The Secondary Department has been hard at work refining our practice and encouraging others to do the same.

Approximately 10 educators recently attended the World IB Conference in Abu Dhabi from October 24^th to October 26^th. Kristin Agostini and Justin Kirby delivered a presentation on Empowering Students Through Feedback and Assessment Objectives.

IB Announcement

“The IB believes more students should have access to an education that enables them to develop into well-rounded, multilingual and open-minded future citizens so that they can respond to global, national and local challenges thoughtfully and optimistically.

That is why it is pleased to announce that the candidate registration fee will be eliminated, effective immediately. Historically, this flat fee applied to each student registering for IB examinations on top of the per subject fee of $119. As a result, taking additional exams or pursuing the full Diploma Programme is made more affordable for students.”

This policy applies to those students that are applying with new candidacy and/or not seeking a retake on a previous IB exam. For those scholars that seek to retake an exam and complete their IB Diploma Candidacy by sitting for the May 2020 exam session the IB Registration fee still stands. Information on your scholars exam registration and next steps on how exam results will be forwarded to their selected universities is forthcoming mid-November.

Dear GAA Parents,

As we reach the end of the first quarter of the school year, it is an excellent time for teachers, parents and students to sit down and discuss the progress that students are making thus far. To facilitate this process, Parent Conferences will take place next week on Wednesday, November 6th, from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Thursday, November 7th, from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for Elementary and Secondary. There are no classes on these two days.

In the Secondary Division (Grades 6 - 12), parent conferences will take place on the first floor in the gymnasium and the cardio room in an open format. All teachers will be available on a first come, first served basis. In order to keep the wait times to a reasonable length of time, we ask that teachers limit their conferences to 10 minutes per student. If you feel you need more than 10 minutes with any given teacher, please feel free to make an appointment with that teacher outside of the parent conference days. We strongly encourage students to attend these conferences to hear first hand about their progress and strategies for improvement.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Peter Thorpe

email: msvprincipal_gaa@Gemsedu.com

Each year, GAA dedicates their lessons to helping students and teachers feel the joys of an active lifestyle.

The culminating project for the 6^th grade cooperative games unit had students collaborate with a small group and invent their own game incorporating elements of games we’ve already played and using any available equipment in our inventory. Once completed the students presented their game to the class and everyone played the game. The diversity of thought when figuring out ways to get students to cooperate during game play was impressive.

All grade 7’s started school learning the basics of Volleyball, learning how to pass the ball in different ways and an underhand serve. We are currently busy with our aquatics Unit and are mainly focusing on the four strokes, water safety and water polo.

This year MS started PE with a Health & Fitness unit to help support the students journey to incorporate healthy habits in their daily lives. The unit helped to educate them on the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.

This year HS started their first unit in the pool. High School students focused on strokes development and water safety. Currently we are focusing on lifelong health and fitness which helps students stay active beyond school hours.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE GAA EVENTS CALENDAR

(please note, updated regularly)

• November 3 - UAE Flag Day: KG & Elementary wear UAE Flag colors; Secondary School in UAE Traditional Dress.
• November 6-7 - Parent-Teacher-Student Conferences: NO CLASSES!
• November 7 - 8 - NESAC International Swimming Championship @ GAA Swimming Pool
• November 11 - Senior Cap and Gown Stu Williamson Photoshoot
• November 21 - GAAPA Sunset Movie Night/Garage Sale

Our preferred Apple provider, JTRS (Just The Right Solutions), has created an e-store from which you can purchase a number of Apple products below retail costs. JTRS Education is offering discounts on MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs and iPads, as well as add-ons, cases and extended warranties.

Below, you will find a document on how to locate and sign-up for the e-store to see the discounted products and make a purchase. Once purchased, JTRS Education will be in communication with you about when they will be delivered to the school. Once they have been delivered to GAA, you may pick your devices up from the ICT office here at the school.

If you have any further questions, please contact JTRS directly at +971 4 338 0990 or info@jtrs.ae