Dear GIS Parents,

Parent Engagement Session

Thank you to all parents who attended our Parent Engagement Session on Tuesday 3 February. It was a pleasure to engage so positively with so many of you, to share an update on the progress made since August 2025, and to provide insight into the next steps as we continue to move forward together.

These sessions are an important part of our commitment to open communication and partnership with parents. We will be continuing them throughout the academic year, with the next session planned for April 2026. The slides from the February session are attached for your reference, and we look forward to welcoming even more of you at the next engagement event.

A reminder that the GEMS wide parent survey is currently open for feedback, thank you to all parents that have already completed this. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly  (n.pandya_gis@gemsedu.com) if you have specific concerns so that I can help resolve them; but please do complete the survey to ensure we have appropriate parent representation from across the school.

Ramadan Timings

Thank you also to parents who took the time to engage with the survey regarding Ramadan timings and the potential move to online learning for secondary students. The results indicate that 8:30am to 1:30pm is the most popular option for Ramadan timings, and we will therefore plan to proceed with this schedule. Please note, however, that this may be subject to change should there be any last-minute guidance from the KHDA.

Online learning for Friday

With regard to online learning, we require some additional time to analyse the data by grade level. We will engage with parents separately once this review has been completed.

University Fair

We were fortunate to have representatives from 22 universities across Canada, the United States, Turkey, Spain, Italy and beyond at our University Fair. Our students in Grades 10–12 engaged with confidence and curiosity, exploring global pathways and asking thoughtful, future-focused questions. As the university teams departed, many commented on how impressed they were by our students’ maturity, insight and readiness. It was a wonderful showcase of the ambition, global outlook and calibre of our GIS learners.

Primary School Update

It has been a busy and rewarding week in our Primary School. Our Grade 3 and Grade 4 students were delighted to welcome their parents for their Celebrations of Learning. Both grades worked extremely hard on their Units of Inquiry and proudly shared their learning through thoughtful and engaging presentations with their families.

Our Grade 5 parents also joined us for an informative session led by the Secondary School team, who shared what to expect in Grade 6 next year and discussed how, together, we can best support students through this important transition.

Thank you to all parents for attending these events and for your continued partnership. Congratulations to our wonderful students, and sincere thanks to our faculty and staff for their hard work and dedication.

Secondary School Update

Thank you to all of our Grade 10 students, parents, and Personal Project supervisors for the commitment, effort, and support shown throughout the Personal Project journey. The range of projects on display was impressive, thoughtful, and deeply considered, and it was a pleasure to explore and celebrate this work together.

We are also grateful to our Week Without Walls trip leaders, the team leading MYP sessions on campus, and to all coaches and activity leads for the continued guidance and support they provide our students throughout the year.

As always, we remain strongly committed to building a positive, respectful, and constructive partnership between home and school, working together to best support our students.

Thank you for your continued engagement and support.

Kind regards,

Nevita Pandya
CEO/Principal

Mirna Hafez-Farah 

Primary School Principal

Aaron Kane

Secondary School Principal

WhatsApp Channels

Primary and Secondary WhatsApp Channels for our GIS community. These Channels will run on WhatsApp, meaning you will be able to manage your own notification settings and access the updates easily.

It is important to note that only our Parent Relations Executive, Helen Gornall, will be able to post messages to

these Channels and this will only be to share announcements/updates applicable. We encourage you to check

the relevant Channels regularly to remain informed about the latest developments.

For any queries on Slices, please call or WhatsApp Andrea from Slices on 050 504 5908

Kind reminder to ensure students accounts have enough credit loaded so they do not face issues purchasing food. 

GIS Community Calendar 25/6

If you would like to subscribe to the the GIS Community Calendar, please click HERE for the link.  

This calendar will be continually updated to reflect key dates and events.