Dwight School Dubai

PARENT BULLETIN

17 April 2026

Return to School Preparations

Spotlight Edit is our weekly Lower School visual showcase, sharing key moments and learning from across the week.

This week, the focus is on the people behind it all. In the UAE’s Year of the Family, it feels apt to acknowledge the individuals who make this community what it is through their time, effort and consistency.

The collaboration, flexibility, and care shown over the past 5 weeks of remote learning have reinforced the strong foundations of our school family.

It was lovely for our teachers and staff to have a moment to connect socially last week, an often forgotten but vital step in our preparations to return to school in person. A lot goes into making this community what it is, and it shows.

Gullrukh Rafiq | Assistant Principal & PYP Coordinator | grafiq@dwight.ae

ECA and Sports Provision

In-person sport and ECA provision will be communicated to parents once we have received further guidance from the KHDA and settled back into school.

Sign up and selection for the Sports Teams and ECA's will be communicated to parents through Schools Buddy once we are able to proceed.

Therapy Offers

We are pleased to share that our school partner, Hakkini Clinic, which supports our school community through services such as Speech and Language therapy and Occupational Therapy, is offering a special promotion for April 2026. This includes a free initial consultation and 50% off all psychological assessments using evidence-based tools to support children effectively. To book, please contact Hakkini Clinic via WhatsApp on +0525311431.

Also, Sensation Station is offering 90-minute Play-Zone sessions for AED 99 (usually AED 170), supporting children’s wellbeing through the power of play and therapist-designed activities. Available daily (10:00 am–11:30 am, 1:00 pm–2:30 pm, 5:00 pm–6:30 pm). Offer valid until 30 April 2026. To book, please contact: 04-277 6769 or send an email to: admin@sensationstation.ae; play-zoneassistants@sensationstation.ae indicating the preferred date, time slot and child's name/age.

Paraskevi (Viviana) Kontogeorgou | Quest Teacher / Quest Coordinator & Master Teacher | pkontogeorgou@dwight.ae

Sparkathon 2026

Due to the current situation, it has been decided that Dwight School Dubai will not be entering this year's Dwight community design event, Sparkathon 2026. This is unfortunate indeed but the safety and well being of all those involved must be our highest priority. Thank you to all of those students who had applied. We will regroup and enter again next year in order to claim our crown back!

Andrew Georgiou | Head of Art and Design | ageorgiou@dwight.ae

Grade 5 Street Art for Change Project

In the Grade 5 Street Art for Change project, students explored children’s rights and used their voices to advocate for positive change through powerful visual messages. They designed impactful street art pieces using Canva, combining bold typography, strong imagery, and meaningful slogans. Each artwork reflects their understanding of real-world issues affecting children and their ability to communicate ideas visually. The final pieces demonstrate creativity, digital design skills, and a strong sense of social awareness and responsibility.

Harshpriya Kalra | Art Teacher | hkalra@dwight.ae

Grade 8 MYP Options Evening

Thank you to Grade 8 parents for taking the time to attend our Grade 8 MYP Options Evening on Wednesday April 15. We truly appreciate your engagement and the thoughtful questions you brought to the session. Your involvement plays an important role in supporting your child as they make informed decisions about their subject choices.

As promised, we are sharing the presentation slides from the evening, along with a list of important documents to guide you through the options process, also helpful if you were not able to attend. Please click here to access the links.

Katherine Filkins | Assistant Principal & MYP Coordinator | kfilkins@dwight.ae

Grade 10 e-Assessment Options

Thank you to Grade 10 parents for attending the MYP E-Assessment Options Q&A session on Tuesday, April 14. I would like to take this opportunity to share a summary of the available options, provide the link to the form for submitting your selections, and highlight answers to some of the insightful questions raised by both parents and students.

Should you have any further questions or wish to arrange a meeting to discuss these options in more detail, please feel free to contact me at your convenience.

Katherine Filkins | Assistant Principal & MYP Coordinator | kfilkins@dwight.ae

Careers & College Counselling

Following on from last Friday's message, we hope students and parents will join us next week on April 22nd by welcoming Ms. Jem Felicilda, the Director of Residency and Citizenship at Knightsbridge Group, Dubai.

Ms. Felicilda is our first of three guest speakers to take part in our Careers Day 2026.

In our sessions, industry professionals will share insights into their own unique academic journeys and career pathways. The aim is to provide a deeper understanding of workplace culture, key skills and the study and career options which may relate to, and certainly support, our students' future development.

For times, dates and the required link, kindly see the flyer.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

David Turner | Career and College Counselor | dturner@dwight.ae

Challenge ME Mathematics - Celebrating Student Success

Challenge ME is an inter-school Mathematics competition that began in September, bringing together students to think critically, solve problems creatively, and challenge themselves beyond the classroom.

We are proud to share that 144 students from grades 6-9 from our school participated in Stage 1 of this enriching journey. A special congratulations goes to those who progressed through Stage 2, and to our outstanding students who reached Stage 3 (Semi-finals) and Stage 4 (Finals - Tuna 6B, Peter 6B, Ishq 6C, Mira 7C, and Sahem 8B). Reaching these stages is a remarkable accomplishment.

We are also incredibly proud of all our students in Grades 2–5 who took part in this journey. A special congratulations to those who progressed through Stage 2, and to those who reached Stage 3 (Semi-finals) and Stage 4 (Finals - Petr 2C, Ella 3C and Safwan 3A), which took place this week - an outstanding achievement at every level.

We warmly invite our school community to join the Challenge ME Awards Ceremony, a celebration of student achievement. The event will recognise the top three students from each year group across participating schools and will feature an inspiring keynote address by Charlie Walker.

Lower School Online Awards Ceremony | Link | Sunday, 19th April at 4:00 pm (UAE time)

Upper School Online Awards Ceremony | Link | Sunday, 19th April at 6:00 pm (UAE time)

We look forward to celebrating together!

Hareem Navaid | Head of Mathematics | hnavaid@dwight.ae

Jenna Brooks | Homeroom Teacher & Lower School Mathematics Leader | jbrooks@dwight.ae

MYP Mathematics Exhibition 2026

We are delighted to invite the Dwight community to our 6th Annual Mathematics Exhibition, which will be open for viewing by Monday, 20th April at the following link:

6th Annual DSD Math Exhibition

Students’ work will continue to be uploaded over the weekend.

Here are the Instructions for navigating the Virtual Math Exhibition:

Link to Instructions

The Mathematics Exhibition provides students with an opportunity to experience mathematics through inquiry-based learning, connecting mathematical concepts to authentic real-life experiences while showcasing their own cultures, Emirati culture, and themes of sustainability, innovation, and globalization. Our MYP students will showcase their mathematical sparks of genius through a range of creative presentations that reflect their understanding, knowledge, and appreciation of mathematics.

We look forward to sharing the joy of mathematics with you and celebrating the exceptional work of our brilliant students.

Hareem Navaid | Head of Mathematics | hnavaid@dwight.ae

Quest and Counseling Online Coffee Morning

Many thanks to our community members for attending the Quest Coffee & Network session “Steady Parents, Safe Kids: Strategies for Families During Uncertain and Distressing Times,” on 14th April. This session was well received by our parents and staff given the unprecedented circumstances we are facing currently.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to our guest psychologist, Ms. Christine Kritzas from LightHouse Arabia for her time, expertise, and generosity in sharing valuable insights with our community. Her contribution is deeply appreciated and will undoubtedly make a meaningful difference to both our parents and staff.

The Quest department and our Counselor Ms. Prabha hope you found the session informative, supportive, and empowering. Please find the link to the session recording: https://bit.ly/3Om1AhO. This link will be available to all our community members until 20th April.

Neha Sharma | Assistant Principal & Head of Quest (Inclusion) | nsharma@dwight.ae

Online Learning in the Languages Department

Mandarin

The Grade 6 online Chinese classes are currently exploring the topic of family and relatives. Through a range of interactive learning activities - including small group discussions, pair work, and individual speaking tasks - students are progressively developing their listening and speaking skills in Mandarin.

These structured opportunities for communication not only support students in building confidence in spoken Chinese, but also enhance their ability to express ideas clearly and effectively. The inquiry-based approach encourages active participation and meaningful use of language in authentic contexts, fostering both linguistic development and learner engagement.

House Updates

Lower School House Wake and Shake Challenge

Scorpions had a fantastic 62 responses (310 house points), while Falcons and Vipers had 65 responses each (325 house points). However, the winners of Monday’s Wake and Shake Challenge were Leopards, with an incredible 81 responses, earning them 405 house points! It is lovely to see the community coming together and posting their movements.

Jack Beere | PE Teacher & Lower School Head of House | jbeere@dwight.ae

Current House Point Totals

21,834

23,000

21,768

21,105

Message from the Head of School - 17 April 2026

Dear Parents,

Thank you for your continued support and partnership. We look forward to welcoming students back to campus in a calm and positive way as soon as we have the approval to do so. Please refer to my email yesterday evening for the most up-to-date information.

I will write again early next week with a further update. Once we have confirmation that students may return to campus, we will also share helpful guidance to support you in preparing your children for school, offering reassurance as we navigate this transition together.

Monday, 20th April will now be dedicated to essential staff training. This will allow us to ensure that all colleagues are fully prepared to implement updated safety procedures and to support students’ wellbeing as they return to campus. As a result, there will be no live online lessons on Monday; instead, learning activities will be shared via Seesaw and Google Classroom.

In the meantime, please complete our Return to School Parent Survey if you have not already done so. Your responses are extremely helpful as we prepare for the week ahead, and we are grateful to those who have already submitted theirs.

We look forward to a safe, confident, and supportive transition back into on‑campus school life.

Please click here to read this week's Parent Bulletin

Warm regards,

David Hutson | Head of School

Head of School Email to Parents 16 April 2026

Return to School Parent Survey