Embedded Files
Week Eleven - November 11th 2022
Kim Conlin
Head of Primary
Dear PYP Parents,
A huge thank-you to all our dedicated staff to ensure week without walls trips were a success. The children have all made it back with many stories to share, and a load of laundry for their parents! Learning beyond the school walls takes place in so many different forms and is an important piece of purposeful and transferable learning. The approaches to learning in social, communication, thinking and self management were heightened through these trips.
Big leaps for children were made in these skills while completing different team building activities. For some it was their first time away from home, others built friendships with students in other classes and all students developed skills through new experiences (kayaking, archery, raft building).
Thanks for GISPA for hosting the first grade level parent coffee. We had a small group of parents from PK to share stories, ideas and challenges with one another and to hear from school representatives about some upcoming adventures.
I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend.
Newsletter at a Glance
Newsletter at a Glance
In this edition you will find:
Announcements / Reminders / Upcoming dates
Peek Into Learning: KG2
Week Without Walls - G3-5
Primary Pages - link to Grade and Class pages
PYP reminders and resources
Absence Procedure
Whole School Calendar
Upcoming Dates
Upcoming Dates
November 21-25th - IBT Arabic Assessment G3-5
November 28th - UAE National Day Celebration @ GIS
December 8th - GIS WinterFest (afterschool)
Announcements and Reminders:
Announcements and Reminders:
A Peek into Learning: Library
A Peek into Learning: Library
Grade 1 Teddy Bear Sleepover Writing Provocation
The Grade Ones participated in the library's teddy/soft toy sleepover. We read the story When the Library Lights Go Out by Megan McDonald and Katherine Tillotson and asked, what happens when the librarians turn off the lights and close the library doors?
Students read their soft toys a goodnight story, hugged them and reassured them they would be back in the morning and tiptoed out. All was quiet when the librarians left, but oh my, we found a mess the following morning! Toys were everywhere, and books were strewn on the floor. We watched the security camera footage to see what mischief the toys had gotten up to during the night!
This provocation was a collaboration between the library and the Grade One teachers. The goal is to get students excited to write their own narrative story with a beginning, middle and end and for them to begin using exciting adjectives. In language, our Grade Ones' are exploring the parts of a narrative story; characters, setting and problem/solution. It's always so much easier to write from a fun experience!
Grade 1's reading to their soft friends.
Animal mayhem at night
Adventure Challenges (Week Without Walls)
This week we had 240 students from Grade 3-5 take part in our Week Without Walls residential trip. These trips are a huge part of the developmental journey that is IB education. Students are given opportunities to put the skills learnt in the classroom into real life situations. Students are asked to be courageous when taking on new challenges, show good self-management skills in getting prepared in the morning and for their various activities, work on collaboration and communication skills when completing team activities. It is an invaluable experience and one that we encourage all of our students to embark on.
The developmental approach to our Week Without Walls program in PYP means that students gradually become more confident being away from parents and work on their independence and self-management skills.
Grade 3 - Umm Al Quwain- Marine Club
Grade 3 - Umm Al Quwain- Marine Club
On Wednesday and Thursday our Grade 3 students enjoyed their overnight trip to Ecoventure’s Umm Al Quwain Marine Club. Here students participated in canoeing, problem solving challenges, sensory trails and pool activities.
Grade 4 - Dibba, Fujairah
Grade 4 - Dibba, Fujairah
Our Grade 4 students travelled to Northstar’s Dibba camp for 2 nights from Monday – Wednesday. Across the 3 days our Grade 4s completed trebuchet and ropes sessions, they competed the zipline whilst enjoying the views of the camp, they learnt about archery and completed some team building exercises as well as exploring the beach and participating in water activities.
Grade 5- Al Sayh Camp
Grade 5- Al Sayh Camp
Grade 5 travelled to Ecoventure’s Al Sayh camp from Monday – Thursday for their 3 night/ 4 day trip. Students had a great time and competed many activities across the week. The week began with water activities where students learnt how to kayak efficiently, to work as a team whilst canoeing and to communicate and cooperate in order to build an effective raft. Students were very courageous in competing the high ropes, climbing wall and in particular the leap of faith. Animal interactions proved very exciting for some of our students, whilst other activities involved constructing a vehicle as a team and exploring the natural surrounding.
to check your child's class page
to check your child's class page
Primary Class Pages
Primary Class Pages
Check out for weekly class updates
Curriculum Overview Site
Curriculum Overview Site
Information for new/starting families
Information for new/starting families
Overview of communication platforms (PYP)
Overview of communication platforms (PYP)
GIS Primary Handbook 2022_23.docx.pdfPrimary Handbook 2022-2023
Primary Handbook 2022-2023
Drop off and Pick up
Drop off and Pick up
Parents PK-G1 drop/pick up in classroom (through gate 4,6,8)
Grade 2-5 drop/pick up either gate 4 or gate 8
Late/Tardy: any student arriving after the national anthem must get a late slip at front reception/gate 4
My child will be absent
My child will be absent
Email your child's homeroom teacher before 8am so that he / she can mark their absence as excused.
Complete an absence form for an absence of more than 2 days and submit to PYP office or homeroom teacher on the child's first day back.
Absence for more than 3 days requires prior approval if planned or a doctors clearance for illness related leave (in some cases a medical certificate is requested )
My child will leave during the school day (exceptional/unavoidable cases only)
My child will leave during the school day (exceptional/unavoidable cases only)
Email the gis_primaryleaverequest@gemsedu.com and your child's homeroom teacher 24 hours in advance to ensure your child and their leave slip are prepared in advance.
At the time of collection, please come to the Primary Reception at Gate 4.
Keeping our community safe with Covid-19 Protocols: if your child is a close contact or receives a positive test result please inform: gis_medicalalert@gemsedu.com
Key Contacts
Key Contacts
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