Dwight School Dubai

PARENT BULLETIN

27 March 2026

Teaching & Learning Online

Distance Learning

I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all stakeholders involved in our remote learning efforts. The saying, "it takes a village to raise a child," rings true; it certainly takes a collective effort to support remote learning. I extend my sincere thanks to our dedicated teachers for their commitment and adaptability in transitioning to remote instruction, and to our parents for their invaluable support in facilitating their children's learning at home.

We are continually reflecting on our practices and reviewing how we can enhance the learning experiences we provide to our students during this remote learning period. With this in mind, we have made the following adaptations to our provisions moving forward:

Asynchronous Learning

This week, we introduced recordings of lessons for asynchronous learners. However, upon review, we have identified that recording lessons negatively impacts the privacy, engagement, and personalization of learning for students participating synchronously. Therefore, we will no longer record lessons. Instead, teachers will ensure that both students and parents have access to detailed instructions to complete their assignments. The format may vary from class to class, depending on the specific activity.

Ongoing Review and Reflection

To ensure we capture the voices of all children, students, and parents, teachers will now distribute weekly surveys to students. These surveys provide an opportunity for students to share their weekly learning experiences and offer real-time feedback. We encourage parents to engage with their children in completing these surveys together, fostering productive discussions about learning. The first survey will be posted in Seesaw or Google Classroom on Monday, and moving forward, these surveys will be distributed every Friday while remote learning is in effect.

Thank you for your continued support and collaboration as we work together to provide the best possible learning environment for our students.

Larissa Milne | Assistant Principal and Head of Teaching, Learning & Assessment | lmilne@dwight.ae

Supporting Student Wellbeing During Remote Learning

As we come to the end of the first week of Term 3, I would like to thank parents and guardians for your continued support. Whether families are currently in Dubai or overseas, we know that this remains an unusual and, for some, unsettled time.

Although students are already familiar with remote learning, the return to routine after the Spring break may still have felt challenging for some. While many children will have settled well this week, others may be feeling more tired, less motivated, or emotionally stretched. This is understandable.

As we move into the week ahead, the most helpful things families can do are often the simplest: keep routines as steady as possible, encourage regular sleep, build in breaks away from screens, and check in gently with your child about how they are feeling.

It is also helpful to keep news and social media exposure age-appropriate, particularly for older students who may be seeing a great deal online. Calm reassurance, clear routines, and a little extra patience go a long way.

If your child is finding things difficult, either emotionally or academically, please do reach out. Your child’s teacher, advisor, Dean, Mrs Prabha (School Counselor), and the wider pastoral team are all here to support.

Thank you again for your partnership and care as we head into the second week of Term 3.

Melanie Holmes | Head of Pastoral & Wellbeing | mholmes@dwight.ae

Supporting Parents

We know that many parents will be juggling working from home themselves during this time. Prabha Raman, our School Counselor, attended a counsellors’ support group session organised by Lighthouse this week, which she found very informative. Following the session, Lighthouse shared a handout for school counsellors to circulate within the parent community with some helpful advice.

TLA Remote Work_Make It Work for You Handout.pdf

Islamic Value of the Month - March

As a school community, we continue to place strong emphasis on student wellbeing, emotional reassurance, and maintaining a sense of care and connection during distance learning.

Our Islamic Value for March is Compassion and Mercy (الرَّحمَة), aligned with the IB Learner Profile attribute Caring. This value encourages students to show empathy, kindness, and understanding toward others, while also feeling safe, supported, and emotionally secure in their learning environment.

We encourage families to support this value at home by engaging in open conversations, offering reassurance, and modelling compassion and patience in daily interactions. Together, through consistent messages between home and school, we can help our students feel confident, cared for, and connected.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support.

IB and Examination Update for Grades 10, 11 & 12

Grades 10 & 12 - IB Update

We would like to share the latest communication received from the International Baccalaureate (IB) regarding the current situation in the Middle East. The IB is closely monitoring developments and remains committed to supporting students and schools during this time. We will continue to keep you informed of any further updates and remain available to support our students’ wellbeing and learning.

Grade 11 - End of Year Examinations Contingency Planning

We understand that the ongoing uncertainty in the region may be a source of concern as we approach the end of the academic year. Please be assured that the safety and wellbeing of our students, alongside the continuity of their learning, remain our absolute priorities.

We are writing to reassure you that we have robust contingency plans in place. Should the situation in the region remain uncertain over the remainder of Term 3, we are prepared to move the Grade 11 End of Year Examinations to a fully online format.

Our goal is to ensure that every student has the opportunity to demonstrate their progress in a secure and supportive environment, regardless of external circumstances. The option to move to an online format will help to ensure we have a clear and comprehensive overview of each student’s yearly academic progress. Furthermore, the data from these examinations will be vital in informing the predicted grades required for university applications at the start of the next academic year. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and will provide further technical guidance and scheduling details should a shift to online assessment become necessary.

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

Peter Atkins | Assistant Principal & DP Coordinator | patkins@dwight.ae

Sparkathon 2026

The Dwight Schools Global Sparkathon is back and this year’s theme is Life On Land.

On Saturday, 18th and Sunday, 19th of April, students in Grades 6 to 12 from Dwight and Franklin Schools around the world will come together to tackle real-world challenges, protecting forests, tackling biodiversity loss, and safeguarding the systems that keep our planet liveable.

The event is run in partnership with the Villars Institute, a Swiss non-profit bringing real climate science, an AI teaching assistant, and a student fellowship programme.

Check out this video from last year, when 100+ students representing 34 teams came together. A team from Dwight School Dubai took the win!

We encourage current students to sign up for this year's event, using the QR code on the flyer. After registering, students must email Mr Georgiou to confirm their participation.

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

Supporting Reading

To support your child’s independent reading at home, please browse this selection of free, high-quality websites that provide access to ebooks, audiobooks, and engaging storytelling resources. These platforms can help students develop reading fluency, comprehension, and a lifelong enjoyment of reading, while also offering flexible options for different abilities and interests.

For younger readers:

Read from Anywhere: Your Reading Challenge! Get ready for some reading fun, wherever you are! During distance learning, you can take part in a variety of reading activities on Padlet. Complete as many challenges as you like, at your own pace. You can keep reading and posting anytime, even during breaks. Read anything you enjoy: picture books, chapter books, nonfiction, or poetry. The most important thing is that you keep exploring and enjoying stories. If you need inspiration, here are some free online reading websites:

padlet.com/msaslam/read-from-anywhere-your-reading-challenge-9ric6zs93btu0wo3

For a range of ages:

Free audiobooks (classic texts read aloud): https://librivox.org/
Over 75,000 books (including many well-known classics): https://www.gutenberg.org/
Free audiobooks and stories for children: https://www.storynory.com/
Story videos and author read-alouds: https://www.youtube.com/user/HarperKids
Free online reading library (registration required): https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/find-a-book/library-page/
Stories, poems, and comics for younger or reluctant readers: https://www.storyberries.com/
Virtual school library with books, author videos, and activities: https://wordsforlife.org.uk/virtual-school-library/

These resources allow students to explore a wide range of genres and formats - from listening to stories, to reading independently, to engaging with authors and storytelling in different ways. Audiobooks can be particularly helpful for supporting comprehension and confidence, while ebooks allow students to read at their own pace and revisit texts easily.

Please note that some sites, particularly Project Gutenberg, host a large and varied collection intended for all age groups. As such, not all material may be suitable for younger readers. Please monitor or guide your child towards the more age-appropriate and student-friendly platforms listed above.

We encourage students to read regularly, even in short sessions, and to explore different types of texts to build both skill and enjoyment.

Thank you for your continued support in fostering positive reading habits.

Joanne Ranson | English Teacher & Literacy Coordinator | jranson@dwight.ae

Spark Sessions - Episode 2

We are delighted to launch Episode 2 of our Spark Sessions podcast. The focus is Early and Primary Years (Lower School) which we hope will be of interest to many parents and our wider community.

New episodes will be released monthly and will be available on Spotify and YouTube, as well as shared through our website and social channels. We invite you to listen, share, and be part of the conversation.

Hoda Sawan | Area Director of Sales and Marketing – Dwight MENA | info@dwight.ae

Click Here to Listen!

Dubai Government Safety Guide

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) have asked us to share a Safety Guide with our community, as it supports and reinforces adherence to safety procedures. Please find the Dubai Government Safety Guide here available in Arabic as well as the main languages of Dubai’s community (Arabic, English, Urdu, Hindi, Tagalog, Chinese, and Russian).

SafetyGuide-March2026.pdf

Message from the Head of School - 27 March 2026

Dear Parents,

I would like to extend my sincere thanks to our entire school community for the tremendous support, flexibility, and positivity shown throughout this week as we continue with distance learning. Your partnership, patience, and commitment have made a real difference, and it has been inspiring to see how our community continues to come together in such a thoughtful and supportive way.

I would also like to recognise our students, who have been wonderful. Their engagement, resilience, and enthusiasm for learning, despite the challenging circumstances and changes to their routine, have been exceptional. We are incredibly proud of how the children are navigating this period. We fully understand some children may still be adjusting. In this week's Parent Bulletin, I would recommend that you read the article, Supporting Student Wellbeing During Remote Learning and, in addition, the article for parents, Working Remotely: Making It Work for You. We hope you will find these short articles useful as we move into Week 2 of the new term.

As you know, distance learning continues next week. At the moment there has been no update from the authorities to confirm schools will return to in-person learning on Monday, 6th April.

While some families may be eager for a swift return to campus, we recognise that there are families who would not be ready and would feel more comfortable with a gradual transition. Please be assured that any return to in-person learning will only take place with approval from the authorities and once we are fully confident that all safety, wellbeing, and safeguarding measures are firmly established and operating effectively. We would continue to provide a short period of synchronous distance learning to ensure continuity and support for families. In addition, for families who remain overseas for a longer duration, we would continue to offer asynchronous learning provision.

Thank you once again for your continued trust, collaboration, and support. It is this strong sense of community that enables us to provide stability and high-quality learning for our students, whatever the circumstances.

Please click here to read this week's Parent Bulletin

Warm regards,

David Hutson | Head of School