TCSI Magazine 2020 - 2021

CITY CONNECTION YEAR BOOK 2020 - 2021

WE ARE GROWING BIGGER

CITY CONNECTION YEAR BOOK 2020 - 2021

2021

OUR LEADERS LEADERS OUR

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

DR FRANK R FERNANDES Dear Parents, Staff, Students and Friends of TCSI, The end of the school year is always a time tinged with sadness as we say farewell to students, staff and families departing TCSI for new adventures in their home countries or elsewhere. This year is no different as we lose some as they depart the TCSI community with their families to return home. We also say goodbye to two of our staff who have made an impressive contribution to the school over the past few years. I pay tribute to them and commend their professionalism. They leave the school with our very best wishes for the future.

Indeed, embarking upon a career abroad can be thrilling and hugely rewarding experience, especially when presented with the opportunity to work with students of the calibre of ours at TCSI. Equally, the students and families leaving at the end of the year, I hope TCSI will retain a special place in your memories and heart.

For many over the last few months, sport has become increasingly important. The footballers, rugby players, tennis stars and cricketers may ply their trade in empty stadiums but their presence on our screens has provided a welcome source of normality and a distraction from the realities of a global pandemic. Sport in all its form always plays a vital role in giving students opportunities to try new things, to succeed, to win and lose, to aspire and to be together. We are very much hoping that in the very near future our students will be also able to return to something beyond “light” physical activity and that our fields and activities will once

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again be teaming with life in the hours after the school day ends. On a practical note, thank you to those parents/the parent council who offered their valuable suggestions throughout this academic year and supported us in every way they could during this difficult time.

I want to thank the entire TCSI Teaching & NonTeaching, Admin & Ancillary Staff who have worked tirelessly throughout during this pandemic. They have not only shown courage but accepted the challenge to be on the forefront in passionately carrying on their duties and responsibilities to reach out to our students’ community.

Finally, on a very special note, I want to thank the Governors of the school for supporting us in every endeavour to ensure smooth functioning of the school during these crises. I want to thank the governors on behalf of the students, parents, and staff for their initiative to expand the school and offer the post-16 programme to the students/parents to complete their schooling and embark on to their University Programmes. This was the huge ask of our parents and this will be now fulfilled at the start of the next academic year.

In the meantime, best wishes for the summer, and I hope you take time to enjoy quality time with your families.

Dr. Frank R Fernandes Principal, The City School International, Dubai

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Message from the Head of the Section (Year 5 to 11) FARAH AZEEM Dear TCSI families, 2021 has been another busy year with many changes. It is an exciting time, as change is the new norm. We have a great leadership team which thrives on change, diversity and progress.

The team are focused on accelerating learning, using current theory and evidence to improve professional practice. The Teaching and Learning which we are seeing at The City School International in 2021 and beyond, is absolutely brilliant. The opportunities being afforded to our learners is of the highest quality and meets the diverse range of learning needs.

The year has been full of change. Thank you to my team, who have continued our learning journey.

You are all incredibly dedicated and hardworking team. I appreciate your expertise and encouragement of all of the students.

The most special component of The City School International- Our students are what makes our school special. Our students are excellent representatives of the school on all occasions or learning excursions before and after the pandemic. You can all be relied upon to represent the school with pride and dignity.

Each year I look back at what the students have achieved and how far they have all come. I want to congratulate all of you, wonderful young people, in achieving a great milestone in your life.

Specially those moving from key stage to another.

The learning spaces in the school may have been yours just for years, but you know that we are preparing our school and our learners for the future - a future we do not really know. We know that you have been working on your collaborative journey also over the last couple of years and we feel most of you are well prepared for what lies ahead in your next stage of learning through the higher-level years. We are expanding our school and more spaces are there for our year 11 who will be prepared for their brilliant university future.

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I have been incredibly impressed with your efforts this year. I am proud of each and every one of you. It is important to remember, that no matter what, we celebrate all the achievements of our precious students, and support them to be the best that they can be. It is important to keep on learning and continue to develop individual talents while learning to get on with others, problem solve, be self-motivated and inquisitive.

While the activities around the school were minimized, we were still able to celebrate different occasions and curricular and extracurricular weeks as well! This was—as always—a highlight for staff and students. An array of activities was planned, and we proved again that we can overcome the pandemic and adapt to the new norm.

Whilst co-curricular and additional learning experiences have been minimized to essential activities, what has become evident is the clarity of the school’s vision and quality of offerings for our students. We have not skipped a beat in fun and exciting classroom/online activities.

A huge acknowledgment and thank you to all our dedicated staff for the brilliant job they have done this year.

I would like to thank all of our City School families for their support as our school community responded to the challenges of COVID. What has become evident is that under high-pressure circumstances, our families and staff rallied to care for our children’s educational and emotional wellbeing. We hope for a full-time return to school next year which will be welcomed by staff, students and parents alike.

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OUR LEADERS LEADERS OUR Students love being at school, and that is a testament to the dedication and passion of teachers and the strength of our family partnerships. Be assured that the management, teaching and non-teaching faculty of the school is working towards making this new norm a meaningful and fruitful one. We will not leave any stone unturned in educating our students. I remain grateful to all the parents and wellwishers for your priceless support and cooperation at this moment. My sincere advice to the students – Do not lose hope. Concentrate on the silver lining amidst the thickest and darkest cloud at present times.

We, at TCSI, hope to see you all soon- refreshed and rejuvenated.

Let us be positive and hope for the best.

I hope all families have a safe and relaxing holiday break!

N EW

LO O K

Keep up the absolutely brilliant work. Keep striving to always do your best.

TCSI CAMPUS " This is a new year.

A new beginning.

And things will change."

-Taylor Swift

ry ent e v E hm e s i l mp ith th o c ac ts w to try r a st on i s i dec

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OUR LEADERS LEADERS OUR

Message from the Head of the Section (FS to Year 4) LINA OMAR Dear TCSI families, While our first year together was certainly quite different with remote learning, I am pleased that our close relationships with staff, students, and families continued to grow during this time. I appreciate everyone’s communication, patience, and positive attitudes. While I regret that we could not see many of our students in person this year, I am excited about the interactive and creative new platforms we utilized for remote learning.

Due to the pandemic, many of our routines and instructional strategies looked a little different this year. As guidelines change, we were flexible in adapting to meet them while still meeting our students’ needs. While addressing academic gaps is important, we know that helping students feel emotionally and physically safe always is the top priority currently. I am proud that despite these challenges, we had a very successful school year.

Dear TCSI FS and Primary Students: This school ending is quite different just as last years was! We stood strong and brave during the pandemic and watched as the world tries to save lives, find a cure or vaccine.

Covid-19 forced us to make many changes—we had school on-line, had virtual events and missed our friends. As we move forward, you continue to demonstrate diligence, motivation, and determination to work to the best of your ability to learn new instruction.

We need to remember all the wonderful things that happened online this year— a year filled with new learning experiences, many accomplishments in academics, sports, science, language as well as all the competitions in different subjects!

We have learned to be responsible, empathetic, and safe.

You demonstrated acts of responsibility and care by abiding to the Covid protocols.

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Your parents and teachers are proud of you.

Always remember to study hard, read every day and dedicate yourself to making next year even better. You are investing yourself with every assessment you take and every book you read.At the City School International we all work together. We stand up for ourselves and others and work hard, use kind words, and have selfcontrol.

Many thanks to the TCSI staff who dedicate themselves day after day teaching our students many new educational concepts and strategies, as well as kindness and respect.

A shout-out goes out to parents who made their homes their school and made the time and effort to teach and support you. I was always attracted to the thought – Home is the first school and School is the second home. In fact, today it has come true. Coronavirus has altered our life including our school system, teachers, children, and parents. Let us avoid the negativities and look into positivity. Our homes have become schools and parents have become teachers too.

Unimaginable! But it is a fact we have to live with now and invariably it is happening- whether we are rich or poor, far or near. E-learning has emerged as the best way of imparting education.

We will always be hopeful and positive that with the vaccine, things will back to normal and we hope to see all our students happily skipping into the school.

At last, I wish you a happy, safe, and healthy summer vacation. Remember to read every day!

Please remember to stay safe and well.

I will miss you all and look forward to seeing everyone in September!

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OUR LEADERS EDITORS EDITORS

Editor's Note

Associate Editors

Tayeba Hussain

Fantastic, brilliant, stupendous…!!! These are just few words to describe the performance of the teachers as well as students in the academic year 2020-21. COVID-19 did not seem to hamper learning, but resulted in mushrooming the new methods of teaching and learning. This new exploration was worth the effort and made the learning more fun and rewarding.

This magazine will give you a glimpse of activities at the TCSI. However, it is not possible to cover all the activities which were professionally planned and executed by the teachers and enthusiastically received by the students.

Madelyn Addatu

Sadaf Wajahat

The contribution seems enormous when it comes to crafting these reports on day to day basis by the staff, eye popping photography by the staff and the IT team, meticulous editing by the editing team. (They obviously need Standing Ovation for their mastery over making these reports perfect for the magazine) and obviously unmatched designing of this masterpiece!

I thank all of them for their relentless support, contribution and commitment to make it possible another year. Without their immense support, it would not be possible to release this magazine. They left no stones unturned!

All the content of the magazine will definitely make you visualise the events as they happened in campus and virtually.

Read it so that you can appreciate the work and effort of the staff and the students to effectuate all the activities. I have always believed in the quote ‘The harder you work for something, the greater you’ll feel when you achieve it.” Look at our achievement and enjoy reading it!

Saima Rauf

Sri Devi Sriram

KAMRAN AHMED Editor-in-Chief

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Jenny Rose

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OUR LEADERS CREATIVE MINDS

MEDIA TEAM LAYOUT EDITOR & CREATIVE DESIGNER

Jean Soney ( Innovation Coordinator & Computer Teacher )

EVENT & SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR

Zahra Saleem ( Executive Assistant & Registrar )

PHOTOGRAPHY

Muammad Awais ( System Administrator)

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OUR LEADERS STUDENT COUNCIL

THE HEAD BOY MOIZ AHMAD RANA

THE HEAD GIRL

During the Academic year 2020-2021, being elected as a head boy was a heartfelt feeling. The experience had been enriching; furthermore, it taught me it is not only about a badge but also about operating several duties, tasks and forming discipline. Throughout this period, I extremely enjoyed engaging into different activities and plans, and leading my schoolmates from the front.

MAHEEN FAISAL “A Leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way” – John C. Maxwell To be elected as Head Girl was an honor, and it led to new experiences, challenges and interactions. I was able to grow and learn immensely, especially through communication, collaboration and teamwork with teachers, student council and fellow students. Furthermore, I contributed by doing my best to deliver my duties and responsibilities to their optimum level. It had truly been thrilling to be actively involved in a range of events around school from arranging and creating activities for the first online sport’s day, helping teachers during National Day, organizing other events and working with student council as a team.

And so, come what may, it is important to always seek out the potential that may be presented through challenges or new encounters such as the pandemic during which student council implemented an interactive forum for students to stay connected and share their creativity with each other in the form of poetry, drawing or puzzle solving. I also got to take part in organizing events like the farewell in which with teachers, and friends I brought the event to life.

Moreover, the support and guidance from the management and teachers helped me become a better student and in turn a good leader to lead by example and always explore from day-to-day knowledge we learn in classrooms.

On a final note, we moved forward taking each step with courage in our educational and artistic journey. By sharing our passion with others, we can demonstrate our own form of leadership and help make our community an even better place. Thank you for your trust and confidence!

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One of my favorite activity was the recycling campaign. It helped me in learning about key skills of time management for my studies, organizational skills and team working. I would surely say that the principal, teachers, and student council members were very supportive throughout, which made the year more rewarding.

Overall, it turned out to be a significant year and experience for me which can never be forgotten.

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OUR LEADERS PARENT COUNCIL

Parent Council Report Arooj Omer, Parent Council President Dear Parents and School Community, It has been an honor to serve TCSI as a Parent Council President for the academic year 20202021.The whole tenure has been an insightful experience as the entire school community made remarkable efforts to adapt to the new educational norms associated with the challenges of global pandemic.

The Parent Council aims to amplify the involvement of parents’ community as one of the stakeholders towards educational framework as well as to support the school system in achieving its goals orbiting academic excellence.

The first virtual Parent Council meeting was held on 20th January, 2021 with an agenda of discussing roles and responsibilities of the Parent Council.

The TCSI management has always ensured Parent Council’s active engagement in planning school improvement whilst considering the members’ feedback on school policies and discipline code.

Throughout the academic year, parents’ views and opinions on remote and blended learning have been taken into account through regular surveys.

Parent Council would like to record its thanks to school Principal Dr. Frank Fernandes and the senior leaders for the incredible progress TCSI has made in terms of full-fledged A-levels initiation and campus expansion for the provision of enhanced facilities and new programmes.

We are also well-pleased with the inclusion of ASDAN programme for children of determination at TCSI. Finally, yet importantly, I would like to acknowledge the participation of all the council members in the Parent Council meetings this year. We will continue to work with the school in the upcoming academic year with new developments and greater accomplishments!

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OUR LEADERS CITY HIGHLIGHTS TOP CONTENTS

ABOUT TCSI

01 UAE, Our Pride

06 Let’s Uplift the Literacy

18 STEM

28 FAITH & BELIEF

The City School was established in 1978 and the years of experience show – in our expertise, in our commitment, and in our quality. We have moved with the times, but we have not lost sight of our values and traditions. At The City School, we genuinely believe in educating ‘the whole child’ so we provide our students with every opportunity to discover and build upon their strengths. We also expect them to face up to the challenges of an economically globalised and socially changing world – one in which they will have to take their place as independent, responsible citizens.

Our commitment to providing consistently high quality, accessible education underpins everything we do. We support and encourage high academic achievement, but we also recognise that individual students have different learning needs. We guide our students through Early Years Education all the way to the Cambridge International Examinations.

Our preparation supports them throughout their lives, as students of the City School have the knowledge, understanding, skills and values necessary to prosper both in their future careers and in life.

Along with academic rigour, our campuses broaden horizons with an enrichment programme that engenders social awareness, responsibility, innovation, and creativity in equal measure.

The City School International now has schools in the UAE, the Philippines, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. Its future plans include the establishment of further schools in the Arab states, South East Asia, and Africa.

64 Health & Safety

CONTACT +971 4 289 9722 info@tastemag.com

87 Intervention

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CONNECT https://thecityschool.sch.ae/ @thecityschoolinternational #teamtcsi #onefamily

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OUROUR LEADERS UAE, PRIDE

UAE National Day – A Day to Take Pride in Sadia Obaid & Mohammed Rashdi To exemplify respect and homage to the United Arab Emirates, TCSI celebrated the National Day on the 26th of November for the secondary section and on the 29th of November for the primary section, organised by the Islamic Department.

The school was adorned with amazing performances, UAE flag’s coloured decorations and elegant attire by the citizens of TCSI. Students, especially the Arabs confidently showcased their talents and skills depicting their awareness of the traditions and culture of UAE, keeping in mind the SOPs and maintaining social distance. This was broadcasted live, through Microsoft Teams to the distance learners and the other students who were present in the school.

The programme commenced with the beautiful verses of the Holy Quran followed by its translation. Right after which, the National anthem was sung by everyone. Two students from Year 10 and 11 introduced the significance of UAE National Day and its flag which has a deep meaning. Our Principal, Dr Frank Fernandez, shared the joy he felt and appreciated the efforts of the students and the teachers. The students enacted a role play in both; English and Arabic on diversity and the FS department of the primary section showcased a spectacular ballet dance performance which amused everyone.

The distance-learning students displayed presentations virtually related to the revival of tourism in UAE, Expo 2020 which was presented by the Head Girl, and The Culture of UAE presented by Year 10s. Towards the end, Year 9 students acknowledged the efforts made

by UAE during the pandemic to help its citizens.

To conclude the programme, a vote of thanks was given by the primary section head Ms. Lina and secondary section head Ms. Farah, cherishing the efforts of the Islamic Department and the students put into the success of this event.

The Department of Arabic Language believes in the importance of linking students and

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introducing them to Emirati history and culture.

Since the Arabic language, culture and UAE heritage cannot be separated, this great opportunity was provided to Arab and non-Arab students to celebrate the National Day. The students participated in many activities, speaking in standard Arabic. Some students came to the school and kept safe distances between them while many students participated through the live broadcast on MS Teams. In addition to their participation in Arabic language classes for a whole week and in their posts, they expressed their love, affiliation and appreciation for the United Arab Emirates as a role model historically and culturally.

The Arab students talked on various topics such as the importance of the union, the history of the federation, the role of Sheikh Zayed (May God have mercy on him). In addition to listing some of words of wisdom and proverbs of Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, some of the poems of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid were also read out.

The students presented Hazza Al Mansoori as the first astronaut in the UAE to go into space and talked about the UAE's initiatives to confront the Corona pandemic.

Then the students performed a theatrical work in the Arabic language. The kindergarten students performed an amazing ballet dance that entertained everyone. Moreover, the higher secondary students sang a beautiful Emirati song while the elementary school students sang an Arabic poem and a historical poem.

The significance of this event was to show solidarity to the country during this situation and pay tribute to the leaders who sacrificed their lives for the people of this country. As everything must come to an end, this eventful day did too with inspiring a lot of students and enlightening their heart with patriotism.

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OUROUR LEADERS UAE, PRIDE

UAE National Day – A Day to Take Pride in

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UAE National Day – A Day to Take Pride in

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OUROUR LEADERS UAE, PRIDE

UAE Flag Day – Hoist the Flag and Salute the Founders Zahra Saleem The United Arab Emirates (U.A.E) Flag Day is a national occasion where people of the UAE remember the efforts of the founders of their State, Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid, and their brothers who sacrificed everything for the sake of their nation. It is a day when the national spirit is renewed, and an occasion to reflect on the achievements of the era of the President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

The UAE flag represents meanings of justice, peace, tolerance, power and moderation, under which all Emiratis live a decent life and enjoy security and stability. This comes in continuation of the legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan The Flag Day marks the anniversary of Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan becoming the president in 2004. Every year on 3 November people in the Emirates celebrate this national occasion, in which they reaffirm their allegiance to the UAE flag, which is a symbol of the country's unity is an opportunity to remember the efforts of the founding fathers – Sheikh Zayed, Sheikh Rashid and their brothers from five other emirates.

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Just like previous years, to show our love for the UAE and our loyalty to its founders all our school staff and students joined the celebrations by raising the UAE flag at 11:00 am on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020. Students and staff were dressed in UAE flag colours on that day.

All health and safety protocols outlined by the KHDA were strictly followed during the celebration.

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OUROUR LEADERS UAE, PRIDE

UAE National Day – A Day to Take Pride in

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OUR LEADERS LET’S UPLIFT THE LITERACY

English Literacy Week Creates the Buzz ENGLISH DEPARTMENT Heedless to say 2020 had been a challenging year. As a teacher the most challenging aspect was getting used to delivering lessons online.

However here at TCSI we believe in facing the challenges with a smile and persevering ahead!

Hence the Literacy Week came as a culmination of the hard work and diligence with which both students and teachers had been working on the attainment of Literacy skills. The English department planned an array of activities to highlight these learning efforts and achievements.

The library lessons were also planned to highlight the progress the students have made in enhancing their reading and comprehension skills.

In Year 1 and 2 students read out an excerpt or talked about their favourite book. The kids showed a lot of eagerness and excitement as they read for other students and shared their favourite stories. This allowed the students to display their presentation skills and also helped them to get over any inhibitions that come with public speaking. All the students read confidently and felt very proud of their reading abilities. They felt a sense of pride in sharing their favourite books with their friends and were happy to explain why they loved reading that book. At the end of the sessions, students struck a pose with their books for a photo op.

Parents were also invited to share their love of reading by conducting a read aloud session. Ms. Sultana who is the mother of Amani Baig of Year 2B participated whole heartedly and conducted a delightful Read Aloud session.

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She read a short story from the ORT Reader ‘Who Needs Stories’ and then discussed the moral of the story with the students. It was an interactive session and both Amani and her mom were successful in engaging the students and delivering an enjoyable lesson with lots of information.

Students responded with enthusiasm, and everyone agreed on how important stories are in our lives.

Year 3 students were given the opportunity to independently read books of their choice from the newly acquired eBooks Library on OxfordOwl.com. They were excited to access a large number of books from some of their favourite series and exhibited independent learning skills by selecting books that catered to their interests as well as reading ability.

Older Students (Years 4-7) were also given an activity that helped to showcase their ability to comprehend and review the books they read.

They were asked to read a book independently and then write a Book Review. Students applied summarizing skills to write a short plot of the story. Students also used their critical thinking skills to give a judgment on the book and express why they would like to recommend it to their friends. It was interesting to see how diverse the reading palate is for the young readers.

Storytelling is a unique way for students to develop an understanding, respect and appreciation for other cultures and can promote a positive attitude to people from different lands and religions. If developed and used purposefully, storytelling offers a plethora of benefits for students fosters their imagination, boosts their listening skills, enhances their communication skills, solidifies their pronunciation, helps sharpen memory, improves social skills and builds confidence.

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OUR LEADERS LET’S UPLIFT THE LITERACY

English Literacy Week Creates the Buzz Keeping the above-mentioned in mind, Year 4 were given an opportunity to narrate a fable focussing on pronunciation, enunciation, mastery of the story, body language and confidence. Students were enthralled with the idea and worked hard to present their stories in many creative ways. Their dialogue-delivery, usage of props, costume selection and background sound were some of the applaudable features.

Year 5 students had a very interesting activity for the Literacy Week: ‘Poetry Recital’. This activity helped students familiarise with the true spirit of language and literature.

It helped them focus on language aspects such as pronunciation, intonation, tone, meter and other literary devices. It helped a great deal to encourage students to research about different kinds of poems. Year 5 students presented their recital in various genres of poetry: humour, pathos, recount, etc.

It was not only a delight for the teacher to watch their students recite poems of very famous poets such as William Wordsworth, Robert Frost, Joyce Kilmer, etc, but also a moment of nostalgia as it made her travel down the memory lane when she too had learnt and recited these poems as a student.

On the other hand, Year 6 students were grouped for the task on brochure-making. This was in line with their lesson on Persuasive Writing. They were asked to think of a place that they would want to advertise and to include the features of an advert in their brochure.

The students enthusiastically participated in the activity.

Meanwhile, Year 7A students were asked to participate in an Elocution Competition. Most of them chose speeches delivered by notable individuals. They memorised their chosen speech and delivered it with proper intonation, diction and pronunciation.

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English is everywhere. It is a universal language; therefore, everyone has to speak and breathe it.

It is likened to the air that we need each day in order for us to thrive. One must know how to speak the language in order to be globally competitive. These activities conducted at TCSI are somehow an avenue for the students to learn more about English and to apply their learning in real-life situations.

Debate is a social way of expression of your point of view on a topic. And it teaches students how to accept different point of views of theirs and others in the same topic. They learn agree to disagree, may find a way to solve an issue and learn how to compromise with others.

During November-December 2020, intra class debates were conducted for the students of Year 7 and 8 by Ms. Saima Rauf through the rigorous competition in the form of quarters, semis and finals.

Students enthusiastically participated in them and through their research, presented their views on some of the burning issues around the world. Students also learned to hone their skills in researching, public speaking, negotiating their views and developing an acceptance for difference of views/opinions.

The Finals were judged by the visionary and seasoned teacher and English HOD Mr. Kamran.

He appreciated the efforts made by the students and encouraged them to continue doing so in the future as well.

All in all, the Literacy Week was the perfect climax to the first term as it helped to affirm that students are ready to progress to more independent and self-directed modes of learning and reading outcomes which are to commence with the advent of the second term.

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OUR LEADERS LET’S UPLIFT THE LITERACY

English Literacy Week Creates the Buzz

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Arabic Creative Writing Competition Comes Alive Mohammed Rashdi, HOD The Arabic department conducted the 1st Arabic creative writing competition from Year 1 to 10.

The students were given specific topics related to their outraised curriculum and expectations.

Creative writing helps students to develop their own powers of expression, empathy and critical reading and thinking. In addition to that, creative writing is not only a means to help students unleash their creative side and feel more comfortable when writing in and about everyday life, but has also been proven to improve language learning.

The Arabic teachers encouraged the Arabic B students to feel more comfortable when they write Arabic paragraphs. Resultantly, the Year 3 students wrote paragraphs about their families and school, Year 4 wrote about healthy and unhealthy food, Year 5 students wrote about their favourite friends, Year 6 made posters about the traffic rules, Year 7 students wrote paragraphs about their favourite hobbies, Year 8 students wrote autobiography and biography, Year 9 students wrote paragraphs about tolerance and Year 10 students wrote paragraphs about pollutions.

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Arabic A teachers chose different topics related to UAE heritage and culture. The students of Year 3 wrote about the desert animals, Year 4 students wrote about the love to home country, Year 5 students wrote about the importance of work, Year 6 students wrote about the role of youth in the society and Year 8 students wrote about good moral in Islam.

Selected students from each class were awarded with certificate of excellence and certificate of recognition. Some students showed outstanding creativity and were awarded with trophies.

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OUR LEADERS LET’S UPLIFT THE LITERACY

Spring Reading Challenge Sets a New Record Tayeba Hussain Gone are the days of the children’s festivities and assemblies at school; the term end parties and the following travel and leisure plans.

Things have just not been the same since last year. However, not everything is looking down!

In the absence of the many social activities that students and parents engaged in, most are discovering or rediscovering the pleasures of reading albeit in digital forms.

This is the reason that we at TCSI challenged our students to read 2 million words (as a whole school) while staying safe within their homes during the spring vacations.Students from Year 3 to 11 were encouraged to read on Scholastic Literacy Zone - our official Digital Reading Platform. While Year 1 and 2 students were encouraged to read with parents and update the number of words read through a book log.

When the vacations commenced, we saw little progress and we predicted that with some luck the target word count of 2 million words will just be met. I mean how many words can the kids read in 2 weeks. Right?

However, to our surprise not only did we meet the target, but we also surpassed it by a whopping 3 million. YES!! Our students had read a total of 5 MILLION WORDS in just 2 weeks of the Spring Break. The calculations took some time, but when we got the figure we were elated and extremely proud of our young enthusiastic readers. Certificates were given to all the students who had contributed with the minimum number of words required and a special acknowledgment was given to the students who read the highest number of words per class.

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World over it has been noticed that children and parents alike have embraced reading with the advent of the pandemic with huge benefits for their wellbeing and development. This has been further endorsed with the tremendous achievement of our students during the Spring Reading Challenge 2021. We have a stronger belief now that reading is and can be a great alternative for students when they are unable to engage in other social activities.

One of the greatest things about reading is the escapism it offers. The chance to forget about reality and engross yourself in another world.

During lockdown, feelings of sadness, worry and despair have become common in children and adults alike. Of course, reading does not just make them go away, but it certainly helps to escape these feelings for some time and makes them less of a burden. In fact, reading can help people experience more positive feelings than any other activity. So next time whether it is a ‘lockdown’ or it is you who is ‘down’; just ‘pick up’ a book and see how you can turn that frown ‘up-side down’. Happy Reading!

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OUR LEADERS LET’S UPLIFT THE LITERACY

Let’s Drench in French Razan Tutunnji Imagine being in Paris and unable to say, “Good morning” or “Hello”. It must be disappointing!

With the inclusion of French in the curriculum, the students can now master the simple ways of greeting. During the first few sessions, the students learnt the basic greetings in French.

It is also of crucial importance to be able to introduce yourself, and the best way is to roleplay.

The students were tasked to introduce themselves to each other in a different language.

“Un, deux, trois allons dans le bois”- this is about learning numbers, so students were able to answer many questions, for instance: How old are you? How many baguettes would you like to have?

Most of the months in French are more or less similar to those in English. However, students were tasked to keep learning and repeating them together with the days of the week until they pronounced those correctly just like real Parisians.

Finally, the most exciting part, but to some, the most difficult, is the accent marks. “Sur” or “sûr” are not similar; the meaning of the former is (sure) while the latter is (certain). To overcome the confusion, we did a #frenchaccentchallenge where students contributed by making videos while dancing.

It was an absolutely useful and also a super fun way of learning. After all this, do our students not deserve a French ID card? Of course, they were awarded with it!

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Change the Story!

Kamran Ahmed The time of pandemic may not last forever, and the change is inevitable. To keep the spirits high and to make this academic year 2020-2021 eventful and memorable for all, TCSI emerged with its first activity- Big Write on 19th September.

The Big Write theme for this term was affiliated with the theme of Emirates Literature Festival 2020-21 - Story Writing Competition. The inspiration for 2021 was Change the Story.

The final week started off from 27th September.

After two weeks of hard work, determination and creativity the final draft came to an end on 30th September.

This whole event was exhibited by the English department under the supervision of the Head of Department, Kamran Ahmad. Furthermore, a detailed layout was handed to the students for their reference to help them in fabricating a masterpiece.

Indeed, it was a sight to see students bustling and tireless efforts in producing their best piece of writings.

The first draft commenced from 20th September and lasted till 24th September.

Students were given one full week to use their imaginations and creativity to the fullest and to gear up for the final draft. Each student was expected to write according to the appropriate age category. Ages 11 and under were given a maximum of 500 words, ages 12-14 maximum of 1000 words and ages 15-17 maximum of 1500 words.

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Lastly, all the students were given certificates by the English department to appreciate their endeavour. It was a great opportunity for students to enhance their vocabulary and thinking skills and to draw out their imaginations on a piece of paper.

TCSI believes in making its students creative and will keep doing that in the future.

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Change the Story!

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OUR LEADERS LET’S UPLIFT THE LITERACY

Read Aloud in a Crowd Sadaf Wajahat “Reading is essential for those who seek to rise above the ordinary.” – Jim Rohn Reading aloud is an essential and inspirational way to bring learning into the education experience and technology can help these strengths grow. Kid-friendly tech tools can help our young students keep records of what they are saying, thinking, and feeling about the readaloud being shared. It is through reading that the students learn about the world. They get exposed to new ideas and it is without doubt, the best form of education.

Read Aloud Day was celebrated at TCSI on Sunday, the 7th of February 2021 for the students of Foundation Stage 1 to Year 3.

Students read out their favourite stories. They lived up their stories by doing dramatic readings of their favourite passages or most beloved pieces of poetry.

Many activities took place including staff reading to students and older students reading to younger ones. During the reading sessions, the students made connections, inferences and predictions. Blended learning students created a storywalk, laminated the pages of a book and stuck these pages along the corridors. Students and staff could walk along the corridor and read the books.

Guest readers visited the classes virtually where students were able to listen to the story and interacted with the reader. Reader’s Theatre was set up where students performed by reading scripts of their reading level. Props and costumes were also added. Students practiced re-reading their part before performing with their script in hand. This activity combined reading practice and performance. It enhanced students' reading skills and built their confidence.

Reading aloud engaged their mind, and helped to bring stories to life in a way that only compliments the written world.

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Give Me a Picture; I will Write a Story Saima Rauf Big Writing is an approach to teaching writing developed by Ros Wilson and marketed by Arndell Education. The aim of Big Writing is to enable schools on how to raise attainment level in speaking, listening and writing.

This method is currently used by numerous schools, primarily in the UK but it is also popular in the Middle East. The target groups for Big Writing are Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 students (i.e., those aged 5 to 11), although a slightly adjusted method makes it equally good learning opportunity for Key Stage 3 students as well.

TCSI, Dubai always being at the forefront in adopting the fruitful innovative methodologies and strategies, made Big writing a regular part of their academic years for the last many years.

Often the activity is conducted twice every academic year.

This year the first such opportunity was provided in October 2020 and another one recently in March 2021.

This time, however, a twist was added by allowing students much more freedom in their expression by encouraging them to choose their own theme, text structure, text type and organization. To boost their creativity, teachers provided them with different prompts such as pictures, music, text excerpts etc.

Students then had to make their choice of prompt, text type and format; and compile a big write with research and discussion on the selection.

During this fortnight long activity, students from year 3 till 10 enjoyed this twist and displayed their wit and style through a cornucopia of varied writing styles and types.

Many of them expressed their interest to participate in more such activities in the future as well.

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OUR LEADERS LET’S UPLIFT THE LITERACY

Debating Skills in Arabic Impress All Mohammed Rashdi Debates in Arabic language took place in the Arabic Language Room between Year 10 students between 7th and 11th March.

Mr Ashraf, the Arabic Language Teacher presented a simple narration in the beginning of the competitions. He spoke about social media, its importance and the ethics of dealing with it.

Students were divided into teams, and they debated for and against technology and social networking sites in different areas.

Competitions were held to measure the volume of information and language skills in Arabic language in Year 2 -10 for all Arab and non-Arab students.

A special programme for the Arabic Language Department (multiple choice questions) was held, and a motivational speaker was invited to encourage students.

Moreover, close interaction by all students was witnessed.

This was an enrichment programme for an increasing academic progress and achievement

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OUR LEADERS LET’S UPLIFT THE LITERACY

Do you Love Reading? Read the Class Magazines!

Kamran Ahmed Writing is an integral skill which requires persistent approach to polish it. Students at TCSI practise their writing skill through a number of activities like Big Write and other classroom day to day practice of different genres and types of texts.

They also made sure what content would be published and what would not. Moreover, they made decisions about visual aesthetics, layout and cover art. Finally, the visuals and articles were tied together so that they would be more impactful.

These magazines will definitely leave you awed as they are loaded with rich content and artistic design. Start reading and appreciate the creativity as there is everything for your tastebud!

English Department not only strives to make the students good writers, but good editors and designers too. To invigorate these skills, twice a year students are assigned a task to write their Big Write which is later published in the shape of class magazine. Every section makes their class magazine so that it will best represent their forte and craftmanship.

This time big writes were written on the theme of ‘Change the Story’. Therefore, most of the content in the magazine is related to the theme.

To add to it, the team created new content to avoid monotony.

A team of students worked tirelessly to edit the content shared by their classmates so that they were ready to be published in the magazine. The editors and designers left no stone unturned to release a masterpiece. Their job was not easy as they created a layout and artwork after proofreading and improving syntax, grammar and conciseness.

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OURSTEM LEADERS

Science Students Compete Virtually Aiman Kashif ( Year 10A)

During the times of pandemic, students from the City School participated in a virtual interschool competition. An initiative of Gulf Medical University – Ajman, MASE is the biggest annual inter-school medical and science exhibition. Students from leading schools including the students from the City School across the UAE showcased their projects, working models, posters and paintings based on science and medicine, competing for a prize as well as individual, team and championship titles Propitiously, three of our students won and secured good positions in the competition.

Aiman Kashif (10A) secured 2nd position in the painting category. Daniya Rehman (10A) alongside with Wania Tariq (10B) secured 3rd position in the poster category.

The event inspired the students towards exploring and developing their knowledge further, and cultivated in them analytical thinking and scientific skills, besides imparting valuable lessons in teamwork and the importance of cooperating with each other to solve local and global technological issues.

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OURSTEM LEADERS

Robofest Online World Championship Wows Talent Jean Soney TCSI conquered the challenges of COVID-19 by participating at the World Robotics Competition online on 25th and 26th September 2020.

Robofest is hosted by Lawrence Technological University, USA. Teams from Canada, Egypt, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America were recognized for their extraordinary efforts and perseverance.

Robofest is a festival of competitions and events with autonomous robots that encourages students to have fun while learning principles of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) and Computer Science. Students design, construct, and programme the robots. Any robotics kits are allowed in the construction of robots. Robots can be programmed with any programming language. Robofest programmes support Computer Science for All. The Award Ceremony was hosted on 17th October, and at the ceremony LTU President & CEO Dr. Moudgil delivered a video message and LTU Vice President & Provost Dr. Tarek Sobh presided over a special awards session and the 2020 Robofest Online World Championship category winners were announced.

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It is an honour that The City School International teams were representing UAE at this Event. TCSI was awarded Team Photo Award for the 2nd time. We are proud of our representatives of the Incredibot Team from the Junior division, Amaya Noor and Aafiah Asadullah, Witbot Team from the Senior division, Adam Noor and their coach, Ms Jean Soney.

We have proved once again that despite the unpredictable pandemic and COVID-19 challenges, we successfully managed to prepare our students and participate at this event virtually.

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Maths Week Mesmerises the Most MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT

“Maths gives us every reason to hope that every problem has a solution”.

The Mathematics Department at TCSI observed Maths week from March 14th-18th 2021.The aim of the Maths Week was to further engage and inspire the students with Maths, Science, Engineering, Art, Islamic Studies, and Technology and to track their progress through various competitive activities.

Some of the activities planned for the Key Stage 1 included: Stem Challenge in which students competed in building the strongest tower with straws and tape; Mental Math quiz which needed the students to think on their feet and solve maths problems in their head; games such as egg carton addition, spider shape and math turkey. Students were given a choice to select a game of their choice; students made patterns on their old t-shirts with paints using vegetables, numbers or shapes; students made their favourite recipe using terms such as grams, kilograms, litres or millilitres. They brought the ingredients, measured and recorded the weight or volume and prepared the scrumptious dishes; clock making using skip counting by 5. Each student made their own clocks; each colour represented a movement (hop, touch toes, etc.) and as kids drew the cards as everyone completed the movement the correct number of times and video making where students had to say out the skip counting of 2, 5 and 10 in a video.

Maths week was an opportunity for students to engage in a variety of maths activities, which they may not normally get a chance to experience in normal lessons. Over the course of the week, the whole school participated in different Maths activities designed to challenge their thinking and develop their maths problem solving skills.

Pi Day is celebrated on March 14 because the date stands as 3/14 in the month/day format.

Since 3, 1, and 4 are the first three significant digits of π, the day is observed as Pi Day. Therefore, the Maths Department celebrated the day with a number of activities.

Maths department participated in the Mental Maths Competition in collaboration with Ignited Mind Lab. It is the biggest inter-school national level Mental Maths Competition in UAE. This programme aims to develop interest in Mental Maths and improve speed & accuracy of solving problems.

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Maths Week Mesmerises the Most

Some of the activities planned for the Key Stage 1 included: Bookmark/Book Cover Math & Art; Mental Math Quiz; Math board games (Fun with math operations); Math projects (Models, maths facts, poster, riddles, poem); creating quizzes as a challenge for other students (Math & Technology) and Pi-day Activities/ Learning about famous mathematicians and mathematical concepts.

It would be the least to say that Maths Week was a super success. All the kids both at home and at school thoroughly enjoyed themselves as they indulged in fun activities which incorporated a subject that many fears and shy away from. The below testimonials from students are a reflection of the same.

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STEM OURSTEM LEADERS

Maths Week Mesmerises the Most

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OURSTEM LEADERS

Maths Week Mesmerises the Most KEN KEN - International Championship Certificate Distribution

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OURSTEM LEADERS

Science Week Senses Sensational Side SCIENCE DEPARTMENT The true sense of intelligence is imagination, taking this notion forward, TCSI Department of Science organised a week full of activities and fun learning from 7th -11th of April. The aim of the Science Week was to engage and inspire the students with science, engineering, and technology and to track their progress through various competitive activities.

In Year 1 and 2, we did STEM activities in a blended learning environment using shared resources. The activity integrated Science topics with Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology. Year 1 was challenged to make a snowman using baking powder, baking soda and hair conditioner. They also made a rainbow bridge with play dough and colourful pipe cleaners and experimented how many pennies in a bowl could the bridge carry.

Year 2 was given the task to construct a tower which they selected from a variety of types of towers. They were provided with various resources and asked to test the strength and flexibility of the materials which included popsicle sticks, straws and paper cups. Then they measured the length and width of their towers with the help of rulers and measuring tape. These activities not only helped students to hone and display their Scientific skills such as investigation, observation and experimentation, but they also helped their presentation skills as each student was asked to present their work to their classmates.

Students were also asked to make the most of everyday waste and design projects using recycled materials. They came up with amazing concepts and ideas using waste materials. By utilizing things that we normally would throw away, students developed an awareness of how we as responsible human beings can avoid a lot of waste and help to save the Earth!

To ensure that the young learners remain engaged while the teacher evaluates their knowledge, enjoyable and short quizzes along with educational games were organised.

As per school policy, parents are encouraged to be involved in their child’s learning process.

Therefore, on the last day of the Science Week parents were requested to join the students in the Science Week.

Caregivers of online students were asked to design experiments at home. These experiments included rainbow making, volcano eruption, etc.

These were then shared by the parents through videos and photos.

They used exemplary scientific vocabulary and knowledge while they assisted their students in presenting their work. In the process both parents and students benefited from the activity as it helped to improve their skills and provided opportunity for emotional bonding.

There was a buzz around school as teachers and students from Year 3- 10 equally were seen engaging themselves in an array of fun activities which are as follows: To evaluate critical thinking skills, STEM challenges of varied levels were given class wise and students were supposed to incorporate learning with Engineering, Mathematics, and technology.

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OURSTEM LEADERS Science Week Senses Sensational Side Some of the STEM challenges included building a da Vinci bridge with pencils, building the tallest and strongest tower with straws and ice cream sticks, marshmallow and spaghetti tower built by the secondary students and a candy and toothpick tower built by primary students.

These tasks were completed on an individual basis by the students during online and blended learning sessions. The students participated enthusiastically through and through!

To make them realise the importance of waste management, a Best Out of Waste competition was held. The competition focused on bringing an understanding among the students about preserving the environment by reusing and recycling waste material.

Awe-inspiring ideas were demonstrated using materials such as newspapers, old CDs, used plastic bottles, ropes, ice cream sticks, bangles, shoe boxes etc. The innovations that students came up with were mind blowing!

time management and pushes one to conceive and generate ideas without any preparation.

The topics were selected randomly for each student through an online spinning wheel.

Students were given a couple of minutes to prepare before speaking and presenting their ideas to all. Winners were chosen based on correct scientific facts, time management and confidence.

A quiz is a quick and informal assessment of student knowledge; hence, Science quizzes were conducted throughout the school to get an insight about the learning gaps if any and to encourage the students to look away from the textbooks. There were 3 rounds to the science quiz. Round 1 was syllabus based, round 2 was General Science and round 3 was Astronomy and Biotechnology.

Working Models enables us to predict real-life systems and applications.

Students demonstrated their models by making videos and sharing with the teachers. They chose their topics from different branches of science. The model activity not only helped students to revise the concept done so far but also gave them a platform to develop their fine motor, social and cognitive skills.

These activities were conducted alike for the Onsite and Online learners. Science week was a huge success. Winners were announced by the respective Science teachers.

A rapid fire was carried out for the shortlisted students to extract winners. Students thoroughly enjoyed the quiz as they competed against each other to prove who was the better Science whizz kid!

Extempore presentations enabled the students to think promptly and spontaneously. It is a great way to develop communication skills and

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Science Week Senses Sensational Side

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Science Week Senses Sensational Side

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OURSTEM LEADERS

Project Based Learning Engages KS1 Saima Ali Khan In Year 1, students enjoy learning about animals and human body parts. In this lesson, they compared and identified the observable features in animals and human body parts.

During this lesson, students participated in a lot of creative activities. They were challenged to design a habitat of their favourite animal using the questions on the activity sheet. In addition to this, they described the animal and how it is especially designed to fit in its environment.

Moreover, they availed an opportunity to research and learn more about their favourite animal.

In Year 2, students made the most of an opportunity to experience everyday materials by designing small projects.

It was an enriching learning experience for young ones to plan, evaluate and identify the strength of their everyday materials. They shared their projects during online classes and discussed their ideas with each other.

Such activities offer an exciting way to teach inquiry-based science, as each new investigation helps reinforce basic science concepts.

The activities offered here tried to build on that experience and develop the skills of scientific investigation. Students learned that certain materials have properties that are appropriate for specific uses, and by comparing these, the idea is introduced that whilst some materials are reasonable for the use, others might do the job better.

This creative activity enhanced their critical thinking, planning, and understanding of uses of different materials.

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OUR LEADERS FAITH & BELIEF

Mazameer Aal Dawoud Qir'ah Soothes Heart Sana Amir Abu Musa al-Ash'ari al-Yamani, whose name is Abdullah bin Qais (May Allah Bless his soul), had a very beautiful and influential recitation of the Qur’an. One night the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) heard his recitation and was taken by his voice so Abu Musa narrated: That the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬said to him' "O Abu Musa!

You have been given one of the mazamir (sweet melodious voices) of the family of David.'by Bukhari (5048) and Muslim (793) TCSI was invited to participate in Mazameer Aal Dawoud Qir’ah Competition at The Creative Science School. As Always Islamic department was ready to accept all the challenges and motivated the students to participate and achieve the learning goals. More than 50 students in the competition were registered while 24 of the students participated in it and 2 of them were declared winners of the competition whereas the other students received the certificates of appreciation.

This competition was aimed at celebrating the most influential voices in the recitation of the Holy Quran during the blessed month of Ramadan. The recitation videos were to be uploaded in the link shared by the organisers.

The videos were supposed to be of 3 mins with clear sound.

The student would comply with the provisions of the Tajweed during the recitation, as 50% of the marks were allocated on the tajweed and 50% on the voice modulation and recitation.

The winner of the competition will have the opportunity to record a video recitation of verses from the Holy Qur'an with Sheikh Salah Bukhatir.

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OUR LEADERS FAITH & BELIEF

Islamic Declamation Contest – A Journey of Righteousness Sadia Obaid During the month of March Year 3-10 were engaged in deep contemplation regarding the topics of our Islamic Declamation contest. The speech was for two minutes with online students switching on their cameras and presenting from home.

The topics were truly thought provoking ranging from the significance of Sharia law in our lives to analysing the battles in Muslim history. Students were told to incorporate Hadeeth and include ayas from the Holy Quran as reference and evidence. Speaking the Arabic part of the Ayas and Hadeeth was also given attention to.

As with any competition the students were given rubrics and in order to successfully present ideas all the boxes should be ticked off the criteria.

Not only was our ability to search into the profound meaning of the topic tested but our capacity to exhibit fluency, voice modulation and many others were also assessed. The speeches allowed students to understand the topic in a fascinating and wondrous way than just reading a book.

All in all, the competition provided a fun and enthusiastic environment to learn evermore and enhance persuasive skills.

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OUR LEADERS FAITH & BELIEF

Islamic Calligraphy Competition – In Search of Sadequain Sadia Obaid The Islamic calligraphy competition held at our very own, the City School International. It upholds every year in order to enlighten and shower the school with students’ creativity and artistic skills.

Moving on, this competition took place from 21st April- 29th April, giving a weeks’ time for students to prepare their canvases with vivid and illustrious colours and fonts. The fonts included Diwani Jileeli, Kufic, Nastalik. And the mediums included markers, colour pencils, water colours/tea wash/coffee wash for background. Students could choose any to their liking.

enlightening themselves with Islamic knowledge as well. This competition is to help give recognition to the hardworking students, which have interpreted the calligraphy style with accuracy and precision.

Calligraphy is something which not everyone can excel at, but they sure can practice it. The students will have learned its style and design when participating.

Year 1-2 were given the task of writing Asmaaul-Husna in their desired mediums free-hand.

Year 3-10 onwards were required to write Arabic verse calligraphy on the canvases. The ayahs number was different for every student.

Both blended and distance-learning students had participated in this, showing their enthusiasm in the art of the competition and were asked to drop it to school.

The purpose of this competition was to help strengthen students’ artistic capabilities, whilst

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Furthermore, not only Islamic calligraphy was subjected but some students even practiced visual harvesting on particular surahs and verses. This competition allowed every individual of the school to participate in events and explore different kinds of activities. The art students were more than overjoyed to have participated in these competitions. It is a useful tool for students to excel at everything.

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OUR LEADERS FAITH & BELIEF

Eid Milad un Nabi Celebrated with Religious Fervour Sadia Obaid Rabi’al-awwal is the observance as the birth month of the Prophet Muhammad SAW which is commemorated on the 12th of Rabi' al-awwal every year.

Furthermore, the secondary section had a debate among their classmates on different topics such as ‘Practices of the Prophet SAW’s time are impracticable now’. This was given to Year 11 students in which they had to prepare a 2-minute long speech with some facts, hadeeths and Quranic ayahs too. Also, a quiz was taken related to the Seerah of Prophet SAW to test the knowledge of the students. Lastly, the students were instructed to write an essay on the biography of Prophet SAW of 350-400 words which included seven subheadings regarding the different stages of His life.

To pay tribute to this traditional occasion, Islamic Department had arranged several activities, throughout the week, for the students of both primary and secondary section, during their Islamic lessons.

The primary section had a show-and-tell activity in which the students were told to research on the Seerah of Prophet Muhammad SAW, his lifestyle, his actions, his Sunnah and favourite things. Then, they had to show a picture of the specific Sunnah and verbosely talk about it. This helped the students to understand the Sunnahs of the Prophet SAW more widely and know more about him.

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The purpose of these activities was to strengthen the understanding of the students regarding the Prophet SAW’s Seerah, His Sunnahs and His lifestyle and celebrate this holy day by learning more about him.

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OUR LEADERS FAITH & BELIEF

Miftah-al-Quran and Tareeq-alJannah Sana Amir The Quran states in Surah Muzammil, Ayah 4 “And recite the Quran ‘properly’ in a measured way”. The emphasis on the word properly implies that Allah tells us to recite the Quran by following all the rules and understand it. To ensure this, The Islamic Department of the TCSI took monthly Quran memorization tests of its students of all classes during their Islamic lessons.

To enhance the knowledge of Prophet SAW’s Sunnah and Islamic value, the Islamic Department took monthly Hadith memorization tests of its students of all classes during their Islamic lessons.

These tests were according to different key stages where classes were given different surahs and hadeeth to memorize and the marks for surahs were divided between two categories: the memorization of the ayahs and the accurate use of Tajweed rules whereas for hadeeth, the marks were divided in the memorization of the hadeeths and the English translation.

At the end of each month, the marks achieved by students were compared and the high achievers were awarded with certificates for their precise pronunciation of Qur’anic ayahs and using tajweed. It later motivated the students to work harder and improve their recitation.

Before these tests took place, the teachers asked the students to upload their audios in the assignment on Teams of them reciting the assigned ayahs and hadeeths which were later marked by the Quran teacher. These marks were entered in the students’ oral test records which were then counted in the final report to show the students’ progress in the recitation, memorization of Quranic ayahs and memorization of hadeeths.

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The purpose of these memorization tests is to enhance the recitation of the students as well as to motivate them to recite the Quran in a way the Prophet has ordered us to do. Quran is Allah’s book. Moreover, it was to enhance the knowledge of Prophet Muhammad SAW’s sunnah and to increase the values about Islam.

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OUR LEADERS FAITH & BELIEF

Help Us to Help Others Muhammad Umar (Year 11) A penny can change lives. How many times have you heard this statement? Once, twice, or every time. In the current times, a Penny, a Fil or a Rupee seems worthless. However, as small as they seem to be, they bring immense change and happiness into one's life. Imagine if these small amounts can change lives, then a bag of rice can do wonders for a person.

This is the reason why the words, giving and charity, exist. You can give anything from time to money. Giving is the cycle of life. We give something to the earth, and she gives something back to us. It is the way of living and surviving.

On the momentous occasion of the 19th of Ramadan and the Zayed Humanitarian Workday, a vehicle full of rations was dispatched to labour camps.

The process behind it was organized and overlooked by the Islamic Department. Rations were given both by the school and the parents.

The rations consisted of a bag of rice, a bag of lentils and many other food items. The rations were sorted out into different bags to ensure each and every family gets a good proportion of the food.

A huge shout-out goes to Zaid Harris and the other volunteers in packing and sorting out the bags of food. Rations were also given to the beneficiaries in school to ensure that people in our surroundings do not struggle for food.

As Khalil Gibran once said, “All you have shall someday be given.”

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OUR LEADERS FAITH & BELIEF

My First Fast in Ramadan Naghma Nafees Ramadan, the holy month of prayers, fasting, charity-giving, and self-accountability for Muslims everywhere, is the ninth month in the Islamic calendar.

In year 2021, this precious month started from 13th of April, when days start to become a little hotter in UAE. Islamic Department decided to award students certificates for fasting for the first time and the elders for fasting for the complete month during this Ramadan as every year.

Most students as well as parents felt highly thrilled and motivated for this beautiful and lifechanging experience. Many of the students opted to fast for the first time or to fast the whole month to become legible for the certificates.

Islamic department played the utmost role in motivating the students by sharing the information regarding Ramadan, importance of fasting and its rewards and manners of fasting.

The department also arranged different activities and projects to enhance the impact of motivation, with addition of interesting activities to keep them engaged during fasting.

They created Ramadan corners in their houses, designed and participated in quizzez, watched informative videos shared by teachers and shared their personal experiences.

The outcome was stunning as many students made successful attempts in both categories.

The parents were happy and shared the pictures of first fast celebrations of their children happily.

Such activities prove to be very helpful to educate students about religious practices and make them a part and participle of their life.

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OUR LEADERS HUMANITIES

Humanities Week Lines up An Array of Activities HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT Education is not only learning of facts but training of minds to think. When we are having a good time, learning becomes easy and not a strenuous task. To make learning a joyous experience, Social Studies Week was observed in the month of April for classes 1 to 10.

As we are in the process of moulding the students of the 21st century, there are a few things that we must always consider. Firstly, students are the architects of the future and secondly, academic knowledge is not sufficient enough to raise the students of tomorrow!

The classroom became a hive of active learning with ardent students participating in variegated activities. The theme of the week was UAE. Students were engaged in various activities such as writing leaflet, articles, making posters in spreading the message of UAE famous landmarks and culture and also made models of Burj Khalifa. These activities enabled them to become independent and aware of UAE thoroughly.

The theme for Year 7 to 10 students was ‘Think Future’. The theme was decided considering the current topic in Dubai that is The Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and the Ruler of Dubai launched the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan with the vision of enhancing people’s happiness and quality of life and reinforcing Dubai as a global destination for citizens, residents, and visitors over the next 20 years.

Keeping the broad vision in mind Humanities Department made sure they would achieve all the aspects of this plan. Therefore, they decided to split it into different year groups. Year 7 students were given the task of sharing the outcome of the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan.

Year 8 students were given the task of creating the blueprint of the plan. Year 9 students were given the task of investigating one area of the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan in detail and coming up with some great strategies to achieve this vision while Year 10 students were given the task of researching more about the actual plan and preparing a write up to share the details of the plan.

The students were given the provision to work individually or in groups. However, to everyone’s surprise, the results were some amazing pieces of collaboration and coordination between the students across different year groups. The students presented their work in terms of creative PowerPoint presentations, videos, podcasts, models, role plays and posters.

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Humanities Week Lines up An Array of Activities Learning is always the key goal of any activity conducted and hence, students were exposed to this broad vision in the form of the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan. They had the opportunity to analyse this further and see how it enhances their learning journey.

Students were able to co-relate some aspects of the plan with different subjects such as tourism, business studies, mathematics and economics.

Some also grabbed the opportunity to try their hands on art, craft and acting, and on top of everything the department discovered some hidden talents of the students in terms of managing different applications and technology.

To summarize this, the students of TCSI once again displayed a great show during this week and proved themselves as overall performers in all challenges that were given to them.

In Moral Education, Year 1 demonstrated special way to care and respect. Students shared their roleplays with collaboration of their parents in front of the class.

This project enabled the students to consider questions about the meaning and purpose of their lives, explore their own identities, values and beliefs and concepts such as respecting everything around them with care and responsibility.

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It developed their skills and habits associated with critical and creative thinking by showing sensitivity towards minor but vital things in lives.

Learning about history and heritage can help students understand how they became who they are. In fact, knowing about your heritage is a great way to find yourself. What you learn can help you embrace positive characteristics and improve upon others.

It is important to see your heritage as an inheritance that has great value. Seeking and obtaining information about your own heritage is extremely important as you can gain a historical perspective of your family and culture, including details about your heritage that are unique. It can contribute to the building of character and enhance your life.

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Humanities Week Lines up An Array of Activities

It was very evident through Year 2’s projects where they felt proud to present their own heritage in a beautiful way highlighting all the details in a very organized manner. Some of the information gathered was based on environmental factors and others on genetic factors.

Some students made swords, helmets, shields and boats which were used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons. They explained how they were made and how they used them during war to protect themselves from the attacks.

Moreover, the students made lovely models of Parthenon temple, showing the Statue of Athena too. Some classes made the poster giving details of Christopher Columbus, Magnetic Compass, model of astrolabe and quadrants. They also made the models of the English shields, the model of the infantry soldiers.

One by one they went through their power points explaining their own traditions and culture. Their festivals, family get together, birthdays, traditional dresses, language, food, religious activities, famous architecture, sculptures and even weddings all were amazingly attractive and interesting for all of us.

The students took great interest in knowing everyone’s unique traditions and culture which were part of their heritage.

In Geography, the students made models of different landscapes like, valleys and mountains.

Some students made models of the polar land, desert, the rain forest and explained about the climatic conditions and the kind of animals we can find there.

Students of Year 3 made posters and videos on how we can help other during their difficult times, by lending a hand. Students made posters, showing helping each other by donating food, clothes and money. Some students made videos showing how we can help our parents by making our own bed, cleaning our rooms etc.

In History, some students explained the process of mummification and about canopic jars while other students made models of the pyramids and explained about how the pyramids were used as tombs for the pharaohs, and the things that were put in it for the afterlife.

They also made different seashore zones and explained the different kind of things/creatures that can be found in the zones. Some students made models of the journey of the river and explained from where it starts and where its journey ends. Some other students made models of different kinds of beaches and explained them.

There were projects showing the symbols used to depict weather and things that are essential to establish a town was also neatly shown. The students also designed posters showing the monsoon and the Mediterranean climate, features of these climates; on pollution; acid rain and global warming. The activities were not related to poster making by other activities such as using Minecraft and Fortnite too.

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Humanities Week Lines up An Array of Activities The Economics Impromptu activity was held virtually on Tuesday, 27th April 2021. The students were asked to revise the assigned chapters from their respective Economics textbook and deliver a speech for at least one minute on the topic appointed by the online randomizer. The speech could include all the viable points from the concepts revised in the previous academic year.

The Economics Impromptu activity was held virtually at ---- The City School International on Wednesday, 28th April 2021. The students were asked to revise the assigned chapters from their respective Economics textbook and deliver a speech for at least one minute on the topic appointed by the online randomizer. The speech could include all the viable points from the concepts revised in the previous academic year.

All the students made their utmost effort to give their finest speech according to the given criteria. The students were also advised to switch on their cameras for the activity to take place professionally as it was held virtually due to the global pandemic.

All the students made their utmost effort to give their finest speech according to the given criteria. The students were also advised to switch on their cameras for the activity to take place professionally as it was held virtually due to the global pandemic.

This activity gave an opportunity for the students to grasp their prior knowledge and upgrade their speaking skills which is an important aspect in terms of increasing their confidence level. Furthermore, students got a chance to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses while preparing for the assigned chapters. These activities lead towards the development of productive skills especially responding to unplanned situations.

This activity gave an opportunity for the students to grasp their prior knowledge and upgrade their speaking skills which is an important aspect in terms of increasing their confidence level. Furthermore, students got a chance to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses while preparing for the assigned chapters. These activities lead towards the development of productive skills especially responding to unplanned situations.

Concluding everything, the impromptu activity was held smoothly where all the students could make the best use of their speaking skills in order to participate effectively in enhancing their critical thinking, communication skills and interacting with the audience.

Concluding everything, the impromptu activity was held smoothly where all the students could make the best use of their speaking skills in order to participate effectively in enhancing their critical thinking, communication skills and interacting with the audience.

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Humanities Week Lines up An Array of Activities

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Eid in the Shadow of COVID19 Umaira Iqbal and Sadia Obaid Eid ul-Fitr is a very important festival in the Islamic calendar. It is also known as 'The Feast of Breaking the Fast' and is celebrated by Muslims worldwide to mark the end of Ramadan. Eid ul-Fitr takes place on the first day of the tenth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, and Muslims are not permitted to fast on that day. Muslims are not only celebrating the end of fasting, but also thanking Allah for the Qur'an, which was first revealed towards the end of Ramadan, and for the strength Allah has given them to exercise self-control throughout the previous month of fasting.

Eid was celebrated at the TCSI to enlighten the students about the spirit of the festival, symbolizing the unity of an international community. In our multicultural society we need to in-still and enforce the universal values of brotherhood, tolerance, peace, compassion and solidarity in our children.

To commemorate the occasion of Eid-Ul -Fitr, the students of FS1 participated by talking and sharing with their peers about their Eid-day celebration with families, they were encouraged to share, talk about their Eid-day clothes and the Eidi that they collected in the form of money and gifts from adults. FS-1 students conducted an Eid-day activity of making ‘’coconut sweet balls’’. Everyone enjoyed being a part of the celebration and learning instant sweet ball recipe.

As Ramadan makes us experience the daily routine and feelings of the less fortunate people around us, The Islamic Department of the school took an initiative to organize a Ramadan Charity Week in order to support the school staff and the labour camp at Sonapur, Dubai. For the charity, the students were encouraged to bring specific food items from home. Moreover, the senior classes had declamations, during Ramadan week, and were also assigned to make vibrant and innovative Islamic Calligraphy, for which the best ones received online certificates as an appreciation token.

Compared to last year’s dull, lockdown-Eid, this year’s Eid was astonishing; the celebrations were done to the fullest as the mosques were open for Eid Salah and people could go out to meet their relatives, get Eidi (money or gifts) from their elders, and apply henna, while following the restrictions. The students sent their Eid wishes in the form of videos to their teachers and pictures of themselves in their Eid dresses with their relatives.

One of the aspects of Ramadan and Eid is Zakat (charity) which the Islamic Department focused on throughout the month and motivated students to give donations and help the ones who are in need

The students of Year 1-3 created eye-catching posters to welcome the Holy month, and the ones who kept their first fast with the help of Allah sent pictures of them observing Iftar. The teachers motivated the students to memorize the dua’as or supplications of the first, second and third Ashra (10 days) of Ramadan so that they could use this month to purify their soul from negative and harmful activities and devote themselves fully to Allah and seek forgiveness.

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Year 11 Bid Farewell in a Modest Ceremony Sadia Obaid

The Farewell for Year 11 was held on 27th March at the Holiday Inn, Buhaira Corniche. The programme commenced under the leadership of Mrs. Sadia and Mr. Kamran and followed by a meaningful and special address to the students by the principal, Dr. Frank Roman Fernandes, and Head of Secondary, Mrs. Farah Azeem whom inspired and encouraged the students to embrace the knowledge of the past and welcome the future with determination.

Students had the chance to stand proudly in their graduation attire and confidently received entitlements that reflected their work and attitude for the last three years.

Later the candle lighting ceremony took place in which teachers circulated around the hall lighting the student’s candles symbolizing the knowledge and invaluable lessons that teachers pass on and share with students.

Furthermore, all students were presented with titles carefully chosen by the teachers and were elated to receive them on stage. With intervals of entertainment prepared creatively by the Year 11.

Each student got the chance to express their gratitude to the teachers with a gift.

Muhammad Umar entertained the audience with his stand-up comedy act “The Mind of a Procrastinator”. It not only made the audience laugh, but enriched the audience with the cycle of procrastination. This preceded a speech by the Head Boy and Head Girl.

An intriguing play called “Career Day” was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. Next Maheen was mesmerized the audience by singing the latest pop and upbeat songs. She was followed by a captivating dance by the girls.

Furthermore, the staff voted for Mr and Ms Eve, which were awarded to Aman Aziz and Minahil.

All in All, the farewell was a memorable and dazzling evening - a night to remember for each student in Year 11. With mesmerizing performances, fancy attire and a great time for teachers and students to connect to each other.

While the farewell may signify the ending of high school, it also means the welcoming of a new chapter.

The skit, singing and dances were especially delightful and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

The students presented the teachers with a token of appreciation for their immeasurable kindness and hard work.

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Year 11 Bid Farewell in a Modest Ceremony

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World Teachers’ Day Zahra Saleem Every year TCSI celebrates World Teacher’s Day with many exciting activities. This year due to the pandemic and keeping social distancing in mind we were unable to carry out many of the planned activities. But that does not mean that the teachers were not appreciated. In fact, this year more than ever, the teachers have worked extremely hard to make the mammoth task of online teaching a success.

As we all are aware, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly added to the challenges faced by already over-extended education systems throughout the world. It is no exaggeration to say that the world is at a crossroads and, now more than ever, we must work with teachers to protect the right to education and guide it into the unfolding landscape brought about by the pandemic.

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"A good teacher is like a candle – it consumes itself to light the way for others."

Hence, to make our cherished teachers feel appreciated, the School Happiness Team arranged and distributed small gift bundles of chocolates and hand sanitizers. The chocolates helped to bring a smile to the teacher’ faces while the sanitizer bottles helped to protect them and keep them safe.

We hope to see the smiles linger on the faces of our hard working teachers for a long time to come and wish to celebrate the next World Teachers’ Day with much deserved pomp and fervour.

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World Science Day Anupama Girish Everything is practically impossible until it is done. World Science Day is an occasion that is celebrated every year to highlight the importance and relevance of science in our daily lives.

of creative learning by performing various live experiments during the online sessions. Each student contributed with either a display with hands-on activities demonstrating various science investigations using readily available materials at home or sharing amazing facts about science.

This year, when the world is struggling with the global COVID-19 pandemic, the focus of World Science Day was on “Science for And with Society in Dealing with the Global Pandemic.”

To honour this role, The City School International, Dubai celebrated the World Science Day on 10th November 2020 by organizing a plethora of activities.

In secondary sections the students prepared their activities and presentations in advance.

They were given a choice of diversifying their presentations. Therefore, we received an array of responses from fun experiments, posters, and videos to fun facts about science and even scientific jokes. The students enjoyed making them, and so did we while we watched them all performing simple experiments and relating them to real life.

'Science - Out of the box' was the theme for Year 3 to 6 where the students participated enthusiastically and explored the magical world

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World Science Day

This was followed by the Scientific Poster Making Competition and Scientific Writing Competition. It was organized to encourage and develop a scientific fervour and an attitude of research skills. Students of Year 3 to 6 made posters on the topics such as ‘Impact of Organic Food on Health’, ‘Robots and their Applications’, ‘Hope – Emirates Mars Mission’ and ‘Is the Earth healing itself during lockdown?’ It was a funfilled celebration where all the students showcased their talents on creativity and innovation.

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Year 7 to 11 wrote article on the topics such as ‘A supercomputer like Spinnaker be a replacement for human brain. Justify?’, ‘Online Learning: A boon or a Curse?’

‘A day in the life of a stem scientist’, ‘Is herd immunity a false promise?’, ‘Is it possible to create genetically perfect offspring?’ Selected students from each class were awarded with a certificate of excellence and a certificate of recognition. Exhibit of outstanding creativity bestowed some students with trophy.

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World Science Day

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Happiness Week Zahra Saleem

om n fr m e k a o be t eed y n can : the fr g in in a g h n e t i d y r th u "Eve t one r attit ances" u u b o mst us oose f circu h c to to nkl. n se give tor Fra ik ~V

March 20th is the International Day of Happiness. As we face a global crisis together, let’s find positive ways to look after ourselves and each other.

All staff and students of TCSI celebrated “Happiness Week” from Sunday, 21st March to Thursday, 25th March 2021. Each day of the week was a celebration representing Happiness.

Activities were conducted during the club hour to avoid any academic loss.

TCSI pledged to remember to breathe and focus on what really matters, so we can respond constructively, choose positive actions that support our wellbeing and help others to do the same and stay connected and reach out to help others who may be in need.

The celebration of Happiness Week proved that there may be difficult times ahead, but this crisis also has the potential to bring out the best in human nature.

UAE Mother’s Day Mother's Day is a celebration honouring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society.

Mother's Day is celebrated all around the world.

It seems to be a universal thing that cultures put a day aside each year to celebrate the act of motherhood. 21st March 2021 is the day dedicated to moms in the UAE. As part of the happiness week TCSI staff and students celebrated Mother’s Day wearing pink colour. Students made beautiful cards for their mothers and wished them with a cute message on the school's social media.

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Happiness Week

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Happiness Week World Water Day As part of the Happiness Week, our school staff and students celebrated World Water Day on Monday, 22nd March 2021.

World Water Day is an annual UN observance day that highlights the importance of freshwater. The day is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. World Water Day is observed internationally and hence was given great importance at TCSI.. The intention is to inspire people around the world to learn more about water-related issues and to take action to make a difference.

To commemorate the day, all staff and students were dressed in blue colour to represent “Water”. There were some interesting activities conducted for the students to raise their awareness on the importance of water conservation.

Year 1 and 2 took part in a colouring activity.

They were given a water drop drawing which they coloured blue and then wrote about how they would save water at home. These messages were pinned on a big cut out of the globe in the corridor.

Year 3, 4 and 5 made a pop up/ 3D poster, describing ways of saving water at home and at school. Year 6 and 7 designed a virtual poster, describing the importance of water, ways of saving and ways to stop the misuse of water.

Year 8 prepared a questionnaire and composed a poem on this topic.

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TCSI Cultural Day

Happiness Week

TCSI is an International School and welcomes families from worldwide. More than 25 nationalities are represented at TCSI which creates a unique learning community.

To celebrate this multi-cultural family, all students and staff celebrated TCSI Cultural Day, as part of the happiness week on Tuesday, 23rd March 2021. The day to reconnect with our traditional and cultural roots and enjoy the true essence of our age-old customs and traditions that have shaped up the life of our forefathers, and we are carrying forward their rich legacy.

Bring out your cultural best by adorning the traditional fashion outfits and have that fashion twirl with your classmates and teachers. Elevate the beauty of your traditional outfit by adorning the ornaments and accessories that complement the attire.

Students paraded in the school corridor displaying their beautiful cultural attire and shared some interesting details about their tradition.

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Happiness Week Hello Spring! Let’s Swap Colours!

Spring is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer.

Summer, winter, and fall may have their fans, but spring is clearly the most lovable of the four seasons. This season creates happiness, motivation, and positivity among all people and paves the way for creative thinking.

The earth is alive, it is electric, as every creature big and small awakens from their winter slumber to say, “Hello spring”. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and also to ideas of rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection and regrowth. Spring and "springtime" refer to the season, and also to ideas of rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection and regrowth.

On the last day of the happiness week and before going on the Spring Break, the TCSI family celebrated the starting of the Spring season by dressing in bright colours of Yellow and Orange on Thursday, 25th March 2021.

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International Francophonie Day Zahra Saleem & Razan Tutunnji This is the second year TCSI has introduced the subject French for our students of Year 3 to Year 8. The success of the subject is evident by the interest and excitement our student shows in and out of the class. Therefore, the fourth day of the happiness week was dedicated to the French language.

International Francophonie Day (French: Journée Internationale de la Francophonie) is observed within the International Organization of La Francophonie's 77 member states every March to celebrate the French language and Francophone culture. There are over 369 million French speakers on Earth.

The French language has always had an important place among languages as over 369 million people speak French. Celebrating La Francophonie is recognizing the potential of language and culture to unite people, to create spaces of solidarity and mutual understanding, to reflect together on our common future. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) share this common vision that places culture and language at the heart of any lasting effort for peace and development.

All TCSI students and staff celebrated International Day of Francophonie on Wednesday, 24th March 2021 by dressing in French attire, displaying the French culture.

Students also shared their videos talking in the language and making French desserts.

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Crazy Hat Day

Manal Abdul samad Students and staff alike showed their school spirit on February 4th of February by wearing their craziest hats.

Hats! Hats! Hats! A lot of unique hats which were made using recycled materials gave a fresh and crazy look. Students of Year 1 and 2 were excited to show their creativity in different ways by making crazy, eccentric hats.

Students paraded to all the year groups with confidence and were happy to receive a standing ovation from the secondary students.

They presented and shared their innovative ideas of making hats during their club lesson. All the students were excited to see their friends’ hats and could not stop talking about it.

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Crazy Socks Day Saba Aun Crazy sock day was a fun filled event at TCSI. This event helped the students to focus on the positivity and ignore the negativity around them. It was a great opportunity for all the students and parents to participate and show their creativity and implement the ideas they have in their minds.

The event was filled with excitement and students squealing with joy as they saw their classmates crazy sock ideas. The students showed off their socks in a parade where all the FS and junior primary students participated.

Some students had fried and soda on their socks while others had made funky faces and humanlike images on them.

Having such an event really helps students forget the stress of constant learning and reduces their screen time as well.

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Crazy Hair Day Nosheen Ali Crazy Hair Day is a grand celebration at school.

It is a fun chance for kids to show their creative side and DIY skills. It is also a great opportunity for crafty parents to express their wild side a bit.

The City School International celebrated Crazy Hair Day on 25th February 2021. Kids were encouraged to make the wackiest and most creative hair design that they can imagine - hair gel, unique hair colours, and even toys incorporated in the kids' hairstyles are all fair game.

It was a lovely sight to see all the students strut around in the FS and Primary corridors showing off their crazy and wacky hairstyle inventions.

Some students just made ponytails or spikes in a funny way while others added some really wacky decorations and accessories such as small toys, pegs, hair colours, gels etc.

There were some students who came up with a whacky hairstyle but one that conveyed a deep underlying message such as saving planet earth and planting trees etc. Some of the common hairstyles among girls were doughnut buns accessorized with different ornaments, bird cages, and plaits with floral accessories. While most boys were sporting spikes, some demonstrated their creativity by making road tracks and attaching small cars while others added superheroes themed hair accessories.

Online students equally participated and showcased their creativity by sharing pictures of their hairstyles. They also showed off their hairstyles onscreen and discussed it during the online lessons.

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World Book Day Nosheen Ali / Kamran Ahmed World Book Character Day was celebrated with much fervour by the Foundation Stage staff and students at TCSI on 4th March 2021. This festivity represented the wonderful world of literature. Everyone from students and teachers looked amazing and truly transformed into walking, living book characters.

It was a fun-filled day as students and staff dressed up as their favourite character and described their costume character in a few lines. The variety of characters were endless.

They chose famous characters from fairy tale books, television, movies, and other entertainment venues.

Most of the boys dressed up as Peter Pan, Prince Charming and comic superheroes from the fairytales. For the girls, their favourite character seemed to be Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Princess Elsa etc.

Other characters included politicians, authors, directors, characters from particular genres and those in the current or past spotlight in various fields.

The celebration commenced with a cheerful parade in which the students from the FS section displayed their extravagant and creative costumes around the school premises. The corridors seemed to have become a kaleidoscope of literary colours.

By dressing up as their favourite characters, students expressed their love for books and the characters that they had come to love. Some of the students brought along the book from which they had selected their characters. Students also did a short enactment of their characters in their classes.

Online learners also showcased their talent by displaying their character costumes and participating in a show and tell session. The event helped students to develop their personal, social and emotional skills

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TCSI Elects Student Council Zakirunnisa The student council election was a new yet an interesting experience for everyone at TCSI this year. Due to the new learning model owing to the pandemic, the entire process of election was virtual which encompassed the following: filling of nomination papers, preliminary interview, canvassing, voting, counting, and the feather in the cap was the investiture.

This is an example to prove that TCSI always well-adapts to the changing requirements and the new age term: ‘the new normal’.

The presentation of ‘sache’ was conducted maintaining social distancing. The investiture ceremony was conducted online. All members of the student council that comprise head boy, head girl, sports captains, house captains and the prefects performed their oathtaking virtually.

Meticulous planning and organisation of the student council in charge Ms Zakirunnisa Alias Noor along with the senior leadership team facilitated the smooth running of the ceremony.

Students and parents who witnessed the programme online felt the solemnity in the entire process in spite of it being virtual.

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TCSI Elects Student Council

FS Virtual Parents Career Day Umaira Iqbal Parents and education go hands-in hand. Both parents and teachers work together to educate students whether at home or in school. When parents actively participate at school, they act as good role-model for their child and others.

Like every year FS also celebrated Virtual Parent Career Day on Wednesday 10th March 2021. FS teachers invited class parents and allotted 10 minutes time to those willing to participate. The parents attended this virtual parent career day wearing their work attire. They explained their jobs and responsibilities.

They also shared the tools they used as per their occupation. Both parents and students enjoyed the day. Students got a deeper idea and understanding of the concept as we were covering the unit community helpers.

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FS Virtual Trip to KidZania Umaira Iqbal Every student comes to the classroom with a different world experience. We know that students who have been exposed to many different things do better in school. In order to be successful readers, students need to relate what they read to what they have experienced.

To think broadly, students need to have a variety of experiences.

A field trip is one of the best tools that we can use to provide every student with real-world experiences. Like every year at TCSI, Foundation stage students got a chance to enjoy their virtual field-trip to ‘’KidZania’’.

At this virtual field trip students experienced different areas covering the unit of the month.

They saw firefighters, police officers, hospitals and dentists. Providing goods and services is also a very important skill of entrepreneurship.

The students learned to be in charge of their own money buying and selling of goods. It was a very productive trip where students witnessed real life experiences.

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Celebrating Holy Month of Ramadan Asma Azher Ramadan started on Tuesday in the UAE and as always the City School International lined up several events and activities to mark the occasion, following the precautionary measures that have been put in place in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

TCSI began the day, especially during Ramadan, with a Quran recital, and Ramadan-themed activities continued during the rest of the day.

Students created Ramadan Corners in their homes and sent videos to their respective teachers about how they were planning to celebrate the month of Ramadan. Such videos were viewed by scores of viewers.

Moreover, students in FS created their Ramadan Calendar and kept on crossing out 1 day each morning to count down ‘how many days are left to celebrate EID UL FITR?’

Students in FS participated in Ramadan art and craft activities and created Ramadan crafts e.g., Eid cards, lanterns and Ramadan crescent with stars.

Furthermore, students in FS created “Sadakah Jars” and collected some UAE money in them so that they could donate to charity.

Moving forward, students learnt the significance of Ramadan. While it was not possible to gather food and money for donation, the families were encouraged to donate separate packs individually in the form of some grocery support for the poor and needy.

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Earth Day Sadia Javed Earth Day is celebrated every year on the 22nd April. The students at The City School International participated in various activities to commemorate our benevolent Mother Earth.

On the occasion of the Earth Day, an array of creative activities was organized with a view to sensitize the students about the conservation of natural resources and to motivate them to do their bit towards making their planet even more beautiful. The week commenced with a power point presentation on the importance of the Earth Day and the students took a pledge to preserve and conserve their self-sustaining planet.

A recycling area was set up in the corridor where blended learners were encouraged to participate in the recycling campaign. Students were encouraged to bring plastic bottles, cans and used batteries for recycling. With the following campaign, students were pledged to incorporate the idea of Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle in their daily life.

Also, the students were so enthusiastic to practice Earth Day yoga postures in the Gym Area during physical development class.

During the Expressive Art and Design class, students were motivated to show their love for their beloved planet Earth by making a craft which they really enjoyed. It had two hands protecting the earth, with a heart in the middle of the earth to show love. Through this activity they learned that they are responsible to take care of their planet.

The event of the week rekindled emotive concerns and instigated the youngsters to save, love and respect Mother Nature with all their heart and soul.

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DAYS, WEEKS & MONTHS TO CELEBRATE

EYFS Movie Day Nosheen Ali On 5th Nov 2020, FS students enjoyed the Movie Day. The students were shown ‘The Jungle Book’ which was related to their medium term theme “Feathers, Furs & Fins”.

Students were deeply involved as it was linked to their interest. The Jungle Book is a Disney classic which concludes on a positive message for kids about friendship. The students loved the characters and the story setting.

They enjoyed the movie while eating popcorn and other favourite snacks. As it was an enriching experience; therefore, an ambience aptly set for the day. The fun and excitement were on for the entire day at Foundation Stage.

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HEALTH & SAFETY

School Health and Safety Protocols against COVID 19 Dr Umair Ali (School Doctor) Maintaining health and safety is everyone’s responsibility. During the Covid 19 pandemic, all school staff and symptomatic students were tested before each school term and screened at entry point to the school. Health and safety team ensured that the students and staff were wearing a mask properly and maintaining physical distance as recommended by DHA. A COVID-19 awareness session for all students and staff was conducted so that they would show responsibility towards keeping all of us safe and healthy. Moreover, 99% of TCSI staff has been vaccinated so that the students may feel safe to enter the school premises. The school strictly limited gatherings and suspended group activities such as celebrations and school events.

contact-tracing COVID positive cases and updating DHA, and advising quarantine. It was mandatory for a quarantined person to prove COVID negative through a PCR test after 10 days before rejoining the school. A COVID negative PCR test was also a requirement for staff and students who travelled abroad.

School building, classrooms and laboratories were sterilized as per the guidelines. Health and safety was ensured through proper screening,

School buses were operated at 50% of their capacity with proper disinfection and sterilization drive. Students or staff using school bus were not allowed to board the bus if their temperature was detected 37.5C or above. Bus students or staff whose temperature on arrival to the school was detected above 37.5C were isolated in an isolation room. The student was later collected by the parent as soon as possible.

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HEALTH & SAFETY

Wash Your Hands and Be Healthy Zahra Saleem / Raihana Hasher Thousands of people die every day around the world from infections acquired while receiving health care. Hands are the main pathways of germ transmission during health care. Hand hygiene is therefore the most important measure to avoid the transmission of harmful germs and prevent health care-associated infections. The hand hygiene programme explained and demonstrated how and when to practice hand hygiene.

Hand hygiene activities were conducted on 11th October 2020 for Year 1 students with a detailed and interactive PPT presentation. Students got interested and engaged with the cartoon slides of the hand hygiene. The programme covered introduction and importance of hand hygiene followed with hand washing techniques and frequency.Students were also demonstrated the techniques after the presentation.

Compliance to all the Covid precautions and safety of students and staff is our top priority.

Having shared responsibility in the promotion of hand hygiene is one of our most important infection prevention strategies.

With the increasing number of Covid cases and the increasing scare of the pandemic, in another session Lifebuoy inducted an initiative that was child-centric and tailored to remind, refamiliarize and educate our students on the best practices of hand washing and sanitizing.

A portable wash basin was also fitted which gave a live hand washing demo to our students.

Students were also distributed customized masks, self-care checklist and some flash cards as a small giveaway.

This educational session was held on Sunday, 7th February 2021 and implied for the students of Foundation Stage 1 to Year 3. The activation included a short session on the correct way to sanitize and hand wash. 2 trained members of the lifebuoy team conducted the session for our students.

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The programme concluded successfully with good interaction and engagement of the students. The students clearly understood proper hand washing procedure and pledged to implement it on day to day basis.

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HEALTH & SAFETY

Virtual Sports Create a Healthy and Safe Competition Prescila Santos/ Saba Aun/ Sadaf Wajahat Like every year, this year also, The City School International had organized their annual sports day with grand splendour, great zeal, excitement and frolicsome atmosphere, but with little change.

On 26th January 2021, the annual sports day for FS to Year 2 was scheduled in the school field due to this pandemic situation of covid 19.

Special arrangements were made to maintain the social distance. Students maintained 2 metre distance while sitting, queuing or participating in all the activities.

Student’s participation in every game, aerobics, motor skill activities, gymnastic skills, football, basketball moves and long race was much appreciable and worth seeing.

Once the races began, the air was filled with cheering and tons of encouragement for the young athletes. On the other hand, online students had their sport’s challenge programme for the week. They were requested to practice the challenges of every day and send videos and photos to the class teacher.

For every key stage group, school had organized separate days to perform. Unfortunately, parents were prohibited this year in order to maintain DHA and KHDA protocol within these circumstances, but the great news was that not only the blended learners but also the students online were given full opportunity to be part of this great event.

All the students took part in those games which were their strength as well as the game that they like. The students were already divided into different houses, like blue, red, green and yellow houses. Seeing competition in them and the motivation to make their team win could be seen on its peak.

Amidst their boundless passion, FS students were enthusiastic to display an ambitious sports challenge. They were challenged every day with activities like circuit training, step up challenge, stick to wall challenge and some family/fun fitness activities. Students were also given a task to fill in their 5 days food diary in which they wrote down all the food and drinks that they consumed in 5 days of fitness challenge.

Congratulations to the Green Team who won gifts and certificates in EYFS and Blue Team in Year 1. Participation certificates were also distributed to others.

For Year 3-11, From 7 – 11 February the Sports Day was conducted to spread awareness on the importance of sports and physical activities.

This COVID 19 pandemic could not deter the zest of kids as they participated with great zeal and showed the true sportsman spirit by taking part in activities allotted to them.

The sports helped the students deal with the stresses and strains of the pandemic days when all were forced to stay indoors. These events sensitized the students about sports and games which play a crucial role in the integrated development of students and help in making them responsible citizens.

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HEALTH & SAFETY

Virtual Sports Create a Healthy and Safe Competition The students of classes from Year 3 to 5 played Cup Stack Hockey and Cup Stack Soccer while Year 6–8 played Cup Stack Hockey, Cup Stack Soccer and Flying Paper Ring and Year 9-11 played Cup Stack Hockey, Cup Stack Soccer and Flying Paper Ring and Basketball for girls and boys respectively.

participation from the students and special mention to Maheen, Areeba, Isha, Eman, Afra, Ahmed, Nofel and Moiz who acted as Facilitators.

The Annual Sports day went really smooth and was very well organized. Students were disciplined and knew exactly what was expected from them throughout the whole event.

Overall, the celebration saw wholehearted

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HEALTH & SAFETY

Virtual Sports Create a Healthy and Safe Competition

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HEALTH & SAFETY

Think Pink Zahra Saleem October is marked as the ‘’Breast Cancer Awareness Month’’. Awareness helps to increase attention and support for the early detection and treatment of this disease.

Due to the current pandemic situation and social distancing to follow, this year we were not be able to host our last year’s initiative and successful “The Pink Ribbon Walk”; however, we planned some virtual activities.

Virtual awareness sessions were scheduled on MS Teams for our Year 9, 10 & 11 girls by Dr. Maajitha Banu, our School’s Doctor, Dr. Madiha, representative from the Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital and a short informative session by our Year 10 student.

Staff and Students were dressed in pink.

Students attending Distance Learning on that day were also dressed in pink.

TCSI continues to join this mission to help educate women on the importance of early detection and save precious lives.

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HEALTH & SAFETY

Happy Teeth Healthy Body Raihana Hasher The practice of good oral hygiene is essential in preventing early childhood caries.

Developing good oral hygiene is also the first line of defence against common dental problems such as plaque, tooth decay, gum disease, and halitosis.

The activity was conducted on 3rd November 2020 for EYFS students. The cartoon slide presentation made good interaction and caught the interest of the students to understand the topic. Topics included were Care of Teeth and Causes of Unhappy Teeth.

The students learned the importance of oral hygiene and how they should prevent from oral health issues.

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HEALTH & SAFETY

Dubai Fitness Challenge Engages Enthusiasts Zahra Saleem Dubai Fitness Challenge (DFC), the flagship fitness initiative launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, has returned for its fourth edition from October 30 to November 28, 2020.

There was so much to experience during DFC this year. The challenge was not bound to individual schools, but it was city-wide, which means that all teachers challenged students from around the city. Students enjoyed the activity and exclaimed that it was worth their effort and time.

To stay fit and healthy is everyone’s aim. In order to achieve that, one has to exercise regularly.

The staff and the students of TCSI were encouraged to include at least 30 minutes of exercise in their daily routine. The PE Department also planned some fitness activities for them at school.

Being active is not just about moving, it is about turning the simple into a challenge and dreams into achievements.

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HEALTH & SAFETY

Let’s Create a Healthy and Happy Workplace’ Zahra Saleem In line with Dubai Chamber Sustainability Week 2020, the TCSI was registered in the campaign ‘Let’s Create a Healthy and Happy Workplace’.

The objective of the campaign was to improve employees’ health and happiness by raising awareness, encouraging and engaging in healthy habits, changing mindsets, behaviours and practices towards good health and happiness to increase organization’s overall productivity and performance.

The campaign aimed to encourage and inspire organizations as well as to drive change in internal practices through the approach of ‘Let’s Do It’.

The campaign was based on the HAMSO (Happiness, Awareness, Motivation, Skills and Opportunities) Model. Given the COVID-19 outbreak, organizations have to prioritize wellness programme for employees’ health and happiness.

Dubai Chamber Sustainability Week 2020 campaign is an effort to spread awareness towards the same. There is also a need for a practical demonstration of such actions among public, private and community organizations.

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HEALTH & SAFETY Let’s Create a Healthy and Happy Workplace’

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HEALTH & SAFETY

The Healthier Food the Happier Us Raihana Hasher Healthy foods are those that provide you with the nutrients you need to sustain your body's well-being and retain energy. Water, carbohydrates, fat, protein, vitamins, and minerals are the key nutrients.

The school nurse, Ms Raihana Hasher, conducted this health education on 16th November 2020 for Year 2. This workshop was focused on what the healthy foods are recommended for kids and what the healthy foods they have to take in their age.

The students were presented with cartoon presentation which prompted interaction and caught the interest of the student to understand the topic.

The workshop laid the emphasis on healthy food the students should take, and the students’ interaction proved that the topic was well-understood.

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WEBINARS, WORKSHOPS, COUNSELLING AND MORE

Professional Development Sessions Educate Teachers and Staff Consuelo Navarro This School Year, the TCSI Staff and Teachers have once again undergone trainings and Professional Development Sessions for Professional growth and to further enhance and improve services to students, parents and the school itself.

After a few months of being out of school campus caused by the pandemic, teachers and staff finally came back physically to school a week before the classes resumed in August 2020.

Major preparations for the school re-opening were made, and Professional Development Sessions spearheaded by Dr. Frank were held from August 24 to 27, 2020 which included the session and discussion on the “School Reopening Readiness Plan” in accordance with KHDA guidelines. Staff and teachers were given an orientation as well on what the school set up would be for the school year 2020-2021. Relevant session on Wellbeing and Stress Management were also provided by Ms. Consuelo and Ms. Prescilla. The said session was in line with the KHDA campaign to look after the welfare and wellbeing of students, parents, staff and teachers in school during the pandemic.

“The School Home-Provision” (A Collaborative Approach to Distance Learning for Students of Determination) by KHDA had been discussed by Ms. Consuelo, being the SENCO and Head of Inclusion. Ms. Yvonne of BEME FZ LLC, also conducted a training on “Managing Transition Back to School”. BEME FZ LLC is one of TCSI’s Inclusion Department external partner centers.

During the midterm break in February 14-15, 2021, another PD session was again held, but this time the approach to it was innovated and modified. The session was virtually and simultaneously delivered by the facilitators and trainers while the teachers were divided into groups.

This was for the strict compliance of the Covid -19 protocols on social distancing.

On February 14, 2021, the Heads of Department led the “Need Based Departmental Professional Development Sessions” followed by the Session by Illuminations Wellbeing Center on “Tapping into the Power of the Mind for Positivity and Creativity” and discussion and training on “Multiple Intelligence” by Mr. Miraj Mir of Synapse.

On the second day, February 15, One Team Logic conducted a session on “Child Protection and Safeguarding in the UAE”. There was also a Presentation by Stemnet and Step Innovations Hub. To round up all the sessions, Ms. Precilla, a PE Teacher had again led a wellness activityzumba which really energized and replenished everyone.

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WEBINARS, WORKSHOPS, COUNSELLING AND MORE

Sessions Educate Teachers and Staff

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WEBINARS, WORKSHOPS, COUNSELLING AND MORE

Say No to Bullying Consuelo Navarro & Sheetal Fernandes As a part of the activities for the anti-bullying week, a session on anti-bullying was presented for students of Year 3 and Year 4 by Dr Haneen in collaboration with Cartoon Network.

The session enlightened the students on various aspects such as different types of bullying, effects of bullying and ways to stop bullying.

The questions and answers session at the end was very interactive and enabled the students to express their views and also get their doubts cleared.

Impact of Gadgets on Cognitive Functions in Students Sheetal Fernandes A session for parents on “The impact of gadgets on cognitive functions in students” was held on 28th April by Energeia SOI which was led by MS. Ambreen and Ms. Sadaf.

During this session, the panellist shared insights on the impact of gadgets on cognitive functions in students in positive and negative manner. In this session parents learnt insights of how we can facilitate healthy learning environment, while using technology.

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WEBINARS, WORKSHOPS, COUNSELLING AND MORE

A Walk into a Green Planet Nosheen Ali This year due to covid restrictions, FS students attended a virtual trip to the Green Planet, which is located near the City Walk Dubai.

Students were first shown the exterior of the building and informed that the Green Planet is Dubai’s very own tropical rainforest. With more than 3,000 species of plants, animals and birds, this green oasis is a sanctuary of exotic flora and fauna. It aims to educate guests about the important role the tropical forest plays in the future of our planet.

Inside visitors can experience snorkelling with piranhas, artificial thunderstorms at the green planet, picnic brunch with sloth and friends and an overnight camping facility in the green planet.

Students were shown all the levels of the building. The bio-dome is made up of four levels: the Canopy, the Midstory, the Forest Floor and the Flooded Rainforest. Each level discusses the role and the importance every part of a rainforest plays. The Green Planet is an experience for the senses with creatures roaming and waterfalls running.

There is a whole section nocturnal creatures like Furthermore, there are bird encounter, sloth encounter encounter areas.

devoted to the owls and bats. encounter, reptile and sugar glider

Students really loved this virtual tour and gained a lot of information related to rainforests and different animals and birds species.

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WEBINARS, WORKSHOPS, COUNSELLING AND MORE

Staff Receives Civil Defence Training Zahra Saleem Within any commercial setting, it is a legal requirement for certain members of the staff to be trained in fire safety procedures – becoming the school’s designated fire wardens as a result.

TCSI conducted fire safety training for the school’s admin and some of the ancillary staff members on Saturday, 6th March 2021.

They were trained to have a clear understanding of the overall duties and responsibilities they are required to perform as fire wardens. This included what action they should take on the discovery of a fire, know the difference between different fire classes, which extinguisher to use for which fire and what the evacuation procedure is.

The importance of fire safety cannot be emphasised enough. TCSI believes that knowledge of the fire safety training is crucial for the staff to help people to evacuate safely and maintain good fire safety awareness in the workplace. TCSI’s top priority is to ensure that evacuation plans are effective and understood by everyone on the premises. Our fire wardens will be the guide in the instance of a fire and will do all they can to minimize the risks it may pose to everyone in the building.

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WEBINARS, WORKSHOPS, COUNSELLING AND MORE

TCSI Begins Post-16 Journey Qirat Shaheen The City School International is aspiring to offer for the first time AS Level programme to its students as well as those who are interested to study at TCSI from August 2021. A large percentage of TCSI students in the past carried on to higher education as TCSI was not able to cater to them through A Level programme.

The British, Canadian, American, Australian and UAE universities are more sought-after pathways. A systemized plan has been laid out to guide students through various application procedures in school. Moreover, information sessions will be conducted throughout the year

by TCSI guidance staff as well as visiting guest speakers from various local and international institutions. An annual careers fair will be organised at the school campus which will give students a further opportunity to meet and discuss future options/plans with representatives from local and international universities.

The Post 16 Curriculum is enriched by a robust future leader enrichment programme, academic and careers education, and a programme of learning that develops 21st century skills. The school is an approved centre for international examination board CAIE (Cambridge Assessment International Education). The school also gained a Fellowship status - a prestigious award for continuing excellence in examination results, with CAIE.

Every Post 16 student will develop personal skills and attributes through the completion of a variety of community service activities across the Lower, Middle and Senior schools as well as outside the school. This valuable addition to the Post 16 curriculum is monitored and certificated by the school. What is selected will depend upon the AS level choices, personal interests and what lends itself best to a particular career pathway.

Students are left to make their own decisions about their area of focus.

At Post 16, (Years 12) a range of courses are offered to prepare students for higher and further education, training and employment. All students are expected to select four AS courses for Year 12 and encouraged to continue through to Year 13 to study four subjects or at least three subjects at A2. This will equip them to make choices from a wide range of universities and education providers, as well as prepare them for future employment.

The Community Service Programme has developed greatly since its inception, particularly in activities offered and the way it is successfully led with the assistance of the students. As the programme will run for students by students, it will offer many opportunities for all those wanting to take an active leadership role within the school.

TCSI is proud to introduce Future Leaders Enrichment Programme as a dynamic pastoral programme that is an integral part of the Post 16 curriculum.

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TCSI has geared up to start our Post-16 Journey with full enthusiasm from September 2021 and looking forward to the usual cooperation and support from the parent community for the success of our programme.

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Launch of UNIFROG - a Career Guidance Support

Qirat Shaheen Two sessions on career counselling were held successfully.

Parents were happy and thankful to TCSI for introducing Career guidance for their students this year.

Parents signed up for individual career guidance sessions with the counsellor specifically for their students.

Students of Year 10 and 11 attended a session on career counselling delivered by Professor Dr. Humayoun Naeem from SZABIST University, Dubai. He advised them to choose career paths according to their interests and values. He also explained about essential skills required to complete any job later in future.

Seniors Attend the Curtin Dubai Webinar Qirat Shaheen The Curtin Dubai Webinar was held on the 8th of December which focused mainly on these topics: emotional intelligence, time management and personal development. The session that was participated in by the Year 10 and Year 11 students was delivered

by Mr. Daniel Adkins, CEO of Curtin University on soft skills.

Mr. Daniel explained about the role of emotional intelligence in our real life. He also advised the students with techniques on time management supported by research. Moreover, he guided them about personal development and healthy habits to follow in order to become successful. He suggested that students read the books written by Covey on personal development. After the session, the students received certificates of participation.

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Students Guided for Careers and High Education Qirat Shaheen Higher Education choices are discussed from an early point in Year 9 to 12 to establish the importance of AS level subject choices.

TCSI has strong links with universities. Guests from visiting universities are invited to school to give presentations on a variety of aspects of university life such as how to apply and life on campus. The destination of all students is important and so our programme of support for students is strong and targeted at preparation for both University and the workplace.

The Careers Counsellor provides support to all senior students collaboratively with Head of Year and Learning Managers, irrespective of which country they are applying to study in.

The school continues to develop students’ ability to be prepared for higher education in many different ways, including: experts in both careers and higher education brief students on the range of opportunities will be made available to them and the process of application; all students receive an interview with a member of the Post 16 team which helps inform decision making; representatives of various jobs and companies in the local community will be invited in to deliver seminars outlining the demands and requirements of their area of work; visits to local higher education fairs will be arranged to stimulate ideas and test out options; students will be trained in writing CVs, application forms and interview skills; mock interviews will be carried out for work and university applicants and an experienced and dedicated team oversees the applications of all students and writes positive, detailed references.

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WEBINARS, WORKSHOPS, COUNSELLING AND MORE

Global Village Holds Virtual Quiz Zahra Saleem Global Village is one of the most popular family destinations which brings all the different cultures of the many countries across the world to one place.

The region’s largest and first-ever multi-cultural festival park conceptualised and created in 1997.

Global Village is a sprawling 1.6 million square meter destination for the whole family. A unique and integrated destination to enjoy the world's finest shopping, dining, leisure and entertainment experiences.

This year marks the 25th anniversary, or the Silver Jubilee of Global Village. Anyone who has lived in UAE long enough knows that each year the festival outmatches itself in grandeur and festivity. It surprises its visitors with new concerts, performances, pavilions, rides and decor. This is the reason that even though this festival has been around for so many years,

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every time it feels like we are visiting it for the first time and the excitement is not only revived but it actually intensifies.

In an ideal world with no Corona, we would have planned a visit to the Global Village for our students. However, with the pandemic at large and keeping our students’ safety in mind, we invited the Global Village Team who were kind enough to conduct a virtual quiz for the students instead. Students of Year 5 got an opportunity to participate. The quiz was based on the culture and countries presented in Global Village.

Winners were selected on the basis of their quiz result and were presented with free entry tickets to Global Village. The kids got super excited to win the quiz and win the prizes. After all, who would not love to visit the Global Village again and again…

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Let’s Eat and Greet!

Zahra Saleem At the end of Term 1 and before going on the Winter Break, the TCSI staff celebrated last day of the Year 2020 on Thursday, 10th December 2020.

As the year 2020 was full of new challenges, with the lockdown in the country and initiative of distance learning to ensure the continuity of the educational process at home, without hampering in the number of school days. The TCSI Management also awarded the staff for their outstanding performance in the year 2020 along with a lunch in a restaurant.

The day was filled with laughter and happiness on the staff faces. They were delighted to be recognized by the management for their effort and dedication to their work. After the lunch, everybody went home with a happy face and satisfaction that their hard work is always appreciated by the Management.

TCSI strongly believes that for employees to perform at their best, they need to be appreciated and motivated often. Having happy employees is extremely important for the survival and performance of any organisation.

Happier employees work harder, work better together in teams and are generally more productive.

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Let’s Eat and Greet!

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TCSI Toastmasters Club—A New Beginning Saima Rauf In April 2021, following the vision and directions of the Principal, Dr Frank Roman, TCSI Toastmasters Club was chartered as a bilingual, English and Arabic Club. The rationale behind this vision and mission of our Principal is to empower the staff and faculty and to provide them with the opportunity to enhance their communication and leadership skills. He believes that both staff and faculty of the TCSI should be given a chance to express their qualities and attain their full potential.

To realize this dream, he assigned the in-house Toastmaster talent Ms Saima Rauf to spearhead this task. She collected the resources and ensured that Club is chartered with Toastmasters International, USA in the given time frame.

To initiate, two club sponsors: TM Frank Roman Fernandes and DTM ShashiDharan; and two Club Mentors DTM Muhammad Rahim and TM Saima Rauf were assigned. They ensured the chartering of the club and staying with the club for the first 6 months or if they could for the whole year till the club is self sufficient.

So far four club meetings have been held in coorporation with the seasoned Toastmasters from the field including GCC and beyond who served as trainers and evaluators.

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Toastmasters foster “learn by doing approach”.

Every month, the TCSI Toastmasters Club members meet twice for a 2-hour meeting and present their projects according to their chosen Pathways Qualification.

Staff and Faculty have welcomed this initiative and are excited to continue their journey in leadship and communication. Currently, the ExCom for Toastmaster year 2021-22 is installed and ready to take up their responsibilities.

To Join TCSI Toastmasters Club, contact our VP Membership for further details.

VP Membership: TM Zakirunnisa Alias Noor zakir.unnisa@tcsidxb.ae and visit www.toastmasters.org

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The Inclusion Department Amidst the Challenging School Set-up Consuelo Navarro Everyone has been greatly affected by COVID19 and the current situation seems to be a big challenge to students, parents, educators and everyone all over the world, more so, for the students of determination.

TCSI Inclusion Department has been committed to giving all children and students every opportunity to achieve the highest standards, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, attainment, ability or background.

Provisions and services to students of determination depended mainly on the student’s support requirement and level of intervention needed. Despite these challenges the Inclusion Team successfully implemented and delivered its provisions and services by providing individual online intervention sessions for English, Math and Science.

TCSI has an inclusive ethos and works in partnership with children, parents, teachers and other agencies to provide the best possible educational outcomes. No student was left behind especially during this trying time of pandemic and Covid-19. Despite the challenging situation the Inclusion Department always strove to provide the best services they could to ensure that students of determination’s engagement and learning wherever they were (may it be face to face/blended or distance learning) and whatever platform, or learning model they may be using.

Covid-19 Protocols had been strictly followed as well for those students who were doing face-toface interventions. Individualized Educational Plan, Personalized Learning Plan, Modified Curriculum, Modified and Individualized Assessments were still provided to students under the Department’s care. Virtual Parents Conferences and Teachers Conferences were also held to ensure that targets and goals for students were achieved despite the current situation.

The Inclusion Department’s provisions were based on the level of intervention required by a particular student. Blended Model was utilized when students were on campus and who may also do online intervention classes, (though most students under the Level 3 intervention may require face-to-face individual intervention as they struggled with online intervention, e.g., cases of ASD and ADHD).

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Support from an external partner institution like the BEME FZ LLC also helped parents and teachers as they conducted virtual trainings and sessions about relevant and timely topics in collaboration with the Inclusion Team.

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Support Learning Program Learning Support Programme aimed at providing additional support to pupils with weak reasoning, problem-solving skills, reading and writing skills. Mathematics intervention’s objective was to equip these students with the understanding of different mathematical concepts so that they would be able to cope up with the work.

Year 2 students attending the programme were taught how to write number names from 1-50, understand the place value of the numbers, table of 2, 5 and 10 and fractions of different objects. Highly specific additional activities supported the students in their area of need and facilitated their learning process.

PlayLive on Education city helped with spelling, as well as vocabulary, speaking and listening in English. It encouraged quick recall skills, which improved students’ confidence.

Oxford Owl was used for levelled reading which enabled children to develop and enhance their reading and comprehension skills. Ongoing assessments were conducted to check the progress of the children and next steps were planned accordingly.

The children who were struggling with certain concepts spent more time on it before they moved on the new concepts.

In English a variety of resources were used from Twinkl and Education city. The work was planned in advance for classes or individual students for differentiated learning.

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The progress of students was monitored as they had weekly quiz to see what they have understood throughout the week. After the intervention, students have started to apply the concepts during the sessions and started developing more interest in the subject. They began to develop self-confidence and independence to reach the maximum of their individual potential. This program was one of the best ways to enhance students’ skills and get them back on track with individual attention.

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Support Learning Program

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Support Learning Program

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Class of 2020

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99

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Class of 2020

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100

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Class of 2020

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-2021

101

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Class of 2020

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-2021

102

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Class of 2020

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Class of 2020

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Class of 2020

-2021

Year 11

Front Row- Zainab Lodhi, Areeba Asadullah Agha, Afra Khalfan Almur, Maheen Faisal, Ms Farah (left - right) Azeem(Section Head), Dr. Frank R Fernandes(Principal), Ms Sadia Obaid(Class

Teacher), Isha Mariam Muzaffaruddin, Manal Fatima Virk, Fatima Zubair, Shanzay Rizwan.

Middle Row -Khadija Hameed Ali, Qudsia Shabbir Dahani, Jasim Sohail Anwar, Abdul Shazif (left - right) Nawaz, Muhammad Taha Aftab, Alexander Kizyakovskiy, Sufyaan Atif, Moiz Ahmad Rana, Muhammad Sarim Malik, Muhammad Shayan Siddique, Rutba Safdar, Ghaniyah Ahmar, Minaam Azeem Chaghtai, Doha Sarwar.

Back Row - Naseera Mol, Habeeb Mohammed Afraz, Mian Muhammad Addan Imran, Syed Ali (left - right) Raza Bashir, Muhammad Umar, Amaan Aziz, Mohammed Abdur Rahaman,

Muhammad Zaid Harris, Hamdan Sadiq, Simba Moses Shambira, Ammar Aqib, Verisha Omar, Minahil Usman.

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TEAM LEADERS

2020 - 2021

Our Team is Our Strength Senior Leaders

Middle Level Leaders & Section Coordinators

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ACADEMIC TEAM 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1 Our Team is Our Strength Department of Arabic

Department of English

Department of French

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107

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ACADEMIC TEAM 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1 Our Team is Our Strength Department of Science

Department of Mathematics

EYFS Team

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ACADEMIC TEAM 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1 Our Team is Our Strength Department of Humanities

Department of Intervention

Department of Islamic

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ACADEMIC TEAM 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1 Our Team is Our Strength Department of Physical Education

Department of Music with students

Department of Information Technology

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110

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SUPPORT TEAM 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1 Our Team is Our Strength Our Teacher Assistant

Security Team

Support Team

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ADMINISTRATION TEAM 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1 Our Team is Our Strength

Administration Department

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An end of a new begining ...

City Connection YEAR BOOK | 2020 - 2021

Good School

By KHDA