KG & Elementary

KG SECTION FOUND IN DROP DOWN MENU

Message from our Elementary Principal,

Mr. Mike Hopaluk

Good Day GAA Community,

Please view the video below to get information on:

Welcoming students back to campus
GEMS Spring Parent Survey
Dress Down Days
Jewels of Kindness

Sincerely,

Mike Hopaluk

Elementary Principal

email: esprincipal_gaa@gemsedu.com

IMPORTANT! NEWS FROM ADEK

(Abu Dhabi Department for Education and Knowledge)

Dear Families,

We are required by ADEK to update Student and Parent Emirates IDs on ADEK student database (esis). As we are nearing end of school year, it is important that information on ADEK student database is up-to-date, as this may block the student transfers. Please bring your and your child(ren)'s ORIGINAL EMIRATES IDs to school to scan.

If you do not have a 96-hour valid PCR test or E sign on your Al Hosn App, a member of Admissions team will collect the IDs at the Main Gate 1 to scan and will return right away.

Alternatively you may send the IDs with your child.

Thank you.

Razan Maoued

Government Relations Executive

YEARBOOKS HAVE ARRIVED!

Dear GAA Families,

We are pleased to inform you that the 2020-2021 GAA Yearbooks have arrived.

To facilitate the collection, we have arranged to following distribution procedure for the yearbooks that have been paid for:

Distance Learners in KG, Elementary and Secondary (including Grade 12) will be able to collect yearbooks from Main Gate Security as of June 1 (any time between 08:00am-08:00pm)
Face-to-Face students in KG and Elementary schools will receive their copies in the classrooms as of June 2.
Face-to-Face students in Secondary school will be able to collect their yearbooks from Main Reception as of June 2 (any time between 07:30am - 04:00pm).

If you have not ordered your copy yet, you can do so through Parent Portal http://oasis.gemseducation.com Activities Section.

Alternatively, you can pay (AED 175) at school.

Do not hesitate to contact us at pre_gaa@gemsedu.com if you have any questions.

Message from our Elementary Vice-Principal, Mr. John O'Neill

Dear Parents,

I hope you are well and as excited as I am to have the students in school again next week. This year has been a continual challenge and it seems that we will remain challenged by COVID-19, right up until the last day of school. Despite this, we are in our final month and are determined to end it as strongly as we can.

As the school year draws to a close, you may be wondering how to celebrate this school year with your children. While parties and large gatherings were common ways to celebrate the end of the school year, this opens us up to risks that could have major consequences for your children’s summer break. It may be difficult to come up with ideas to mark this milestone, even though you wish to do so.

I recently turned to a favorite source of online information, Common Sense Media, where I could find ideas for celebrating the end of year safely. Looking through the list, I had inspiration for ideas that GAA families could try themselves:

Create a ‘yearbook’ for your child from a selection of best photo posts from their SeeSaw account
Download best video posts to SeeSaw and create a highlight video to celebrate your child’s growth and learning
In the final week of school, have your child create letters or cards to send to their classmates, wishing them a happy summer break. Your child’s classroom teacher can help in distributing these to students in the classroom.

Please read the article for yourself and see if other inspiring ideas come to you: https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/28-fun-ways-to-celebrate-the-end-of-the-school-year-from-a-distance

Sincerely,

John O’Neill

Upper Elementary Vice Principal

News from Grade 1F

Ms. Norma Brassil

Grade 1F have been exploring How The World Words. They have been investigating how light and sound are used, the sources of light and how sound is made. Students have been sharing why they think light and sound are needed to keep us safe, especially when crossing at a pedestrian crossing. They went on a scavenger hunt finding objects that are transparent, translucent and opaque. Students explored what happens when light is blocked and cannot travel; it is dark and shadows are formed.

News from Grade 5A

Mr. Christopher Hurst

The students in 5A have been working on how they want to show action as part of their PYPX.

Here are some of their action pieces that they wish to share with the GAA community:

Action - Alvaro.mov

Alvaro

Charlie

In this picture there is a bunny with makeup on its face. Animals are not supposed to wear makeup so why are we making them? The gray background represents the stress an animal goes through.

Action - Hend.mov

Hend

Action - Jane, Afra, Saeed, Sultan.mov

Jane, Afra, Saeed, Sultan

Action - Marguerrette.mov

Marguerrette

Action - Saimah.mp4

Saimah

Action - Simeon.mov

Simeon

Action -Fatma.pdf

Fatma

Action - Tala, Gianna, Alreem.pdf

Tala, Gianna, Alreem

Action - Zeina & Amah.mov

Zeina and Amah

Action - Umaiza.mov

Umayza

Action - Syed.mov

Syed

News from KG and Grade 1 Library

Ms. Jennifer Thompson

This May, the KG and Grade 1 students have been busy reading and creating in Library class. Grade 1 students listened to various books by author Drew Daywalt. After listening to one of his books, The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors, students participated in a rock, paper, scissors battle and created bar graphs to show their results.

Also, during May, students listened to the Dragons Love Tacos books by Adam Rubin. Afterwards, they had fun drawing funny tacos and played the card game “Taco Party” with a partner.

This past week, students listened to some popular kids books that are available in GAA’s “Summer is Better With Books” Online Book Fair. They created Book Fair Wish Lists based on the books they were most excited about from the book fair.

As a kind reminder, don’t forget that Book Character Dress-Up Day has been moved to Thursday, June 10. I can’t wait to see everyone’s costumes! Also, all library books need to be returned to the Library by June 10.

Don’t forget to spend time reading over the summer. I look forward to hearing all about your favorite books when we return to school in August!

IMPORTANT:

COVID-19 PROCEDURES

What if my child feels unwell at school?

Non-COVID-related: If your child develops any symptoms during school hours:

The student will be flagged by the teacher and will be referred to the school clinic for triage. If child does not have fever or any other COVID-19 symptoms, Nurse will contact the parent to investigate any possible illness at home by family member. Depending on the condition of the child, parent may be asked to collect from school.
If student is sent home, parent must provide doctor's medical certificate for return to campus.

COVID-related: Your child will be considered as a suspected case of Covid-19, if displaying any signs and symptoms such as cough, fever or breathlessness and:

Child will be moved to Quarantine Room, where they will be monitored by a School Nurse.
Nurse will contact the parents immediately to retrieve the child from the school.
The school shall not administer any medicines to the child.
The school will inform the parents about the nearest hospital and COVID-19 testing center.
If the child tests positive for COVID-19, parents are mandated to inform the school so that they can take measures to secure the health of other students and staff who may have been exposed to the virus.
If child has siblings at GAA attending in-campus, they must be quarantined at home as well.
Student(s) will be able to return to school after 2 consecutive negative COVID tests and doctor's medical certificate.

COVID-19 Reporting Procedures at GAA

We remind parents of our safety protocols with regards to COVID-19:

What if my child or a household member tests positive?

Notify school immediately by calling GAA's COVID-19 Hotline at 052 1048099 to enable us to activate appropriate response. Or email: pre_gaa@gemsedu.com
Keep your child and other GAA siblings isolated at home for at least 10 days and follow the instructions of Health Authorities.
Distance Learning will be enabled for your child.
Child will be cleared to return to school once they have 2 consecutive negative test results, submitting doctor's note and results to the school nurse.

What's the Return to School protocol?

Positive case: They must show a Clearance Report from SEHA or their Health Care Provider confirming they are clear to return to school. This report shows the high-level history of the case including date confirmed positive, the 2 negative results and that the patient has completed the isolation period.

Contacts of the positive case: contacts must continue their 10 day home quarantine, even if they test negative, and are only allowed back in school after receiving 2 consecutive negative test results (approximately day 1 and day 8 testing).

We thank you for your continuous support.

May 31-June 12: K-12 Online Book Fair
June 7: GAAPA Coffee Morning @ Circles Cafe, Gardens Plaza, 10:00am - 12:00pm. RSVP here
June 8: Elementary Dress Down Day in support of Khaled and Doyun PYPX project. 5AED donation will go towards their Rescue Stray Animal project.
June 10: Half-Day, school dismisses at 12pm. Elementary Dress Down Day theme BOOK CHARACTER. 5AED donation in support of GAAPA.
June 15-17: KG2 Promotions
June 21: PYP Exhibition
June 24: Grade 5 Promotion
June 30: Last day of school. Half-Day. School dismissed at 12.