarten at RWA, is a very special place and sometimes we need to step back and reflect on how far we have come as a department in the recent months and years. If you visit Kindergarten, there is always a buzz, there is energy, engagement and involvement. One thing you will not see very often is a classroom where all the students are sitting up straight, facing the front and paying attention. For learning to happen, there needs to be activity, engagement, excitement and relevance. Children learn best when what they’re learning is important to them. They learn best when what they learn answers to a question, especially when they are the ones who have asked the question. I don’t like sitting in my office very much, so I spend a good deal of time walking around. As I walk past classrooms, I often peak inside and am amazed with the constructing, collaborating, cooperating, and calculating. They’re not quiet, and they’re not sitting still. They’re too busy learning. And I love it! And so the 2016/17 academic year comes to an end. As

ever, it is the nature of international schools that we will be saying goodbye to a number of staff and students, and this is always a sad moment for us. As I say farewell to every single one of them, I reflect on how much they have ‘gone the extra mile’, how much energy and commitment they have given to our children, and how each one has been a part of the RWA story. Have a lovely summer holiday and all the best next year. Naeema Mangera Lower Primary School Coordinator

Primary School Teachers

KG 2 Teachers

KG 1 Teachers

Grade 1 Teachers

Primary School Teachers Grade 2 Teachers

Grade 3 Teachers

Grade 4 Teachers

Grade 5 Teachers

Counselling Department

ICT Teachers

PE Teachers

Arabic A & B Teachers

Art, Drama & Music Teachers

Moderen Foreign Language Teachers

Student Support Services Department

KG1 A

Summer, summer, time is here We learned so much in this school year You are a very special child. Remember all the times we smiled Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve loved the time Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve spent with you. I wish you luck in all you do. 2017-2018

Maria Najeeb KG 1 Team Leader & KG 1A Class Teacher

Diwali celebration

Anabel Ardiente Classroom Assistant

culture Day

Adam

Aila

Azlaan

Benny

Daria

Darina

Dhwani

Edgar

Eshal

Fadia

Gaveesh

Irene

KG1 A

Enjoying jello in the hot summer

International Day

Peace day

Role playing Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going on a Bear hunt

Ivan

JoudLia

Muthish

Karim

Reema

Leonida

Shaikha

Maryam

Virat

Meher

Yasmin

KG1 B

KG1B had a fantastic school year filled with fun, laughter, friends and exciting learning! The students completed their first year of the RWA journey and became IB learners. They learned all the sounds and how to read and write them, they learned numbers, counting, and how to become good problem solvers. They learned to become risk-takers through fun science projects. They were inquirers and became open-minded, learning about how the world works. They made many close friends and learned about their different cultures. They became caring, principled and learned how to appreciate each other.

Aanamta

Ajitesh

Amaara

Amanda

Amira

Anna

Aophia

Aprameya

Benito

Butul

Emmy

Hrishikesh

KG1 B We know ‘who we are’ Through the year the children inquired and shared about their friends’ home countries, about different cultures, traditions and celebrations. The students became excellent communicators! KG1B were passionate about Art! They used their imagination and creativity to make beautiful and meaningful artwork; they became balanced through learning ‘how we express ourselves’. Many of their artwork shows how well the children improved their fine-motor skills! KG1B became very knowledgeable, learning about sharing the planet. Sometime they had to concentrate on following instructions and worked on their own; sometimes, they had to complete challenging group tasks. They reflected on their work, set personal goals and worked hard on achieving them. It has been a great school year in KG1 and now they are ready to leap to KG2! Ioulia Kononova KG 1B Class Teacher

Khalid

Daisy Florentino Classroom Assistant

Kieran

Muhammad

Kilian

Rushil

Loukas

Saif

Moaatassem Billah

Shae

Mohammad

Tatum

KG1 C

I can’t believe that it has already been a year and it’s time for me to say goodbye to you. It was a wonderful year in Kg-1C , to watch the students grow and learn and become independent learners. Each student of Kg-1C was unique in their own journey of learning and together we learnt and explored numbers, measurement, data handling and other concepts. We had a lot of fun on our field trips to the Butterfly garden and the Ductac theatre. We also learnt to be openminded, good communicators and responsible. All the members of KG-1C were” high on energy and passionate about learning.” Miss Ziareen and I will miss you a lot. Zarien Guirre Classroom Assistant

Jyoti Bhagirath KG 1C Class Teacher

National Day Celebration

Cultural Day

Ali

Eman

Aayushi

Maxim

AbdulAziz

Avnee

Lenny

Field Trip to the Butterfly Garden

Daphne

Lily

Ema

Maksym

KG1 C

Maria

Najva

Data Handling

Winter Concert

Role play

Swimming

Mia Manal

Marwan

Noor

Parisa

Mikael

Qaisar

Sophia

Muhammad

Zeno

KG1 D

It is said that time flies when you are having fun. It is no easy task to ensure that our youngest learners are learning while having fun. There is a poster in the school cafeteria saying â&#x20AC;&#x153;A day in which you have learnt something is never a wasteâ&#x20AC;?. Teaching your children, I have been learning every single day and I can personally testify that not a single day was a waste as life is a process in which you learn continuously as a student and as a teacher. In this past year they have made friends, developed different skills and made their classroom another home. A place where they spend almost half their day surrounded by people they play with, eat together with and have their ups and downs with. People who get to know them almost as much as their own family.

Armaan

Ayaan

James

Joshua

Khevyn

Lara

Lila

Lucas

Lucia

Mariam

KG1 D Another year comes to a close and I have to state that it has been a pleasure and privilege to have been given the opportunity to teach your children. However, as they say, onwards and upwards! I wish them all the best in this novel journey of learning that will continue to shape their lives. Mary Ann Mandag Classroom Assistant

Sarah Mehboob KG 1D Class Teacher

Muhammad Amin

Niki Maria

Pareesae

Pavle

Vihaan

Xifan

Zoe

Selma

KG1 E

A year in KG1E…where the journey begins From the first day of school to the very last The school year has gone so fast. We had a wonderful year! Inquiring into living and non-living things, growing vegetables and giving them some sun. We have been looking after our class pet “Goldie”. We have been celebrating many different cultures and festivals like Diwali, ‘Eid, and Chinese New Year, to name a few. We sang and danced to a range of music. We even performed on stage. We have been cooking and creating many pieces of work.

Book Day

celebrating 100 days in school

Aryan

Estelle

Janisha

Jeremy

Karim

Maya

Mica

Miqdad

Mustafa

Nisrin

KG1 E We went on a field trip to the Butterfly Garden and not to forget our trip to the Madinat Jumeirah where we watched “The Gruffalo’s Child” We laughed, we cried, we pulled our scary faces. We painted and learned how to hold a pen and discovered the value of zero to 100...we cut, we glued, we built, and we stuck, and turned a box into a truck. We shared, we waited, and we cared for and at the end of it all we said goodbye. Malak Rahhal KG 1E Class Teacher

Hilda Fabian Classroom Assistant

Pattern day

Trip to the Butterfly Garden

Performing on Stage in the Interrnation Day

Rim

Shaheen

Sofia

Taha

Valentine

Valentino

Xuan

Yamen

Yara

Yuthika

KG1 F

The academic year is over and I want to thank all the KG1F students for their great achievement. Even though they would have grown without my help, it has been a pleasure and a privilege to see their personalities grow day by day and to see how they have developed their learning with enthusiasms, commitment and confidence. I will always cherish all those moments and memories spent together in school and I wish that life becomes all that you want it to be, may your dreams become big, as you continue believing in them and you will definitely achieve those dreams in future. Stay positive, be happy and always try your best. Chanceline Ngassa KG 1F Class Teacher

Adam

Toufic

Catherine Balubar Classroom Assistant

Ahmed

Madiya

Baraa

Malek

Bryan

Matei

Mohammad Azmi

Jasmin

Nirvana

KG1 F

Derin

Sharvi

Yassin

Shehryar

Rachele

Raya

Saeed

Tara

Tvisha

Vivaan

Sarah

Zainah

KG1 G

It’s time to say a ‘Good-bye’ to all of you. What a fantastic year it has been and it seems as if time had wings as it flew speedily. Ms. Salina and I have had an amazing time watching all of you grow and progress both personally and academically. I remember clearly on the first day of school how apprehensive you all were and now you are full of confidence. It has been such a delight to watch all of you learn, change and take responsibility for your own learning. I hope your experiences in Kg1 will help you to become lifelong learners and inquirers. After a year filled with many adventures, I send my little ones off to KG 2 with happy memories, great hopes and expectations for the next year. Advaita Singh KG 1G Class Teacher

Salina Diaz Classroom Assistant

Aaryav

Diana

Eunseo

Evita

Faris

Hadi

Hassan

Aarav

Sophia

Leonardo

KG1 G

Basile

Leia

Maya

Nemitha

Shivoham

Spencer

Stephan

Tia

Youssef

Zeenya

KG1 H

Meghan Ball KG 1H Class Teacher

Loryfel Urbano Classroom Assistant

On February 22nd all KG1 students celebrated the 100th day of school! We had been counting since the beginning of the school year for this day.

On Sunday February 5th KG1 students participated in the Annual Primary School Sportâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day! This event gives students the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned in PE classes.

Ahmed

Ali

Athmika

Bogdan

Dima

George

Jade

Janna

Jash

Krish

Leo

Liam

KG1 H As part of our unit of inquiry cycles influence the activities of living things students from KG1 went to the Dubai Butterfly Garden to inquire into seasons and lifecycles.

During our who we are unit of inquiry KG1 students learned about different cultures and celebrations. Students performed dances from all over the world!

Liyana

Rayna

Samarth

Ritta

Thomas

Vivaan

Sofia

Suri

Zach

KG2 A

On that day I can surely say, I was as nervous as you; in my own way. With new haircuts and shiny shoes I welcomed you in, for the year to begin. With sadness and sorrow, we waved good bye with nurture and love, we now stroll in. To Mums and Dads, now I know it’s hard, when your children forget to say ta-ta. You beckon them back for a kiss on the cheek but know their day’s won’t be bleak. Tears and sniffles became smiles and giggles as we ALL grew, into KG2. We have accomplished so much in such a short time; singing, swimming and spelling too. The classroom is where we all feel safe, it truly is a magical place. In warm, cosy places we love to read; have fun and explore to our hearts content. Part of our day is to role play, I want to be the teacher! I can hear them say. All until it’s time for play! We’re scientists, authors and painters too, trips to the theatre and Green Planet too. We learnt to be independent and strong; and not to worry, if we got something wrong! We lead, we follow, all in our strides, as Miss Seema watches full of pride. We are kind and can be a good friend; alas, our year has come to an end… To Mums and Dads I thank you, for trusting me with your sweet beau. We may not always see eye to eye but be sure I don’t really want to say goodbye. For the best is all I wish for them. May their dreams remain big and worries small. With fond memories I bid farewell. In years to come when you’re big and tall, I hope you remember Miss Seema from when you were small. Seema Virdi KG 2A Class Teacher

Juanita De Guzman Classroom Assistant

Book Day

Measuring our shoes

Narrating our own stories

Adam

Aidan

Alexandre

Ali

Archana

Arjun

Azlan

Daniel

Ines

Khadija

KG2 A

Enjoying making and tasting ice cream

Sports Day (1)

Sports Day (2)

We are living things

We love butter.

Working with our peers

Khalifa

Leonid

Lujain

Mariam

Omar

Rika

Romain

Sara

Shaylah

Tala

Paco

Valencia

Riyad

Zayna

KG2 B

KG2B Parents and Students What an amazing year! I truly enjoyed getting to know each student in my class and watching them grow and learn. KG2B has had an exciting year in which we explored the world around us and learned how to express ideas through writing. I saw this class take on challenges and become risktakers and independent inquirers, while at the same time learning to be principled in their daily lives. It was so much fun to be the facilitator of new experiences

and to watch the intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm of the students take root. We explored old Dubai, learned about life cycles, experienced science through the process of making food, and explored many forms of expression through paint, theatre, literature, music, and much more. This was truly an exciting and fun year of learning. These students are beginning an exciting lifelong journey of personal growth through learning. It was a great pleasure to share in this process, even for a short time. I will miss each and every student next year and wish the very best for all as the journey continues.

Lacey Beck KG 2B Class Teacher

Elizabeth Mahusay Classroom Assistant

Abdullah

Adam

Alexander

Aya

Damin

Hamza

Hazelle

Jesse

Leem

KG2 B

Nael

Ryan

Soad

Saanvi

Yousef

Saisha

Zaina

Sanjana

Zaina

Sidharrth

Zina

KG2 C

Why fit in when you were born to stand out? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Dr.Seuss It does not seem so long ago when I welcomed the children into my classroom. When I look back over the academic year, I can see the wonderful progress the children have made. They have had a busy year, getting settled into new routines, making friends and learning so much. Our learning has been knowledgeable and rewarding. Their enthusiasm and commitment has been fantastic and there have been so many special memories over the last few months. This year has been an amazing year of growth and discovery. The Units of Inquiry really opened their minds and challenged them to keep going deeper and asking questions. They enjoyed

the field trips throughout the Units and their reflections have always made me proud. The childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s enthusiasm and knowledge shown in class and during reporting to parents have been a joy to witness. It has been a pleasure to observe the children blossom into risk-takers, thinkers and communicators to name just a few. I have enjoyed the opportunity to develop a relationship with each child and have got to know them individually. As the children move onto the next step in their academic journey I wish them all the success in their future endeavours. **Good luck my shinning sparkling stars of KG2C!** Rupinder Arora KG 2C Class Teacher

World Book Day

Gina Sexiona Classroom Assistant

Project Organic Garden

Alberts

Alhena

Aya

Ayaan

Aylin

Azlan

Elayce

Elisavet

Haroun

Iseo

Jana

Krish

KG2 C

A visit to Bastakiyah

100 Days Of School

Massyl

The Science Fair

Mia

Orfefs

Rohin

Murad

Sam

World Book Day-1

Nada

Samy

Naysha

Sarah

Noor

Sofia

KG2 D

It’s time to say good-bye. Our year has come to an end. I’ve made more cherished memories and many more new friends. I’ve watched your child learn and grow and change from day to day. I hope that all the things we’ve done have helped in some small way. We have had a fun-filled and rewarding year. It has been a year filled with fantastic moments and with many achievements and celebrations. It’s been truly memorable to be part of your child’s growth and learning and to have watched them develop into unique independent individuals. Ms Lia’s contributions deserve a special mention. She worked very hard and without her constant support we surely could not have had a successful school year. I also wish to convey my heartfelt thanks to all the parents. Your encouragement and support helped us tremendously throughout the year. Finally, children, I wish to say that you will be missed dearly. I will definitely treasure the special moments we have had together. I wish you all the best in your next stage of learning journey.

Lakshmi Menon KG 2D Class Teacher

Ofelia Dabalos Classroom Assistant

Eid Celebration

Peer Learning

Parent-led Activity

Benn Cern Raffael

Ethan

Hoda

Issa

Jana

Kamil

Leon

Leonardo

Maya

Mayra

Niall

Nivaan

KG2 D

Science fair

Shairing their learning

Sports day

Noah

Nura

Tudor

Wiktoria

Story telling

Rushda

Safia

Yara

Youssef

Serena

Zorez

Smayan

Zoya

KG2 E

Wow! I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe the time has come to say goodbye to my friends in KG2E. I have enjoyed watching the KG2E children grow and develop into the children they are. It has been a pleasure to have been their teacher, and not just to have been a teacher for my children, but also to have been a fellow learner alongside them. Each child has learned so much, grasping and modelling the fullness of the Learner Profile attributes and attitudes. The KG2E children have set good foundations for their school-life by taking responsibility for their own learning through being risk-takers, knowledgeable, thinkers and inquirers. Their principled nature was clearly evident when others recognise how polite the KG2E children were and how well they listened. I want to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to each parent for your support in your childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s learning and for your cooperation during the year. I wish each child the very best in grade 1 and keep shining my friends! With warmest respect. Janette Emery KG 2E Class Teacher

Fe San Esteban Classroom Assistant

Alexander Nikolaev

Allegra

Amira Zaina

Anaya

Aron Benjamin

Ayaan

Chakrath

Cristina Gabriela

Dalila

Diana

Gaspard

Giulio

KG2 E

Maths - Sorting

Science Exploring

Measuring height

National Day

Hana

Gaspard De Roffignac

Parent Conference

Inayat

Raha

Ines

Ray

Nicolas

Romain

Measuring height

Matyas

Vihaan

Oscar

Zhihan

KG2 F

It is never easy for me to say goodbye to my loved ones! I had a fantastic journey with you this year and each and every day we had a blast. We had sunny and rainy days together… we cried and laughed, we played, sang and danced and throughout all those wonderful moments, we learned many lessons together. Since the first day until now I witnessed us growing and changing, exploring lots of new places and things, learning how to live, and respecting each other. Sometimes we were riding on our wild imagination or thinking and acting like a scientist. Time flew by and soon you will be in the higher grades but something will always stay the same, “You are a part of my heart and I will remember you forever.” Good luck and God bless you all! “I hope your dreams take you to the corners of your smiles, to the highest of your hopes, to the windows of your opportunities, and to the most special places your heart has ever known.” Anonymous Nargis Tabrizi KG 2F Class Teacher

Daisy Pullan Classroom Assistant

New Year Celebration

World Book Day

Adam

Ahmed

Aiesha

Ali

Amandine

Amina

Ammar

Antonella

Ayan

Constance

Essa

Eva

KG2 F

Haya

Majed

Celebrating 1000 Dojo points!

We enjoy team work and learning about 3D shapes.

Creativity and imagination

We are creative! We can build our own doll house.

Jaden

Martina

Jazmin

Mathew

Khalid

Matilda

Maani

Rama

Talha

Magdalena

Zaid

KG2 G

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to say good-bye today Our time here is done. We sang, we read, we learned so much Remember all the fun. I saw the smile grow on your face When you tackled something new. I watched as your sparkling eyes lit up, My eyes they glistened too.

I wish you well, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll cherish you As you walk out the door today. Know for certain where ever you go YOU are in my heart TO STAY. Debbie Clement I wish all my precious ones the very best for all their future ventures and endeavors!

Muna Hussain KG 2 Team Leader & KG 2G Class Teacher

Marivic Perez Classroom Assistant

UAE Nationa Day celebrations

World Book Day dress up

Adam

Amara

Ata Soraya

Bruno

Dunya

Evelina

Hassan

Hayah

Isabella

Janeh

Kanishk

Lalith Arya

KG2 G

Celebrating Internationalism

Comparing places

Dressing up as UAE Nationals

Going Green

Exploring UAE culture

Mariam

Shaikha

Mateo

Taimour

Mishkaat

Muhammad

Vikrant

Yelyzaveta

Oskari

Youssef

Qiaohong

Zahra

Grade 1A

The year has zoomed by so fast. We have learned so much from each other. Grade 1 A has been working hard on being good communicators and being caring to each other. They have been inquirers focusing on developing their scientific skill where they predicted and recorded their observations. We learned about money and how to use them in real life situations. Great job Grade1 A, continue working on your inquiry skills in grade 2.

Alexanderia Machado Grade 1A Class Teacher

Ana Loren Ramo Classroom Assistant

I was a communicator

We are Inquirers

We created our own patterns

Aadhya

Apollonia

Armaan

Aubane

Borna

Lynn

Hafsa

Hilda

Jeanne

Jerome

Jad

Leah

Grade 1A

Lily

Salma

Green Planet

Working collaboratively

World book day !

Math is fun

Mathieu

Samuella

Miguel

Sasha Charlotte

Muhammad

Soria

Myron

Mohammad

Rayyan

Yahya

Grade 1B

I cannot believe that the end of the school year has gone so quickly. It has been a great year that has been filled with much joy and happiness. We have covered a lot of new concepts and have gotten the opportunity to participate in many fun projects. We were lucky enough to go to the beach and explore natural patterns. It has been my pleasure getting to know your child this school year. Having your parental support was an essential

part of the year. I would like to personally thank each and every one of the parents, grandparents, and other family members who have taken the time to volunteer in the classroom this year. Your dedication and support has not gone unnoticed.

Rachel Njorge Grade 1B Class Teacher

Goldie Joy Tolentino Classroom Assistant

Preparing for assembly

Aeden

Afonso

Aiden

Antoine

Daniel

Joe amadeus

Khalid

Kiara

Lana

Noah

Owais

Grade 1B

Ready to jump on trampoline in Bounce

Celebrating National day

Green planet trip

We discovered different animals at green planet

Medinat field trip

Seif

Green planet trip

Shariq

Viktoriya

Sophia

Yara

Soraaya

Yasmine

Temirlan

Yuji

Valeriya

Zeina

Grade 1C

Leonardo da Vinci once said â&#x20AC;&#x153;Learning never exhausts the mind.â&#x20AC;? In Grade 1, we embraced every opportunity towards becoming better learners by working diligently on different aspects of the learner profile attributes. We were creative in expressing ourselves through art. We were inquirers when experimenting different ideas and finding answers to our questions. Our curiosity led the way for us and our minds guided us to the answers. We were risktakers when trying our best to face new challenges. We were thinkers when solving math problems and trying to make sense of numbers, shapes and patterns. We were communicators when sharing ideas with each other or with our parents. Throughout our learning journey, we became more knowledgeable by learning to read and reading to learn. Not to forget being reflective so we can think about how best we might learn and how to become better learners. It was not an easy journey, but our commitment and enthusiasm to learn were our guiding lights along the way.

Last but not least, we were caring towards ourselves and towards each other. After all, we are one team and it is always all for one and one for all.

Dana Santina Grade 1C Class Teacher

Mary Jean Espiritu Classroom Assistant

Communicators

Aarav

Alyah

Anouchka

Anselme

Eriny

Faris

Hongrun

Ian

Isabella

Jonathan

Kieran

Grade 1C

Leticia

Creativity

Enthusiasm

Inquirers

Knowledgeable

Reflective

Thinkers

Luke

Nora

Ranbir

Maria

Ryan

Mark

Sarah

Maxime

Sophia

Maya

Yara

Grade 1D

Grade 1 has been an amazing, inquiry filled year with many celebrations, achievements and fabulous learning experiences throughout the year. You have all grown and become more independent learners and inquires, of which we are very proud. You have all thrived as readers, writers and mathematicians, as well as developed into unique individuals with a sense of pride and belonging. It has been an absolute pleasure to have you in our class and watch you all develop on your research,

communication and open-mindedness skills. We wish you all happiness, love and success as you are about to finish one journey and embark upon a new one. We will miss all our knowledgeable students next year, we say farewell, but not goodbye, with happy memories, hope and expectations for a big bright future for all you little Grade 1 stars.

class bar graph

UAE National Day

Deepa Menon Grade 1D Class Teacher

Sarah Jane Pascual Classroom Assistant

Aarya

Abdul Rahman

Adam

Aimal

Anoushka

Basak

Celina

Evangelia

Fatma

Fouad

Ivan

Grade 1D

Field trip to bounce

Joackim

Ronav

pajama pattern day

Class trophy

Sports day

UAE National Day dressup

Kyan

Sairah

Louise

Seif

Mazen

Shruti

Meher

Solomon

Vihaan

Rithik

Waylon

Grade 1E

Grade 1E has had such a wonderful year. We inquired about and discovered all sorts of ideas and concepts, from recounting our daily routines, to comparing patterns in the galaxy and nature to patterns we can find inside ourselves. Many of us did not know each other when we started our school year at RWA, but before long, we were forging lovely friendships with each other that will be sure to last a long time. It was immensely enjoyable discovering each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s family histories and the celebrations that are unique to us, sharing stories and tales, food and colours, and music and clothing: our differences helped to keep bringing us together. We loved receiving responsibilities in the classroom like being line leader, pencil captain and eraser captain, and were so helpful to our class teacher by cleaning the boards, tidying our tables, and remembering to write our names on all our different work! Our innately kind, caring

and empathetic nature shone through regularly as we offered encouraging words to friends facing challenges, and offered solutions to problems that could seem very intimidating and insurmountable. One of our favourite things to do was share our knowledge and work with our parents! When we performed our â&#x20AC;&#x153;Celebrationâ&#x20AC;? dance for all of grade one and our parents at an assembly, we were so nervous walking up to that stage, but seeing our parents smiling and supporting us gave us that extra nudge of confidence. Presenting our science brochures during the Science Fair had us feeling so excited to share our knowledge and creativity! Discovering the power of wind by building our own windmills really solidified our titles as Scientists. Grade 1E has grown so very much this year and are bubbly students, regularly exuding all of the wonderful qualities that encompass the PYP.

Eliza Griffin Grade 1E Class Teacher

Maria Teresa Baroro Classroom Assistant

Aarav

Abdallah

Adele

Alisar

Aymaan

Bilal

Caitlin Mihaela

Cassandra

Engin Kaan

Hadil

Hamad

Hamdah

Grade 1E

World Literacy Day

Legendary Lego Builder

Painting Dubai Landmarks (2)

Sand Mermaids

Painting Dubai Landmarks

Creating Friendships

Jayden

Karim

Pradyun

Radhika

Layan

Rewa

Madison

Tudor

Mahin

Vihaan

Nicolas

Amira

Grade 1F

We are fun, friendly and fab Mariia, Narges, and Zainab We have many stories to tell Eleonora, Thalia, and Annabelle We like to work and also play Preetika, Danyal, and Shay We tidy up fast-whoosh! Haniya, Jad, and Aarush We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t use words that are mean

Andrea, Sofia, and Jaslene We use our words with care Rashid, Oliver, and Zuhayr We have many friends in Dubai Lila, Ward, and Malakai We work together like a team, Shashva and Valentine Grade 1 was super, fantastic and great! Omar, Ms Janet and Ms Kate Kate O Connor Grade 1 Team Leader & Grade 1E Class Teacher

Janet Mariano Classroom Assistant

Aarush

Andrea

Eleonora

Haniya

Jad

Jaslene

Lila

Lyn Lynn Annabelle

Malakai

Mariia

Narges

Oliver

Grade 1F

Sportâ&#x20AC;şs Day

We are independent leaners in 1F

We care about each other (Peace Day)

We love to have fun every day!

We made patterns using different materials

We love Dubai

Omar

Valentine

Preetika

Ward

Rashid

Zainab

Shay

Zuhayr

Sofia

Shashva

Chaeeun

Thalia

Danyal

Grade 1G

2017 was an eventful, busy year for Grade 1 G. As we come to the end of the school year and look back, it is clear how much they have grown from those nervous, fresh-from-KG children into the strong, confident Big School kids! They have learned to work collaboratively, to be caring and respectful classmates, to show open-mindedness, even when it was difficult. The grade 1 field trips are always the most anticipated and enjoyed times of the year. The first one to Bounce was full of energy and excitement, then we tried out a new field trip to the Green Planet and it was wonderfully informative. To see real macaws, boas and sloths was amazing! The full morning field trip to the International Village in Mushrif Park was also very educational as the children did a houses scavenger hunt, learning a lot as they did so. Having the Science ladies from Ms Novellaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Discover workshop, enabled the children to do so many little experiments which helped them understand about natural patterns in the world. Dressing up for World Book Day and in Pyjamas for Pattern Pyjama Day was also a lot of fun. It is always sad to say goodbye to the wonderful children we have worked with and guided through the year and Ms Ever and I will miss them. But it is time for them to look forward to Grade 2- they are more than ready!

Beth Schultz Grade 1G Class Teacher

Everlasing Nasayao Classroom Assistant

Aanya

Aisha

Alia

Arthur

Aysha

Dana

Denis

Hamda

Hessa

Ion

Loic

Kan-El

Grade 1G

Luna

Maya

Mohammad

Nemanja

Noah

Rashid

Rayan

Ritvik

Tommaso

Victor

Yousif

Zina

Grade 1H

What a start to my time at RWA! It has been a joy to watch 1H showcase their talents as they grew as individuals as well as a team. We have had so many memorable times this year but here are some of our favourites! Testing Science Predictions We have been striving to be inquirers this year, asking many questions, making predictions then testing them to find the answer! Some of our favourite experiments were; the egg experiment for healthy teeth, the mouldy bread experiment and making rain in a jar! Sharing to Parents We love sharing our learning with our parents and inviting them into our class. Our favourite time was when we learned about celebrations. We sang ‘Ramadan Moon’ then shared our narrative writing showing the story behind a celebration. We were such confident communicators!

Field Trips We also enjoy learning in other places, not always school! Bounce was so much fun when we were learning about healthy lifestyles, but Green Planet was great to see all of the animals and the jungle habitat. Sport’s Day We show so much enthusiasm for sport and we had such fun using all of our energy! Did you see how far we could jump? We had to swing our arms really far to help us. The obstacle course really tested our independence! We are so excited to continue being risk-takers and enjoy even more learning experiences!

Rebecca Hutchinson Grade 1H Class Teacher

Ressy Ann Soller Classroom Assistant

Aaria

Adam

Ahmad

Ahu

Aizat

Amir

Ayaan

Beatrice Yvonne

Chaewon

Elisey

Haokai

Hemangi

Grade 1H

Isabelle

Maeli

Jad

Martina

Jayden

Tanish

Joomi

Tiana

Kenzy

Tiara

Yousif

Lukas

Daksh

Grade 2A

How can I summarize the past 6 months in one little yearbook blurb? The experiences that we have gone through, the memories that we have made together, and the moments that we have shared can never be transformed into words. I didn’t know you, the students, when you came to me at the beginning of this academic year but now I know your reading levels, I know your scores, I know your learning style, I know your multiple intelligences, I know your strengths and weaknesses, I know the title of your favorite book, I know your hobbies, I know who your friends are, and most of all I know what wonderful little people you are. You made this year so thoughtful and colorful for me, and as much as you have learnt through this year, I have also learnt from you. To each one of my students, I would like to wish them best of luck for their future and just a little piece of advice: Focus on your strengths and your weaknesses will automatically be turned into your strengths. Thank you so much for being my students this year, I can’t wish to have had a better class than you. Each one of you means a lot to me and you will be greatly missed. Yes, I’m saying good bye to you, for you to move ahead in life, but I will never forget you. Sana Murad Grade 2A Class Teacher

Arjun

Emilie

Boyan

Joohyeon

Derin

Juliano

Diana

Kangchan

Elena

Lina

Maelys

Grade 2A

Grade 2A Students received â&#x20AC;&#x153;Best Class Trophyâ&#x20AC;?

All excited about the trophy

Beach is not only a sweep of sand but shells of sea creatures

Students are exploring different signs and symbols around RWA

Margherita

Shahad

Maya

Pablo

Monzer

Hilal

Ilyas

Nikita

Kavya

Vomar

Michael

Grade 2B

Dear Grade 2B students,

Have helped in some small way. So it’s with happy memories I send them out the door With great hope and expectations For what next year holds in store.

You are a very special person And you should really know, How I loved to be your teacher, How fast the year did go. Please come back to visit me As through the grades you grow, Try hard to learn all you can, There is so much to know. One thing I tried to teach you To last your whole life through, Is to know that you are special, Just because you are you. Good luck in Grade 3, I will miss every one of you and I am so very proud of all you have achieved.

Dawn Nash Grade 2B Class Teacher

Dear Grade 2B parents, It’s time to say “Goodbye” Our year has come to an end. I’ve made more cherished memories And many more new friends. I’ve watched your children learn and grow And change from day to day. I hope that all the things we’ve done

Aglae

Arnav

Alec

During our art unit, we shared our masterpieces with our parents.

Ali

Chloe

Ali Mahdi

Clovis

Alia

Cyrian

Andrej

Gautam

Grade 2B

The boys raced their way through sports day!

We gained lots of knowledge during carpet time.

We learned about the scientific process!

We shared our knowledge during science week.

Hareb

Mohammed

Hiya

Omar

Jeanne

Roxanne

Kate

Hala

Lamar

Tanishqa

Maelys

Vevan

Grade 2C

Grade 2C have had a great year,

Our gallery was amazing and looked really smart.

Full of a special kindness and care.

We traveled back in time for much of Unit 5,

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been Kindzania which was lots of fun,

And learnt about the time Ancient Greeks were alive.

And the Live Museum in shade from the sun.

Soon we were back to being scientists, playing with light,

Signs and symbols filled Unit 2, We made some for the school to help guide you. National Day made us so proud,

It was fun to experiment when the room was dark as night. Now that the end of the year has arrived,

Falcons and horses joined the crowd. More animals featured in Unit 3,

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gone so fast we are feeling surprised! Our fond memories will not be left behind,

We learned about living things: plants, elephants, you and me! Next came the science fair,

We will hold something special in our heart and our mind. On to Grade 3, we are ready and keen,

It was full of learning, experiments and flair!

What a wonderful time in 2C it has been!

A trip to the beach to have fun in the sand, We made castles, volcanoes and a tree that could stand. Before we knew it, it was time for International Day, Food stalls and dancing, dressed up in our own way.

Emma Brick Grade 2 Team leader and Grade 2C Class Teacher

Unit 4 was creative with lots of art,

Adam

Andres

Anvith

Camila

Chahed

Fadi

Haimi

Haya

Iman

Jacopo

Leila

Lisa

Grade 2C

Malak

Rose

Maria

Tvisha

Martina

Veer

Mehar

Yuvraj

Mohammad

Zaid

Zeina

Oleksandr

Dheer

Grade 2D

So here we are again …at the end of another academic year – fond farewell my 2D students! Reflection of this year that’s flown by, fills my mind with mixed emotions. Pride, at seeing the strides that my children have made during this year. The risk-takers who hid any apprehension they might have had and bravely shared information about a chosen personality at the Live Museum. Events such as the Science Fair and the Art Gallery brought out the creativity and application of the knowledge they had inquired into. Teaching is not a solo act but one which involved the partnership of the parents. The parent support and ready involvement in any activity made every occasion a huge success. Even on a working day many parents came to reaffirm the importance of reading, in the ‘Read with your parents’ activity on World Book Day. Every occasion of their support has filled me with gratitude and happiness to see my students being motivated to open up even more. As my students move on to grade 3, they will take with them memories of friendships, achievements, moments of failure from which they learnt as well as academic skills they have gained in grade 2 to help them soar higher in grade 3. All the best to each of them as their journey on the road of learning goes on. Jean Umesh Grade 2D Class Teacher

Thomine

Aaryan

Adam

Ali

Aryan

Aveer

Christina

Eva Siskic

Eva Hex

Hisham

Grade 2D

Hursh

Noor

Irene

Peter

Jannat

Rana

Kayan

Rebhi

Kimaya

Rojin

Surya

Leyla

Zara

Grade 2E

I can hardly believe how time has flown and I find myself writing a yearbook article once again. I would like to say a big thank you to all students in my class who have been an absolute pleasure to teach. It was very rewarding to work with you and guide you to reach your goals. We enjoyed brainstorming sessions on padlet, group and pair work, presentations, peer and self- assessments. These activities made our lessons interactive and well-paced. I am impressed by how you met challenges and showed maturity at all times, not the least always kept high standards of behaviour and no complaints from anyone. I am truly blessed! As I look back on our many achievements, it will bring a smile to all of our faces â&#x20AC;&#x201C; National Day, International Day, Book Fair, Art Gallery, Field Trip, Live Museum...â&#x20AC;Śand many more. You all put a lot of effort into these events and enjoyed participating in it. As you leave and move on to the next phase of your school life, I wish you all the success in your lives. Remember that there are only two kinds of people in the world who will never be envious of your success: one are your parents and the other is your teacher. A big thank you to the parents of 2E for all their trust and support! I will miss you all. Keep Smiling!! Nikhat Ali

Grade 2E Class Teacher

Aaron

Adam

Atharv

Edoardo

Eusebia

Karim

Laki

Linda

Marie

Maryam

Mohammad

Naisha

Grade 2E

Beach Trip

Celebrating a World Book Day

Had fun on Sports Day!

Reading with parents

Using a Padlet Wall

Young artist at the Art Gallery

Neil

Rayyan

Willemijn

Zain

Saadiya

Aziz

Safia

Ivan

Sofiya

Can

Stefano

Diya

Grade 2F

“Any good teacher knows how important it is to connect with students and understand different cultures. Adora Svitak “ As the year has now finished for grade 2F, I look back and remember the first day I had the students in what was a new environment for all involved. From the very first dialogue I had with a parent we set goals and from that moment we went about achieving them. Every student in grade 2F should be very proud of the work and effort they have put in over the year. As a teacher I am very humbled and excited for the students of 2F to move into grade 3 and continue to develop both mentally and academically. We have become a classroom that strives to do our best in all areas and the I can’t remember how many times “ do you best and the rest will follow” has been mentioned in our classroom, but I can assure you that this motto has played a very important part in the development of all students and teachers in our classroom environment. I would like to thank all my parents for their wonderful support both inside and outside the classroom. You have been very kind, caring and supportive from day one and as a new teacher to RWA this support has defined and shaped the year for grade 2F. To all my wonderful students, I have no doubt that you will continue to be successful at RWA and with hard work, honesty and respect you will all have a wonderful experience next year in grade 3. Have a fantastic holiday and look forward to seeing everyone in the forthcoming year. Regards Brett Solomon Grade 2F Class Teacher

Abdulaziz

Anas

Angelina

Aryan

Kareem

Louis

Lujza

Manal

Dimitar

Mohammed

Hector

Murad

Grade 2F

Myeisha

Rushanakhon

Mysha

Sama

Neil

Suhana

Rafael

Syeda

Rithvik

Zaira

Zein

Roy

Zunayrah

Grade 2G

From the sunny classroom, with lots of green space

Moksha, and Maraya guaranteed the fun.

David, Ziad and Tarek race

Sharing what we have learned to everyone,

Smiling wide and feeling happy to come school every day,

Nazir, Maariayah and Adrian Our classroom full of love, noise, and laughter

Oskar, Lamis and Sergei

Saba, Jheel and Omer

Showing commitment and enthusiasm, in class they have plenty to say,

Best of luck as you move on and do not be sad, Emma, Lamis and Sanad

Saif, Aarav and Ege Lots of fun trips around the city like the beach and Kidzania,

And donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget to say hi and drop in! Asad, Vivan and Nevin

Megan and Alexia Katie Teahan Grade 2G Class Teacher

Learning about people, places and even the science of the sun,

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Aarav

Adrian

Alexia

David

Ege

Emma

Asad

Jheel

Lamis

Maariayah

Maraya Farah

Maria-Clara

Grade 2G

Megan

Saba

Mhd Nazir

Saif Ashraf

Moksha

Sanad

Nevin

Sergei

Omer

Tarek

Vivan

Oskar

Ziad

101

Grade 3A

My dearest 3A, I am so lucky to have shared my second year at RWA with such a wonderful class. I have had the pleasure to join you on your learning journey as you grow and flourish and share your ideas with your community. You have been a caring, thoughtful class who always try to make principled decisions and that has allowed us to really further our knowledge. We have had an outstanding year; filled with special memories. We have learned so much, reflected a lot and have had fun along the way. Your enthusiasm during our units of inquiry has been commended. Your inquiring minds really allowed us to explore the planets in our Solar System with passion, your co-operation and team spirit allowed us to create free-standing structures made only of sand and water and your commitment has meant that you never gave up, even when the problems we faced seemed too difficult.

102

We have collected many memories and participated in many fun events-from our science workshops where we investigated space and structures to our field trips to the Museum and the Sheikh Zayed Cultural Centre and our drumming session during Unit 5. Your open-mindedness shone through during celebrations of culture and diversity especially during International Day. Your team spirit was showcased during the wonderful Sports Day along with our marvellous Beach Run which took place in the most incredible setting. A lot of our events had the full support of 3Aâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parents whose encouragement and continued support really helped to make the days more memorable. You have all been amazing and it I feel honoured to have shared this time with you on your learning journey and rememberâ&#x20AC;ŚThe sky is not the limit, there are footprints on the moon. Kiera Slevin Grade 3 Team Leader & Grade 3A Class Teacher

Ahmed

Arush

Aurelie

Clement

Darshan

Florian Svarre

Jad

Kamille

Karim

Lee

Louie

Mamoun

Grade 3A

Book Tower Challenge

Our favourite planet

Max

Sanaya

Maya Noor

Sarah

Lego Perspective

Niyati

Noora

Sarim

Rawand

Timour

Salma

Youssef

103

Grade 3B

Grade 3B, it’s hard to believe that it’s time to say goodbye! As a team, you have created unforgettable memories working together. It was my privilege to have a highly energetic bunch of students and to be part of your learning and development process. You certainly set high standards for yourselves and successfully achieved them as a class. In mathematics, you made wonderful real life connections and pleasantly surprised me by solving complex problems in a logical and accurate manner. Guided reading activities, writing procedural texts and exciting narratives were great times for class bonding. In UOI, you impressed me by creating the different phases of the moon using oreo cookies; building the tallest structure at Jumeriah beach and exploring the sound unit which displayed your commitment and enthusiasm. A few of the highlights this year included celebrating UAE day, International Day, Sports Day, Beach Run and winning the Grade 3 trophy for doing an excellent job during the Science fair! You proudly showcased your assembly on the topic of ‘Conflicts in Relationships’ and ‘Past and Present Dubai’ displaying your dedication and passion towards the unit of Inquiry learning. Each one of you has truly blossomed during this academic year and I shall miss you all immensely. Sincere appreciation to all parents for their consistent support and cooperation throughout the year. Always remember… ‘Today you are you, that is truer than true, there is no one alive who is youer than you’. Dr. Seuss. Believe in yourself because you are amazing! Once again, I wish you all the best in Grade 4 and beyond. Bhuvi Tandon Grade 3B Class Teacher

Aaryan

Dylan

104

Andrew

Elisabetta

Atharva

Hafid

Auriane

Izumi

Ibrahim

Cooper

Lev

Grade 3B

Marijn

Nabiha

Raiana

Noah

Olivia

Orestis

Retal

Teagan

Thibault

Raahim

105

Grade 3C

3C has had a dazzling year; filled with learning, risk taking, reflection and – most of all – fun as we made our journey together through Third Grade. We have participated in the units of inquiry with enthusiasm, enjoyed learning about Kelso’s Choices, flown into space to inquire into the solar system and beyond, learned and dramatised the states of matter and created movement, music and dance together with some excellent poetry to name but a few. The workshops and presentations on “Space” and “how to build bridges and the metro system with strength and stability” were wonderful and the Beach Run, Sports Day, International Day, National Day, the visit to the Sheikh Mohammed Cultural Centre, and the Beach visit in unit 4 to complete our SAT were all highlights of the year. We also improved our communication and cooperative skills and showed tremendous progress as we became more confident presenters, writers and readers. We have been mathematicians and scientists too, demonstrating our skills in experiments and data collection as well as in acting, dancing, singing, playing games and creating things. The thoughtful, caring members of 3C learned how to work happily in groups and get along well together despite myriad different perspectives, and also raised awareness and oodles of money for the Give charity that provides schools for the poor children in Nepal. I hope that each of you will continue to build on your successes as you move through your learning journey. All the best of luck in Grade 4 – keep showing confidence and committement as you progress and continue to “reach for the stars”. Gillian Didcott Grade 3C Class Teacher

106

Aleyna

Anthony

Armaan

Avan

Dalia

Daniel

Hana

Hassan

Leana

Leyla

Mansoor

Marie

Grade 3C

Mikhail

Salma

Myra

Priyal

Sarp

Rheya

Shams

Rushil

Yousuf

Saif

Zoe

107

Grade 3D

My dearest 3D, What a great class! When I arrived at RWA, I was looking forward to an exciting and challenging year and Grade 3 D did all of this and even more. Risk-takers, communicators, inquirers and caring students these are a few attitudes to describe grade 3D. They shared there learning while discussing various topics and writing many different styles such as poetry, news articles, stories and reflections. We have had an outstanding year; filled with special memories. We have learned so much, reflected a lot and have had fun along the way. Your enthusiasm during our units of inquiry has been commended. Your inquiring minds really allowed us to explore the planets in our Solar System with such passion, your co-operation and team spirit allowed us to create many models and structures throughout the year and your commitment has meant that you never gave up, even when the problems we faced seemed too difficult. Highlights of the year were the science workshops, the visit to Sheikh Zayed Cultural Centre and the sand

Ange

Julian

108

Arjun

Juliette

castle structure building day on the beach. Your openmindedness shone through during celebrations of culture and diversity especially during International Day, dress up days and international reading day. You showed everybody the grade 3D team spirit when you participated in the athletics and beach run you enjoyed every second. During every event I had the full support of 3Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parents whose encouragement and continued support helped me to make the days more memorable. Reflecting on my year with these collaborative students has made me appreciate their enthusiasm and their willingness to undertake any challenge, while making significant progress in their skills. You have all been amazing. I feel honoured to have shared this time with you on your learning journey and rememberâ&#x20AC;ŚIf you can dream it, you can do it! Tersia Botes Grade 3D Class Teacher

Arjun

Leo

Ibrahim

Majd

Mateo

Izahac

Muhammad

Grade 3D

Macayale

Nadim

Omar

Salma

Victor

Yan

Yasmina

Samriddhi

Sanchi

Zainab

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Grade 3E

Dear 3E, You are the highlight of my move to Dubai and I am so glad to have been welcomed into the 3E community. You were understandably disappointed that Ms Manahil had returned to America and perhaps a little worried about how the rest of the school year would go. Well, I’m sure you would agree that it has been a remarkable year. From the first moment, I saw that you are very enthusiastic learners. The classroom walls showed great examples of your learning and quickly we began using technology to communicate our thinking, with everyone sharing on the big screen. We have achieved so much through our units of inquiry that it’s hard to believe. Your inquiring minds always had questions and you weren’t afraid to go out and discover the answers for yourselves. The Science Fair was an excellent demonstration of your ability to uncover new learning independently.

We didn’t want any lazy brains, and so we worked hard on things that we couldn’t do right away. Together you created a positive learning environment for everyone. We have attended and enjoyed a full calendar of events this year. The Beach Run and Sports Day tested our balance, Mother Tongue and music performances showed our ability to communicate and International Day helped us to be open minded. We were lucky to have the support of our 3E families to run and attend these events. I thank them also for their work in making you the wonderful humans you are. You have taught me so much about yourselves, Dubai and your home cultures. I wish you all the best in Grade 4, they are some lucky, lucky, teachers! Bridgete Haines Grade 3E Class Teacher

In the classroom, you readily accepted my challenge to think of your brain as a muscle that needs its exercise.

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Abdul Majid

Andrew James

Daniyal Zain

Fawzan

Gaspard

Hadi

Hamza

Laila

Leah

Lily

Marcos

Maria

Grade 3E

Discovering together

Inquirers

Knowledgable communicators

Strong and stable structures

Bridget Haines

Creating together

Year 1C Buddies

Present Class Teacher

Mauli

Mikhail

Tala

Rhea

Talia

Riku

Tijmen

Saad

Tamara

Sabina

Zaid

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Grade 3F

It is coming to the end of our year together and as I look back over this past year, I am filled with happy memories of a class that has progressed and developed academically and socially. It was a new beginning for the class, and for me, and together we have become a family who have shared new experiences, have overcome obstacles and most importantly have had fun while learning! I have been very fortunate to share my first year here which such outstanding students, and I would be extremely lucky to have a class like 3F again. During this academic year, we have had a wonderful time exploring new and exciting concepts. We have also reflected on these amazing experiences and had fun along the way. Your curiosity was commended throughout each unit of inquiry where huge efforts were made to inquire as much as possible and take your learning to the next level. Your creativity and commitment was evident when you created your structures during our unit on humans plan systems and communities. Your enthusiasm and open-mindedness helped make our unit on the solar system one of the most enjoyable and rewarding. Your hard work and inquiry skills were rewarded with knowledge about how wonderful our world, universe and its people are.

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Our magnificent memories were not just created in a classroom environment. They were reinforced outside the classroom where we participated in many events hosted by our school. Respect and courage was clearly displayed during our sports day and our beach run where team spirit was clear for the whole school to see. We recognized our multiculturalism by visiting the Sheikh Zayed Cultural Centre, participating at International Day and celebrating the Chinese New Year. The excitement shown while taking part in these events would put a smile on anyone’s face. It has been a pleasure to teach you all over this past year. Best of luck on your learning journey and keep in mind that the most important thing in life is to stop saying ‘I wish’ and start saying ‘I will.’ Consider nothing impossible. Noel Rice Grade 3F Class Teacher

Brayden

Dana

David

Eden

Faris

Ghaya

Hazael

Jean Michel

Mahmoud

Michael Angelo

Mohamed

Mohamed Takieeddine

Grade 3F

3F receive the ‘Best Class’ trophy for their performance in their assembly.

David, Hazael, Yasemin, Eden and Shresh create carbon dioxide using baking soda and Vinegar.

3F Learn about playing fairly and making the right choices using Kelso’s choice.

3F – National Day

Nysa

Oliver

Zaid

Zaniel, Ammar, Mohamed and Faris display their sand structure.

Syed

Zaniel

Victoria Yoorim

Arthur

Shresh

Wafa

Yasemin

Tashvi

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Grade 3G

This year 3G’s have had a fun-filled learning journey. They have participated in different events such as science workshops, International day and trip to Bastikya. This gave children an opportunity to spend time in a different learning environment. Learning in assorted ways can appeal to varied learning styles, helping children to succeed whether they are visual, auditory or kinesthetic learners. Students have been involved in making structures using recycled materials. This allowed students to explore, test and then use better materials to construct unique creative buildings as this linked to our unit on

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‘how humans plan systems and communities’. I would like to thank the Grade 3G parents for their support at each and every event held in school this year. It has been a pleasure to watch you all become such confident and knowledgeable learners. I wish you all the best for Grade 4 and I am sure you will do your best and show your teachers how amazing you are at your work. Atiqa Junaid Grade 3G Class Teacher

Alua

Ansar

Calla

Elisa

Gabriel

Gabriela

Leon

Lucas

Mahdi

Mysha

Nayan

Sameer

Grade 3G

Seyed Arman

Shayan

Yassin

Suhail

Zahabiya

Tudor

Yasmeena

Zhiru

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Grade 4A

Dear students, Last year, you entered my classroom to this grade as young enthusiastic children and today, you leave as mature children ready to face the real world. This is the time of your life, where you make right choices and make your identity. When I see you today, I see leaders of tomorrow and this brings a great sense of satisfaction to me. A year with you intelligent, aspiring, creative and hardworking students have been tremendous. You gave us some tough times but then provided us with great humor and joyous memories to cherish. Some of you trusted us with your personal and academic problems, and we still feel so pleased to have been able to guide and assist you in resolving your problems and move forward fearlessly.

prosperous, independent and empowered people. You have got all the potential and now you have to find the right platform for you to express your talent and make your dreams come true. “Remember...YOU make your own HISTORY! I’ve tried to interest you about the world in which we live during our year together. Life is an adventure...enjoy the ride. I wish you much happiness as you travel down life’s highway and hope you have few bumps along the way, but, perhaps, some interesting detours. All the best for all your endeavor’s in life and God bless you all.

Arjumand Khalil Ahmed Grade 4A Class Teacher

Children let me tell you this today, that life ahead is going to be very tough but let me assure you that you are going to be tougher. I want to see you young children as strong,

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Ali

Ali Haadi

Alyaa

Anne

Calixte

Daniel

Darya

Haleema

Hareb

Hashem

Jude

Keanu

Grade 4A

Michael

Mohammed

Muhammad

Nihar

Ombline

Seungbin

Sophia

Taleen

Zeynep

Samy

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Grade 4B

A message from Mrs. Maccallum:

*Keep your sense of humor

To my special Grade 4Bs…

... but share it when it will make someone else feel

*Keep your feet on the floor

better.

... but let your love for learning soar.

*Keep turning in your library books on time

*Keep your nose clean

... but never stop checking them out.

... but soil your hands with hard work.

*Keep quiet in the halls

*Keep your good common sense

... but speak loudly and proudly when presenting your

... but don’t forget to use it.

ideas.

*Keep doing your work

*Keep striving for answers

... but remember the difference between “done” and

... but never stop asking questions.

“well done”.

I will miss you all very much! Thank you for making my year so special.

*Keep yourself in your own space ... but let your thoughts mingle with those of others.

Yolanda Maccallum Grade 4 Team Leader & Grade 4B Class Teacher

*Keep your area clean ... but clutter your mind with knowledge.

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Aarzoo

Anushka

Aya

Christelle

Daniel

Elizaveta

HASHEM

Jad

Kian

Laith

Leonor

Marina

Grade 4B

Mihir

Naomi

Sara

RASMUS

Yuvaan

Reyaan

Samuel

Zeina

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Grade 4C

To my 4CS C for CHAMPS This year has been an exciting adventure for me and you. I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching this class and seeing you all grow in confidence, independence and enthusiasm. I have had a fantastic year and it has been a pleasure to watch you all become knowledgeable and reflective learners. The team spirit in this class has been commendable. During your life long journey always remember that each one of you is unique ….be proud of yourself……. inside and out. Your actions reflect your personality so always think before you act. And always remember that you are the champs:

Caring Honest Achievers Motivated Passionate Smart Wish you best of luck! I will miss you next year! Ayesha Altaf Grade 4C Class Teacher

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Abdulrahman

Ahmad

Alice

Armaan

Brooke

David

Eva

Farid

Florijn

Garima

Hayasofia

Maxence

Grade 4C

Layan

Mahrukh

Nofel

Omar

Marine

Qussai

Martha Maria

Seokyoung

Mohammad

Shashank

Naina

Solenn

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Grade 4D

Dear Students, Unfortunately, all great things must come to an end but for you guys and girls leaving Grade 4D, your adventures are only beginning. The beauty of being a teacher is seeing how your students develop over the course of a year. Every child is different; unique; special! Some children are brilliant at sports. Others remarkable with technology. However, from a teacher’s point of view, the most important aspect about them is how they develop over the course of that year, how they have improved and every single one of you in my class this year has developed immensely. It’s been a pleasure to observe such growth and maturity from young responsible students. Thank you for that! Learning is a lifelong mission. It happens everywhere. The famous author Mark Twain once said, “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” What he meant by this was that learning takes place all around us, not just in the classroom. It takes place in our experiences and is driven by our own thought process. Be the committed

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inquirers you are and always seek to know more, to gain a better understanding. Finally, it’s good to remember all the great memories we’ve had and friendships we’ve made this year. You have shared some fantastic experiences together so don’t forget about that. Remember the laughs. Remember the mistakes. All of these things have brought you closer together so remember the friendships you’ve made. Make time for each other in the future. Friendship – it’s the only ship that doesn’t sink! My door is always open if you’ve a problem. Best wishes for the future! Paul Downes Grade 4D Class Teacher

Abdulrazzaq

Arif

Chiara

Deema

HASSAN

Jarir

Jayden

Kumayl

Mithilde

Michelle

Mohammed

Nell

Grade 4D

Nidhi

Panisa

Rayan

Soyeon

Selma

Theophile

Shrihan

Sisika

Yazan

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Grade 4E

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What a busy and productive year we’ve had in Grade 4! Where to begin…..

being risk-takers and developing their independent skills so well. Many a fear was conquered on this trip!

There were so many highlights to this year. With a group of enthusiastic and motivated students, it was easy to facilitate a wide range of activities for the students to enjoy. Bounce was definitely an engaging way to start the year. It demonstrated how a healthy lifestyle is accessible and fun, even during the warm time of the year!

Each class section got to share their learning and impart some good advice to our Grade 4 group in our bi-weekly assemblies. The Annual Beach Run, Sports Day, Grade 4 and 5 Musical Production, and World Book Day, remained a favorite for the students too. Well done to all who participated with such enthusiasm!

We thoroughly enjoyed the author visit from Debi Evans who was kind enough to share the inspiration behind her range of books based on Rolo, her real-life cherished Jack Russell pet puppy. The GIVE Walkathon in Unit 2 was a great way for the students to realize their potential in taking action to help others – no matter how big or small that action might have been, it contributed to changing someone else’s life in a positive way! Unit 3 brought in our wonderful team from Discover Science for an in-school workshop, which was a great catalyst for inquiry into types of forces. Unit 4 was definitely a much anticipated field trip – the Grade 4 Camp to Al Jeer. What a lovely experience for the teachers to see the students

These events are just a few that stood out this year – thank you Grade 4 for being willing participants and motivated risk-takers! Maxwell Aranui Grade 4E Class Teacher

Abd-Alrahman

Ahmad

Akhmad

Basima

Bin

Eugenie

Evgenia

Guillermo

Joseph

Kacper

Layal

Lison

Grade 4E

Marianella Jae

Moa

Rayan

Muaz

Rohit

Pavlos

Rawan

Zohah

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Grade 4F

Grade 4F students have had an extremely exciting and eventful year!

me as a teacher, to witness all my students together on stage!

As a class, we embarked on our learning journey together, whilst engaging in activities inside and outside of school. This was, most definitely, a year of many highlights for our class and I would like to sincerely thank each and every student, for showing such commitment to their learning journey this year!

Grade 4F also had the opportunity this year, of showing off their scientific skills, during the ‘let’s discover science workshop’. This workshop was followed by the unit 3 Science Fair at RWA, where all students creatively constructed a complex machine in their group, presenting to parents and other classes on the day. The passion for science in 4F is without a doubt, a force to be reckoned with!

The Grade 4 camp proved to be a wonderful learning experience, where the children had the opportunity to enjoy a wide selection of activities, designed to be challenging and educational. This was an empowering atmosphere that gave each student greater confidence. Well done 4F for being such brave risk-takers and having a lot of fun along the way! Grade 4F is certainly a talented bunch and showcased their unique talents during this year’s musical performance, entitled ‘Music around the World’. Our country was Greece and Grade 4F definitely did the Greeks proud by enacting an extremely well-rehearsed version of the Zorba dance. This was an awe inspiring and proud moment for

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Thank you and congratulations 4F, for your enthusiasm and positivity in making the most of your Grade 4 journey. It is a huge achievement that you are about to take the risk and embark on your new journey, into Grade 5. I am very proud of all of you and I will miss you all very much indeed! Carmen Oelofsen Grade 4F Class Teacher

Ahmad

Anushka

Arjun

Dalila

Gichan

Kenza

Lena

Meera

Messiah

Mohamed

Omar

Rayan

Grade 4F

Reem

Ruhein

Saeed

Sofia

Trisha

Sama

Shawn

Yuvraj

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Grade 4G

Grade 4G- What can I say?! This was my first year teaching in RWA, and what a year it has been! From International day, to Bounce and even to camp- we’ve had a lot of fun! Thank you to all of 4G for making my first year here so memorable, and also to the parents for making me feel so welcome in the school community. Now that we have reached the end of Grade 4, you only have one year left in primary school, so make the most of it! Leave Grade 4 with a smile on your face, never forget the happy times we shared and look forward to a bright future ahead of you. Don’t forget me as you move in to Grade 5- I will be expecting regular visits from all of you still here in RWA! And to those of you who are moving on, I wish you all the best.

“You’re off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way!” You are all capable of achieving great things. I will miss my first ever class at RWA and I wish every single one of you happiness and the best of luck in the future. Rachael Charles English Leader & Grade 4G Class Teacher

As 4G are aware, Dr. Seuss is one of my favorite authors, so I will leave you with one of his quotes to think about as I think it is particularly appropriate at this time of year as we wave goodbye to another academic year.

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Anasha

Areej

Aya

Benedek

Camille

Elias

Ethan

Hannah

Henri

Janaan

Maitha

Mikolaj

Grade 4G

Nasser

Nesryne

Shanaaya

Noor

Tarek

Saeed

Walid

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Grade 5A

What a quick year this has been! You have come a long way from the students you were in our old classrooms way back in September. It has been a year of challenges and achievements, brought about by your hard work, confidence and most of all commitment to each unit of inquiry. We have had some fantastic learning experiences in Grade 5: the trip to Sustainable City to learn about sustainability in the UAE; Jam Jar where we created fabulous works of Art and “Let’s Discover Science” workshops where we became scientists for the day. One of the main highlights was the grade 5 Ecoventure camp where everyone displayed amazing teamwork and comradery. Other notable events in grade 5 have been the amazing Grade 4 and 5 show, science week (with the grade 5 overall winner, Sergio form 5A), beach run and sports day. It has been fantastic teaching all of you and I wish you all the very best in your future.

Some reflections from students: In early November we went on a three day camp with two other grade 5 classes. The idea of the camp was obviously to do some fun activities in the desert like sandboarding, scavenger hunts and survival skills (reading a compass and building fires). We also had some nice bonding experiences washing up the dishes and toasting marshmallows! It was altogether a great experience! I will never forget primary camp. Maia 5A My year was full of golden and challenging memories. Our team won two gold medals - in the beach run and at sports day. My first gold medal and I am so proud of our team! This helped me develop my self confidence and trust in my team mates. The field trip to the sustainable city was unforgettable. I was so interested in everything, especially in how they recycled water from the houses to water the plants. Abdalla 5A

Emma Brown Grade 5A Class Teacher

I personally loved the Jam Jar trip. It was so much fun painting and printing! I hope that the next generation of Grade 5’s will enjoy Jam Jar as much as I did! Iman 5A

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Vaishnave

Abdalla

Alejandro

Amandine

Dionis

Hedi

Iida

Iman

Michael

Jacopo

Juliette

Kourosh

Grade 5A

Kovid

Luna

Punit

Maia

Sammy

Antony

Sergio

Naya

Yuvraj

Nika

Zuny

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Grade 5B

Congratulations to all of the students of Grade 5B! This year has been an amazing year of progress and exploration. The units of inquiry really opened the minds and challenged the students to keep going deeper and asking questions. Never stop finding out things for the rest of your life, guys! The camp was fabulous. Ecoventures was amazing. We had an awesome time at camp; there were so many fun team building activities. We learned some useful survival skills for the desert, and we participated in some challenging events. The year was filled with so many events such as the beach run, which was so much fun with Benjamin coming first. The RWA X-Factor was so entertaining with such talented students. We had some fantastic field trips. Well done to Oscar for winning the science fair for our class. The Exhibition developed the class into true inquirers. Our attributes of open-mindedness and becoming more of a thinker developed so much over the exhibition, and this will help us a lot as we move up into the middle school next year, and for the rest of our lives. It was a fantastic year and the class was a phenomenal class. Always remember this quote and prepare your mind. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The more you learn, the more you earn.â&#x20AC;? Warren Buffett Marc Maccallum Science Leader & Grade 5B Class Teacher

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Ahmad Atef

Akshat

Armaan

Benjamin

Bianca

Cecilie

Chaeyeon

Fabien

Haknazar

Jafar

Lucia

Nada

Grade 5B

Oscar

Romeo

Rouchelle Rachel

Sophia

Vangelis

Yari

Youssef

Zhanibek

Ali

Vatsal

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Grade 5C

5C – The 101 Epic minions! The year has certainly been epic and I can’t believe that it’s time to say goodbye already! Time has crept up on us as it usually does when you are having fun. And I have to say it’s been yet another amazing journey for us all. You have explored the world a little bit deeper, understood yourselves a little bit better and your future is that much brighter because we had the privilege of taking this journey together. Sharing, caring and dabbing our way through it all. Come what may, the 101 Epic Minions were always born ready!! I am so very proud to have been your teacher this year, what a wonderful experience it has been to watch each inquiring mind blossom and grow with each passing day. This has been an incredible year of learning, exploring and making new friends that will last a lifetime.

As you continue on your next adventure, remember these words from Mr Minion & I to you: Let your smile change the world; don’t let the world change your smile. Maria Oreagba Grade 5C Class Teacher

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Aarya

Adam

Anuva

Hamzeh

Hassan

Idhant

Mia

Emelia

Laura

Felix

Svea

Jad

Grade 5C

Jordan

Leen

Samia

Santiago

Manya

Sulaiman

Mohammad Marwan

Tameem

Omar

Valentina

ORS

Viktor

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Grade 5D

Class 5D has had a fabulous year where they have set the bar high in their quest for personal achievement. It has been a great privilege watching the children grow and develop over the course of the year and now they are ready for their next journey as they exit the primary school onto many new adventures both at RWA and further afield. As a class we are known for our creativity and artistic expression. This was highlighted by the creativity and design in our classroom over the year. The areas of a program of inquiry we especially enjoyed creating our own experiments in our science fair and investigating business practice and the responsibility of consumers with Fair Trade products. We have had as much fun out of the classroom as we have in the classroom. As leaders of the primary school we have added responsibility in helping younger children around the school at snack and lunch time. We buddied up with a first grade class and have really helped them in their reading and writing. We have had the chance to show off our many talents this year as many class members who have represented the school at sporting events, academic conferences and through our 5th grade performance. The 5th grade camp was the highlight for many of us! We learned some important team building skills and pushed ourselves to do things we never imagined we could! Finally or exhibition was a tremendous success. It was fantastic to see 5D students share a genuine passion for making the world a better place. Simon Bamford Math Leader & Grade 5D Class Teacher

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Alexander

Ameen

Amir

Amirhossein

Anais

Defne

Fuko

Giorgio

Hyegyeong

Jhea

Leen

Mohammad

Grade 5D

Rami

Rhea

Tamila

Ronak

Toke

Samarah

Yousef

Shail

Takira

Zaara

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Grade 5E

Hello from Grade 5E Another great year with Grade 5, and what an exciting and successful year it has been. Some highlights of the year have been our trip to Sustainable city, learning all about energy conservation and recycling, to fun at camp, where students learned about survival skills, night walks and had fun with a bit of sand dune surfing. They became the next Andy Warhol with our trip to JamJar Art studio, creating their very own unique piece of art work and found out about energy through the ‘Let’s Discover’ science workshop. The beach run and sports day had everyone testing their fitness levels. Unit 2 saw students dancing to sounds of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, and Unit 3 was full of ‘awesome’ science experiments. Of course the pinnacle of Grade 5 being the exhibition. Students demonstrated inquiry skills and risk taking skills, as they have explored concepts and ideas that were important to them and they were passionate about, becoming knowledgeable and reflective learners. It has been a pleasure teaching you all, watching you grow as individuals, becoming more confident and independent. I wish you all the very best for next year as you continue on your educational journey. Thank you Grade 5E for a fantastic year!

Jane Sedgwick Grade 5E Class Teacher

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Aarmaan

Benedikt

Bjoern

Bora

Carla

Daniela

Gabriella

Garance

Haroon

Haya

Liam

Mishaal

Grade 5E

Muhammad

Noora

Sophie

Rawan

Yongzhao

Saeed

Ali

Seojin

Sofya

Achilleas

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Grade 5F

Dear 5F, It has been a very enjoyable year with you all. I wish you all the best in your bright futures and I hope that I have encouraged you in some way to achieve whatever it is that lies on your path ahead. Your path will have many challenges and obstacles, things to hold you back, things to make you stop, and things to make youâ&#x20AC;Ś. less you. Make sure you face them head on, with courage and confidence. Believe in yourself and believe in the path you want to take. Make wise choices. Choose the path that YOU want to take and not what your friends choose. Endless opportunities are waiting for you on the journey ahead, but you have got to keep moving forward and embrace them. You only get one chance to walk this path, so leave no regrets, and no missed opportunities. Ultimately, there is only one person in this world who can stop you from achieving whatever you want in life... and that person is you. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a pleasure! Daniel Mellor Grade 5 Team Leader & Grade 5F Class Teacher

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Adhoob

Almansur

Aydin

Baheer

Deshna

Edward

Fahad

Gabriel

Giacomo

Jeet

Maryam

Mikuno

Grade 5F

Mohamed

Muhammad

Takumi

Nirvan

Talia

Pranav

Victor

Rehan

Viola

Scarlett

Yana

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Grade 5 PYP Exhibition This year marked another successful year for the RWA Grade 5 Exhibition. The Exhibition marks the culmination of the Grade 5 studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; years in the PYP. It asks them to showcase all their understanding and abilities with the five essential elements of the PYP â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Knowledge, Understanding, Skills, Attitudes and Action. Over an eight week period all Grade 5 students worked in groups to inquire into a central idea they created. This central idea was linked to the transdisciplinary theme Sharing the Planet. We saw a wide range of ideas and perspectives ranging from endangered animals to addiction to technology. New this year was students expressing their thinking and understanding through the Arts. Students were given free choice to create an art piece, a dramatic act, song or dance. This was all show cased on the 10th of May to parents and the 11th of May to visiting schools. In both of these events, the students showed they are truly internationally minded and the entire RWA community could not be prouder. Congrats to all Grade 5 students and we wish them nothing but the best as they move to the next stage of their learning journey in the MYP.

Nick Gastaldi Dean of students & PYP Coordinator

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Grade 5 PYP Exhibition

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‫‪Arabic‬‬ ‫‪Department‬‬ ‫بسم اهلل الرحمن الرحيم‬ ‫أهال ومرحبا بكم في دائرة اللغة العربية‪ ،‬عام جديد وإنجازات جديدة ونجاحات باهرة حققها طالبنا هذه السنة في مادة اللغة العربية‪.‬‬ ‫دائرة اللغة العربية للناطقين بها كبرت هذه السنة وتطورت كثيرا عما كانت عليه في السنوات السابقة‪ ،‬فقد ازداد عدد المعلمين‬ ‫والمعلمات ليصبحوا ثالث معلمات ( األستاذة فيحاء‪ ،‬األستاذة هزار‪ ،‬وأستاذة هنادي ) ومعلمين( األستاذ حسن‪ ،‬واألستاذة سمير) وكذلك‬ ‫ازداد عدد المعلمات المساعدات فأصبح في قسمنا اثنتين من المعلمات المساعدات ( األستاذة رانيا‪ ،‬واألستاذة تهاني) وكان الفريق‬ ‫بأكمله يعمل جنبا إلى جنب من أجل تقديم وابتكار كل ما هو مفيد وجديد لطالبنا األعزاء‪ ،‬وبالفعل فقد طور طلبتنا مهاراتهم في كل‬ ‫نواحي اللغة من استماع وتحدث وقراءة وكتابة‪ ،‬وقد كان ذلك واضحا من خالل النتيجة التي حصل عليها طالبنا في تقييم هيئة المعرفة‬ ‫والتنمية البشرية‪ ،‬حيث أن التقييم كان هذه السنة جيدا في التقدم والتحصيل‪.‬‬ ‫وال يمكننا إال أن نتذكر الدعم الكبير الذي يتلقاه الطلبة من أولياء أمورهم بعد المدرسة حيث أن تضافر جهود المدرسة والبيت أثمر لنا‬ ‫طالبا متميزين في مادة اللغة العربية‪.‬‬ ‫وحرصا من دائرتنا على تبسيط مادة اللغة العربية وتسهيلها للطلبة فإننا نقوم باستخدام مختلف االستراتيجيات من أجل زرع حب اللغة‬ ‫العربية لدى الطلبة‪ ،‬كما أننا نقوم بعمل رحالت داخلية وخارجية لزيادة فرص التعلم لدى الطلبة‪.‬‬ ‫وقد قدم طالبنا هذه السنة الكثير والكثير من الفعاليات واالحتفاالت‪ ،‬حيث أنهم شاركوا في احتفالية رفع العلم التي قامت تحت رعاية‬ ‫سمو الشيخ محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم حفظه اهلل في حديقة زعبيل‪ ،‬كما قدم طلبتنا احتفالين مميزين بيوم الشهيد واليوم الوطني‪،‬‬ ‫وقد حضره جمع كبير من أولياء األمور وعلى رأسهم سعادة ضاحي خلفان‪ ،‬وقدم فيه طالبنا العديد من المسرحيات واألغاني والعروض‬ ‫التي تظهر إبداعاتهم ومواهبهم‪.‬‬ ‫مازال في جعبتنا الكثير والكثير لنقدمه لطالبنا في العام القادم واألعوام الالحقة‪ ،‬ونتمنى دائما كل التقدم والنجاح لطلبتنا وأن نراهم‬ ‫في المستقبل ناجحين في كل مناحي حياتهم‪.‬‬ ‫هنادي محمد الزعبي‬ ‫(( رئيس دائرة اللغة العربية للناطقين بها))‬

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Arabic A Department - Primary School

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Arabic B Department - Primary School The Arabic B Language department in RWA enables students to acquire valuable skills pertaining to the use of Arabic in a communicative way, as well as an understanding of the Arabic culture. It trains students to achieve communicative competence in four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It also prepares students to function at different levels within the Arabic speaking societies and to interact with people.. Learning Outcomes: RWA students are able: 1. Read hand written or printed material containing frequently used structural forms, patterns and vocabulary. 2. Read and understand known language elements that have been recombined in new ways to achieve different meanings at similar levels of grammatical complexity; 3. Demonstrate sufficient control of modern standard Arabic vocabulary and syntactic patterns to meet social demands and write passages related to social and cultural activities, while expressing main tenses with accuracy; 4. Use online resources to assist own reading and written communication strategies and engage in independent reading and writing; 5. Articulate developed courtesy requirements and maintain simple face-to-face conversations on familiar topics; and 6. Respond to and formulate questions in order to engage in a conversation about simple personal and social matters, or to present a chosen topic to an audience. Here is a group of pictures of our students while they are learning and doing the various activities. Narjees Youssef Head of Arabic B

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‫‪Islamic Studies - Primary School‬‬ ‫بسم اهلل الرحمن الرحيم‬ ‫السالم عليكم ورحمة اهلل وبركاته‬ ‫أهال وسهال بكم في دائرة التربية اإلسالمية‬ ‫تتبع مدرستنا منهاج وزارة التربية والتعليم في تدريس مادة التربية اإلسالمية للناطقين باللغة العربية ومنهج أنا أحب اإلسالم للناطقين‬ ‫بغيرها من المسلمين ‪.‬‬ ‫نحرص في حصص التربية اإلسالمية على إكساب الطالب األخالق اإلسالمية والترغيب بالمادة من خالل استخدام مختلف اإلستراتيجيات‬ ‫وطرق التدريس الحديثة داخل الصف وخارجه‪ .‬والربط مع المواد األخرى والربط بالثقافة المحلية والعالمية ‪.‬‬ ‫كما شارك طالبنا في الكثير من الفعاليات والمناسبات الدينية والوطنية مثل ( الحج المولد النبوي السنة الهجرية ) ‪.‬‬ ‫وأيضا شاركوا بالعديد من المسابقات الداخلية كمسابقة حفظ القرآن الكريم ومسابقة أسماء اهلل الحسنى ومسابقة‬ ‫المشاريع اإلبداعية عن الحج ‪.‬‬ ‫ومن المسابقات الخارجية مسابقة حفظ القرآن الكريم والحديث الشريف العامة والخاصة بجميع مدارس مجموعة رافلز‪.‬‬ ‫ويتم وضع الخطط التطويرية من خالل التخطيط للفعاليات والبرامج واألنشطة المكثفة لتي تسهم في دعم الطالب وتطوير القسم‪.‬‬

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Message from the Head of Art Department Little Red Riding Hood Grade 2 & 3 Show This year our Grade 2 & 3 pupils performed â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Little Red Riding Hoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. We were inspired to perform a story due to the focus in UAE education this year being books. We included every child in both year groups, which gave each child the opportunity to perform. This was very important to us as we feel it a very useful life skill for each and every child to learn to have the confidence to stand up in front of an audience. We love collaborating in the Arts department, and this year our Grade 2 pupils made the leaves which hung over the auditorium, giving it a wonderful forest atmosphere, and our Grade 3 pupils made the colorful parrots around the walls and painted our wonderful forest scene backdrop. Whilst every child performed songs and movement in the show, every pupils was asked to learn a small part from the script and audition in class. I was amazed as to the drama talent we have in our school, and commend those pupils who were awarded narrator and character parts. Well done!

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Our pupils worked very hard preparing for their performance and were thrilled to have so many parents, family and friends to perform to. Your appreciation and applause was amazing and the children absolutely loved it! Natalie Louise Bath Head of Art Department

After School Clubs - Origami Club

Origami ASA 3

Origami Club

Origami ASA 2

After School Clubs - Mixed Media

Mixed Media ASA 2

Mixed Media ASA 3

Origami ASA 2

Lunchtime Concerts Pupils absolutely love the opportunity to show us their musical talents, and what better opportunity to show us than at our Lunchtime Concerts. We love these concerts because we often find out for the first time what skills and talents our pupils have and nurture outside of school. Pupils are required to audition for these concerts due to their popularity and are well loved by all.

Lunchtime Concerts at RWA PS

Lunchtime Concert Dancers 2016

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Grade 2 learning to read music

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Innoventures Soiree & X-Factor Collaborations

Music from Around the World Grade 4 & 5 Show We love the collaboration between the Music and Art departments. For Music from Around the World, our Gr5 pupils created their own International masks and Gr4 pupils created graffiti inspired posters about the countries theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve come from and are going to.

Music from Around the World Gr4&5 Show

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Raffles Trebles RWA now officially has a Primary School Choir! We began the year with 40 pupils and it has grown so much in popularity that our numbers have swollen to 80! This is a wonderful compliment to the love of music and singing in our school, and we look forward to similar numbers next year. Our choristers began the year singing in unison, all singing the same tune, due to most pupils never having sung in a choir before, and we have advanced now to singing in two and three part harmonies! This is thanks to your children and their enthusiasm and dedication to singing in choir each and every week. Without this constant learning, they would not have these skills, and this is what builds a strong choir. Thank you. Raffles Trebles began their performing calendar with being asked to sing on Flag Day, followed by UAE National Day.

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One of the pieces on UAE National Day was in collaboration with the secondary school Choir which was very exciting for us. We were then accepted into the Middle East Choir Fest, where Raffles Trebles represented our school extremely well, followed by another collaboration with our sister school DIA, where we sang together at the closing of our Innoventures X Factor Finals. We look forward to more collaboration in the future. We have been invited to perform at our RWA TEDx evening, and a few other events before we are able to rest over the summer holidays. What a first year! A huge ‘Thank You’, goes to our parents who have encouraged our choristers, dropped and collected them from each event, and organized our wonderful choir uniform! I can’t wait to see what next year holds for Raffles Trebles!

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Raffles Trebles Flag Day 2016

Message from the Head of Physical Education This year has been a fantastic year for the PE team, seeing the return of all 6 teachers. We have continued to develop our PE program to offer high quality sport lessons with the main aim to provide variety and opportunities for all. The skill level has seen an improvement across the board with many students being selected for our sports teams, through the referral program. We have been lucky enough to work with outside sport providers such as Golf DXB, Du Dive and Speedo to name a few, offering taster sessions during PE time to encourage our students to get involved with different sports. It is evident that the sporting spirit in the school is ever-increasing, particularly as we welcome our first school mascot to our sporting events. The RWA stallion generates great excitement amongst the athletes, especially during our Sports Days. Beach Run Every year we enjoy watching our grades 3,4and 5 compete in the RWA beach run. The winning team for grade 5 was Amwaj (blue), for our grade 4’s it was Shams (red) and the grade 3 team winners were the Nakhla (green) team. There were some extremely fast runners this year, specifically Benjamin and Sophie who won the grade 5 race. Theo and Chiara took first place for grade 4 and in grade 3 our fastest endurance runners were Mikail and Gabriel. A special thank you to the parents who supported the event as well as our main sponsors Sketcher’s and Anta. Sports Day Our annual Sports Day took place in February and it was a huge success. This year we introduced our first Teddy Bears Picnic themed Sports Day for the KG’s. Each class visited various stations set up on the sports field, these were designed to test student’s gross motor skills such as running, jumping and throwing. The level of accuracy, commitment and enthusiasm shown by all students was outstanding. To finish the KG’s enjoyed a picnic with their favorite teddy bear. Grades 1 and 2 had a more competitive day, each participating for valuable points that were noted on their score cards. Congratulations to those obtaining the most points, receiving 1st place certificates. We had another extremely successful sports day for grade 3,4 and 5 with a variety of track and field events. 154

It was obvious that all the students were striving to win those medals and ultimately the overall house trophy. Amwaj (blue) collected the most points for grade 3 and Shams (red) house for grade 4. We also saw Amwaj (blue) take the win for grade 5. The students demonstrated a tremendous amount of team spirit and determination in each activity that they choose to take part in. Well done to our first place medal winners, Sophie (5F) and Sergeo (5A) in grade 5. Chiara (4D) and Qussai (4C) for grade 4. Finally congratulations to Yasmeena (3G) and Gabriel (3G) who were the fastest sprinters for grade 3. This year saw the return of our student leader program. This involved 30 students from grade 5 leading and organizing the different stations for each sports day. Those students displayed great leadership skills when running the different stations. Furthermore, the PE team were lucky enough to be joined by Golf DXB this year. They offered a golf station that tested students putting and driving skills, adding variety to the student’s day. In addition to this our wonderful PARIS team brought lots of healthy treats for the athletes to enjoy. Emily Hunton Head of Physical Education

Sports News

Ifly Sport Leaders Trip

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PE Photographs

Sports Day

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Message from the Sports Coordinator Once again we have completed a very successful year at RWA, with a number of highlights and significant new developments in our sport curriculum. The aim for the year was for RWA to really be noticed within the UAE’s sporting community and for the sport programme to expand, while exposing our athletes to a wider variety of sporting disciplines. With our own personnel coaching and managing our sports teams, we fostered a sense of ownership and sporting culture within our school community. All coaches went above and beyond and their commitment to their teams which was infectious and inspiring. I would like to thank all the new coaches, parents and athletes for their commitment and continued support during this year of growth and development. Dewald Barnard – Sport Coordinator. The following teams represented the RWA sport program this term: Swim squad. The early morning training sessions and dedication from parents and swimmers resulted in RWA winning their first DASSA Gala in the school’s history and finishing second in the DASSA Relay Gala, I could not be more proud! The involvement of parents and dedication from Speedo assisting as coaches has seen even our very young swimmers developing swiftly. Thank you to all involved for your continued support. Coach Dewald. Football Grade 5: This year we have seen a huge change in the grade 5 boys. After winning the Innoventures cup the boys have pushed on and done even better in the league. From their first four league games they have won three, drew one, scored twenty goals and conceded just four along the way. Fantastic team spirit, a desire to win, and importantly always wanting to improve, these boys have been a pleasure to coach. – Coach Danny O Reilly. Grade 4: The boys U10 football team have had a solid start to the year where despite an opening round defeat, they picked up 4 points from 2 games. After that, the Innoventures Cup took place here at Raffles World Academy where a win and a draw was enough for them

to progress to the final where they finished runners up. A fantastic achievement for them! Their last game was a 4-1 defeat to EIS but with two games left, the U10s are determined to finish the season on a positive note. Their next game is away to Greenfield in which they are hoping for maximum points. – Coach Noel Rice. Grade 3: It's been a great season with the boys in grade 3, we have a very good record both in the league and the tournament format, the boys are improving week by week both in attack, defense and understanding the deeper concepts of football (pass, move space) I would like to thank all the boys and the parents for their support and effort this year. – Coach Brett Solomon. Touch Rugby The RWA Touch Rugby Team have trained very hard this term. They have proven to be a very strong, supportive and committed team. We are looking forward to competing in the Touch Rugby league which starts in January. Best of luck! - Coach Dawn Nash. Cross Country Our cross country team are having a fantastic season with our first big competition completed. Benjamin Houart in grade 5B had an impressive first race, finishing in 4th place. With nearly 40 runners completing our RWA team we are extremely excited to compete in our next few races at Rashid School for Boys. Parents are more than welcome to come along to our competitions to cheer the team on. Furthermore, we hosted our ‘Open Training’ 157

session for parents and teachers a couple of weeks ago which helped our runners stay focused and motivated. Due to its success we will be hosting another ‘Open Training’ session before the winter break. Please come along and run or simply support us. Coach Emily Hunton / Lucy Maine.

Primary Basketball This semester seen the start of our new basketball team. We had a fantastic turnout across grades 3, 4 and 5 with almost 50 boys and girls coming to trials. Over the past number of weeks all teams have been working extremely hard on defensive and offensive shape so that they are best prepared for our competitive games which start in term 3. Coach: Danny O’Reily, Meghan Ball and Brett Solomon Athletics. The RWA Athletics team had a very successful season and this was down to the hard work and dedication of all students. The team achieved 2nd place at the IVEI athletics competition, which saw students from grades 2, 3, 4 and 5 competing in track and field events against our sister schools. Our grade 5 students also took 2nd place position at the DASSA team championships. We would like to thank the team for their commitment and effort this year; it was a pleasure to coach you all! Coach Emily Hunton / Lucy Main/ Natalie Bath

students practicing twice a week. There was an under 8,9,10 and 11 team. In each team were between four to eight players .We played games against each other and started practicing doubles. Most of the students have never played matches or tournaments before and enjoyed playing against each other. We played in a school tournament and did really well. All the students want to practice and play more tournaments and matches against other schools. Coach Tersia Botes.

Netball: At the start of the year we held numerous netball trials, resulting in establishing three very skillful teams (Under 9’s, Under 10’s and Under 11’s). Most of the girls had never played the sport previously, so they had a huge challenge to quickly learn the rules and tactics ready to compete against other schools in the region. Training twice a week, our 3 teams have shown great enthusiasm and dedication. Our first IVEI tournament highlighted this hard work earning a successful 1st (U10’s and U9’s) and 2nd place (U11’s). The girls continued their victory with our U11’s winning the majority of their league games. We have seen a huge improvement in all our girls with many of them consistently winning player of the match: Sophie (Grade 5) and Auriane (grade 3). We look forward to developing these teams further in the next academic year. Coach Emily Hunton/ Lucy Main

Tennis: We all enjoyed tennis this semester. We had 20-25 158

Rounders: This is our second year of forming our rounderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s teams and it has been extremely popular with over 80 students trying to take a place on our U9 and mixed U11 squad. So far we have had mixed results and it is clear that the team have improved week by week, with our last U11 game taking a 20-2 win against Harland School. Looking forward to what the established team has to offer next year. Coach Emily Hunton/ Lucy Main

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Message from the HOD Modern Foreign Languages [French & Mandarin] Modern Foreign Languages (French and Mandarin) The Raffles World Academy MFL department in primary school is committed to broadening pupilsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; understanding of the world and developing strong, long-life linguistic skills. Along with learning new topics, reinforcing knowledge every lesson is the key aspect of learning a language: we give pupils plenty of opportunity to practice and therefore remember key vocabulary. This is the first step towards becoming independent as a language learner and therefore creative with the target language. The department endeavors to make learning languages fun and meaningful, providing pupils with many opportunities for collaboration and independent work in each lesson. Within the MFL classroom, we consistently emphasize that it is ok to make mistakes. We believe where pupils learn is in deciding how they move on from these errors. Providing opportunities to promote in cultural understanding is a vital element of language learning. We are therefore committed to ensuring that each topic contains element of cultural reference to not only the target language country, but the wider Francophone, Emirati, Chinese and Arabic in general. We teach our students to be open-minded, internationl and multilingual. Nadine Abualrous Head of Modern Foreign Lanugages Primary School

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Mandarin Department A Message from Mandarin Academic Year 2016-17 saw the addition of Grade 1 students to the Mandarin program with great success and the Mandarin classes were fully integrated with other subjects. Mandarin students have made great progress in reading, speaking and writing. They have learned some basic topics like greetings, family members, numbers, places and time, the names of parts of their bodies and express ourselves using Mandarin. One of our favorite activities has been learning Chinese songs, which the students thoroughly enjoyed singing. Students from Grades 2-5 all gave wonderful assemblies for Chinese Spring Festival this year. There were dances, songs, stories and even some lion dances! Students wore beautiful Chinese costumes during the assemblies and many teachers and parents remarked on how well the students did. In March, several Grade 5 Mandarin students took part in the Grade 5 and 6 school trip to Beijing, China. They spent five days touring famous sites like the Great Wall and Forbidden City, as well as taking part in a Gong Fu (Kung Fu) lesson given by a Beijing Martial Arts Master. They also learned the history of Chinese tea as well as visiting the famous Beijing â&#x20AC;&#x153;hu tongâ&#x20AC;?, the traditional Chinese neighborhood. The students were able to use their Mandarin skills while on the trip, and the Chinese people they spoke to were all impressed by their ability, as well as their maturity, politeness, and good manners. Throughout this entire year, I have seen the Mandarin students make progress in their lessons; becoming more skilled at speaking, reading and writing, as well as becoming better acquainted with Chinese tradition and culture. I can honestly say that I am quite proud of all of them. I wish them all the best. Congratulations to all of them for having such a productive and successful year! Ms Mei Ling Mandarin Teacher

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Message from German Mother Tongue Primary School german mother tongue Das Integrative Deutsche Muttersprachler Programm, gegründet und organisiert von Eltern, ist eine etablierte Bereicherung für alle Deutsch sprechenden Schüler an unserer internationalen Schule. Mit der vollen Unterstützung vom Management der Raffles World Academy waren wir wieder fähig in diesem neuen Schuljahr 2016/17 mit der guten Anzahl von 21 Schülern zu starten. 12 Schüler besuchen die Grundschule von Grade 1 bis zu Grade 5. Sie haben ihre Deutschstunde während der regulären Unterrichtszeit. Die kleinen Klassen erlauben individuell auf die Schüler einzugehen und sie nach ihrem jeweiligen Sprachniveau und ihren Fähigkeiten zielorientiert zu fordern und zu fördern. Mit drei Stunden in der Woche versuchen wir den vorgegebenen Standard des deutschen Curriculums zu erreichen, so dass die Schüler bei einer Rückkehr nach Deutschland keine Schwierigkeiten in einer deutschen Schule haben dürften. Von Anfang an werden die Schüler in den verschiedenen Sprachniveaus unterrichtet. Die Lehrwerke orientieren sich an dem Kompetenzniveaus des Gemeinsamen Europäischen Referenzrahmens (GER) und bereiten die Lernenden auf die Prüfungen der Niveaustufen A1und A2, B1 und B2 hochgehend bis zu C1 vor. Das

deutsche Sprachniveau C1 muss erreicht werden, um in Deutschland, in Österreich oder in der Schweiz studieren zu können. Unser gut aufgestellter Sprachunterricht wird von verschiedenen Medien unterstützt. Die Arbeit mit deutschen Lernprogrammen ist sehr differenziert, und bringt den Kindern viel Freude und Motivation. Lernspiele geben Raum für viel Spaß miteinander und verfilmte Kinderliteratur lässt die SchülerInnen Bücher ganz neu entdecken und weckt das Interesse zum Lesen. Der produktionsorientierte Unterricht setzt verschiedene Lernfelder frei. Deutsche Märchen und Lieder sind weitere Hilfen für die deutsche Sprache, so dass die Schüler mit viel Interesse singend, lesend und kommunizierend die deutsche Kultur entdecken können. Martina Behrens Deutschlehrerin

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Message from German Mother Tongue

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Message from the Digital Learning Coordinator The Information and Communication Technology department encourages our students to develop lifelong skills which will later help children to be innovative, and subsequently translate into nearly any profession. The students learn a combination of theoretical and practical studies focusing on the ability to use common software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, presentation software, robotics, website design, movie making, and blogging and coding. The students had the opportunity to take part in the Global Hour of Code event which is about creating technology that is changing our world. Coding is what makes it possible for us to create computer software, apps and websites. In RWA, we introduce coding to students from KG1. Learning programming at a young age helps students gain advantage in thinking, processing and communicating.

polyester fabric and economic methods that UAE can adopt to reduce plastic usage such as banning plastic bags or charging their use. Students celebrated the Digital Citizenship Week to define and reflect on the norms of appropriate and responsible behavior with regard to use of technology. Nithya Sankaran Digital Learning Coordinator

In order to empower the students at RWA as 21st Century Learners, there has been an increased focus on innovation. At RWA, we piloted the use of Arduino technology in the classroom. The pilot program had been sponsored by PARIS. Arduino is an open-source electronics platform based on easy-to-use hardware and software. Arduino boards are able to read inputs - light on a sensor, a finger on a button, or a Twitter message - and turn it into an output - activating a motor, turning on an LED, publishing something online. Students also constructed and programmed LEGO models in class using the LEGO WeDo kits. Students at RWA participated in the Hackathon Challenge to create a STEM project on Recycling. Our students designed solutions to recycle plastic and repurpose it into

ARDUINO â&#x20AC;&#x201C; GRADE 5

HACKATHON

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Message from The Head of Student Support Services “Failure is not an option if success is just a matter of trying harder”……….W. Bruce Cameron RWA is a very dynamic place and the student support has been ever changing from the time I started 4 years back. The first term of this academic year has been promising and challenging with the learning support, Talented and Gifted (TAG) provision, English as an Additional Language (EAL) support and behavioral guidance of students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) under my wings. Being responsible for the holistic support has helped me improve our already robust provisions for students with any kind of additional needs. I feel absolutely jubilant to mention that the KHDA shared my sentiments and the rating for our Inclusion was raised to ‘Very Good’ this academic year. A major factor responsible for this progress is undoubtedly the new leadership of our school. Another important aspect of our Inclusion is the appointment of our Student leader, Amirmozafar Shahsavan of Grade-8. He has attended the MENA SEN conference, KHDA ‘What works’ and is very motivated to establish a student led committee to peer tutor students needing extra help. In addition, one of our innovative ideas came from PARIS in terms of piloting a parent-led ASA for supporting student with SEND/EAL needs. We have initiated this with the Grades 4-5 and intend to extend this to other grades, if deemed successful. All the stakeholders of RWA are working collaboratively to cater to the individual needs of our diverse student body. One of the most important link to this chain is without doubt my department teachers, who work selflessly at all times. Some of the significant developments in each support category are discussed below: Learning support (SEND): Our dedicated team caters to the individual needs of a total of 138 students with SEND. RWA is well known for its inclusive nature and we received excellent feedback from the KHDA inspection team this year. Some of the commendations made by the Inclusion inspector are as follows: • Every student with SEND was included in all the classrooms • All teachers (including specialists) were aware of their needs • The differentiated learning objectives in every 166

classroom were achievable, realistic and appropriate • Personalised learning was embedded in all classrooms • We promote independent skills in our learners. Although we have 138 students with various needs on our register, only 18 of them have Shadow Aides. TAG Support: This has been an exciting year for us in terms of challenging our highly able students. All teachers have access to resources to suitably extend the learning of our able students within the classroom. We had parent information sessions explaining the identification and support services offered to our students. Some of the highlights till date have been the following: 1) Our students from KG2-G8 won in multiple categories in ‘The Quest’ competition held at the national level by Brainways team at the Wollongong University. 2) Some of our students achieved success at ‘ASSET’ competition for Grades 5-8. 3) Two of our secondary TAG students secured the highest marks in IBT exams across the Middle East region. 4) Many of our students won the regional round in the World Scholar Cup debate competition, sport events, etc. 5) We have initiated the ASAs for our highly able students in the primary section for Grades K-2 and Grades 3-5. 6) The Secondary students have a mentorship programme in place and each Grade mentor is presenting them with appropriate enrichment tasks. EAL department: Our department staff doubled this year which in turn hugely improved our EAL provision in primary and secondary school. We introduced the NASSEA Assessment Framework in the EAL department across both the sections and this helped the vertical alignment of EAL services from Grades 1-10. Additional language support was initiated this year to our IGCSE students attempting the Trinity exams via in-class support to the students. Behavioural support: Students with emotional, social or behavioural needs are supported by our school counselors. Their specific behavior intervention is reflected in their individual learning plans and the trackers for teachers developed to put a consistent intervention plan at school.

Learning Support Parents are informed about these behavior plans to ensure that the same is followed at home to ensure effective intervention. In summary, our key strength remains our truly inclusive attitude towards all our students requiring our care and support. We do reflect on our practices and seek ways to enhance our services on a continuous basis. Our team regularly attends the Innoventures SEND meet and Dubai SENCO meetings. On a personal note, I was invited as a presenter at the KHDA ‘What Works’ to speak on the topic ‘How tolerance should be embedded in an inclusive approach to curriculum’ and 'successive innovative approaches to inclusion' which was an honour and enjoyable experiences. On behalf of my team, I wish you all an relaxing summer break. Sincerely,

Neha Sharma Head of Student Support Services

RWA SEN department was highly commended as the second best in the UAE by the recently organized Education Journal Awards Middle East 2017.

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Department of Counselling This year the Department of Counseling organized parent coffee morning to reach out to our parent community with the motive of supporting and equipping with better parenting strategies. Issues such controlling excessive internet usage, bullying etc. were discussed by practicing psychologists Guidance lessons were conducted within classrooms to reach out to students. Raffles World Academy celebrated a whole school Career Day comprising of activities such as dress-up, career talks, and career fair. PARIS played an important role in organizing these events. We collaborated with our colleague Dr. Jinane (school doctor), to address transition to KG for parents; and issues related to puberty for students; Nick Gestaldi (Curriculum Coordinator) to help parents use the Learner Profile in their daily lives; and Tony Azoulay (Dean of secondary school) and Damien Marshall (deputy head â&#x20AC;&#x201C; primary school) to address the impact of low attendance on student performance. Our high school student now have access to Bridge-U which is a university exploration engine. It helps students to find the universities with the right fit as per their academic profile and career needs. We had university visits and fairs from countries such as US, UK, Canada and Netherlands. The year was an eventful one for the department as the efforts were towards creating a positive and happier school environment. Prabha Krishnakumar Raman Aarti (Dia) Naresh Odhrani Sulakshana Divekar

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Department of Counselling

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Eco Club Primary School Eco Club The primary school Eco Team has been very busy this year. With a small group of dedicated and passionate students we have worked on student led projects to improve our school environment. The classroom and cafeteria recycling needed a new system to make it easier for the students, teachers and support staff to recycle effectively. We recruited and trained new Eco Monitors from every class to help us out so that everyone will know how to recycle properly. To improve our Eco Garden and create more green space at the school we led World Planting Day, encouraging the school community to participate. We now have many more plants in our school and are excited to learn more through nature. As it is every year, the Recycled Fashion Show was a big success. Many families joined in to show creativity and ingenuity in designing, using materials that would otherwise be waste. I would like to thank the student volunteers who either came to the Eco Team ASA, volunteered as an Eco Monitor or worked on an event. Your passion and enthusiasm is to be commended and it gives hope that the future of our planet is in good hands.

Bridget Haines Environment Coordinator

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Term 1

Term 2

Marina Tello

Eugenia Valaki

Svea Divckar

Iman Shirin

Eugenia Valaki

Luna Boyadjian

Benedek Deak

Rohit Narayan

Iman Shirin

Layal Kidess

Luna Boyadjian

Naya Khalas

Hassan Rashid

Nika Mostajabi

Tala Alqurashi

Kenza Chachay

Gaspard Dupil

Recycle Fashion Show

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Eco Club - Secondary School Our aims and vision as the e-team are to help RWA become a more environmentally-friendly place by not only spreading environmental awareness and encouraging students to make ethically conscious choices in their everyday lives, but also by ensuring that tangible action takes place. This year, our environmental advocacy took form in various activities that we organized, such as the setting up of the Eco garden; poster-making competitions; implementing the eco-friendly search engine Ecosia; implementing green technology to reduce water usage etc. Students may also look forward to our various projects and events later this year, such as the upcoming Recycling Fashion Show. We are hoping that this continuous effort on the part of the students, as well as the teachers, would help us maintain RWA’s green flag status, and continue RWA’s journey towards environmental consciousness. Being involved in the e-team is one of the most rewarding, enjoyable experiences I have in school. The e-team allows me to do my part in working towards a bigger cause I have always believed in: to promote environmental consciousness within the school. This year we have continuously dedicated ourselves to achieving our main goal - that is, to maintain our green flag status, through various projects big and small. Eunseo Hi my name is Amir I'm in grade 8A. I've been in the Eco Club for the past year. This year we have done lots of good and important things that change the earth a lot We have been planing for the Recycling Fashion Show and giving our ideas. This year will be a successful year. Amir My name is Seohyeon Kim. I am one of the members of E - Team. By joining the Eco team, I could learn more about the importance of nature, and also how to save and recycle our envi-ronment. I am really looking forward to having a Recycling Fashion Show which is soon coming up! Seohyeon In the Eco team, we had many fun activities such as planting and organizing the Recycling Fashion Show. We are a small committee, but we did huge effort for the Earth during a year. We ap-preciate Mr. Colin, Mr. Williams and Ms. Chrouk who helped us to save the Earth and led our team. Also thanks to Ms. Bridget, who was primary eco team leader. It was happy to be with Akash, Hyeonsu, Sophia, and Yuv in e-team. The committee ‘e-team’ changed our thinking, be-havior, and our life. It was the best year to us! Hayoung Choi

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Oskar - When I went into the Eco team meetings I got passionate about nature. In the meetings we would talk about plans for being eco friendlier in and outside of school. I think and hope that we can make the Eco team better and stronger than before! Yuv - Being a part of Eco team is fun and also can be tiring. There are many areas to plan and change the school to become more Eco-friendly. We had some activities to do as we helped paint boxes with Primary. We came up with many ideas to change the school and ideas for many events. We planned for Eco month - we made posters and all helped to try and change the school and I wish to see a change in the years. Eco Team will shine one day.

Chrouk Dbyan Environment Coordinator

Recycle Fashion Show

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Message from the President

Anti-Bullying Committee The ABC stands for the Anti-Bullying Committee in Raffles World Academy. In other words, we are the army of the school. Each member of this committee are soldiers. Except, we are soldiers of peace. We use peaceful methods to ensure that every student feels safe and comfortable at school. Our primary aim is to be able to give every child a voice and we do this by promoting unity. We help passing on strength as a means of confronting any person who troubles another. Furthermore, the ABC raises awareness of the harsh consequences of bullying, so that students are more empathetic and stand up for one another. We do not encourage the labelling of a student as a “bully.” Instead, we promote the importance of taking responsibility for one’s own actions and words. We ensure that every student is more conscious of themselves and the consequences of their actions before they say something that may hurt someone. We also work on understanding why the person with the behaviour of bullying may be acting the way he/she does. And by doing so, we not only strive to aid the victim, but the person with the attitude of bullying as well. The ABC is now 6 years old, and over the years I have seen the committee grow in terms of membership and its influence. It always brings a smile to my face to see a completely new student show interest in joining the committee. It only serves to show how many committed, dedicated and, most importantly, caring students we have here at Raffles World Academy. This year has especially been filled with fresh new ideas, new faces and a new logo. One of the major decisions we took this year was to redesign our logo. We felt that the logo was a crucial part of every worthwhile movement and thus we wanted to express our views in a more pronounced manner. The structure of our new logo depicts unanimity and combined effort in the Raffles Student Body towards the eradication of bullying. The linked hands depict our objective of how everyone, regardless of whether they are students or not, should work together in order to take a stand against bullying and in building a safer environment for students to grow in, both physically and mentally. Pasha, a Grade 11 student as well as the Vice President of this committee, has worked extremely hard in putting our message together in a visual form of the new logo. He tirelessly kept making drafts that took him hours of dedicated work, until he came to the final product you can see below. Our other 174

Vice President, Farah Mostafa has dedicated hours of her time to solving cases and planning events like the ABC Conference and ABC Week. She has always been by my side whenever any last-minute issues sprang up, and I am forever grateful! Our Social Media Co-ordinator, Saher Kapadia, has been in charge of our social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Snap chat. She is the one behind raising awareness of bullying and, more importantly, cyberbullying via social media. She was also the mastermind behind a most amazing adventure the ABC initiated. She had a great idea to team up with the Arabic Department and have students send short but motivational letters to the refugees. The movement was so successful that we already received replies. The theme and goal we wanted to target this year was happiness. We saw a vivid connection between antibullying and happiness. Joy in every single student’s life was crucial. The highlight of this year was without a shadow of a doubt the annual ABC Week and the ABC Conference. The ABC week took place in February 2017, where for an entire week we held an inclusive campaign where we raised awareness about bullying and the importance to prevent it. We held various activities like stressbusters- where secondary school students could use play stations the ABC provided, as a means to increase joy and make teenagers loosen up from stress and pressure of high school. In addition to this, there was a positive message board where anyone was free to write a motivating message. Once it was filled, we stuck it to a wall so that if anyone was feeling low, they could read these heart-felt, uplifting words of inspiration. Bake sales were also held to raise money in order to fund the upcoming ABC Conference. The ABC Conference took place on the 18th of April 2017. It was the second annual conference, and we strived to make it our best one yet. Once again, we invited representatives from schools all around Dubai, urging them to take part in our non-violent protest against bullying. The conference was an extremely significant moment for us, as the ABC was spreading its message outside Raffles World Academy, and on a national level. One of the highlights of the event was that the Dubai Police joined forces with the ABC and recognised bullying as an issue worth the world’s attention.

It was a long but successful year and we are proud of the amount of hard work, patience and dedication each and every member has put in. I am more than confident that next year the ABC will continue to prosper and spread joy! Lastly but not the least, I would like to thank our supervisor, Mr Abdullatif Rkieh. Without him, none of our achievements would have come to existence. He is a tall, smiley and sometimes intimidating supervisor, the ABCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most enthusiastic supporter. Whenever the situation gets a bit chaotic, he is always by my side advising me

and calming the storm. His adventurous ideas are what have guided the ABC this year, making it the most amazing year!

Shloka Praveen President

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Anti-Bullying Committee - Primary School This year the primary school formed the first Anti-Bullying Committee. The members of the PS ABC are: Gabriella (President), Rhea (Vice president), Luna (member), Idhant (member), Layal (member), Ginan (member), Noor (member). This year the ABC committee held a poster competition and multiple assemblies to educate the primary school students about bullying and how it is unacceptable at RWA. We have helped numerous number of students this year with bullying cases, and we were given a chance to make a speech at the ABC conference which was held on April 18th. In the conference, students from other schools came in and talked about what they did in their schools to eradicate bullying. As the primary ABC committee, we promise to always spread awareness to stop bullying and continue making this school bully-free. RWA Primary ABC Team

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Anti-Bullying Committee - Refugees Saher Kapadia ABC Social Media Coordinator Letters of Happiness Traditionally, throughout the years within the ABC, we have been looking at ways in which language and communication could have negative impacts on a person, their attitude and mental health. However, this year we wanted to raise awareness of the `power of words` to express happiness. Hence, the ABC initiated the 'Letters of Happiness' project to spread hope, encouragement and joy among Syrian refugees. This project allowed students like Maher in Grade 11 to "reflect on their emotions towards the Syrians" and express their thoughts in the form of a letter. The idea of writing letters was sparked by the numerous images of sorrowful, melancholic and heartbroken faces of the Syrian refugees. I can never understand how it feels to be a refugee so like Maher I wanted to "show my love for them" by making them feel cheerful through my words, your words and through this project. With the hard work and dedication of our supervisor, Mr. Abdul Latif, we were able to involve the Arabic Department and their students, and, eventually, deliver the letters to refugees residing in Lebanon. The success of this initiative was measured by the reactions and responses we received from them, filled with delight and pleasure. Therefore, we would like to extend our gratitude to the Arabic Department, Mr. Timothy Roberts and the students for taking the time to spread happiness to those who need it the most.

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Anti-Bullying Committee On Tuesday April 18th, the Anti-Bullying Committee at Raffles World Academy hosted the Second Annual ABC Conference, taking place from 8:30am to 2:30 pm. Many schools around Dubai attended the conference, including GEMS World Academy, Dubai International Academy, Collegiate American School, and Springdales Dubai. They participated in a series of activities, designed by our committee to maximize discussion and understanding of the issues at hand. We explained and promoted our principles, as well as encouraged the ideology that we implement in RWA to be followed in other schools that attended. Other highlights of the day included appearances by the Dubai Police and a certified, practicing psychologist. The day kicked off with a K-9 Police Dog Show hosted by the Dubai Police. The participants of the conference were taken outside to enjoy the police dogs performing different tricks and demonstrating their training with criminals, bomb and drug detection, and obedience. Some of our delegates even got to volunteer while the dogs searched their chairs for the illegal substances! While the dog show was being performed, other police officers rolled in their expensive luxury cars. After the students were done watching the show, they got the chance to take pictures inside the cars. The Police had also visited the kindergarteners in the Primary School to distribute colouring books depicting various images that teach them the correct anti-bullying behavior to use in the school environment. After everyone was finished admiring the luxury cars on display, they were taken back inside to watch a drama piece that was directed by Ms. Salma Al Marri from the Dubai Police, and myself. The play was an original piece about a young girl who was being bullied at school and how she was able to overcome the difficulties she faced. It was written in Arabic by Ms. Salma, which was translated and performed by a few talented Grade 9 drama students. This piece had been so impressive that the Police had returned a week later with professional film equipment to turn it into a promotional film! It was a wonderful experience recording with them to put together a short film with a very important message. Farah Mostafa Vice Presiddent

ABC Conference 2017: Happiness #ABConf17

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Anti-Bullying Committee

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Codathon RWA was invited to a coding competition at Sunmarke School in Dubai. Two students were chosen to represent the school at the competition that took place on Monday 15th May, 2017. The students came up with names for their teams and the write-up below is their reflection on the experience on the day. The team names were:

and

Abdullatif Rkieh ICT and Computer Science Teacher Siddharth Gautam 9A The experience was very helpful in teaching me new skills and it also encouraged me to learn more. The program was very nice, organized and fun. All teams collaborated equally and were very friendly and open to others and their opinions. I think these contests should be held more often as they would instil a competitive feeling in coders. This was a very exciting first event and i hope to visit new competitions to push my limits. Gilliane Arfaoui 9C My experience as a young programmer just started. This event was a small step in the long journey I am in. This competition helped me realize that computer is not just about programming but also about intelligence, fun and comprehension. To be a great programmer you will need patience, creativity and sometimes some help from someone more or less experienced than you. I think this little step is important to achieve as it is one level higher than what I am used to. Even though I did not win, I really liked it and I think it is a super idea to participate in this event. Good luck and always aim high! Karim Bhanji 9E It was an amazing, challenging and fun learning experience. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Omkaar Kamath 9A I had a wonderful time at Sunmarke as my team and I competed with several other teams. I learned not only programming concepts like file handling and string manipulation terms like `strtok` but also teamwork, how to distribute work according to specialization, and, most importantly, good sportsmanship. All in all, the competition taught me how to battle a challenge and also gave me confidence to present my project in front of a panel of judges.

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Aanchal Deepak 11A The Codathon was very different from my expectations, though it did turn out to be an event I enjoyed very much especially since it was a team event. There were 3 rounds in the competition and each round was handled very well by our team but we do stand to learn a lot from this experience as well and I think that was one of the best parts of the event. I would love to try it again next year if possible.

15 minutes of the first challenge, no one captured the flag and this was the turning point where we had a boost of confidence and managed to finish second place. The whole event was incredible and staggering, I felt as a part of something remarkable. The Codathon only further inspired me to improve my overall knowledge in coding.

Juan Sandrino 11B During this special activity, we went to a new school that might have opened a hundred days ago. It was a really good experience, we could apply our skills of computer science in the best conditions, all together as a strong and unified team. We had a lot of fun with the first challenge which was to find a code in an arithmetic machine; before having to start the serious and more complex part of the competition which was the coding part. It was a very good experience overall. Saif Almarri 11D Recently I had the opportunity to take part in a programming competition. This experience was extremely useful and helpful as it taught me the lesson of teamwork and time management which should be able to help me with my exam preparation. Besides that, the competition was challenging and overall a very enjoyable experience. I made new friends and my coding skills have sharpened. I learnt what was needed from me and I developed skills in competitive programming. This competition allowed for all of us to show who we are and allowed us to be ourselves. If I could describe it in one word it would be "logical". Albino Prudentino 11B On Monday we went to a programming competition that has been really challenging because we didn’t know what the tasks would be about. The competition was held at Sunmarke School and we had to compete against 7 teams. We all wore a shirt with the name of the team “ RJC++”.The competition was divided in 3 challenges: the first one was decoding.The challenge was to interpret documents and open a locker. The second one was about programming and the presentation of the code. The last challenge was a quiz about the history of Computer Science. It was an amazing day where everyone had fun and we could also improve our skills in programming. Yegor Mostovoy 11C Before we entered the school I was a little jumpy as I didn’t know what to expect. As soon I and my team entered the large hall where the event would be held, we began studying the other teams. To our pleasure they all looked like they were least 30 years old. However, after 181

Message from the Head of Secondary School It has been a very exciting year at Raffles World Academy and it is clear to me that our success comes from the strong relationships that exist between students, parents and teachers, good leadership, highly qualified and committed teachers, a strong curriculum and excellent facilities which combine to create a supportive and inspiring learning environment. Students enjoy our safe and culturally diverse school, which enables them to develop their intellectual, emotional and social potential. We encourage our students to excel academically and to participate in the many different sporting, cultural and leadership opportunities that we provide. Our students are proud to be part of RWA. They are hardworking, disciplined, respect others and value the environment that they learn in. We promote inclusion and celebrate diversity, welcoming students from all around the world. There has been a real focus on making RWA a happy school where students are caring, positive and supportive of one another. Traditional values such as politeness and kindness are high on the agenda and our school ethos has flourished as a result of this. Students are at the centre of every decision we make at RWA and this relentless focus on ensuring that every student is highly successful has already led to many record breaking achievements from students academically and in a variety of events and activities. These range from sporting successes and participation, to student leadership committees, to debating amongst many other things. We have worked hard to develop students’ mindsets to encourage them to be positive, aspirational and resilient. It is important that they develop their self-belief and confidence. The concept of international mindedness and the benefits of being a global lifelong learner are

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key attributes to achievement in an ever changing world. This notion leads into a quote from Nelson Mandela who describes how, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela The year 2017 is the "Year of Giving" in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), The President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has announced that the pursuit of happiness is a key part of this vision. I am proud that this vision has been at the forefront of Innoventures and RWA policy to create a happy, caring school where values are upheld. The class of 2017 have been excellent role models to help implement this vision and the way they have conducted themselves on a daily basis both within lessons and around the academy has ensured that RWA is continually developing and improving at an exciting speed. To families who are moving on to new places I wish you all the very best for the future. You have been part of a special family and have helped make RWA a special place. I hope that you keep in contact with us and share successes that lie ahead. I would like to thank all students, parents and teachers for making my first year as Head Teacher at RWA so enjoyable and memorable, and I wish everyone a wonderful summer break. We look forward to outstanding results and student success stories in August from our grade 10 and 12 students. James Lynch Head of Secondary School

Message from the Deputy Head of Secondary School Like my first year at RWA, the 2016-17 academic year has been action packed and filled to the brim. Students, teachers and support staff have been extremely busy completing the daily activities that drive a school forward. So many events have taken place that at times it’s hard to recollect what happened just yesterday, never mind in Term 1. That said, I’d say that the highlights this year for me have been the continued success of our students in sporting competition (our teams experience success on a weekly basis) the success of the school’s literacy drive (to walk into a tutor classroom at 3pm and see all students engaged in reading is a real pleasure) and the range of amazing trips and excursions that our students have been lucky enough to experience (students have been to Yale as part of the World Scholars Cup, to Borneo as a part of a geography field trip and as I write a small number of students are in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as part of an Islamic trip to perform Omra). With a new Whole School Principal and Head of Secondary School leading the school there has been a real drive to make the school a happy, cohesive community. Consequently, the atmosphere this year has been one of positivity, enthusiasm and support. At break and lunchtimes there is an energy as students participate in inter-house competition, play table tennis against peers, read, socialise or work with a teacher to improve their progress. More than ever, teachers have provided additional support to students, many of them working over their spring vacation coming to school and supporting our students. The early signs have been positive with the most recent IBT and GL scores the best in the school’s history thus

far. Our Grade 10 and Grade 12 students are currently working hard and are preparing well as they gear up to tackle their final IGCSE and IB examinations and to get the best possible results. I have no doubt that for those students that have worked their hardest, organised and planned their time, and that have utilised the feedback that they have been given, the summer IGCSE and IB examinations will bring the results that they deserve. This yearbook represents a celebration of the last 12 months of hard work that the RWA community has put into making the school a success. As always, the yearbook is filled with fantastic examples of the creativity, ingenuity and potential that our students and staff possess. It’s a great reminder of what can be achieved when people pull in the same direction. Next year promises to be a huge year for the secondary school. As the school moves to the MYP, our students in Grades 6-9 will tackle the challenges of a new curriculum. The MYP offers a practical framework through which our students will be encouraged to make cross-curricular and real world links. The curriculum design will enable our student to graduate seamlessly to the IB Diploma programme or to the IB’s Career Related Pathway that RWA will also be introducing in the future. With the help and support of all stakeholders RWA will continue to make progress as one academic year draws to a close and another begins. Matthew Gilberthorpe Deputy Head of Secondary School

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Secondary School Teachers

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Secondary School Teachers

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Secondary School Teachers

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Secondary School Teachers

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Message from the IBDP Coordinator 12 students, Simran Chibber and Siddak Ahuja. They put on a very successful Conference at RWA and proved, beyond any measure of doubt, that I had no reason to worry, at all. This group of young men and women is more than ready to take on the demands of university study and we are very proud to celebrate their successes within and outside the classroom. We wish them all the very best as they move onwards and upwards!

IBDP News……. Another year flies past in the IB Diploma Programme! It’s hard to believe that the class of 2017 is our sixth cohort taking the DP examinations at RWA. It seems like only yesterday that we had 12 young men and women sitting these examinations in May 2012, our first DP graduates, with a graduation ceremony in the RWA Sports Hall that had more students than guests in it, given the tiny cohort. Cut to May 2017, and our graduation ceremony for this year’s Grade 12 group filled the AUD auditorium, with parents, grandparents, alumni, teachers and of course, the young ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2017. This year’s cohort, all 85 of them, have given us many reasons to celebrate. They’ve been outstanding on the sports field with more than a quarter of them representing RWA on various teams. They have been arguably the most athletic group we’ve ever had at RWA and they are a credit to their coaches and to us. Members of this group were also actively involved in the World Scholar’s Cup, last year, with the Global Round being held in Thailand and the Local Round being held right here in Dubai. Our students returned home with about 20 medals so we were justifiably very proud of their efforts. The Grade 12 graduation ceremony, held on Thursday 25th May, 2017, recognised all of the above and so many other achievements within this group. Our DP students have always been instrumental in leading and participating in MUN Conferences but there was a collective belief that it was time for RWA to host their own Conference. Despite my reservations, given the intense demands of the DP in Grade 12 and the time constraints involved, this Conference went ahead under the leadership of two of our Grade

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The departure of our Grade 12s allows us to focus our undivided attention on our Grade 11 group, about to complete the first year of the DP. This programme, as they have discovered, takes a tremendous amount of determination, drive and, above all else, patience. Adjusting to DP expectations, managing their time and organising their work-life balance have never been more challenging… but these are life skills being developed and polished, and they will, eventually, stand the test of time. Many of our Grade 11s are already in the thick of preparing for university entrance examinations and my only advice to the group is to use their summer break wisely. It’s a time when they must rest and recuperate after a grueling year but it’s also a time to address DP coursework demands and to review syllabus content covered in Grade 11. The first semester of Grade 12 will be overwhelming if this time isn’t used to its fullest so if any of them reads this, it is my hope that they will pay heed to the voice of experience. It’s a particularly exciting time for us at RWA as we take our first steps towards establishing the Middle Years Programme (MYP) in Grades 6-10. RWA will now be an IB Continuum school, offering the PYP, MYP and the DP, which we expect to be of great benefit to our students in their secondary years. This can only mean good things for our Diploma Programme because students joining us in Grade 11, in the near future, will be very familiar with the IB’s principles and practices which are consistent throughout a Continuum school. I’d like to take this opportunity to wish all our students and parents a safe and enjoyable summer. We look forward to your return in September 2017! Anissa Pereira IBDP Coordinator

Graduation Ceremony

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Class of 2017 Awards

Giorgia Cannizzo | IBDP Sportsperson of the Year, Female

Shravan Suresh | IBDP Sportsperson of the Year, Male

Vanessa Vilhelmsson | CAS Award

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Class of 2017 Awards

Zaeem Moti and Janan Mostajabi | Principalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Award for All-Round Excellence

Sarah Alkabbani | Valedictorian Award

Flavio Cannizzo | CIS International Student of the Year Award

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Message from Dean of Students Secondary School I started on my journey with RWA in September 2008 as a member of the Grade 4 Team. Since then, I have watched the school grow and improve year on year. Fittingly, my time at RWA will end with the graduating class of 2017, who for some have been with me for every year since starting back in Grade 4. I am very proud to see these students graduate this year as mature and successful global citizens. Looking back over 2016-17, there have been a number of highlights for me as Dean of Students. What stands out though is the inception of the Senior Student Cabinet and the direct impact they have had towards school improvement. Between them they have added additional sports events, RWAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first MUN and various other lunch time projects to make the school a happier place. The strength of student leadership at this school continues to be acknowledged by the KHDA and other external visitors. Our senior students this year have been a great asset to the school, led by Head Boy Ibrahim Mustafa and our Head Girl Alia Ghobash, they organised our team of prefects and were also able to incorporate the primary school in a number of their projects. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the seven Head of Grades and our two counsellors, Ms Defelice, Ms Byrne, Mrs Jones, Ms Moran, Mr Nicholson, Mrs Cooper, Mrs Kaur, Ms Sulakshana and Ms Dia for their commitment and support throughout the year. They are an amazing team and have done a fantastic job looking after their own grade levels and overall student wellbeing.

Tony Azoulay Dean of Students - Secondary School

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Message from the Middle School Coordinator 2016-2017 was a tremendously busy and exciting year for all our students in the RWA secondary section of the school. I believe the staff have all worked hard this year to raise the standards of teaching and learning across the secondary school. I am very proud of the progress all the Grade 6, Grade 7 & Grade 8 students made this year. Throughout the year there were many occasions where we had the opportunity to celebrate the success of the students; among these were regular achievement assemblies, the beach run and the talent competition. Our students have also received recognition in academic standardised assessments such as the IBT exams. RWA students have a lot to feel proud of this year. I would like to extend a special word of thanks to our head of Grades:

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Ms. De Felice (Grade 6)

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Ms. Byrne (Grade 7)

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Ms. Jones (Grade 8)

They have all work tirelessly and contributed massively in the effort to make sure that their respective grades are organised and as well managed as they possibly can be. I wish all parents and students a very restful, enjoyable and safe summer break. I look forward to seeing everyone refreshed and enthused for what promises to be a massively exciting 2017/18 academic year. Seán Quigley Middle School Coordinator - Grades 6-8

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Message from the Head of Grade 6 New beginnings always give us the opportunity to challenge and better ourselves, and this year’s group of Grade 6 students have certainly taken advantage of their new beginning. As the youngest and newest members of RWA’s secondary school community, our Grade 6s face the unique challenge of transition. While familiarising themselves with new environments and routines, they have risen admirably to meet the difficulties faced along the way. Grade 6s participated in events throughout the year including Sports Day, International Day, National Day, and lunchtime concerts, among many other enjoyable activities. It has been a pleasure watching the students’ transformation from rather nervous primary school students to fully blooming members of the secondary school community. While many of them excelled academically, others did extremely well in sports, drama, and music. The Grade 6 students deserve praise and acknowledgement for the ease with which they handled what can be a very difficult year. Well done and good luck in Grade 7! Ms. DeFelice Head of Grade 6

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Grade 6A

Reka Simon - Form Tutor

Mugahed

Aditya

Ali

Arnav

Ayesha

Aylin

Basmah

Gana

Hana

Haya

Liao

Malak

Lilla

Omar

Sophia

Salem

Tahmas

Mia

Mariam

Shokhrukhbek

Shayan

Tristan Svarre

Orla

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Grade 6B

Patricia Albert - Form Tutor

Albane

Alexi

Arav

Batool

Blanche

Jia

Kimberly

Layth

Leen

Leila

Lola

Mahnoor

Maria

Mariana

Mohammad

Nouredeen

Orkun

Rashed

Sanjana

Sophie

Waleed

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Zeenia

Grade 6C

Aisling Fennell - Form Tutor

Albert

Ali

Andras

Arnav

Bilal

Hyeonsu

Julie

Marwan

Meera

Mohammad

Rhieya

Riccardo

Samy

Shehab

Valentin

Varvara

Vilma

Sara

Yeshami

Zayan

Jean

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Grade 6D

Amany Boles - Form Tutor

Agelos

Ahmed

Alice

Amin Jafar

Anastasia

Aryan

Augustin

Dareen

Dorottya

Emaan

Omar

Emre

Manas

Muniradalia

Nabil

Nasir

Omar

Oscar

Riad

Zaid

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Salman

Grade 6E

Jihanne Khchichi - Form Tutor

Akash

Aleks

Dilara

Arthur

Elyse

Deren

Evgenia

Dilan

Gleb

Hussain

Mahra

Michael

Mohammed

Naavya

Sami

Sheyrkoh

Shrejal

Vladyslav

Yuv

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Grade 6F

Nadine Mneimne - Form Tutor

Aaton

Alexander

Zaid

Alyazyh

Efe

Gabriele

Helena

Ibrahim

Isabelle

Joline

Katea

Lucas

Maia

Mariam

Mayed

Reiva

Rym

Tamara

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Sanad

Syed

Shaima

Message from the Head of Grade 7 It has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience getting to know our passionate and fun group of Grade 7 students. For many of these students I have been fortunate to be both their Head of Grade and Geography teacher, allowing me to develop a strong rapport with them. We kicked off the school year with a history treasure hunt in Ibn Battuta mall, where our students learned about the explorers of the past. In February many of our Grade 7s took part in the Innoventures talent competition, revealing their personalities outside of the classroom. Some students displayed these talents in our annual school drama production, “The Secret Garden” which was a huge success. Some of our Grade 7s have been training for the World Scholar’s Cup, where they gave up their free time to prepare for this. This hard work paid off with them winning numerous medals and one of our students reached the highest level of the competition in debating. It must be noted that I am extremely proud of every Grade 7 student for the effort they put into their IBT exams, and their results are a reflection of this hard work. One of our Grade 7 students scored the highest mark in an exam in all of the Middle East. As a celebration of their efforts the Grade 7s were taken to Wild Wadi for some well-deserved relaxation time. Not only have our students been working hard academically, they have also shown their skill for sports with the Beach Run and a very successful and competitive Sports Day. Our Grade 7s have also represented RWA at home and away games in a variety of sports teams from cricket to soccer. It has been a very rewarding experience watching the Grade 7 students develop as individuals, through their relationships with each other and their teachers. I look forward to seeing them progress through the school and continue to mature into successful and happy students. Cathy Byrne Head of Grade 7

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Grade 7A

Farah Ardakani - Form Tutor

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Alexandra

Alina

Ghazel

Giacomo

Goncalo

Hyeonsu

Jeonghyeon

Jonah

Kenzy

Mahmoud

Maryam

Minsoo

Misato

Mohammad

Navid

Rana

Said

Salman

Grade 7B

Blaine Mackessy - Form Tutor

Aidan

Alexia

Akshay

Francesca

Nasser

Sota

Nikoleta

Uma

Eugenie

Isobella

Gaia

Nadeen

Dana

Janus

Raneem

Youssef

Seyed Erfan

Zahra

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Grade 7C

Darine Rabah - Form Tutor

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Ali

Amina

Anna

Aryan

Fiza

German

Hessa

Juyeong

Magnus

Mahd

Mahdi

Malachi

Melissa

Naisha

Oscar

Ria

Sevinch

Tarek

Grade 7D

Sajitha Ranjith - Form Tutor

Abdelrahman

Abdullah

Amelya

Antoni

Celia

Hayoung

Mariam

Rahma

Rahul

Reema

Samir

Sanad

Sofia

Sofya

Suamy

Victoire

Yvonne

Zawaar

Zoha

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Grade 7E

Darshana Walavalkar - Form Tutor

Ahmed

Cyriac

Amr

Davide

Eshanvi

John

Lara

Larissa

Layla Anais

Lea

Lucca

Luis Cabarzo

Mohammad

Mohammed

Rolf

Samara

Xueding

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Sanober

Shehryar

Satva

Grade 7F

Asma Sobhi - Form Tutor

Alexander

Ananya

Andrea

Armaan

Ayush

Deeyanah

Destiny

Gaja

Lorenzo Giuseppe

Monaho

Farazam

Nawaf

Rezhina

Seongheyeon

Shahmeer

Shakhina

Shreyansh

Srbui

Vedanta

Zaid

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Message from the Head of Grade 8 It has certainly been a dynamic year for our Grade 8 students who have embraced all aspects of school life with great energy and enthusiasm. In December, Grade 8s showed their artistic talent when they created an excellent National Day display and model of the Arabian Horse. In January, the whole year group enjoyed the great outdoors on a two day camp to RAK where they challenged themselves by mountain climbing, biking, trekking and canoeing. This was excellent preparation for our Duke of Edinburgh programme next year! In February, our Grade 8 school band took to the stage with an outstanding performance in the Innoventures talent competition. Grades 8s have been involved in the Quest Quiz as well as Scholars Cup, giving up days of their precious weekends to proudly represent Raffles World Academy. They have been involved in the many sporting events held at the school from the Beach run to the DASSA athletic competition with great success. They

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have represented Raffles World Academy at home and in away in basketball, cricket and football games. March saw some aspiring actors and actresses in Grade 8 taking to the stage in the hugely successful production of The Secret Garden at The Junction Theatre in Al Quoz. They have been involved in the Literary Soiree at school and the Dubai Literacy Festival developing their literacy talents. In all of this, Grade 8s have been able to meet their academic and homework commitments showing their growing maturity and desire to succeed. I am so proud of you all and as you move on to Grade 9 may you take with you your positivity and determination. I have no doubt you will be excellent role models for our incoming Grade 8s and look forward to seeing your smiling, happy faces next year. Marie Jones Head of Grade 8

Grade 8A

Hamish Nuttall - Form Tutor

Zahraa

Amirmozafar

Anwar

Daniel

David

Hamad

Kezia

Khrisha

Malou

Maria

Maryam

Miguel Santiago

Mohamed

Ria

Sarah

Saransh

Sayed

Seo-Hyeon

Sulaiman

Yahia

Zain

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Grade 8B

Lee Porterfield - Form Tutor

Adam

Aditya

Alexandros

Amitesh

Anush

Diya

Jan

Khaled

Maria Elisavet

Marwan

Mathieu

Rajai

Rein

Sama

SHIVAIN

Seungmin

Toleen

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Tariq

Grade 8C

Morna McDonald - Form Tutor

Anna

Beatriz

Dan

Dihia

Ehab

Fanny

Faris

Gunnar

IMG_2859

Isa

Ismail

Jacopo

Kevin

Lili

Khaled

Mohammed

Muhammad

Maleeha

Muhammad

Melanie

SALEHA

Tia

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Grade 8D

Aline

Anas

Dana

Dhriti

Fatima

Fayzaan

Fernando

Harnoor

Ines

Jongmin

Leon

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Mazin

Omar

Vivian

Shahzara

Rohit

Grade 8E

Hajra Insha - Form Tutor

Amir

Albert

Hiromi

Jiwon

Appaneravanda

Lucas

Kellie Anne

Fawzi

Manasvi

Maxime

Mikkeline

Nikhita

Omar

Rahman

Saif Eddin

Tatiana

Valeria

Zayd

Vandith

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Message from the Head of Grade 9 It was a great pleasure to get to know the grade 9 students on both an academic and a pastoral level. Our current grade 9 students are some of the most motivated, caring and determined bunch of students that I have ever met and I have truly enjoyed being their Head of Grade. Being a Head of Grade means my days are filled with both the personal and academic dreams and worries of 139 students, it is a demanding but very rewarding role. It has been wonderful to see the exceptional talent on display in grade 9 this year with many students performing in the Innoventures group activities. The beach run saw grade 9 students win both the male and female race. Sports day was an exciting day, where all students partook in many different events earing precious points for their respective houses. Grade 9s had the opportunity to go on many educational school trips this year including the butterfly gardens, Dubai flower gardens, Vox cinema, the theater plus the overseas trips to Berlin and Borneo. Finally, congratulation to all the students who have received achievement certificates this year, students who were nominated for student of the month, with particular commendation to the winners. For all students who are not returning to RWA, we wish them all the best in their futures. To returning students-we look forward to seeing you in September 2017. Sheila Moran Head of Grade 9

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Grade 9A

Neil Cunningham - Form Tutor

Abdulmohsin

Abdur

Aiten

Ananya

Asad

Aya

Christelle

Eva

Kiera

Lucas

Malak

Marwan

Maurits

Mohammad

Omer

Omkaar

Rhia

Sarthak

Sidharth

Sissly

Zofia

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Victoria

Yousef

Youseo Lee

Grade 9B

Cornel Van Nieuwenhuizen - Form Tutor

Andreas

Dina

Ekaterina

Aryaan

Karina

Henrique

Lucy

Lucas

Reda

Ariana

Anna

Khushboo

Rania

Mahmoud

Reet

Roudha

Rouise

Sania

Stephanie

Syed

Saman

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Grade 9C

Manjiri Patankar - Form Tutor

Abdul Raouf

Alasteir

Alex

Elian

Emmanuel

Gilliane

Gurgen

Irene

Jose

Kalyani

Kareem

Lale

Muhammad

Navinya

Niyaz

Rafaella

Shreya

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Saher

Simone

Sara

Tamaki

Shaunak

Yujong

Yujung

Grade 9D

Karen Wilding - Form Tutor

Alexiane

Aryan

Farida

Aysha

Gregoire

Charlotte

Hannah

Farah

Humberto

Maria

Marieta

Miaoshu

Nadine

Neha

Oskari

Panagiotis

Rhea

Rohan

Safa

Sherbano

Syed

Takehiro

Yara

Yousuf

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Grade 9E

Amit Raj - Form Tutor

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Aditya

Anusha

Aya Ewida

Caitlin

Conrad

Diego

Edna

Fatma

Fuad

Jahleel Andrei

Jeonghwan

Karim

Kyosuke

Lea

Leith

Liam

Madeeha

Mafalda

Maria Rita

Nina

Sarah

Sophia

Stanislav

Grade 9F

Sharon Coelho - Form Tutor

Abdulaziz

Amin

Bob

Dana

Min Gyun

Fakhra

Jamin

Jana

Jasmin

Jean

Karim

Kaylynn

Laila Fahad

Lisa

Lucy

Ludovica Maria Vittoria

Max

Maxence

Nida Anjum

Polina

Saif

Sofiia

Zofiia

Tanisha

Zorawar

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Message from the Head of Grade 10 It has been a roller coaster ride with Grade 10s this year! Yes, we’ve had occasional ups and downs but for the most part, grade 10 students have remained focused and responsible as they prepare their final run towards the first academic milestone in the lives – the IGCSE exams! Even though this has been a demanding year for our students, many of our them have successfully participated in various school and extra-curricular activities such as the school play, Eco activities, sports matches, the ABC committee, DOE activities, Debate tournaments and MUN conferences which are testament to their passion, tenacity and organisational skills. For those Grade 10s who will be moving on to other schools and countries, I wish the very best of luck in all their ventures. To those who will return to the IB programme of our school in the next year, have a welldeserved and restful holiday and come back refreshed, recharged and motivated. AS you prepare for your IGCSE exams, all of you are in my thoughts and prayers: I pray…that you manage your time well. I pray…that you have set yourself an achievable goal for each day. I pray…that you have set aside some time, each day, for a walk or a jog in the park. I pray…that you will tell yourself each day, `I will do my best’.

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Your parents and teachers will spur you on because they care about your success. Accept their concern and worry and use them as incentives to encourage you. Know that with a sincere and focused effort, success will be yours! To all my Grade 10s, your teachers and I wish you the very best for all your future endeavors. Mahrukh Cooper Head of Grade 10

Grade 10A

Shane Williams - Form Tutor

Aashna

Akram

Ali

Aliza

Aysha

Daryl

Ege

Ibrahim

Jeongin

Meher

Mohamed

Mohammed

Muhammad

Tobias

Zeina

Nahla

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Grade 10B

Hazel Kiernan - Form Tutor

Alexander

Amirali

Arundhati

Beatrice

Dana

Diletta

DOMENICK

Faisal

Farjad

Fuad

Tracy Riona

Maiara

Salma

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Mayed

Siya

Osman

Timo

Grade 10C

David Keating - Form Tutor

Amirali

Daigo

Dalal

Euna

Faisal

Faizan

Hana

Herman

Jana

Julanar

Karma

Loshani

Luca

Michal

Monica

Petra

Rashid

Sarah

Varun

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Grade 10D

Georgina Frost - Form Tutor

Ahmet Emre

Alaa

Divya

Keenan

Noah

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Apostolos

Eva

Kerven

Bruna

Israe

Leonardo

Jungyu

Manav

Omar

Parmis

Usama

Siyoung

Delara

Nilima

Peter

Grade 10E

Brenden Ward - Form Tutor

Afaf

Annabella

Claudia

Dana

Emma

Felix

Haniya

Joonyoung

Moza

Mykola

Nour

Sofus

Vivan

Yasser

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IGCSE Awards Ceremony 2016

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IGCSE Awards Ceremony 2016

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IGCSE Awards Ceremony 2016

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IGCSE Awards Ceremony 2016

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Message from the Head of Grade 11 What a phenomenal journey Grade 11 students have been on over this past year. I, along with my colleagues, have had the immense pleasure of seeing our Grade 11s mature and flourish during their first year of the IB Programme. Our current Grade 11s are a generous, caring and outgoing bunch of students and I have truly enjoyed being their Head of Grade this year. I take great pride in seeing the fine young men and women that our/your children are maturing into. Being Head of Grade means that no two days are ever the same; your day is filled with both the personal and academic dreams and worries of 60+ students, and your teaching role must adapt to ensure that you are able to make each and every student within your Grade feel that they have a voice, and that – more importantly – that their voice is important and that their voice is heard. Going forward I hope our new Seniors are visible all over the school – either as Prefects helping Form Teachers, football enthusiasts refereeing games at break or a constant trail being worn away into the DP office or the last minute ministudy hurdles before exams. I must take this opportunity to thank our Grade 11 Form teachers for looking after the daily running of Form classes: Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Arif, Mr. Maher, Mr. Jalal and Mr. Mishra. I must also welcome our Head Boy and Head Girl – Aryan and Mariam – and look forward to working with them during the year. I wish the Grade 11s the very best of luck in their End of Year Assessments and look forward to next year when we will start the process all over again. Colin Nicholson Head of Grade 11

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Grade 11A

Girish Kumar Mishra - Form Tutor

Aanchal

Alina

Andres

Arman

Eliza

Faizan

Farah

Ghadzhimurad

Jaeyeon

Kiril

Lara

Souha

Skyler

Sophia

Soliana

Taqwa

Yara Imbarek

Yujin

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Grade 11B

Daniel O'Sullivan - Form Tutor

Ameen

Ammar

Aryan

Sherali

Carloambrogio

Emilie

Eunseo

Marie

Hauwa

Nireka

Ralina

Sooji

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Kijun

Juan

Maher

Sarah

Sophie

Shloka

Prudentino

Uzeel

Grade 11C

Mohamed Haneef Arif - Form Tutor

Levan

Sabina

Erfan

Ece

Chiara

Rodha Saeed

Min Young

Min

Tabarek

Xinran

Teona

Judy

Mohamed

Wilma

Yegor

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Grade 11D

Sameh Maher - Form Tutor

Aiyana

Andreas

Anvitha

Berat

Elias

Fahd

Hana

Joshua

Leevi

Pasha

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Manasa

Lydia

Lina

Saif

Sherali

Yash

Zeina

Maryam

Sultan

Grade 11E

Salman Jalal - Form Tutor

Abulkhair

Alae

Benjamin

Danya

Dhruvi

Kali

Karim

Katarina

Mahima

Mahum

Nayef

Nils

Nour

Rawad

Saheel

Subhi

Yanal

Yongbin

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Message from the Head of Grade 12 “Life isn’t about finding yourself, it is about creating yourself”- the grade 12s have certainly done all of that-they have found themselves and have created a unique personality, one that takes shape and form after two grueling years of relentless work, blood, sweat and tears that form an integral part of a DP student! They have managed countless drafts of I/As, EEs, TOK essays and every other form of coursework, along with a number of RPs- the acronyms that gave them sleepless nights and indeed nightmares! But all that is done and dusted now that they have become completely and fully IBised! As we go to press, the 12s are being taken on a well-deserved retreat where they will attend a number of sessions on timemanagement, mindfulness etc. for them to have some time to relax as a group before the onset of DP examinations. I have known this group in multiple capacities, as a teacher of History and TOK, as the head of grade who had to make sure that they conformed to school rules and kept the common room intact, as a pastoral head who had to lend a shoulder to cry on at times to some overwhelmed souls, as a disciplinarian who had to contend with regular late comers, class skippers, astro-turf players etc., as a prefect tutor who had to chase them around to attend their duties, and I must admit that I have enjoyed each of these roles and have become extremely fond of our seniors, who are very endearing and caring. They will have a lot to contribute to this world and will make excellent individuals and professionals. While many of them excelled academically, others did extremely well in sports, drama, music- who can forget the Undecided, IT and Business Competitions, World Scholars Cup, the first ever RWAMUN, Happiness Committee, Anti Bullying Committee, Interact, TedX- to name a few. Our Head Girl Alia Al Marri and Head Boy Ibrahim Mustafa led a number of assemblies and also ably guided the very efficient prefect body of 39! I would like to thank our parents for their relentless support and understanding! Grade 12 form tutors-Ms. Healy, Ms. Renu, Ms. Wafa, Ms. Purnima, Ms. Darshana and Mr. Jamie have provided immense support and care throughout this year. Thank you so much!

Harpinder Kaur Head of Grade 12

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Grade 12A

Geraldine Healy - Form Tutor

Abdulla

Alexis

Anton

Ariana

Dwayne Maeko

Ekaterina

Ibrahim

Mohammad Rkieh

Sarah

Kiarash

Mohammad

Noura Teyah

Mustafaa

Ronak

Nawaf

Varun

Nicholas

Yasser

Yong Jae

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Grade 12B

Renu Muralidhara - Form Tutor

Ali

Hao

Mehr

Kiwon

Jamal

Mirela

Thani

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Daniil

Buthaina

Gaia

Layla

Shreya

Zeyad

Luca

Tanpakon

Grade 12C

Purnima Sharma & Wafa Siddiqui - Form Tutor

Ibrahim

Rina

Ryan

Sangwook

Selda

Shangyi Sammy

Shayan

Yasmin

Yena

Yousuf

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Grade 12D

Abigail Ferrari - Form Tutor

Abhishek

Ali

Alia

Ashi

Ashleigh

Beatrice

Bruna

Flavio

Giorgia

Hamed

Hanya

Siddak

Irina

Janan

Jarryd

Kiki

Kira

Leonardo

Lina

Maria Elisa

Marina

Rishab

Maximiliane

Mehdi

Sehaam

Tamuris

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Mina

Shikhar

Vanessa

Mohamad Asim

Shravan

Zaeem

Owen

Sophie

Message from the Head of English Department It has been another superb and exciting year for the English Department so far. As always, our mission is to ignite a love of reading and writing in the hearts of our students and to encourage a new wave of authors, poets and playwrights. Developing these literacy skills will help prepare our students for the dynamic world that awaits once they depart the doors of Raffles World Academy. Reading is an empowering force which we are attempting to spread into the hearts and minds of all of our students. Academically, we were proud to maintain the 100% success rate from our IB students and many of them have gone on to prestigious universities around the world. We were also pleased with our IGCSE results which demonstrated an increase in the number of A* and A Grades for Literature as well as a marked improvement in our IGCSE English Language results. In grades 6-8, students continue to follow a broad and varied curriculum that includes studying the elaborate world of Shakespeare. In November, students gained some valuable advice from the successful Emirati author Daawy who delivered her love of fiction to our students. This was a delightful morning and students really valued the time spent with her. In February, we were fortunate to attend lovely National Theatre Live screenings of A View from the Bridge and A Streetcar Named Desire at The Courtyard Playhouse which sparked a real love of the storylines in our students. Our grade 8 students had

the opportunity to attend an author workshop at the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature in March this year where they were introduced to the graphic novelist Sana Amanat, a female writer who has created Marvel's first Muslim superheroine. Yet again, our annual Literary Soiree was extended to other schools within the Innoventures Education group – Dubai International Academy, Raffles International School and Collegiate American School. Some of the best aspiring poets and authors from all four schools were selected to attend the event and recite their poems and short stories based on the theme of Journeys – this year’s Emirates Airline Festival of Literature theme for the Taaleem Poetry and Oxford Short Story writing competitions. All of these fantastic events have circled around the journey and amazing experience of reading. We have documented some of the outstanding moments and experiences to attempt to share our love of reading with you. Join this journey and start reading today. “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut! Lindsay Thomas Head of English Department

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English Department Events 2016-17 Emirati Author Visits RWA

A View from the Bridge

RWA was honoured to welcome Daawy on Tuesday November 29th. Her visit tied in with the National Day celebrations observed by the school. The Emirati author, who writes under the pseudonym Daawy, aims to create a bridge between the Arabic and English worlds through her debut novel From the Capital with Love and her short stories that have been published in anthologies in the United States and Germany. Daawy, who is among the Emirati artists participating in the Sharjah International Book Fair 2016, began writing as a child and completed her studies in law in the UK.

On the 21st of February, grade 9 students were invited to attend a recording of A View from the Bridge in the Courtyard Playhouse. The atmosphere of the theatre was comfortable for the 2 hour film. Students enjoyed the film as it had many moments of suspense. The play was unique as the camera position showed angles which students couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see if they were watching the actors in a real play. One student commented that she enjoyed the play mainly because of the constant rise and fall of tension that was supported by the slow and rhythmical drum roll. In the end of the play, the death of Eddie was exaggerated by the shower of blood onto the actors.

In her fiction, she encapsulates some of the aspects of local culture and tradition, as well as highlights realistic, modern social issues or often-taboo subjects, such as arranged marriages, that many people can relate to, from all walks of life. She chooses to write in English in order to reach out to a wider audience. A group of grade 9-12 students participated in the session with enthusiasm, commenting on her fiction meaningfully and maturely. The author was grateful to have encountered an audience where she felt her work was recognised, appreciated and reflected upon valuably. Daawy addressed the school community in the festive assembly as well.

Student reviews I was afforded the opportunity to watch the play this year and I truly enjoyed the experience as the morals of the play were truly highlighted. It makes me question at which point in my life I would defy my morals and dishonour my family for my own selfish needs. This play impacts the audience because, in many ways, we are Eddie Carbone, we are in denial of our emotions and we often betray ourselves. Reka Simon, English Department

Saher, 9C I attended a high-quality production of the play with Hollywood actor Marc Strong in the Courtyard Theatre in Al Quoz. The acting was sublime as the main actor is well-known, however Catherineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attitude and actions are exaggerated, and a more realistic approach for Catherine would be appreciated. Overall, the visit to the theatre was fundamental to better understand the play then reading it from a book. Jose, 9C It was an exciting and interesting experience because it was a recording of the play, rather than the actual live performance. However, it still gave a feeling as if you were present in the audience, and the emotions were transported through the video.

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English Department Events 2016-17 The set was interesting, with a plain square where all the action took place. It made the audience mentally imagine and make up what objects were in the empty room. I personally think that this was an excellent idea, which creates amazing interaction between the stage and audience.

This was a great trip where I gained a lot of knowledge and information that really benefited my understanding of the play, and I hope further throughout the course we will get more of these opportunities. Ekaterina, 9B A Streetcar Named Desire In February, The Courtyard Theatre screened a recording of the National Theatre’s production of Tennessee Williams’ timeless masterpiece, A Streetcar Named Desire, starring stage and screen actress Gillian Anderson as Blanche DuBois and Oscar nominee Ben Forster as Stanley Kowalski (performing in roles famously brought to the big-screen by Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando). The production (“the fastest-selling production in the Young Vic’s history”) was a bold and ferocious interpretation of the classic American play. Student review Blanche is one of the most interesting and compelling characters I have ever encountered. In the beginning of the play, she seems like nothing more than a sensitive and innocent woman. However, I noticed her tendency to retreat from reality, even at the beginning. Since I didn’t give this much thought, it was all the more shocking when her lies and fantasies, and her tendency to live in her own world, results in her downfall. It was very interesting to see her gradual emotional breakdown through the play as she produces lie after lie, whether to herself or to others, eventually leading to her being pushed over the edge. I think the actress did an incredible job of portraying Blanche’s vulnerability, confusion and gradual breakdown. This breakdown was made more

intense and fascinating through the dance music, the lighting, etc. that represented her emotional devastation. The lasting impression I have of Blanche in the play is that she is a tragic figure, but more specifically, a victim: a victim of circumstances in her life, a victim of society, a victim of her own lies, and a victim of Stanley’s abuse. There is one particular moment in the play where Blanche tells Mitch: “I don’t want realism, I want magic!” The actress’ monologue in this scene was extremely powerful as she perfectly portrays Blanche’s emotional instability. I personally found the scene where Blanche was talking to Mitch, when Stella was in labour, the most compelling. That’s because I remember a blind Mexican lady selling flowers and saying “flores flores para los muertos”. It struck me so much that when I left the play I actually searched the origin of it, since I know some Spanish. I knew what it meant - "flowers for the dead" - but I wanted to see the significance of it at that specific moment. I originally thought that it was a tribute of some sort to her dead husband, but I then found out that it meant that Blanche sees the woman as an announcement of her coming demise. Although, at this point in the play, everything has fallen apart for Blanche, it is not until she sees the woman selling flowers that she truly recognises the fact that she has lost everything. Therefore, the Mexican woman selling flowers signifies Blanche's complete downfall and, ultimately, her death. Overall, it was an amazing experience. As a literature fanatic I find it very difficult to discover good plays that fit my tastes, so thanks to this trip I found out about a new place that I am sure I will be visiting again. The play itself made me feel a rollercoaster of emotions, I felt a mixture of disgust, deceit, hatred, pity, joy, empathy and annoyance. I started off the play hating Blanche for her annoying high pitched voice and left it feeling extreme sympathy towards her and immense hatred towards Stanley. I couldn’t have imagine someone to be so vulgar and indecent. I absolutely hated Stella for not believing her sister, even though I understand how much she loves Stanley, she gave her sister away and held on to her ‘husband’ in the last scene, literally and figuratively. 245

English Department Events 2016-17 Watching this play at Courtyard Playhouse was an invaluable experience, especially as IB literature students. Apart from it being an interesting and compelling play and a nice break from routine, it will be immensely helpful in us understanding the play better when we study it later in our course. The actors and actresses also did a wonderful job portraying the characters. We feel that this, together with the lighting, music, and the stage setup, will help us better appreciate the nuances in all the tones and stage directions when we analyse the written play. Ms Poole always told us that a play is constructed, not written. Our experience watching A Streetcar Named Desire also helped us understand what this really means as every aspect of the play fitted together perfectly. Eunseo Nam, grade 11 A Modern Marvel Superhero Last Monday, I had the opportunity to visit an exciting event organised by the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature along with my classmates. It was a one-hour talk with Sana Amanat, the director and editor of Marvel comics. Initially, I thought it was just going to be sort of an advertisement for the comic Ms Marvel, but it turned out to be so much more than just that. Sana Amanat shared with the audience that growing up she had a special place in her heart for comic books, but always wished that she could relate more to their stories. She wanted to bring more diversity to Marvel and she accomplished this by bringing to life Marvel’s newest addition to its mightiest heroes, Ms Marvel or Kamala Khan. The story of Kamala is greatly inspired by Sana`s personal history. In the lecture, she revealed to the audience about her past experiences of being an outcast and not fitting in with her fellow peers because of her race or heritage. Kamala is a bibliophile and also faces many of the same problems as Sana did in her younger days. Sana claimed that she wanted to inspire

clips of Ms Marvel working with the Avengers alongside Captain Marvel and Vision. In my opinion, the latest story that Marvel is sharing with their readers now is very important because it will help Marvel expand their audience and have a lasting influence on children all over the world. What makes the story so important is that it has caused Marvel to have a wider range of all types of characters in race and gender. Some examples that were given by Sana Amanat were: Thor girl, Miles Morales as Spiderman, Sam Wilson as Captain America, and Moon Girl. I think this is a colossal step for the comics that will help them gain more success in the future. The lecture included a vast variety of media, including: a vivid visual presentation, some short videos, animated clips, illustrations of Kamala Khan with her family followed by a short Q & A at the very end. However, the very best part of this lecture was when Sana Amanat read out a heart-felt letter that she wrote to her younger self. The letter contained some advice and self-motivation, and what made it so heart- warming was knowing that so many young girls could relate to how she felt and these words could mean so much to them and help them gain confidence and start believing in themselves. Overall, this was a thrilling experience and I’m glad I availed of it because walking out of the room I had a flood of emotions like happiness, pride and comfort. Happiness, because of the courage it took to embrace risks and finally become the person you really are gives hope to the students struggling with the same kind of problems. Pride, because Muslims were being accepted on a platform like Marvel and getting some positive recognition. If you are a dedicated comic book fan, like myself, this experience will be priceless, but even if you’re not, it will change you as a person and will be one you’ll never forget. Fatima Siddiqui and Shahzara Malik, Grade 8

girls, not just girls in America, but girls all over the world to embrace their uniqueness and live life to the fullest instead of trying to be like everyone around them. Along with the story of her past, Amanat also shared some 246

RWA World Book Day 2017 World Book Day is a designated UNESCO celebration of authors, illustrators, books and, most of all, a celebration of reading. It is marked in over 100 countries all over the world since its inception in 1995 when UNESCO decided that the World Book and Copyright Day would be celebrated on 23 April, the anniversary of both the birth and death of William Shakespeare. World Book Day itself was launched in 1997 and this is the 20th year that it will be celebrated. This year the event falls on the 2nd March, 2017. The main aim of World Book Day is to encourage children to explore the pleasures of books and reading by providing them with the opportunity to have a book of their own.

This year marked the first year that World Book was celebrated by all of Raffles World Academy. Students and teachers across the school were invited to dress up as their favourite literary character and to participate in reading through our ‘take a book, leave a book’ stall. The atmosphere around the school was palpable and the discussions about reading, books and favourite characters

filled the hallways. We look forward to celebrating this again next year with additional events to engage all students.

RWA Literary Soiree Raffles World Academy hosted a very successful Literary Soiree at its premises on March 6th, 2017. Over 15 authors from DIA, RWA, RIS and CAS attended an evening of literature and music. During the event’s proceedings, students from all schools read short stories and poems relevant to the theme of “journeys”. Three of the student authors also shared entries that had been awarded top three placements in the Taleem Emirates Festival of Literature Writing Competition. The student authors who read their stories and poems from RWA were Julie Maher, Eshanvi Rao, Sofya Yaritisina, Sebastiaan Van der Boom, Caitlin Adonis and Nireka Dhameja. They were joined on stage by young authors Elsa Brady, Jessica Hughes and Reagan Tkatch (DIA); Krishiv Chadha, Abdulaziz ALkuraya, Rasha Bashaireh and Ibrahim Saeed (CAS); Anastasiia Viazmenskia, Abdul Rizwan, Pelin Meric and Jenna Fathimatus (RIS). This year we were delighted to have several winners in the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature Oxford short story writing competitions: Sofya Yaritisina, first place in the 12-14 age group; Sebastiaan Van der Boom, second place in the 12-14 age group and Caitlin Adonis, third place in the 15-17 age group. Scan the QR codes below to read the full versions of their winning entries.

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English Department Events 2016-17 RWA Literary Soiree Raffles World Academy hosted a very successful Literary Soiree at its premises on March 6th, 2017. Over 15 authors from DIA, RWA, RIS and CAS attended an evening of literature and music. During the event’s proceedings, students from all schools read short stories and poems

place in the 12-14 age group and Caitlin Adonis, third place in the 15-17 age group. Scan the QR codes below to read the full versions of their winning entries. Caitlin Adonis: Journeys Dead, then brought back to life. Not me, of course, but my garden. You may be wondering: why a garden, what made it so special, so unique? Well, maybe it’s because I’d been living in that cottage with that precious garden for 40 years now. Or the fact that, without me, it would’ve stayed dead forever. November 17th. I lost my life the day I lost my wife, Jane. To a monster, a murderer that cut through her body with each painfully slow passing minute. They still haven’t caught the disgusting excuse for a living thing. There aren’t even ‘wanted’ or ‘warning’ signs put up anywhere. So I’m warning you now, beware of a murderer. A murderer that goes by the name of Cancer.

relevant to the theme of “journeys”. Three of the student authors also shared entries that had been awarded top three placements in the Taleem Emirates Festival of Literature Writing Competition. The student authors who read their stories and poems from RWA were Julie Maher, Eshanvi Rao, Sofya Yaritisina, Sebastiaan Van der Boom, Caitlin Adonis and Nireka Dhameja. They were joined on stage by young authors Elsa Brady, Jessica Hughes and Reagan Tkatch (DIA); Krishiv Chadha, Abdulaziz ALkuraya, Rasha Bashaireh and Ibrahim Saeed (CAS); Anastasiia Viazmenskia, Abdul Rizwan, Pelin Meric and Jenna Fathimatus (RIS). This year we were delighted to have several winners in the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature Oxford short story writing competitions: Sofya Yaritisina, first place in the 12-14 age group; Sebastiaan Van der Boom, second

She was so strong. She fought that battle for 12 years and now I’m fighting it too. 18 months on March 2nd. I’m getting weaker though. Older with every round of the clock. Sebastian Van der Boom: Journeys I am a pawn that you play chess with, yes, one of those pawns. You may ask yourself, how does a pawn talk? Well, we don’t you see, but we can think. Actually, everything can think even though you may not have thought that possible. Anyway, this is a story about the first time I reached the end of the chessboard. In case you are not familiar with the game of chess, a pawn can reach the end of the board but the player often replaces that pawn with another chess piece then they use that piece to win the game. Sofya Yaritisina: Journeys – Twenty One Years I awakened sensing something. A calamity was certain, yet to prevent it, I had only 21 years. I was a decrepit idol carved out of purest bedrock that stood upon a deserted hill. I was an idol, yet I possessed human proportions: with oversized shoulders and a flat, polished back. My hefty shoulders were coated with moss, like a fur cloak. On the crown of my stone human’s head was a nest, weaved by two nightingales, which whistled out lovely melodies. It was a pleasure listening to them! But the most intriguing, as they

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RWA World Book Day 2017 would say, were my big round eyes that seemed to reflect the world in a more caring, forgiving and compassionate way. As of that, they began naming me ‘The Symbol of Love’.

The wind was breathing down my neck. My fingers ran over the letter, identifying its curves and edges. I slipped the letter out of its tight envelope and started to read:

Julie Maher, Journeys

"Dear whom it may concern,

My mouth was set into a creased frown; my eyes lingering over the state of degraded room. The thick walls were dark and ashen, the faded green wallpaper peeling off from where it clung on for many years. There were lost planks here and there among the floor—a perfect trap for the unsuspecting. The bed was tacky and plain; a white, yellow-stained mattress without a bed stand, covered by a grey, fumbled sheet and a single, white pillow. The only form of light was a half- burnt candle in a clear vase and a small, cracked window in the corner of the room. You would never had believed me if I had told you that my very own sweet grandma lived in this horrible place.

I would like to warn you about the box, (hopefully you haven't opened it). It either contains something so beautiful that you would love so much or it could be something so evil that it can destroy the world! DON'T OPEN IT!!!

"Grandma!" I yelled through a thick cloud of dust. I was worried. Then... BANG, I face planted into the sheet of dust hanging on the wall. I had slipped on a rotten banana peel. As I coughed and spluttered I leaned on the towering book-case and this was when I heard a noise, so shrill, that I had never dreamed of hearing... it was as high pitched as a dog whistle. I quickly clamped my hands over my ears. The book-case started to wobble then slide open. Astonished, I climbed through. Perched on a pinewood tea table was a small letter and a glimmering box. From far away, I could tell it was no ordinary box containing useless junk. It seemed extremely familiar, as if it had belonged to me. However, the letter looked very plain. I hurriedly, but carefully, ripped it open. Nireka Dameja, Journey from words to silence What if you couldn't speak one day? No sound…….no whisper to be heard. What if words would just simply die In your mouth, too much to be feared? Your throat would close in, refusing to speak Partly because you can't, partly because you won't After so long of quiet, the silence you sought, Now traps you in this permanent escape of don't! You stare at how words on a page beautifully lurk; Then you feel the words stuck in your throat Holding you at gunpoint, they just don't come out Every painful scream, stays inside, and just bloats. So you open your book, take out your pen: You can't speak the truth, but you can write it. You can't tell them, but you can show your thoughtsYour story in words, how all your puzzles fit.

Kind regards... P.S.If you dare, the key is in the envelope." There was no name! As I looked closer at the box I noticed that there was a message engraved in the wood "Do not open" I picked up the varnished tropical lumber, I thought. The box was rather heavy but I dared not shake it; in case the contents were fragile. It had a lovely dome-like shape at the top, with intricate floral motifs carved upon it. At the sides, a band of gold was painted all around the box and in the centre the golden lock was waiting for me to open what was inside. Once again I opened the envelope and spilt its contents on the table. Clink. The key was so unique. Slowly, bit by bit, I turned the lock and pried it open. By God!!! It was something I would never expect...

You tell them how you learnt silence from the talkative, Peace from the insecure, hid from the world's creatures Never trusting a soul, smiling to look composed, But inside, broken, not even grateful to those teachers. You tell them why you stopped talking, The pain……. the memories all freshly awoken. You tell them how tired you are with the continuous ridiculing, Wanting to talk, but no words are spoken. You finally let it all out, all those years of holding backGiving your pen the freedom your mouth never had. You never knew who you were and still don't…. not even a bit, But now you know who you want to be and that's enough to have. Maybe one day you'll learn to speak again little bluebird, But maybe if there's no one listening, it's useless. For after all if they never understood your silence How will they ever understand your words?

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Message from the Head of Mathematics We have had some changes in staff this year. Joining RWA is Ms. Karen Wilding, who is teaching middle years as well as IGCSE and IBDP, Mr. Amit Raj, who is teaching middle years and IBDP and Mr. Jamie Baker-Beall, who is teaching middle years and IGCSE. We have introduced a lot of new things this year to promote student progress and achievement and have already seen the success of our efforts. First, our department has offered a ‘Math Clinic’ as a lunch time tutorial open to all students every day of the week. This is teacher led with one of our department teachers in each session. We have also had some of the G11 CAS students assist during this times, so students are getting the benefit of both experienced teachers and peers during this time. We also have teacher run CCAs to improve numeracy in the middle years and for IGCSE & IB Exam preparations. Next we have undergone extensive restructuring to the G10 IGCSE courses to help address the needs of all students moving into their final examinations. We have already seen substantial improvement across the board and hope to continue this through to the final exams due to hard work from both our G10 teaching team and the students. We have also restructured the time table to allow for extension classes for the G12 SL & HL classes to ensure proper preparation for their very important final IB Exams. We again have already seen great improvement and confidence in the students which will allow them to achieve their very best. Many students from G6-11 have had the opportunity to sit external international contests. We want students to have this exposure to different facets of international mathematics to keep continued interest and appreciation of the subject. Close to 100 students from G9, 10 & 11 took part in the Canadian Math Contest hosted by the University of Waterloo, ON, Canada on March 1st, 2017. G9 wrote the Pascal contest, G10 the Cayley and G11 the Fermat. G6, 7 & 8 will participate in the Gauss contest on May 11th, 2017. For more information please visit the website www.cemc.uwaterloo.ca. 250

Students from G6-9 took part in the ISFO International Math & Science Olympiad. We had almost all students progress to the National Level 2 competition and one student Davide Sipone (G7) winning first place in all the UAE and receiving an expense paid trip to Singapore to compete in the International Level 3 on April 10th, 2017. We wish him all the best! We will again be hosting the International KenKen competition this year. Round one will happen in May 2017. We had 12 students make it to the UAE National round at the start of this academic year. We hope to improve on that this year. ‘Mathapolooza’ Math Week took place this year in October, 2016. Again the students had a terrific time while engaging in mathematical activities. More details on that in the following pages. We continue to use an array of online resources. Myimaths.com is an interactive website that is very useful for teaching inside the classroom as well as a solid revision base for our students at home. At the IB level we have Kognity.com which again is an interactive website designed just for the IB Programme. This has already been an exciting and productive learning year. I look forward to a successful end with all students achieving their goals. I have enjoyed my last two years here with the RWA community. Meagan Briske Head of Secondary Mathematics

Mathematics Department IGCSE MATHEMATICS

Mathapolooza

International Mathematics

There was also great excitement this year again as we hosted our second successful Mathapolooza week. The students enjoyed many fun Math activities such as the KenKen contest, the Lock & Key challenge and the Math Relay. Below you can see some of our Grade 10 IGCSE Math students taking part in the ever so popular scavenger hunt around the school.

This academic school year, IGCSE Mathematic students were very busy. For the first time, six students of Grade 10 appeared for the International Mathematics exam in November 2016 conducted by IGCSE. Four of these students scored A* and two of them received an A, making the school extremely proud. These students will now be appearing for the Additional Mathematics Exam in June 2017 and will hopefully be able to repeat their performance.

Mahek Khushlani, Divya Manocha, Loshani Vikramsinghe, Aashna Vasudeva & Aliza Safeer who appeared for the International Mathematics exam in November 2016. Missing from photo: Osman Safa. Math Clinic In addition to the stellar performances of many of our students, the Mathematics department were busy hosting the Math clinic every lunch time, from 1.10pm to 1.40pm. Students could pop by with any queries they had, where members of staff were eagerly awaiting to help. Over the course of the year, we had an influx in attendance with an eager and positive response from the students. Pictured above: Ms. Nadine with Diletta and Leonardo Veneziano, two of our Grade 10 IGCSE students attending one of our daily Math clinics.

Faisal Qureshi, Timo Quarz, Eva Rek, Mohamed Tabib, Mykola Nesterenko & Intsar Khan.

Interventions Further to all the hard work our IGCSE Math students showed over the past few months in preparation for their upcoming exams, lots of interventions took place within the Mathematics Department. Numerous “Afterschool Support” , “Form Time Support” and “Spring Break Revision” sessions took place and proved quite successful, where students were able to use their time productively to focus on specific areas of improvement. As part of the lead up to the IGCSE examinations, IGCSE students were invited to attend a “Walking, Talking Mock”. This involved students sitting in exam conditions and being guided through IGCSE papers by subject experts. Feedback from students indicated a boost in confidence which will hopefully mean less nervous students during the final exams and a better understanding of how to answer more difficult exam questions. The Mathematics Department also ran the “Breakfast Math Club” on the day of the actual IGCSE Mathematics exam where students were invited for tea and toast and offered last minute tips to provide reassurance and important reminders prior to the main event.

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Message from the Head of Science Department “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.” Albert Einstein I started at RWA in 2010 and it’s been 7 rewarding years interacting with the varied members of the Science Department. This year I had an opportunity to step into the role of the Head of Department and work with my team to achieve a common vision of promoting scientific inquiry. I would like to believe that science at RWA is taught through inquiry based learning. The year began with Innoventures Inter-School Science Fair Competition for Grade 6 students. Students were provided with a comprehensive list of criteria on which their projects were to be assessed. Our young minds set out to work exploring different problems using the scientific methods. They gathered data and looked at trends and some even justified their trends using concepts learned in theory. A total of four groups made it to the final category and were afforded the opportunity to display their work at Raffles International School down the road. Although we did not make it to the first three, our students learnt the valuable skills of communication, collaboration and self-management. Another major event was the visit from a Belgian Astronaut, Frank De Winne on November 21. He inspired young minds to explore aspects of space science as a possible option for future career. Listening to his experiences, our young kids, at least some of them will take on astrophysics someday. During the KHDA visit, some of our grade 11 Physics students were commended on their innovative designs

on ‘time of fall’. Across the board, inspectors found conceptual understanding in science to be rigorous, challenging and purposeful. Students were able to defend their points of view, thus demonstrating critical thinking skills. Students were challenged beyond their curriculum by being encouraged to participate in the ISF Science Olympiad. Davide Sipone from 7E made us proud with his outstanding performance as a top student in the UAE. He was later flown to Singapore for the finals. Within the department, students were provided a range of opportunities to demonstrate their learning. One such activity taken up by the students of Grade 6 was the Spelling Bee competition. Students enjoyed the process of learning new scientific vocabulary and were able to successfully challenge each other. The Group 4 project, a compulsory part of the IBDP curriculum was held in November 2016. This year the topic chosen was “The Olympics”. Students developed research questions based on various aspects of sporting events in the Rio Olympics. It was interesting to see the biologists looking at stress fractures, diet and nutrition, muscle development and the physiology of the circulatory system. On the other hand, the chemists looked at the chemistry of water and the components of the turf. The physicists looked at a range of motion and how to reduce resistance in order to improve efficiency. Our ESS students looked at the pollution due to these Olympic Games and the impact of temperature changes due to global warming on the performance of athletes. Overall, the students demonstrated great collaborative learning. Moving forward, I am very happy to introduce the aspects of MYP science into the curriculum next year. It promises to develop our learners in conceptual understanding set within global contexts with a range of ATL skills. Stephen Pinto Hear of Science Department

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Grade 6 Biology dissection

Belgian Scientist

Lecture by Belgian Astronaut Frank De Winne: November 21, 2016 It was an honour to be part of the lecture. Before the lecture, we had very little idea about space exploration. We had an opportunity to ask questions directly from someone who had experienced it firsthand. This was an opportunity, which not many students come across. Frank shared his experience and we learnt about the importance of Physics and Astrophysics. He shared his pride of being the first Belgian to have made it to the International Space Station and we were honored to interact with someone very knowledgeable and professional. Conrad Bay & Max Uyttenbroeck (Grade 9)

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Grade 6 science fair

Grade 6 Spelling Bee

Grade 6 Science Spelling Bee Competition: January 31, 2017 The Spelling Bee was a very creative experience to learn science. It motivated us to learn the words and the meanings. All participants did a great job with it. It put a bit of pressure on us to do well. In the end we all had a great time. Sanjana Thomas (Grade 6)

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Grade 9 Physics toys

Grade 9 Physics toy design exhibit: April 16, 2017 It was a very good experience to design our own toys thinking about how energy transformed from one form to another. Presenting it to grade 3 audience made it more memorable as we got a real feel of being a teacher. It made us realise how difficult it was to explain concepts to young children using simple language and ideas. In the end, all children left our exhibit excited and curious at the same time. Omkaar Kamath (Grade 9)

Science Olympiad

This year in school I took part in the academic Olympiad for science. The first of the 3 assessments was done in school and they covered my two favorite topics for science chemistry and physics. The second assessment was also done in school and it cover chemistry, physics and logical science and was the test that I achieved the top for science in the U.A.E. This won me a scholarship to go to Singapore for 3 day to take part in the Olympiad final exam. The first day in Singapore we were toured around the city and stopped at some of the more famous spots like the Lion Fountain and the Eye of Singapore. The second day we woke up early and got ready to go to the school that the final exam was hosted, the exam last one and a half hours. After we spent 2 hour in the science museum but 30 minutes of that was watching an omnitheather presentation. The last day we spent in a theme park made by Universal Studios where we had 9 hours to ride all the roller-coasters. At the end of this trip I can say that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth the while and I encourage you to take part in the Olympiad for yourself as the prize was well worth the effort to complete the assessments. Davide Sipone

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Group 4 Project

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Grade 7 and 8 RWA Science Fair

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Message from the Head of Arabic Department The Arabic Department in the Secondary school in Raffles World Academy consists of eight teachers with one goal: to make the Arabic language the most exciting, interesting and useful subject among all subjects. We present important and essential learning strategies inside the classes and through the different activities that the department arranges. Our department organises scientific and exciting field trips for the students in order to enhance the curriculum. We ensure that students are able to communicate with others using the Arabic language, through enhancing their use of vocabulary, poetical phrases and magnificent literature. We welcome parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; contributions in this exciting learning stage because we believe that the family is essential in reaching successful targets and goals. The Arabic Department in the SS in RWA is known to create an atmosphere of educational competitiveness that supports the skills of both writing and reading in Arabic. The result being that our students won the first and second places across the Innoventures schools in different categories in writing in both Arabic A and Arabic B was fantastic. As well as organising competitions, the Arabic Department will continue to encourage amazing students to face challenges and competitions to increase the level of the Arabic Language they have. Fatinah Saleh Hasan Head of Arabic Department

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Arabic Department

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Arabic Department

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‫‪Message from the‬‬ ‫‪Head of Islamic Studies‬‬ ‫الســام عليكــم وأهــا وســهال ومرحبــا بكــم مــع دائــرة التربيــة‬ ‫اإلســامية فــي عــام دراســي جديــد مليــئ بالتحــدي واإلنجــاز فــي‬ ‫الكثيــر مــن األعمــال والمشــاريع وقــد بــدا واضحــا جليــا أن فريــق التربيــة‬ ‫اإلســامية قــد اســتطاع التقــدم فــي رفــع مســتوى التربيــة الدينيــة و‬ ‫مهــارات تــاوة القــرآن الكريــم وحفظــه وغــرس القيــم اإلســامية التــي‬ ‫تدعــوا إلــى التســامح والمحبــة والتعايــش والســام مــع اآلخريــن فــي‬ ‫نفــوس الطــاب‬

‫اســتراتيجيات التعلــم الذاتــي والبحــث واالستكشــاف وربطهــا بالواقــع‬ ‫وحيــاة الطالــب اليوميــة ‪.‬‬ ‫كمــا قطعنــا شــوطا كبيــرا فــي رفــع مســتوى الطــاب فــي تــاوة القــرآن‬ ‫وحفظــه مــن خــال إعــداد برنامــج خطــوات تعلــم تــاوة القــرآن وحفظــه‬ ‫ممــا دفــع الطــاب الــى االهتمــام أكثــر بالتربيــة اإلســامية وقيمهــا‬ ‫وغاياتهــا ‪.‬‬

‫يقــوم فريــق التربيــة اإلســامية بتدريــس المنهــاج المعتمــد لــدى وزارة‬ ‫التربيــة والتعليــم بدولــة اإلمــارات العربيــة المتحــدة مــع محاولــة ربــط‬ ‫هــذا المنهــاج بخصائــص متعلــم البكالوريــا ومهــارات القــرن الحــادي‬ ‫والعشــرين والربــط أيضــا باألجنــدة الوطنيــة ‪.2020‬‬

‫وإيمانــا منــا بتوثيــق الصلــة بيــن طالبنــا وبيئتهــم المحيطــة بهــم‬ ‫تســاهم الدائــرة كل عــام فــي فاعليــات وأنشــطة يــوم الشــهيد و‬ ‫اليــوم الوطنــي والقيــام بأنشــطة مكثفــة ورحــات ميدانيــة تحكــي‬ ‫عــن ثقافــة وتاريــخ هــذا البلــد العريــق والتواصــل مــع مؤسســات‬ ‫المجتمــع المحلــي لربــط التربيــة اإلســاميةوالمجتمع وتتمنــى أســرة‬ ‫التربيــة اإلســامية لجميــع طالبنــا مزيــدا مــن التوفيــق والنجــاح‪.‬‬

‫‪to which promote the culture and history of this ancient‬‬ ‫‪country and communicates with local organisations to‬‬ ‫‪implement Islamic studies in student’s life.‬‬

‫‪Hello fromt the Islamic Education Department in the‬‬ ‫‪academic year 2016-17, full of accomplishments and‬‬ ‫‪activities. It has been very evident that the Islamic‬‬ ‫‪Education team has been able to progress in raising the‬‬ ‫‪level of recitation and memorisation of the Qur'an and to‬‬ ‫‪impact the values of Islam in the school such as tolerance,‬‬ ‫‪love and co-existence in a multi-cultural society.‬‬ ‫‪The Islamic Education team has been focusing on‬‬ ‫‪teaching the curriculum of MOE at United Arab‬‬ ‫‪Emirates, to connect the curriculum with Baccalaureate‬‬ ‫‪learner profile, skills for 21th century, and also with the‬‬ ‫‪National Agenda.‬‬ ‫‪The Islamic Education team has been able to make‬‬ ‫‪enormous progress in developing methods of teaching‬‬ ‫‪Islamic education through the activation of self-learning,‬‬ ‫‪research and exploration strategies and linking the lessons‬‬ ‫‪to the daily life of the student.‬‬ ‫‪We have come a long way in raising the level of the students‬‬ ‫‪in the recitation and memorization of the Qur’an through‬‬ ‫‪The Qur’an recitation and memorization programme‬‬ ‫‪which encouraged students to give importance to Islamic‬‬ ‫‪values and goals.‬‬ ‫‪We believe we achieved to create a link between‬‬ ‫‪our students and their environment. Every year, our‬‬ ‫‪department contributes in the activities of National Day‬‬

‫وقــد اســتطاع فريــق التربيــة اإلســامية أن يقطعــوا شــوطا كبيــرا‬ ‫فــي تطويــر طــرق تدريــس التربيــة اإلســامية عــن طريــق تفعيــل‬

‫‪Mohammed Elsayed Abdelrahman Abdelaziz‬‬ ‫‪Head of Islamic Studies‬‬

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Islamic Studies Department

Students in Sheikh Zaid mosque trip.

Students participating in Quran competition

Students Celebrating in Martyrs day

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Islamic Studies Department

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Message from the Head of Humanities Department ‘Time flies when you are having fun’, so the saying goes and that is certainly the case here at Raffles where staff and pupils work hard and enjoy the success they achieve. Achievement and success are the unifying values at the core of the aims and objectives of all the many divergent components of the Humanities Department. We take a holistic view of education, which equips all students with the capacity to improve as individuals; to be successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens. With Humanities being about the study of the human culture we are in an excellent position to provide this ‘learning for life’. Achievement through exam results in international qualifications continues its upward trend across the board; success breeds success. The Department continues to expand; IB Psychology goes from strength to strength as more pupils try to get into the fascinating world of people’s minds. IGCSE Environmental Management has quickly established itself as an exciting addition to IGCSE Global Perspectives in being able to provide a popular alternative to the more traditional Historical and Geographical routes to success in the social sciences. Another exciting addition has been the start of Global Politics in grade 11 where pupils get the opportunity to make sense of international relations and the world in which we live As part of our ‘learning for life’ agenda we are committed to making the curriculum relevant to all our learners. As a truly International , English median school in the centre of Dubai, RWA provides Humanities teachers with a unique opportunity to draw on personal experiences from around

the world and integrate them into learning and teaching. Furthermore, staff constantly strive to make the learning relevant to the UAE. The recent, highly successful history field trip to Ibn Battuta Mall is testament to that. Grade 7 were studying the ‘age of exploration’, Mr O’Sullivan wanted to bring the subject to life and use the topic as an example of how relevant the past is to the present by using the adventures of Ibn Battuta in the middle ages to explain the relevance of the unique themes present in the modern Mall, showing that humanities holds the answers to all the questions about the reasons for the present that most of us never ask. The Geography department have supported the learning with fieldtrips. Psychology is a revolving door of visitors and guest speakers and lecturers enriching pupils’ learning. This relevance of the study of humanities is being enhanced by a greater focus on UAE National and Social Studies. Pupils are being given the opportunity to see how the History and Geography of the UAE shapes life in the country in which we live, how important the issue of environmental management is in Dubai today and looking at the UAE from a Global perspective; focusing on the issues like the reasons for and importance of National and Martyrs day. On reflection it is hard to think of an area of the curriculum that is more relevant to every pupil growing up in Dubai. Alistair Hamilton Head of Humanities Department

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Message from the Head of Department for Business, Economics & Enterprise It has been another wonderful year for the Business, Economics and Enterprise department with the addition of Mr. Gilberthorpe to our ever growing team. The growth of our team reflects the continued popularity of Business, Economics and Enterprise as a subject choice at both IGCSE and IB. In January, over 100 Grade 9 students and 60 Grade 11 students visited VOX cinema at the Mall of the Emirates to watch the new movie, The Founder. The movie detailed how Kroc maneuvered himself into a position to be able to pull a company from the brothers, Mick and Dick McDonald and create a billion-dollar empire that is McDonalds. An entrepreneur is a person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit and here at RWA we encourage all our students to do the same. In November, the Business department invited parents to meet with Grade 9 students to share their business success stories as well as offer advice on how to make their first million Throughout the year, students of business are always keen to challenge themselves by taking part in competitions. This year Grade 11 & 12 students participated in the Young Business Talent Hunt competition where they prepared a business plan for a new business and presented it before a team of business people. Students also represented RWA at a business simulation competition called Brain Sim at the SP Jain University in Dubai Academic City. We were so proud of their efforts! On a final note, I would like to wish all of our IGCSE students the very best in their upcoming exams and look forward to seeing them next year. I would also like to wish our IB students the very best in their upcoming exams and wish them well in their future studies. RWA will have hopefully inspired the next budding entrepreneur. Ă ine O Donnell Head of Department for Business, Economics & Enterprise

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Geography field trip write-up Our geography trip was very educational and challenged our whole team to working in a completely unusual environment. We went on our field trip in order to collect data and information for our internal assessment. We went to two different urban environments in Dubai - Karama and Downtown. In groups we filled questionnaires and surveyed traffic and pedestrian flow. We had to go out of our comfort zone and face the difficulty of asking strangers a variety of questions. We got the chance to talk with a lot of people and hear their opinions. It was a truly fun experience where we had opportunity to improve our communication and social skills. We also had the opportunity to compare and contrast the differences that are evident in the above mentioned localities of Dubai. We would like to thank our teachers Ms. Amrita and Ms. Geraldine for giving us this opportunity and helping and guiding us throughout. Overall, everyone enjoyed this learning experience as most people seemed quite welcoming and approachable. We would definitely love to be a part of this field trip again.

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Grade 11 DP Global Politics The IB Diploma Programme Batch of 2018 as risk-takers ambitiously decided to become a part of history here at Raffles World Academy when they chose to undertake a newly introduced subject not only to our school but to the IB in the form of Global Politics. Nervous yet excited was the general feeling as we first walked into our lesson, unaware of what the course had to offer. As is the case with many pristine courses, we had humble beginnings, having nine determined students who undertook the inaugural course. We look at various political issues around the world while exploring various concepts including, but not limited to, Power, Human Rights and Globalisation. Arguably our favourite part of the course was the Engagement Activity. It required us to get out of our classroom and engage with political issues directly through simulation activities, interviews and surveys. Tedious at times, exuberant at others. If we had any doubts in September as to whether this subject was worth it, those have all been eliminated now and we’re glad we chose it. “I think my favourite part of this course would have to be the number of presentations we did on a wide range of topics, from Human Trafficking to Honour Killings. Not only did they inform us on topics we may not have cared about before, but they’ve also helped us get a new perspective on the various issues.” –Aryan Bhattacharya “The teacher and class are very emboldening and supportive!” –Zeina Qafiti “This course has allowed me to express my political views in a safe environment while allowing me to understand and appreciate other points-of-view.” –Judy Sayes Aryan Bhattacharya.

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Grade 7 History Trip The Grade 7s went on a History investigation to Ibn Battuta Mall. They followed the explorerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s path and discovered intimate details about the famous Eastern explorer. They had a whale of a time! Here are some of the highlights of the trip.

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DP History DP History has been a rollercoasterâ&#x20AC;Ś Over the two years, we studied a range of information from Japanese Expansion to Cold War. We had our ups and downs throughout the two years, but our class spirit never died and we always helped each other. Thank goodness we had an amazing teacher that helped us get through rough times and we will all miss her immensely once we are at university.

As of now we are a history class full of friends, but later on we will be known as the class full of future ambassadors!

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Environmental Studies Environmental Systems and Societies studies the environment and how the actions of humans have impacted on the world in which we live. The importance of the environment is becoming increasingly an important worldwide issues. Environmental Systems gives an insight of environmental issues of societies at a range of scales, from local to global. It is widely accepted that many environmental problems are international in nature and this has led to a global approach to research in many areas such as climate change, biodiversity and population dynamics. The data from such research is shared worldwide and much of this is freely available to students. It thus leads to an appreciation of the nature at an international level. Since ESS actively engages with environmental issues, students can extend their classroom activities into CAS experiences using their learning in purposeful and meaningful ways. All three strands of CAS can be incorporated into experiences that relate to ESS within local, national and global communities. This course therefore help students explore the application of the overarching concepts and principles of environmental systems in a wide range of situations. Purnima Sharma Teacher

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News from our IB Psychology class IB Psychology students have been enjoying fun activities in the classroom. This year, as part of their IB course, they investigated the effects of social and cultural factors on human memory. The cognitive level of analysis helps them to analyse mental processes like thinking, emotion, problem-solving and decision making and learn how they affect our behavior in the real world. Kagan et al (1979) found that Mayan children in rural Guatemala performed worse on a free-recall tasks than their American counterparts. Rogoff & Waddel (1982) decided to give them a memory task that reflected their daily experience to see if this would improve their performance. The aim of the study was to see if culture had a different effect on how one remembers. The researchers constructed a model of a Mayan village located near a mountain and a lake, similar to the place where the children lived. Each child watched as a local experimenter selected 20 miniature objects from a set of 80 and placed them in the diorama. The objects included things that would be found in a real town. Then the 20 objects were returned to the group of 60 others remaining on the table. After a few minutes, the children were asked to reconstruct the full scene they had been shown. Under these conditions, the memory performance of the Mayan children was slightly superior to that of their United States counterparts.

The implication of these memory studies is that although the ability to remember is a universal intellectual requirement, specific forms of remembering are not universal, and the problem with many memory studies is that they are usually associated with formal schooling. Thanks to the support of our kindergarten section, our own students were able to recreate the scene and conduct an experiment by themselves. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m so proud of their initiative and enthusiasm for independent and student-led learning! This is also an excellent practice (precursor) to their internal assessment, which is a challenging journey that they will soon embark upon. These photographs will show you how lovely the class room was last week! Renu Muralidhara Teacher

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Global Perspectives

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Message from the Head of Expressive Arts Welcome to the Expressive Arts Department page. In RWA, students have the opportunity to pursue all three arts subjects - drama, music and visual arts. Teachers in the Expressive Arts Department are committed to creating an open-minded environment where students are encouraged to develop their creativity and imagination. Students learn to think and express themselves in the arts subjects. "To create one’s own world in any of the arts takes courage".

Through their learning experiences, students will develop personal expression, imagination, sensitivity, conceptual thinking, power of observation, an analytical ability and practical attitudes. Students will show an increasingly wider understanding of the role of arts across time and cultures. Anna Hamer Head of Expressive Arts

- Georgia O’Keeffe Thinking creatively in the arts “Creativity is the foundation of the arts; it permeates the skill and structure of the artwork. Creativity is what makes the audience pause to take a closer look at a work of art; to examine what it might be that thrills the viewer, what excites the senses, what titillates the perceptions. When we stumble out of an exhibition or performance, reeling with possibility, it is often not the mastery of skill that holds us enthralled, but the magic; the innovation; the exploration of the unknown; a compilation of the familiar in a novel way. The creativity of the artist is what compels them to write, create, paint, play, structure, compose - injecting their personal signature into their work - ultimately making it their own through an idea in conception, an individual perception, or a unique approach. It is curiosity, imagination, courage and determination. This is creativity in the arts” – MYP Arts Guide 2014. Creativity is one of the skills that students acquire by learning the arts. The skill doesn’t stop with the arts; it could be applied anywhere else in their life, be it business, technology, sports, etc. Arts students learn a variety of skills and techniques that allow them to produce work that demonstrates an in-depth knowledge of concepts, ideas, issues and theories that have local and global significance. Students learn critical thinking to solve creative problems. In arts subjects, they use skills, techniques, materials and art styles that push their boundaries to become risk-takers.

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Expressive Arts - Drama The Expressive Arts Department organises trips locally and internationally to give students a unique opportunity to gain first-hand experience by visiting galleries, museums, theatre shows and musical concerts. It also helps them to understand the true meaning of the art world by meeting artists and designers. The trips are conducted to help students become receptive to and appreciate art practices from different cultures. In the Expressive Arts Department, we raise environmental awareness of the 3Rs by encouraging students to reduce, reuse and recycle materials through reviewing, reflecting and refining our actions towards environmental issues. We incorporate environmental related topics/themes in our curriculum to bring awareness, to create and students to express their ideas. Through the performances and art exhibitions, students share their creativity, reflect upon their views, develop self-confidence and a deeper appreciation of the arts. Anna Hamer Head of Expressive Arts

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Expressive Arts - Drama

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Expressive Arts - Music

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Expressive Arts - Visual Arts

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Message from the Head of Physical Education At Raffles World Academy (RWA), the Physical Education department believes in providing students with as many opportunities to participate and succeed in sport as possible whilst promoting healthy active lifestyles. At RWA we focus on four key elements, skill, teamwork, effort and leadership. To support this, an extensive extracurricular sporting programme is in place. In the 2016/17 academic year, a total of 24 teams have represented the school with pride in the DASSA leagues in no fewer than 8 different sports. Some of the achievements to date include the Under 18 boys football being crowned Division 3 champions with an undefeated season and a 2nd place finish in the Athletics Division 2 in our maiden season. Not to mention the under 16 girls' basketball division 2 league winners.

active lifestyles. At RWA, students are encouraged and supported by a passionate, enthusiastic and hardworking PE department who were shortlisted in the top 5 schools across the UAE for the sports award under the section “Sports Department of the Year.” I would like to thank our Sports partner Speedo for training our swimmers and preparing them for their first competitive season within the DASSA league. My final thank you goes to PARIS, Skechers and Anta

Combining these opportunities with outstanding teaching and coaching, many students have excelled in their chosen sports. One Grade 9 IGCSE PE student is due to trial at a Series B football club in Italy whilst 3 of our talented netball players were chosen to represent Dubai in the Inter-Gulf tournament. Links have been established with professional agencies such as Golf DXB, Dubai Duty Free Tennis and Gulf Youth Soccer to assist with the development of our students. As an inclusive school, the PE department offers opportunities to compete in sports such as badminton and cross county where there are currently no leagues. Development squads” are also in place allowing those students who are not selected for the “A” squads to continue to train and develop their skills. Regular fixtures take place against our sister Innoventures Education schools as well as weekly inter-house sport for both boys and girls to allow all students to experience being part of a team. An SEN sports programme is in place where students from schools in the local area participate in activities to develop basic motor skills whilst providing them with a fun, inclusive environment. Several Grade 12 students also assist with this programme. These students have also volunteered their services to support events such as Sports Day as well as the marshalling of the Dubai Marathon, highlighting the importance that is placed upon student leadership. All of these opportunities allow our students to develop skills that will support their holistic development as well as enhancing their knowledge of sport and healthy 280

who have helped promote sport at the school and have given us a vast number of prizes and kit for the students during our Beach Run and Sports Day. As we look forward to next year, I would like to say a big thank you to Miss Greenaway who will sadly leave us this year. On behalf of the PE department, Staff and students at RWA, we wish her all the very best in her next adventure. Stephanie Carte Head of Physical Education

Student testimonial I started playing baseball for Dubai Little League when I moved to Dubai in 2009. Dubai Little League has over 450 players ages 4-17 playing baseball and softball for different divisions. I am in the majors division which is for ages 11-12. There are about 75 players in my division. From these 75 players, there is a tryout to select the 12 best players from the division who are chosen for the All Star team and I was part of this team. We were invited to go to the Philippines to take part in the Goodwill Games which was held in Alabang, Manila from January 13- 15. There were 4 other teams from different cities in the Phillipines. Over three days we played six games and it was very competitive. There were also very close games. We ended up third place winning 3 games out of 6. It

was a very good experience. We also got to interact with the other teams. In April, Dubai is hosting a tournament where Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain come to play. There was also a tournament this past weekend in Kuwait which I was not able to attend because of other commitments. I went to Singapore in 2015, Kuwait in 2015 and 2016 and played in a Dubai tournament in 2015 and 2016. Armaan Moosa (Grade 7)

Dubai Duty Free ball kids

Dubai Duty Free kids day

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Dassa Athletics Under 12/14/16/18 The first year being entered into the DASSA Athletics competition provided a great test for the RWA Athletics Team. 7 weeks of hard training paid off when 75 students represented RWA at Sports City finishing a close 2nd out of 10 schools in Division 2 was a fantastic result for the athletes in both Track and Field. In particular, wins from Riad Nurmamedov (6D) in the U12 100m and Shot Put, Ahad Mansoori (8C) in both the U14 100m and 200m; and Kevin Cerrone (8C) in the U14 Shot Put. RWA also had 13 boys and 16 girls selected to compete in the DASSA Championships as they were one of the top 16 Athletes in their chosen events. From this event we had two student representing RWA get on the podium. Kevin Cerrone (Shot Putt, Bronze) and Ahad Mansoori (200m, Gold). This has shown the great developments being made in the RWA Athletics team this year and puts us in a great position for next year! Well done all. RWA came 2nd with only 31 points from 1st Place. Coaches Miss Carte Mr Bladen Mr Cunningham

Sports city DASSA regional athletics Venue

Ahad Mansoori winner (200m, Gold)

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Dassa Basketball Under 12 Girls The under 12 girls had a fantastic start to the basketball season. With only one loss to a very strong Dubai College A team by one point, the squad finished 9th out of 27 Teams. Captain and player of the season Hana Alizai led the team to several victories throughout the season. We are looking forward to having most of our players back next year and aspire to a top 3 finish in the league.

Under 12 Boys After claiming the Innoventures title earlier this year, the Under 12 team were full of confidence going into the DASSA league. Victories over Jumeriah College and Emirates International School qualified the team for Division 1. Tougher games followed but the team competed very well. A 38-36 overtime victory in the final game against GEMS International claimed the Division 1C title and an overall 7th place finish in Dubai out of 27 teams. Under 14 Girls The under 14 girls started the season strongly with a close game against a very strong Dubai College A team. With only one loss and one draw, the team secured 5 wins over the season. Player of the season goes to Fanny Svensson who also captained the team. COACH Miss CARTE

Under 14 Boys Basketball The under 14 boys basket ball team competed against Wellington International School and Uptown School in this year's finals. With a narrow defeat to WIS (18-19) and a dramatic win over Uptown (21-19), RWA finished 2nd overall out of 35 teams in the Top Division in Dubai. A fantastic achievement by the boys! COACH MR BLADEN BOYS UNDER 16 RWA’s leading point scorer Emre Tosun has led the Under 16 Boys Basketball Team to a positive start to this year’s Basketball season. With a resounding opening game win over King’s Al Barsha (669), an excellent performance against Sunmarke (55-41) RWA were full of confidence. A defeat to the robust Wellington International School, with a score line that flattered the opposition (64-44), has put a slight dampener on the opening part of the season. However, with two games left before the playoffs, RWA are in good form to make themselves known amongst the big players in the Dubai Schools Basketball League. Coach Mr Bladen

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Dassa Basketball BOYS UNDER 18 The boys this year did themselves and RWA proud, with their Captain Carlo leading them to a place in the Plate final, which after a tough, testing game they lost. With only a squad of 8 players, each game was a hard fought battle that tested not just their skill and determination but also their stamina. No one individual could be singled out as they all played their part. Coach Mr Rangecroft

GIRLS UNDER 18 The U18 Basketball team had a fantastic season going from strength to strength. This is the first time that Raffles World Academy had a Girls U18 basketball team in the DASSA league and the players were committed and enthusiastic throughout the season. The highlight of their season was beating DIA away in a nail biting showdown of great sportsmanship, in an extremely competitive game from start to finish. Raffles World Academy demonstrated exceptional composure and scored a 3 pointer in the last 30 seconds to win the game 18-15. Another highlight was beating Dubai College B team 35-25 which is a fantastic result against an experienced and strong opposition. Finally the U18 team were lucky enough to attend a coaching workshop delivered by Tracy Kelly back in term 1, an ex-international basketball player, who visited Raffles to deliver the coaching session on defending skills. The Captain of the team was Giorgia Cannizzo and playerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s player was Bruna Bita. Coach Miss Greenaway

Cricket Boys under 13,15+18 Boys under 13,15+18 This year we started practising in the last week of January for the IVEI Cricket League. The U-13 were coached by Mr Robert Ellarby, U-15 were coached by Mr Girish Mishra and this year we had a new age group for the cricket, U-18 and they were coached by Mr Amit Raj. We played our first inter school match under Innovents Cup hosted by DIA in the first week of March 2017. It was followed by DASSA league. RWA's performance in the DASSA league was commendable.

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Dassa Rounders Rounders Team Girls Under 15 For the first time ever Raffles World Academy has a rounders team in the league. Over 25 girls turned up to the trials and 15 were selected to represent the school. The girls have been training since the end of the last academic year where they entered a tournament and came 4th overall, competing against over 15 schools in Dubai which is a fantastic achievement in itself. Since then in term 2 and 3 the girls have been training hard every week and learning the many rules and tactics of a rounders game and have really developed as a squad. They have improved dramatically and the team is unrecognisable since their first match. Their greatest success so far in the season is beating DESC at home with the final score or 26 ½ rounders to 22 ½. I am so proud of their commitment to training and seeing the whole squad play with such passion and enjoyment and improving every week. I wish them all the best next year where I am sure they will continue to develop and build on their successes from this year. The Captain of the team was Kiera Mcdermott and player’s player was Rafaella Gupta. Coach Miss Greenaway

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Dassa Football Dubai Affiliated School Sport Association (DASSA) Team write ups 2016/17 FOOTBALL BOYS UNDER 12 The Under 12 boys made a great start to the league with a resounding 3-0 victory over rivals Raffles International School. We dominated proceedings from an early stage with goals from Omar El Khatib and Marwan Kadri putting us 2-0 to the good at the break. We continued to pile on the pressure in the second half and a superb 20 yard curling strike from team captain Tristan Couet sealed the win.

followed over Raffles International School, thanks in part to 2 fantastic goals from this seasonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top scorer Marwan Kadri, who managed to lob the goal keeper from distance not once, but twice! With DIA racking up the goals in their remaining games, a 4 goal victory was required over CAS in the final game to claim the IVEI title. A gallant attacking effort from the boys put the CAS defence under immense pressure but an excellent performance from their goalkeeper resulted in a 0-0 stalemate in the final game and a 2nd place finish overall. With so much improvement made over the current season and with confidence high, we cannot wait for 2017/18 season to begin. Coach Mr. Cunningham

Boys Under 14 It was another successful year for the RWA Under 14 Boys Football Team, finishing 3rd in Division 2. One of the highlights of the season was the emphatic victory over Sharjah English School (6-1) in front of a big crowd

In their second league fixture against Rashid School for Boys, again we started brightly and created a few good chances before Omar El Khatib burst through the midfield and struck low into the bottom corner. Rashid replied quickly with a counter attacking move outnumbering our defence leaving the score level just before half time. We re-organised during the break and went with 2 strikers and a greater attacking formation. From the off we dominated possession in the second half but were very unlucky to lose out 2-1 with a last minute cross from deep ending up straight in the top corner! The boys had trained hard since this loss and made great improvements throughout the year. A resounding 7-2 win over Uptown, Mirdif and a 3-0 victory against School of Research Science left it mathematically possible to still win the league going into the final game. However a 5 goal victory was required over league leaders Dubai English Speaking College so the boys had a tough task at hand. A fantastic performance was on show from the boys who never gave up, evidenced when they pulled two goals back to draw level at 3-3 with 5 minutes remaining. A gung ho effort in the final few moments in the search for goals left us short at the back at times and we eventually lost out 5-3 resulting in a 3rd place finish in Division 3. The boys were full of confidence following their recent performances going into the IVEI tournament. A 1-1 draw against tournament favourites Dubai International Academy, who had recently claimed the DASSA Division 2 title, left the tournament wide open. A 3-0 victory 286

and the watchful eye of the Gulf Youth Soccer camera crew. Undefeated victories in the IVEI Tournament and the Scholars International Academy Tournament in Sharjah underlined the hard work the boys have put in throughout the season, carrying on their great form. We all look forward to next yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s campaign. Coach Mr. Bladen Boys under 14 action

Dassa Football Boys Under 16 The boy's U16 football team got off to a tough start, losing their first league match 5-1 to EIS Jumeirah. The team had not played together much and players and positions needed to be reshuffled a lot initially. As the season progressed, the team really developed as a whole demonstrating a strong team spirit and determination. This resulted in a respectable 4th place finish in the league. The team should be commended for their exciting attacking football as they scored at least three goals in each of their victories. They finished the league season with an incredible 5-1 win over Dubai British School. Following this strong league campaign, the boys lifted the Innoventures Cup, demonstrating how far they had come since their 5-1 loss to open the season. As most of the team are still eligible to play U16 football next year, we are looking forward to having most of the players back and pushing for a top 2 finish in the league and defending our Innoventures Cup. Coaches Mr. Keating and Mr.O Sullivan Boys under 18 The start of the 2016/2017 DASSA football season began with a home game against sister school and rivals DIA, a convincing win marked the first of many. The team went on to become league champions and remained undefeated. All players came together and fought extremely hard for each win, some stand out performances include

against GEMS Wellington, our defence was very solid, in particular Alexiane Vanhauw who denied the opposition strikers many goal scoring opportunities. Our midfields worked tirelessly to regain possession throughout the

game and created a few chances for team captain Deborah Konaud who tested the GEMS goalkeeper. Eventually our defensive rearguard was broken with two excellent strikes from the GEMS striker who gave our goalkeeper no chance by striking the ball into the bottom corner. Despite another defeat, this was a much improved performance from a determined bunch of girls, many of which are still of Under 14 age. With continued practice and effort, the girls will make great strides in preparation for the 2017/18 season. Coach Mr. Cunningham GIRLS UNDER 18

Ammar and Shayan who encouraged their team mates during each match through their skill and determination to succeed. The RWA community are extremely proud of the team's accomplishments and hope that next year they can maintain such high standards.

The girls under 18 squad is in the early stages of development. This year saw the girls play in division 3 in the DASSA girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s schools league for the first time. Football in the UAE for girls has seen a significant development in the number of talented girls playing in the league. This also means most of the girls are representing teams outside of the school league further developing their skill level making school teams stronger. Captain Emma Thomas led the team through the season with great passion and enthusiasm, the girls are looking forward to next season after gaining valuable experiences this year in division 3. The player of the season goes to Emma Thomas. Congratulations to all the girls on their efforts this term. Coach. Aisling Fennell

Coaches Mr. O'Mahony and Mr. Nicholson GIRLS UNDER 16 The girls started their league campaign with two difficult games against Al Mizhar and Dubai International Academy, losing out on both occasions to a much older, stronger team. The girls however have maintained high spirits and continue to train regularly. In their third game 287

Dassa Netball GIRLS UNDER 12 What a wonderful rewarding year it has been for the U12 Netball team! It was such a pleasure to watch the girls learning to play from the start of the season to the last few games where it all seemed to gel. Each week their skills developed and improved immensely and by the final couple of games they showed great teamwork and improved positional play. The team only lost to Nord Anglia International School by 2 points to come second in the DASSA league. The girls were fantastic at the annual U12 Development Netball Tournament where 20 teams entered. They surprised everyone by coming second in the cup competition. The team captain Mia Stipac has proudly received Players’ player on a number of occasions. Coach Miss Greenaway

and showed enthusiasm in training sessions. This commitment resulted in four fantastic wins and three losses- one by only 1 point in the DASSA league. The highlight of the year was undoubtedly the annual U14 Development Netball Tournament at Kings where they finished 3rd out of 24 teams. Kiera McDermott has been outstanding in the Centre position and did a great job as captain motivating the team. A special mention to Fanny Svensson who has been voted as the Players’ player after almost every game; she is a fantastic asset on court and showed consistently good play in all games. Coach Miss Van Nieuwenhuizen GIRLS UNDER 16 Overall it has been a good year for the U16 Netball team. They won the Innoventures Tournament against DIA. With lots of effort and support from each other the team made some impressive high scoring wins in three of the DASSAS league games however, unfortunately battled hard in the rest. In the end they received a well-deserved

GIRLS UNDER 14 Our U14 Netball team has had an eventful season. They had a great start winning the Innoventures Tournament against RIS and DIA. The girls worked hard as a team

fourth place finish. Saher Kapadia captained the team for a third year. She did a great job raising team morale and can be commended on her leadership and organisational skills. Congratulations to Dana Abu Alfailat who was voted as the player’s player by the other teams. Coach Miss Van Nieuwenhuizen

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Dassa Netball GIRLS UNDER 18 This season has been the best yet for the U18 Netball Team. They have balanced their intense study timetables and an extremely important term with training and netball matches and have been committed and passionate throughout. They have had fantastic performances against the schools in their division and have demonstrated exceptional performances against some extremely strong competition across the schools in Dubai. They completed their season and ended up winning the division and securing first place. A fantastic achievement to all players and a promotion to division 2 next season. The majority of the team will be leaving RWA this academic year to go on to pastures new, I wish them every success for the future all and that they keep playing netball! Captain of the team was Emilie Panizzutti and playerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s player was Vanessa Vilhelmsson Coach Miss Greenaway Touring Netball Team Visit RWA from UK On Thursday 13th April 2017, RWA hosted three netball matches against a touring team from the UK. The games were very closely contested and our students demonstrated exceptional skill levels and sportsmanship. The girls had a fantastic morning and loved the experience of playing against some strong competition. The girls got to experience overseas competition and represented the school with vigor and determination. The final scores are shown below and a speciela mention to the U18 team who won their game 12 goals to 3. This was a very exciting and memorable day for sport at RWA. UK U14a V RWA U14 16

UK U14b V RWA U12 17

UK U18 V RWA U18 3

GIRLS NETBALL SQUAD VS UK TOURING TEAM (OUR LADYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CONVENT SCHOOL) 289

Interhouse INTER HOUSE EVENTS GIRLS AND BOYS INTER HOUSE SWIM GALA FINAL RESULTS GIRLS

BOYS

1 PLACE YELLOW – 470

PLACE BLUE – 436

PLACE BLUE - 597

PLACE - YELLOW - 527

3RD PLACE RED - 397

4TH PLACE - GREEN - 287

BOYS 6-8 WINNERS

PLACE - GREEN - 496

GIRLS 6-8 WINNERS

Beach Run This year, the annual Beach Run took place for the eighth time and it was once again a great success. There were some outstanding performances, most notable of which was from Max Rivier who won the Boys Grade 9-12 race. Congratulations to Aleks Tukacinskis, Hana Alizai, Anthony Piorko and Alexia Belitsas for securing top spot for the Grade 6 & 7 race. Well done to Daniel Sillanpaa and Malou Irani who won the Grade 8 race. After a two day intense competition the the RED House was crowned champions overall. OVERALL RESULTS 1st RED - 5153

2nd Green - 4760

3rd Blue - 4495

4th - Yellow - 2940

A big thank you to Skechers and Anta for supporting the event again this year. Results:

Grade 6 BOYS

Grade 6 GIRLS

Aleks Tukacinskis

Hana Alizai

Samy Poirier

Blanche Gazel

Riad Nurmamedov

Mia Stipac

Grade 7 BOYS

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Grade 7 GIRLS

Anthony Piorko

Alexia Belitsas

German Rudakov

Andrea Lopez

Zaid Husaini

Eugenie Nordin

Grade 8 BOYS

Grade 8 GIRLS

Daniel Sillanpaa

Malou Irani

Gunnar Schaap

Shahzara Malik

Rajai Ardakani

Tatiana Thomas

Grade 9/10/11/12 BOYS

Grade 9/10/11/12 GIRLS

Max Rivier

Dana Mohamed

Reda Nouryn

Zofia Wojcikowska

Jean Irani

Lina Gustmann

BEACH RUN START

House winners 6+7

Beach run winners

Grade 8-12 house winners

Beach run action

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Innoventures Education Sport TENNIS RWA produced a fantastic performance in the IVEI Tennis Tournament held at DIA. The following students placed in the medals, with RWA winning 4 out of the 10 categories. The RWA community are extremely proud of the team's accomplishments and hope that next year they can maintain such high standards. Age

Position

Name

U12 Boys

1st

Akshay Ashok

2nd

Janus Gustmann

U14 Girls

3rd

Kellie Poirier

U16 Boys

1st

Emmanuel Searty

3rd

Gregoire Panizzutti

U16 Girls

1st

Annabella Tagesen

U18 Boys

1st

Mykola Nesterenko

2nd

Maxence Rivier

Over all School Winners: 1st DIA - 18 points

2nd CAS – 9 points

1st RWA – 18 points

3rd RIS – 2 points

Innoventures Education Cricket DIA vs. RWA • DIA won by 36 runs (DIA – 83/2 in 8 overs, RWA – 47/4 in 8 overs)

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DIA vs. RIS • DIA won by 85 runs (DIA – 113/3 in 8 overs, RIS – 28/5 in 8 overs)

RWA vs. RIS • RWA won by 4 wickets (RIS – 35/8 in 8 overs, RWA – 38/5 in 4.1 overs)

U15 Boys DIA vs. RWA

U18 Boys DIA vs. RWA

• DIA won by 51 runs (DIA – 108/1 in 8 overs, RWA – 57/7 in 8 overs)

• DIA won by 7 wickets (RWA – 41/10 in 7.5 overs, DIA – 42/3 in 5.2 overs)

Innoventures Education Cross Country On 29 January 2017, DIA hosted the annual Cross Country Tournament with nearly 300 students participating from all four schools in the age categories of U8 - U18. One of the most exciting Innovents, the Cross Country Tournament featured a number of running greats from across our schools! DIA came first with 33 points, closely followed by RWA with 30 points.

IVEI FOOTBALL On 8 January and 15 January Raffles World Academy hosted the Innoventures Education Secondary Football Tournament with all four Innoventures Education schools in attendance. DIA, RIS, RWA and CAS really lifted the level of competition with 120 students participating in total. With two pitches hosting matches for 15 minute periods the final results saw DIA victorious in the U12 Boys and U12 / U16 Girl divisions, with RWA taking the gold in the U/14 and U/16 Boys divisions. The two day event was concluded with a convincing 3-1 win for U18 DIA boys that played RWA in the finals. We would like to congratulate all the schools for their effort. A big thank you to all the teams who participated in the tournament, their coaches and the referees. It was also amazing to see so many parent supporters at the games cheering on all the teams. Innoventures is truly growing in strength and sporting culture each year!

Category Winners: U12 Boys:

DIA (7 points), 2nd RWA (5 points), 3rd RIS (3 points), 4th CAS (1 point)

U14 Boys:

RWA (9 points), 2nd RIS (6 points), 3rd DIA (3 points), 4th CAS (0 points)

U16 Boys:

RWA (4 points), 2nd CAS (3 points), 3rd DIA (1 points)

U12/14 Girls: DIA (A and B DRAW- 5 points), 2nd DIA-B (3 points), 4th CAS (1 point) U16 Girls:

DIA (4 points), 2nd CAS (2 points), 3rd RWA (1 point)

U18 Boys:

DIA (3 points), 2nd RWA (1 point)

Overall School Winner: 1st DIA – 14 points

3rd CAS – 5 points

2nd RWA – 11 points

4th RIS – 3 points

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Innoventures Education Volleyball Collegiate American School hosted the IVEI U14 and U16 volleyball tournament on 13 November. Raffles World Academy, Dubai International Academy and Collegiate American School played against each other for the victory. In the U14 girls category we witnessed a very close final between CAS and DIA. DIA had 3 set points, however, CAS took the win. DIA was the overall tournament winner in the U14 boys group with CAS coming second. DIA was the strongest team in the boys U16 category. RWA took the silver medals, followed by CAS. The U16 girls’ competition ended up with DIA taking gold, CAS were the runners up and RWA ended in third place. The spirit of sports and athletics is intensifying and surely vibrant here at CAS. The coaches and players have exemplified these values throughout their tournament. Most important of all, all students partook in an unforgettable experience.

Innoventures Education Swimming On the 20 November, the annual swimming gala took place at the DIA secondary swimming pool, with DIA winning by a comfortable margin over RWA, RIS and CAS respectively.

Innoventures Education Netball On Sunday 22 of January Raffles World Academy hosted the Innoventures Secondary Netball tournament. With three out of the four Innoventure schools in attendance; DIA, RIS and RWA really lifted the level of competition with over 80 students participating. nd

Two netball courts hosted matches for two 10 minute halves where every team played each team in their respective age groups. The matches were played with skill, sportsmanship and a competitive flair. There was some great support from the sidelines from parents, teachers and RWA’s Principal and Head of Secondary School, Mr. Roberts and Mr. Lynch. 294

Innoventures Education Cross Country Final results saw RWA victorious in the U14, U16 and U18 age groups, a fantastic achievement to win the gold in three out of the four age groups. A closely contested final between in the U12 age group saw DIA take the win over RWA finishing 7-4 which earned them the gold for the U12 age group. We would like to congratulate all the schools for their effort. A big thank you to all the teams who participated in the tournament with the support of their coaches and the umpires who officiated the games. Another huge thank you to the parent and teacher supporters at the games who were cheering on all the teams. Innoventures is truly growing in strength and collaboration every year and this is the biggest and most successful year for Netball to date. Winners and points: • U12: 1st DIA (10 points), 2nd RWA (6 points), 3rd RIS (2 points) • U14: 1st RWA (10 points), 2nd DIA (6 points), 3rd RIS (2 points) • U16: 1st RWA (5 points), 2nd DIA (1 point) • U18: 1st RWA (5 points), 2nd DIA (1 point)

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Innoventures Education Basketball U12 and U14 U12 Boys

U14 Boys

U12 Girls

U14 Girls

DIA 7 vs.2 RIS

DIA 14 vs.20 RIS

RWA 3 vs. 2 DIA

DIA 6 vs. 10 RIS

CAS 0 vs. 13 RWA

CAS 6 vs. 31 RWA

CAS 2 vs. 23 RWA

RWA 10 vs. 4 DIA

RWA 23 vs. 13 DIA

DIA 4 vs. 17 RWA

DIA 10 vs. 4 CAS

DIA 24 vs. 02 CAS

CAS 5 vs. 15 RIS

CAS 0 vs. 14 RIS

CAS 7 vs. 13 RIS

DIA 10 vs. 1 CAS

RIS 13 vs. 15 RWA

RIS 5 vs. 9 RWA

RWA 4 vs. 2 RIS

1st RWA

2nd DIA

2nd RIS

2nd DIA

2ndRIS

3rd RIS

3rd DIA

4th CAS

Overall school winner U12 to u14: 1st RWA

3rd RIS

2 DIA

4th CAS

U16

and U18

U16 Boys

U18 Boys

U16 Girls

U18 Girls

1st DIA

1st RWA

2nd RIS

2nd RWA

2nd DIA

3rd RWA

3rd CAS

4th CAS

3rd RIS

Overall school winner U16 to U18:

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1st RWA

3rd RIS

2nd DIA

4th CAS

Innoventures Education Badminton Girls:

Boys & Mixed doubles:

Overall:

DIA 17 points

RWA 24 points

1 DIA 38 points ; 1st RWA 38 points

RWA 14 points

DIA 21 points

2nd RIS 26 points

RIS 10 points

RIS 16 points

3rd CAS 14 points

CAS 7 points

Innoventure Education Athletics Secondary Schools 1st DIA

648

2nd RWA

573

3rd CAS

383

4th RIS

287

IVEI SQUAD

Innoventures Education Sports Awards SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR 2016/17

SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR 2016/17

Grade 6

Shokhrukhbek Kakhramonov

Mia Stipac

Grade 7

Mahmoud Farouk

Andrea Lopez

Grade 8

Ahadali Mansoori

Tatiana Thomas

Grade 9

Gregoire Panizzutti

Miera Mcdermott

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Sports Day This year the secondary Sports Day took place over one day. This meant all grades took the opportunity to take part in the every event. All houses showed a great display of sportsmanship and enthusiasm. The track events saw some outstanding performances and helped identify the talent for the innoventures athletics cup. This year saw some changes to the traditional events as RWA hosted Golf DXB and Go-Pro soccer who offered a competitive skills challenge. The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and we look forward to working with Go-Pro next year, with our football teams. A big thank you to Skechers who supplied all track 1st and 2nd place with vouchers for their store. A special thank you to PARIS who supplied our athletes with healthy snacks.

Congratulations to the Blue House on winning 2017 Annual inter house Sports Day Final Results 1ST PLACE – BLUE 5695

3RD PLACE – 4933

2ND PLACE RED – 5244

4TH PLACE – 4486

Action Shots

298

Sports Day

Action Shots

House Winners

60M Individual Winners 299

Message from the Head of Modern Foreign Languages It has been another fantastic year in the MFL department with the addition of Ms. Hafida Madani and Jihanne Khchichi, both teachers of French and Spanish to our growing team of 9 trilingual and even polyglot teachers. The department is now in full shape and is able to offer three languages across all grades and six different programmes in IBDP.

I was also pleased for the 33 students that I taught in Spanish ab initio that obtained a very good score higher than most schools offering the same programme across the globe and I am hoping that all ab initio students can repeat that this year with similar or better results. Other performances that deserve mentioning was the French ab initio from Ms. Nelly and the French B from Ms. Findlay.

This year we will see the first cohort of students in Spanish B going through the grade 12 examinations, we will also see the first grade 10 Spanish that started with us in grade 6 when we opened Spanish in middle school almost 5 years ago to complete the course. I am sure that they will make Ms Patricia and the team proud. We are also looking forward to improved grades in G10 so that more students can continue with the demanding course of French B.

This year, our focus is to achieve again solid results and make sure that everybody, teachers and students, enjoy the day to day activities, role plays, songs, games, competitions and ICT projects. We want every student to be aware and feel part of the learning journey set by the teacher and to be happy and successful within a framework as transparent as possible.

In terms of results, we are very proud of last year's IBDP students who achieved grades that are above most schools in the UAE. Last year, G10 Spanish IGCSE students achieved 100% B-A*.

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Federico Orella Diaz Head of Modern Foreign Languages

Spanish Students

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Mandarin Grade 6 Students 2016 2017

Figure 2 Mandarin Grade 6 students Chinese New Year 2017

Figure 1 Mandarin Grade 6 students learning about Chinese Chun lian tradition

Mandarin Grade 7 Students 2016 2017

Figure 1 Mandarin students greeting the Chinese New Year 2017 302

Figure 2 Mandarin Grade 7 students Chinese Lantern Festival Restaurant trip 2017

Mandarin Grade 8 (2016 2017)

Figure1 MANDARIN Grade 8 (2016-2017) Calligraphy Lesson

Figure 2 Mandarin G8 Field Trip 2017

Mandarin Grade 9 To Grade 11 Students

Figure 1 Mandarin G9-11 students accompanied by Mr. Roberts on their way to celebrate Chinese Lantern Festival 2017

Figure 2 Mandarin Ab Initio students welcoming the year of the Rooster 303

French Students 2016 2017

Alexandra, Samara Yvonne and Youssef playing on the whiteboard

Grade 10 French revising for their final exams

304

French Students 2016 2017

Grade 6 Students practicing for the oral

Mariana and Mia Revising

305

German Mother Tongue

Secondary School „Ein Lächeln ist die schönste Sache der Welt“, wie beneidenswert, wenn Kinder und Jugendliche zu einem Lächeln noch die passende Sprache hinzufügen können. Die SchülerInnen an der RWA haben den großen Vorteil mit drei und mehr Sprachen groß zu werden bzw. diese hier lernen zu dürfen. In unserer multikulturellen Welt ein Geschenk fürs Leben. Ich bin als GMT Teacher allerdings „nur“ für eine Sprache zuständig … und zwar für Deutsch. Für mich ist es sehr beeindruckend zu sehen, mit was für einer Anstrengungsbereitschaft und Freude sich die SchülerInnen im Deutschunterricht ihre Fertigkeiten im

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Lesen, Hören, Sprechen und Schreiben weiter aneignen und große Fortschritte machen. So erarbeiten sie sich die Voraussetzung, um später in Deutschland, der Schweiz oder Österreich studieren zu können. In der Secondary lernen wir von Grade 6 bis 8 fleißig Deutsch. Vanessa, Maximiliane und Luca (Grade12) legten in diesem Jahr mit großartigem Erfolg ihr IB in Language B High Level ab. Die anderen SchülerInnen werden mit dem Lernstoff für das Niveau A1 und A2, B1 und B2 bis zu C1

German Mother Tongue des Gemeinsamen Europäischen Referenzrahmens (GER) unterrichtet. Letzteres ermöglicht den Zugang zu vielen deutschsprachigen Universitäten. IB und deutsches Sprachdiplom sind zwei Wege, die an der Raffles World Academy gegangen werden können. Viel Erfolg!!!

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RWA MUN 2017 Inaugural RWAMUN was organised on 4th March 2017 by RWAMUN Secretariat. This conference was attended by about 50 delegates including 6 delegates from PYP. This one-day conference helped the delegates to get an experience of an MUN conference by practising their researching, debating and team building skills. DIAMUN 2017 29 delegates of Raffles World Academy attended DIAMUN 2017 hosted by Dubai International Academy, Dubai from 15th -18th March. The conference was attended by over 70 schools from 20 countries and more than 1000 delegates. The delegates from RWA made us proud by being judged the Second Runners up School Delegation and following students won individual prizes in their respective committees:

308

Aryan Bhattacharya: Best Delegate

Vivaan Mishra (Best Position paper)

Mahek Khushlani (Best Position paper)

Rohan Raj (Best Position paper)

RWA MUN 2017

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World Scholar’s Cup 2016-17 The World Scholar’s Cup is a global competition for school students of all ages across three different age groups: Primary, Junior and Senior. Regional rounds are conducted worldwide and those students who qualify are selected to take part in the Global rounds – the champions of which compete in the Tournament of Champions at the prestigious Yale University campus in October. Last year three students - Eshanvi Rao, Siddharth Gautam and Arundhati Sridhar represented Raffles World Academy at the Tournament of Champions and made us all proud. The Dubai Round of WSC 2017 was held from 9th-10th March 2017 and was attended by 11 students from RWA. A total of 49 medals and one trophy was won by these students in various events like Debate, Team Challenge, and the Scholars’ Bowl. It was also a proud moment for Satva Upadhyay, who was chosen for Debate Showcase round from the 1000 plus participating students. This was truly a great moment for the WSC teams and their families. Girish Kumar World Scholars Cup Mentor

World Scholar's cup Mentors

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The Duke of Edinburghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s International Award for Young People Duke of Edinburgh International Award (Bronze.) This year we have 22 really great young people taking part in the Bronze Award section. They have all shown that they have the determination to go far in life. This year got off to a fantastic start when the Bronze Award students were given the honor of raising the UAE flag at the very top of Jabel Jais on Flag Day. So that we could raise the flag in the morning along with the rest of the Nation, we camped out on the way to the summit. For most of these young people it was the first time they had put up tents and slept under canvas. The next morning they were able to do their part to help celebrate Flag Day.

The training for their Adventurous Journey section of The Award started early in the year with map reading skills and camp craft and culminated in the Adventurous Journey at the end of February. After two postponements the students finally got to complete this part of their award. The students had to deal with high winds, rain and of course sun and the odd camel, but all, eventually, passed this section with flying colours. They all did themselves, their families and the school proud and will now move on to complete their Bronze Award. I am proud to have been their Award Leader. Simon Rangecroft

Bronze practice

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Bronze practice evening

Bronze firestarters

Bronze practice

Bronze Teachers

DoE 2017 bronze award 1

DoE 2017 bronze award 2

DoE 2017 bronze award 3

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The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Jabal Jais

Jabal Jais 2 Camp above the clouds

Reflection from Bronze Award Students. “The Duke of Edinburgh International Award is a unique experience that allows one to interact with nature. It is a once in the lifetime opportunity they will leave me inspired forever.”

“The Duke of Edinburgh International Award Adventurous Journey was very entertaining and I am happy that I was able to discover a lot about myself. It was one of those experiences that I will never forget.” Dina Abu Al Failat 9B

Sherya Pillia 9C

Jabal Jais Flag Day

Jabal Jais 4

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The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award From the DofE International Award desk at Raffles… Piano qualifications, drumming, numerous sports, baking lessons, language lessons, public speaking courses, even helping younger students with reading in another language … these are some of the activities our students are pursuing to broaden their horizons in the International Award. Not to forget the adventurous journeys, which are often the highlight for the participants. Hiking in the hills of the UAE, a special trip to the highest point of the country, kayaking alongside the giant cliffs of Musandam, Oman and a 4 day hike in the Knuckles mountains of Sri Lanka for our Gold trip last July. Apart from a few cuts, leeches and bruised shoulders, only the weather behaved badly with the serious stormy conditions this winter forcing a date change twice to avoid flooding wadi conditions.

Another eventful year has almost moved on, with encouraging personal growth amongst our participants. Of course the award does not run by calendar year, but rather at the pace of the participants working through their other activities. Parents, let’s support them to keep going. I hope to see them persisting and showing that finishing strong is far more rewarding than just starting well. Many thanks to our teachers who supported our trips and especially our RWA team of Simon Rangecroft, Geraldine Healy and Brendan Ward for encouraging students on a weekly basis and supporting the award throughout. Have fun through your persistence! Andrew Jennings

Gold award SriLanka

SriLanka Almas Tower training challenge

SriLanka Almas tower training challenge over

SriLanka Day2 (2)

SriLanka Day 2

SriLanka Day 3

SriLanka school Maxi2

Srilanka school MrJ

SriLanka school visit

SriLanka Tea factory

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The Duke of Edinburghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Award

Which of the following have been covered by this assignment? AO1: Research, analysis and evaluation 1. design and carry out research into current global issues, their causes, consequences and possible course(s) of action 2. use evidence to support claims, arguments and perspectives

AO3: Communication and collaboration 1. select and present relevant arguments, evidence and perspectives clearly and with structure 2. present research, and include citations and references 3. contribute to the shared purpose and outcome of the Team Project.

3. identify and analyse issues, arguments and perspectives

A title question to be investigated

4. analyse and evaluate the evidence and reasoning used to support claims, arguments and perspectives

The problem / issue

5. analyse and evaluate sources and/or processes to support research, arguments, perspectives and an outcome

The causes of the problem The consequences

6. develop a line of reasoning to support an argument, a perspective, course(s) of action or outcome.

Personal perspective(s)

You, and others

AO2: Reflection

National perspective(s)

1. consider different perspectives objectively and with empathy

A specific countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s view

Global perspectives

A view for all mankind

2. justify personal perspective(s) using evidence and reasoning 3. consider how research, engagement with different perspectives and working as part of a team, have influenced personal learning.

Possible scenarios (future predictions) A personal response (incl. my awareness, perspective changes, fears...) Sources (3 or more) Planning sheet

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Silver award Kayak Trip

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The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award The Silver Award

at our campsite, all of us quickly changed to dry clothes because we were so very tired and were ready to call it a day! All was good until we started putting our tents up, when one of them broke. This led to us sharing tents with more people, making it a slightly more difficult journey. When we started cooking, our real test began. None of our cooking skills were close to average. Stocked up on mainly “Boil-and-eat” foods, none of

Where better to explore on kayak than beneath the towering

us enjoyed our bland meals. Our next day was a very similar

cliffs of the Musandam, Oman?

one; however, while stopping at a rocky bay, Ege accidently

Our 7 boys were mostly novices in kayaking, but after their 2

slipped and injured his leg very badly. This was a very big cut,

day training camp they also headed down to Kite Beach for

and after kayaking for a while, we stopped at a bay without

some intensive kayak workouts, along with a few sessions in

sharp rocks and aided him with some first aid. Soon after, we

our Raffles pool with Mr J’s plastic kayak. This got their tight

started again. However, again, when we reached our campsite,

turning skills sorted out so they could navigate between rocks

the place was so muddy, our feet would sink 5 inches while

and enter caves. They carried everything they needed for 3 days,

walking! Quickly, we transported water set in that campsite to

all packed on their kayaks. Enjoy the pictures.

a new location with flat land. And that was our campsite. That night, we met a very special owner of the land. He had 5 cats,

Special thanks go to Dean Reily and the crew at Absolute

1 dog, and over 50 goats in the bay, and lived alone. He was

Adventure for handling this outing and our training. Also to Mr

an Angler and aided us a bit in helping us to find firewood.

Ward for his kayak expertise and adventure experience.

He was a very nice person with a simple and modest lifestyle.

Looking forward to more of this next year!

We left the next day with saying good bye to him and hoping

-Mr Jennings

to meet him later one day. Our final day was a very hard and tiring day as the waves were

Student reflections from the Silver Adventurous Journey

very big and it made it hard for us to kayak. Nevertheless, on the bright side, we caught two big fish! One was a type of

This was by far the most adventurous experience in my life

squid and another was a fish with three big, sharp spikes. Later,

-Yasser

we found big cliffs, and jumped off them into the water! Most

It was tough however it was one of the best experience in my life

of us did it the first time so it was a very scary and adrenaline

-Daigo

filled experience! After that, we kayaked for a few kilometres

It is a great opportunity to exceed your limits and step forward.

only to reach our end. After all the tiring experiences, we were

-Joonyoung

very happy that the journey had ended and we could finally eat McDonalds! On our way back, we looked back at our photos

An adventurous, fun journey and in the same time an expedition

and were reminded of our amusing memories, which made us

which pushed your limits. I really recommend this to everyone

emotional. Nevertheless, DoE was one of the most adventurous

who wants to take a break from the exams!

journeys of my life and the memories I gained in this trip were

-Ege

really some of my most exciting ones I have ever had.

Our 3-day adventurous kayaking journey was surely a tiring one. However, I must admit, it was one of the most fun experiences of my life! I know you hear this a lot, but I truly mean it. Our journey started slow and easy while kayaking as there were not many big waves initially, and the trip took course the way it was meant to. However, on the last day, this was not the case. Huge waves blocked our paths making our journey a longer one than expected. During the few days, many of us felt like giving up. Many problems occurred, like the tent covers’ flying off and making rain pour onto us and our campsite became too muddy to camp on. But we kept going. Our first day was a very easy one. The waves were low, the journey was shorter, and our hopes were very high. After arriving

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- Faisal Qureshi

The Duke of Edinburghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Award GP Grade 9 RWA Name:_________________

Name:

Total 319

Borneo Trip BORNEO FIELD TRIP â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Grade 9 March 2017

Camp Bongkud

Rainforest trek

Crocodile hunt

Presentation to local chief

Jungle Skills

Community projects

Jungle survival skills

Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary

Camp Paradise 320

Jungle survival skills

Beijing Trip On March 18, a group of eleven students from Grades 5 and 6, along with Mr Daniel Mellor and Ms Mei Ling went on an exciting cultural trip to Beijing, China. It was a magical and unforgettable journey that began as soon as we landed in Beijing. The very first evening of our arrival, we visited the famous Chao Yang Theater, the home of the Beijing Acrobatic Troupe. Everyone was astonished by the fantastic display of skill and courage of all the performers. The lighting and costumes were beautiful and the exciting stunts took our breath away. It was an unbelievable performance and an auspicious beginning to our trip. The city of Beijing is full of world famous landmarks, including the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven. Our group got to visit all three of these important cultural sites. The Chinese have a famous saying, “You cannot be a real man unless you have climbed the Great Wall”. All the guys in our group made the trip up the wall and should be considered “real men” according to that Chinese saying! We also were able to see the giant pandas in the Beijing Zoo and visit the Summer Palace. Students were able to experience a traditional “ricksaw” ride through the “hu tong” area of Beijing, with its small, narrow streets and traditional houses. They took part in a “tea ceremony” where we learned the history of tea and the art of how to make tea – and how important tea is to our health. We are all now tea-drinkers!

One of the highlights of our trip was the Gong Fu (Kung Fu) lesson we had with Master Liu held in a local park. Master Liu is a famous Gong Fu master, and can demonstrate many of the famous martial arts styles like crane, monkey, eagle and tiger Gong Fu. He shared some valuable life lessons with us that we will always remember. Our lesson attracted a large audience of onlookers who began to practise the moves along with us. It made our group take their lesson seriously. On our last day, we went to the Summer Palace. It was spring time in China, and the plum blossoms and budding willow trees were stunningly beautiful. We met many Chinese people who were there on vacation as well. Many of these people were from far out the in the countryside and had never seen any foreign children before. They were constantly asking us to take pictures with them. Everyone got into the spirit of it and began taking selfies and group photos with the Chinese grannies and grandpas. It was great to bring a smile to their faces. We marched along the walkway, saying “One, two, one two!” in Chinese, just like the soldiers we had seen in Tiananmen Square. This brought lots more smiles to the faces of our elderly new friends. Many of the students said then that they would like to come back again someday. Through this trip we have learned to be more independent, strong, adaptable and more understanding of different cultures and customs. We brought back many incredible memories and experiences.

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Interact Club Interact is the school’s social service club and is an affiliate of Rotary International. Our motto is: “Giving Back through Interact” and we continue to seek ways of addressing others’ needs since the club’s inception in 2013.

events such as concerts for charity and desert and beach cleanups. We plan to work with Rotary Jumeriah on more projects while giving presentations to students and organising fundraisers to inspire and encourage others to give back to society as well.

We have weekly visits to SENSES, a residential home for children with special needs, where we teach, help and play with children with disabilities. We also teach English to the security and school staff and also distribute a variety of fruits to the support staff on a weekly basis.

Interact, being a completely student-led club, would like to convey our thanks to the parent supervisor, Mrs. Neena Chaudhary, for her continued devotion and hard work towards the growth of this club. We would also like to thank our members since none of this would be possible without them and our fundraiser, Nawaf, for his continuous enthusiasm and commitment towards the club. We look forward to an energetic and productive 2017 - 2018 year with the incoming team in place!

Over the course of the last year, we have had several projects. We organised a healthy bake sale and a mufti day, in which we raised nearly AED 7000 to support SENSES to purchase necessary equipment to help disabled children to learn. Working with PARIS, we also carried out a donation drive for books, toys or any educational materials and these were donated to SENSES, who were absolutely delighted to have them. Even as I write, we are organising several fundraisers to donate to charities including SENSES, such as an Interact Carnival Week which will encompass several events, and balloon and sponge fights. Being affiliated to Rotary, we have presented information about our club to Rotary Jumeriah and look forward to working with them for future endeavors. We have worked with Rotary Jumeriah to organise and advertise

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Shikhar Chaudhary Interact Club President

Student Representative Council The Student Representative Council (SRC) is a group of students who represent the viewpoints of the entire secondary student body. The council meets weekly during lunch with Ms. Klein, the club’s teacher/advisor, and problem solves issues pertinent to students in maintaining a positive atmosphere and learning environment at RWA. The executive board then meets and relays the students’ concerns and ideas with Mr. Tony Azoulay and Mr. James Lynch. This year, the SRC decided to form its base membership in a manner different from previous years. Instead of holding school-wide elections, any student in grades 6-11 was welcome to join the club. Leaders for each year group as well as the executive board were then voted upon and chosen by its members. This year’s elected president was Mahima Bharadwaj; vice president, Nayef Al Bastaki; secretary, Manasa Bharadwaj. The first event was a successful bake sale at the International Day festivities where council members provided games with prizes.

feedback was then analysed and discussed, and the council decided on some viable options. The executive board then met with administrators and canteen management. The highlight of the year was the RWA Talent Show Competition which was held in the Sports Hall in May after school. The show’s ten acts fell into the following categories: unique talent, singing, dancing, musical group, and combination of singing and instruments. First, second, and third place awards and prizes were awarded to the top acts judged by a panel of RWA teachers and administrators. The event was a success and a source of pride for both the SRC and RWA students. We truly have an amazing student body. Kirstina Klein Student Representative Council

The SRC’s efforts focused on a few, key issues at RWA. First, the council collectively agreed that the food variety in the canteen needed improvement. Members created a digital survey and asked nearly a hundred students their opinions and suggestions at every grade level. Student

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SRC’s Talent Show a Success SRC’s Talent Show a Success SRC’s main event, the RWA Talent Show, was held on Thursday, May 4 in the Sports Hall after school. Nine acts were showcased in five categories: unique talent, singing, dancing, musical group performance, and musical instruments. RWA staff judged and awarded cash prizes to the top performances based on overall talent, audience response, and stage presence/personality. Judges included Ms. Anna Hamer, drama teacher; Mr. Tim Roberts, Principal; and Ms. Eliza Griffin, primary school teacher. First place and 1000 dirhams was awarded to Rahul Kumar for his singing rendition of “Feeling Good”; second place and 700 dirhams went to Kellie Poirier for her singing and acoustic guitar performance of “Perfect”; third place and 500 dirhams was awarded to Yuv Luthra for his dancing performance to “Work.” Mr. Blaine Mackessy, music teacher, ran sound and Ms. Kristina Klein, English teacher, directed the show.

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Theory of Knowledge (TOK) In its simplest form, TOK is based around three main questions: •

What is knowledge?

•

How is knowledge acquired?

•

How do we know what we know?

Theory of Knowledge has no set curriculum with an end of course exam, but that’s not to say that TOK students are expected to sit in a darkened room and think their own thoughts for two years. They are expected to think and to question – skills that often start to become rusty upon entrance into the Secondary School. This year, Ms Renu joined Mr Quigley, Mrs Cooper, Mrs Kaur as a Grade 12 TOK tutor, and Mr Azoulay and Mr Gilberthorpe began the challenge of guiding Grade 11 students through the sessions. During their reatreat in Ras al Khaimah, Grade 11 TOK students practised some of the skills they will need for the Presentations they will be giving near the end of this academic year. In 2017, as part of our efforts to raise the standard of the results, we are trialing a new system, with a Mock TOK presentation taking place in May and their Finals taking place near the beginning of their final year. Further to these efforts, teachers are being trained, subject by subject, in more ways to bring TOK into the classroom at all levels of the school. After all, TOK is integrated in the MYP programme which we will begin teaching next academic year. Grade 12 students have just turned in the essays they wrote to complete the assessment tasks. They are now wellequipped in critical and analytical thinking skills, which should help them during their further education courses. Grade 11 IBDP students have just finished their Mock Presentations, and will be doing their Final Presentations next term. They will have the opportunity over the Summer of polishing their critical thinking skills.

Sandra Poole English Teacher and TOK Coordinator

Albert Einstein

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Message from the Creativity Activity & Service (CAS) Coordinator The hardworking CAS students of RWA have been very innovative this year with lots of new and diverse activities planned to meet the requirements. This year we had 176 CAS students taking part in over 250 different activities both in and outside of school. CAS students were heavily involved in the organisation of major events including the Parent Teacher Conference, the IB IBICUS Workshop, International Day and National Day. A highlight for many CAS students was volunteering at the Dubai Standard Chartered Marathon, which involved getting out of bed at 5am and helping to organise drinks stations for the elite and public athletes. By the end of this year RWA will have its first ever CAS website thanks to the fantastic CAS project of Rishab in grade 12. We now also have our own CAS handbook which has become a great point of reference for parents, students and CAS advisors. Students have now become very creative with how they reflect on their experiences. I have seen some very interesting Facebook live videos of students sharing their reflections with their friends on the social media platform. I hope to see more of this creativity again for the coming year.

of activities including kayaking, snorkeling, fishing, canoeing and team building exercises. Finally many CAS students are key members of school clubs such as the Anti-Bullying Committee and the MUN programme which meets regularly in school and has been on various MUN conferences including hosting the first ever RWAMUN! These talented students also participated on an overseas debating contest where they competed at the Law Faculty of the Charles University in Prague. Well done to all students, advisors and supervisors for all your hard work on what was another successful year on the CAS front! Cathal O Mahony CAS Coordinator

This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cohort may be the fittest that we have witnessed with lots of students adding experiences to show how they like to keep fit and healthy. I have been extremely impressed with the progress of many students over a short period of time. It really is an inspiration to us all! Another group of students made me very hungry approving reflections with the mouthwatering dishes that they created as part of cooking course offered by the International Centre for Culinary Arts. Our annual overseas trip in June took place in Sri Lanka. Our students did very well on the hikes in the hot sun, along with steep mountain hikes in rain with leeches biting their ankles! The project stage of the expedition provided a real service opportunity to make a difference for a local school and each of our students took on leadership roles throughout the two weeks. The highlight for many CAS students this academic year was the amazing annual CAS trip to the Ras Al Khaimah and Musandam in Oman. Students took part in a variety

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Creativity Activity & Service (CAS)

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Darkness into Light

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Message from the Head of ICT Welcome to the ICT department page. In RWA, students have the opportunity to pursue ICT and Computer Science. Teachers in the ICT/CS department are committed to creating a 21st Century classroom with an open-minded environment where students are encouraged to develop their innovative and creative approach. The Information Communication Technology lessons encourage learners to develop lifelong skills, which will be useful to them in their work across the curriculum and prepare them for future employment. They develop understanding of the implications of technology in society, including social, economic and ethical uses and awareness of the ways ICT can help in home, learning and work environments. The students learn a combination of theoretical and practical studies focusing on the ability to use common software applications to solve problems, including word processors, spreadsheets, databases, interactive presentation software, web browsers and website design. They learn to analyse, design, implement, test and evaluate ICT systems, ensuring that they are fit for purpose. The ICT students had the opportunity to take part in the Global Hour of Code event which is about creating technology that is changing our world. The event nurtured creativity and problem-solving skills for our learners. Our students joined together with organisations across the globe in celebrating Safer Internet Day and promoting the safe and responsible use of technology. Our curriculum believes in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;play your part for a better internetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, offering the opportunity to focus on both the creative and positive things that children and young people are doing online, as well as the role that we all play in helping to create a better internet. The ICT department also organises trips locally for our IBDP students to give students a unique opportunity to gain first-hand experience by visiting Robotics Exhibition. Our vision as a faculty is to provide the best practical-ori-

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ented tertiary education, in Information and Communication Technology and Computer Studies, through internationally recognised programmes, research and service to enable students to be professional leaders within the national, regional and global knowledge-based society. Almas Qureshi Head of ICT

SS ICT Be the Change Unite for a Better Internet

Photoshop booth

Robotics workshop 331

SS ICT Digital Leaders Many students at RWA are not aware of the consequences and punishments which occur when any of the TRA (Telecommunications Regulatory Authority) rules and regulations are violated and disobeyed. However, the Digital Leadership Team would like to spread awareness about these rules and regulations and give students the opportunity to continue interacting on social media, taking into consideration the law. The Digital Leadership Team is responsible for establishing and enforcing the laws placed by the TRA. This year, the DLC has various activities planned in order to spread awareness about the rules and regulations regarding interacting on social media. Three central aims of the Digital Leadership Programme: 1. Awareness: Aiming to raise awareness around the socio-ethical impacts of computing technology. 2. Education: Aiming to educate on how to deal with these socio-ethical issues, and how use of computing technology can be improved. 3. Exploration: Aiming to help others explore the use of computing technology where beyond what may be accessible to them as individuals. Potential initiatives: • Workshops: Teacher and Parent workshops aimed at providing useful skills • Digital Citizenship, ‘Dangers of Social Media, Digital Footprints’ o Demonstration of a reconstruction someone’s Digital Footprint

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based

o Copyright ©aaampaign • Hour of Code: o To encourage students and teachers to learn how to code and practise their coding skills. • Cyberbullying awareness o Awareness that it does happen o Awareness of how to deal with it o But also understanding of the way it differs in nature and severity from direct bullying

SS ICT Team RWA Winner at Interschool Drone building Competition organised by Heriot-Watt University Dubai Campus Four students at Raffles World Academy have received recognition for having won the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Inter school Drone contest. Team RWA was represented by Rishab Jain, Owen Dowley, Gaurav Kashyap and Mehdi Fakhfakh. The event was held on 25th February 2017 and around 10 teams from Dubai took part in the event with participation from schools like JESS and DESC. Students were asked to build a drone to meet the design specifications provided in 1 hour 30 minutes. The first challenge was to go across 10 meters in minimum time with least penalties. Team RWA was placed third. The second challenge was to fly the drone across a zig-zag path without hitting the flags and landing on the bullâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye. Team RWA came back in the second round with minimum time and least penalties. Congratulations to our winners. Almas Qureshi| Head of ICT | Raffles World Academy

Drone Interschool Winners

Hour of Code

ICT Exhibition 333

INTERNATIONAL DAY AT RWA International Day was another great success with over 65 nationalities setting up stalls for the evening and over 30 performances from our students. With such divisive times in the world today it was nice to see all nationalities getting along and learning from each other. Some highlights include the incredible decorations in the Spanish, Pakistani, Indian, German and Italian stalls. The incredible student performances also took our breath away with the South Korean, French and German students performing local dances and singing local songs. The climax of the day was definitely the Parade of Nations with over 48 countries represented as the students marched one by one in the shadow of the Burj Al Arab. Although this evening turned out to be another breathless display of colours and passion, we all know that every day at RWA is International Day. Therefore, it is so easy for us to put together such a great event. Our gratitude goes out to the RWA parents who put the time and money to teach us about their respective countries. Our students have been given lifelong memories thanks to them.

RAFFLES WORLD ACADEMY CELEBRATES THE UAE During the month of November, our students had the opportunity to learn about the UAE. Various subjects focussed on the UAE and related topics for research during this month. November also saw our DoE students climb Jebel Jaiz to hoist the UAE flag, the creation of a giant man made UAE flag on our sports field and the setting up of numerous assemblies for Martyr’s Day and National Day. During National Day, we also had the good fortune of welcoming Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim as guest of honour. On the day, our student's erected heritage villages around the school with tents for falconry, bread

1,200 RWA STUDENTS FORM THE UAE FLAG 334

making, Yolla dancing, henna painting and for a UAE photo booth. The day’s success was topped off with the impeccable performances of the primary and secondary school choirs who sang the UAE anthem and other UAE songs. This day would not have been possible without the hard work and support of the Emirati community at RWA. Raffles is also very grateful to the rulers of Ras AL Khaimah for their support for our DOE students when climbing Jebel Jaiz. The month’s events taught us all how lucky we are to be here and also how much there is still to learn about this great culture.

OUR DOE STUDENTS ON THE TOP OF JEBEL JAIZ

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UAE NATIONAL DAY CELEBRATING AT RWA

NAYEF AL BASTAKI FLIES THE UAE FLAG AT THE SUMMIT 336

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NAYEF AL BASTAKI FLIES THE UAE FLAG AT THE SUMMIT

Class of 2017 You did it!! 338

Grade 12 Blurbs Abdullah Naji

"Opportunities come slowly and leave in a flash, don't waste them"

Abhishek Ashok

"Fixing my Procrastination issues tomorrow."

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Grade 12 Blurbs Ahana Nandkeolyar

"Wait, when is this due?"

Alexis De Champris

"I find your lack of faith in the ginger side disturbing"

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Grade 12 Blurbs Alia Al Merri

"4 years of high school... Never had a bad hair day."

Ashi Babbar

"With great power comes a great need to nap. Wake me up later." -Percy Jackson

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Grade 12 Blurbs Mohammad Asim

"Pursue Excellence and Success will chase you"

Beatrice Braghi

"IBeen through hell and back"

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Grade 12 Blurbs Buthaina Qutob

"I like my eyelashes as long as the list of people I hate"

Daniil Prutnik

"@uplow"

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Grade 12 Blurbs Flavio Cannizzo

"Appreciation and recognition for life, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all you need."

Gaia Buttitta

"Work Hard. Dream Big."

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Grade 12 Blurbs Gaurav Kashyap

"The happier they get the less they see" -Asians

Giorgia Cannizzo

"Don't be afraid to start over. It's a chance to build something better this time"

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Grade 12 Blurbs Hanya El-Sherif

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Someone said that the higher the IQ the more forgetful you will be"

Hao Lu

"This is my last year here!"

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Grade 12 Blurbs Ibrahim Al Mustafa

"I can't force you to like me. Not everyone has good taste."

Kiki Bergwerff

"No matter how you feel. Get up, dress up, show up and never give up."

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Grade 12 Blurbs Kira Rudakova

"I keep a No.2 pencil in my pocket just in case y'all wanna test me"

Layla Kurdieh

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Passing IB was harder than passing the border.â&#x20AC;?

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Grade 12 Blurbs Lina Mohamed

"Whatever"

Maria Elisa Ruhl

â&#x20AC;&#x153;i feel like this year is really about like the year just realising stuffâ&#x20AC;? Kylie Jenner

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Grade 12 Blurbs Marina Browne

"Keep sleeping."

Mina Nakhostin

"BABAAAAAâ&#x20AC;¦"

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Grade 12 Blurbs Mustafaa Qureshey

"Vanity is my favorite sin" Al Pacino

Mohammad Belqaizi

"Keep dreaming and make reality"

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Grade 12 Blurbs Rina Hagiwara

"Anything's possible if you've got enough nerve" - J. K. Rowling

Rishab Jain

"Do I get creativity hours for writing a creative quote?"

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Grade 12 Blurbs Ronak Bindra

"I don't miss the deadlines, the deadlines miss me."

Sarah Al Kabbani

"Have a cup of positivitea!"

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Grade 12 Blurbs Sehaam Usmani

"Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to contour my face to look interested."

Shikhar Chaudhary

The biggest lie I tell myself is "I don't need to write that down, I 'll remember it"

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Grade 12 Blurbs Siddak Ahuja

"Socialism is to Democracy what Oxygen is to the Human Body."

Simran Chibber

"Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become"Mufasa, The Lion King

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Grade 12 Blurbs Sophie Rek

"Stay sassy, where ever you go, stay sassy"

Noura Teyah Hussein

"This wasn't like High School Musical at all."

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Grade 12 Blurbs Vanessa Vilhelmsson

“ ‘Fly Emirates, Hello Tomorrow’ …and say hello to my dad for me "

Yasmin Dehbi

"I'm about to start swingin'"

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Grade 12 Blurbs Yasser Ehsan

"The girl of your dreams, to me, is probably not a challenge."

Yena Kang

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving" - Albert Einstein

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Grade 12 Blurbs Zaeem Moti

"The work, the tests, the sleepless nightsâ&#x20AC;Ś This is only the beginning of our bigger journeys."

Zuhdi Alkhatib

"You will never influence the world by trying to be like it"

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Grade 12 Blurbs Ali Elhageali

Ali Hilal

Anton Lund "Instagram: @antontyrker"

Anton Reshetov

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Grade 12 Blurbs Ariana Rice

Ashleigh Adonis "Your future is whatever you make it, so make it a good one" - Doc Brown

Bruna Bitar "Tell me when and where and I'll be there 20 mins late"

Camilla Borghi "I wanna know that the best part of my life is still ahead of me" -Rafe, Pearl Harbor

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Grade 12 Blurbs Ekaterina Larchenkova

Jamal Omarabad

Hamed Soltan Abadi

"Do you have 64 protons? Cause you're a Ho"

Ibrahim Kalsekar

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Grade 12 Blurbs Irina Rodyakina "The greatest thing you have to fight within yourself when doing IB is procrastination."

Kiwon Kang

Janan Mostajabi

Jarryd Visser

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Grade 12 Blurbs Kiarash Amiri

Mehdi Fakhfakh "The blues was bleeding the same blood as me" - bb king

Leonardo Conzelmann

Mirela Nistor "To a great mind nothing is little" - Sherlock Holmes

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Grade 12 Blurbs Maximiliane Mallach "Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Maxi not Max"

Nawaf Al Howaish

Mehr Arshad "Guys the reason why I wear my scarf is because... Voldemort has possessed me and his face is living on the back of my head."

Nils Skoog

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Grade 12 Blurbs Mohammad Rkieh

Shangyi Sammy Zhou "1000 - 7 ďź??"

Nicholas Ruokonen

Shravan Suresh "When your life flashes before your eyes, make sure you've got plenty to watch"

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Grade 12 Blurbs Owen Dowley

Selda Buturovic

Sangwook Han "The limit does not exist."

Shayan Dargahi

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Grade 12 Blurbs Shreya Venkataraghavan

Tamuris Ismayilzade "Always TRY to be Happy and Smile."

Tanpakon Sriwong "Friends, Work, Study and Socialize. Balance them all, it will make your life better"

Thani Al Mehairi "Ramadan, the only month I have a date every night."

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Grade 12 Blurbs Varun Venugopal

Yousuf Alboom

Yong Jae Kim

Yazan Hammoudeh

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370 Classroom Assistants

House-keeping and Security Personnel

Support Staff

Arab Falcon Bus Rental Team with Mr. Andrew Johnston - Administration Manager & Mr. Vishmeet Kakad - Admin Coordinator

FM Team with Mr. Andrew Johnston - Administration Manager & Mr. Vishmeet Kakad - Admin Coordinator

Support Staff

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Signature

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Signature

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