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The Nine – a New Level of Luxury
New Book Reminds Pupils of the Importance of Judicious, Individual, Decision Making
CHARLIE CRISP, A RECEPTIONIST AT THE AQUILA SCHOOL, HAS PUBLISHED HIS FIRST BOOK, TITLED ‘DECISION STREET, WHICH WAS LAUNCHED AT THE SHARJAH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL. INSPIRED BY THE PUPILS HE SEES EVERY DAY, THE STORY BEGAN AS A PERSONAL PROJECT FOR CRISP DURING THE SCHOOL’S SUMMER BREAK.
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Charlie Crisp, A receptionist at The Aquila School
According to Crisp: “Working in a school, you are constantly surrounded by children and, for the past three years, I’ve seen a lot of them flourish academically and socially. It’s quite inspiring. Not being a teacher, I can’t really help from an academic point of view, but I wanted to see if I could help from the social side. As a young child, I had a computer game that, when you got to certain stages, asked me how to continue - ‘To go left press the space bar, to go right press F5’. As a child, I found that incredible.
“It was me making the choice and not a grown-up. This has stuck with me through the years. The idea of writing a children’s picture book to guide them in certain situations but, ultimately, leaving the children to make the choice, stemmed from these two situations.”
Aimed primarily at students below the age of eight, the book presents them with experiences in different scenarios, where they have to make decisions based on two possible options. They will then be transported to different pages based on their choice. If it is the ‘right decision’ they will be told what the outcome is.
When asked about how long he had been thinking about writing, Crisp replied: “It has been something I have thought about for the past few years. As a parent, I would read bedtime stories to my children and always found the Julia Donaldson books very clever. The stories are fun, but I have been particularly impressed with her rhyming. I personally find rhyming books more fun to read so, after deciding to give this a go, I was determined to make it a rhyming picture book.”
‘Decision Street’ has a unique rhythm. Crisp makes rhymes from different scenarios in the book and has also named two characters after his children.
You can purchase your copy of the book here: www.sanadbooks.com/decision-street.html
STAND A CHANCE TO WIN A YEARS WORTH OF SCHOOL FEES
THE PAINTING WIZARD INVITES YOU TO THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS INTER-SCHOOL PAINTING COMPETITION FOR ALL STUDENTS ACROSS THE UAE. THIS HYBRID COMPETITION AIMS TO BRING BACK NORMALCY IN THE LIVES OF CHILDREN POSTCOVID. THE IDEA IS TO ENGAGE AND CREATE INTERACTION WITH OTHER STUDENTS, AND LEARN AND EXPLORE THEIR OWN CREATIVE SIDE. AND WHAT’S BEST IS THAT THERE IS A LOT TO WIN, ALONG WITH THE JOY OF PAINTING AND DISCOVERY.
Spread across three weeks, The Painting Wizard is split into different stages of competition to finally reveal the top four students/young artists from the UAE.
The initial registration is completely online. The students will have to fill in a pre-set artwork with colours of their imagination and submit it to the website. 40 finalists will then undergo a FREE workshop by our esteemed jury and on the event finale. These 40 will battle it out with a LIVE painting competition followed by a gala dinner and awards ceremony to emerge winners.
CATEGORIES
1. Class 1 – 3 2. Class 4 - 6 3. Class 7 & 8 4. Class 9 & 10
DATES TO REMEMBER:
Submission Deadline 15th August 2022
WORKSHOP
21st August 2022
EVENT FINALE
28th August 2022, Legoland Dubai
WHAT CAN YOU WIN?
One winner from each category will win a full year’s school fees as a scholarship FREE online coding courses FREE training ART workshop Gift Hampers and much more
We thank all our partners – BrightChamps, Byju’s, Skechers, The Paintbrush Community, Education UAE, NABD, Kidzapp and Khaleej Times - for all the support they have given to make this initiative a memorable one. Hurry up and send in your entries to win amazing prizes.
