Embedded Files
Week Twenty-Nine - April 28th, 2023
Kim Conlin
Head of Primary
Dear PYP Parents,
I hope this message finds you well and looking forward to the month of May. As we continue to navigate through the academic year, I am thrilled to share with you some exciting updates and events happening in our school.
Firstly, I want to remind everyone that we have our Spring Carnival on Saturday from 3:00-7pm. It is an excellent opportunity to spend quality time with family and friends while enjoying fun activities and games. I hope to see many of you there!
It has been a welcome change to return to regular school hours 8:10 am to 3:30 pm. The start of term 3 extra curricular activities has been smooth this week. Please be reminded to collect students after ECAs at 4:15 promptly. I am grateful for your support and understanding.
Thank-you to the parents who recently joined the Council of International School Parent session. Your involvement and dedication to our school community are highly appreciated.
In addition, I am excited to announce a new approach we are trying for our parent ConnectEds program. This week, we will be hosting a live peek into learning for upper primary math on Wednesday. It will be a great opportunity for parents to see how we teach math in the classroom and how they can support their child's learning at home. Please see the details below on how to sign up for this exciting event.
Lastly, I want to remind everyone that our CIS accreditation visit is approaching fast, and it will take place from May 9-12. We are looking forward to showcasing our school's commitment to providing a high-quality education for our students.
Thank you for your continuous support and cooperation. I hope you have an enjoyable weekend. See you at Spring Carnival!
Head of Primary, GIS
Newsletter at a Glance
Newsletter at a Glance
In this edition you will find:
Announcements / Reminders / Upcoming dates
Iftar Food Drive
Peek Into Learning: Writing in the Early Years
Primary Pages - link to Grade and Class pages
PYP reminders and resources
Absence Procedure
Whole School Calendar
Upcoming Dates
Upcoming Dates
April 29 - Spring Carnival
May - Healthy Eating Campaign Month
May 8-12th - CIS Evaluation Visit
May 18th - Student Led Conferences (not a school day for students)
May 29-June 2 - GIS Arts Week
Announcements and Reminders:
Announcements and Reminders:
New upcoming ConnectEd!
New upcoming ConnectEd!
We would like to welcome parents to our PYP Peek into Learning focusing on Mathematics. You are invited to join us on Wednesday May 3rd from 1:30pm-2:30pm. The first part of the hour will be spent briefing parents on what they should expect to see. Next, small groups of parents, escorted by members of the academic leadership team, will visit a select number of our upper primary classrooms. Parents will be able to get a deeper understanding of how Math looks in practice. Please note there will not be an option to specify visiting your child's class, and this opportunity will provide you with a range of classes to observe the progression of mathematical learning across the PYP. If you would like to attend, please complete this form.
Iftar Food Drive
Iftar Food Drive
We managed to distribute 500 bags to our support staff, workers & the needy outside our community. Your efforts are greatly appreciated! Click here to see some pictures of the drive.
Peek Into Learning: Writing in Early Years
Peek Into Learning: Writing in Early Years
Writing in the Early Years forms a big part of writing development as students progress through the school. Early writing begins with mark making using different materials, for different purposes and writing through play. Students begin to write letters of their name and draw pictures to express their ideas. As learners begin to recognise sounds they represent them as letters, beginning with initial sounds and other sounds within words. As learners move into KG2 they begin to create words and sentences to express their ideas for different purposes. They are exposed to the idea of sentence structure and begin using capitals and ending punctuation. In Grade 1 students begin to recognize different text types and their features including opinion, narrative and informational texts.
All students are provided with many oppportunities to write each day through not only their language lessons but also integrated within other areas of learning. They are encouraged to write for different purposes and using different mediums from writing in the sand, writing lists on paper or writing using digital technology.
Writing development can be supported at home by providing your child with opportunities to write for real life purpose e.g. helping to write a shopping list, writing down their ideas, writing letters to family or friends, writing a diary or writing their own stories or informational books.
Pre K
Writing for different purposes through play, writing their name and using different mediums to mark make.
KG1
Using letters and sounds to represent words to add further detail to their drawings. Writing about how they can take care of the Earth as part of their unit of inquiry.
KG2
Writing words and simple sentences to express their ideas. They use their writing skills to write about investigations in their inquiry, and write about characters in their stories.
Grade 1
Writing stories, labelling for information and giving their opinion about different topics.
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
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.
Key Contacts
Key Contacts
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