Dear GAA families,

A very Happy New Year and welcome back.

It has been great to catch up with the students on live sessions and hear about their news from winter break. Staff and students were excited to see each other and get started on the next phase of their learning. Thank you for your support with activities on SeeSaw and collaborating with teachers as students get back into routine. The goal of our distance learning schedule is to ensure flexibility and most importantly, support for families and students as they navigate their way through our online platforms. We understand that many families are working while trying to support students online, please reach out to your teacher or myself if you need anything. The wellbeing of our community is paramount during this time.

As we settle into January, we reflect on how far our community has come since the beginning of the year. We see the resilience of our students and all of the new skills they have learned over the last few months. We admire how they have adapted to the new normal of distance learning, social distancing, wearing masks and so much more. We look ahead to the new beginnings of 2022 and we stand ready to continue our commitment to supporting our community and ensuring our students have a successful and fulfilling learning journey here at GAA.

Have a safe and restful weekend.

Niamh Callanan

KG Vice Principal

This week in KG1D we have been getting used to Distance Learning. We have been practicing making Good Choices and listening to our friends while on live sessions. The students enjoyed telling each other all about the exciting things they did over the Winter break and revised letter names and sounds, colors and shapes through scavenger hunts. We made predictions while reading the story ‘The Enormous Turnip’ and discussed what living things need in order to grow and change.

Welcome to 2022 at GAA! We had a wonderful end to 2021 during our KG/Grade 1 Library classes by listening to different versions of the gingerbread man. KG students had fun creating and decorating gingerbread boys and girls. They also built bridges using Legos, popsicle sticks, straws, etc. to help the gingerbread man escape from the fox. Our “big” friend Gingy the Gingerbread Man led us in some singing and dancing, too!

Our first grade students learned how to code with the gingerbread man, colored gingerbread man bookmarks, and learned how to draw the gingerbread man. Everyone had a fabulous time!

This week, we’ve welcomed in the new year, by reading various snowman and snow themed books in our virtual library. Students participated in a “Snowman Choice Board” where they could choose to draw a snow globe and/or Olaf, play some snowman and snowboard games, watch/listen to snow falling, and dance along to the “Build a Snowman - Brain Break”.

As a kind reminder, your child(ren) may read and listen to online books for FREE on EPIC:

• First, go to www.getepic.com/students

• Second, sign-in with the class code: nmc5052

• Third, choose your child’s grade level (KG1, KG2, or grade 1).

• Finally, search for book titles, authors, and/or topics to find your child’s favorite books. Don’t forget that you can only access EPIC books for FREE Mondays through Fridays from 7:30am until 3:30pm.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to email me at j.thompson_gaa@gemsedu.com

• January 11: New Family Virtual Welcome with Mr. Rinaldo at 5pm (New families who joined us 2nd semester, please check your inboxes for zoom link)

• January 14: Half-day. Classes end at 12:00.

• January 17: expected return to face-to-face learning (subject to Abu Dhabi Government approval)

• February 4: Elementary School Report cards sent by email.