Dear Parents/Guardians and students,

I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet so many new and returning parents at last night's Secondary Curriculum Evening. We hope you found the sessions informative; and that you managed to make new connections with staff and other parents. I would like to thank our three coordinators, Ms Sandy, Ms Mariona and Ms Burcu for their detailed overview of the three IB programmes on offer in the Secondary School. Similarly, thank you to our Heads of Department who set up informative displays; and who passionately and tirelessly chatted about their subjects. Finally, thank you to Ms Mary Ann and the Operations Team for arranging the logistics of the evening.

For those parents who may have missed the event, please refer to the relevant links below:

Grade 6 to 8 MYP Presentation

Grade 9 & 10 MYP Presentation

CP Presentation

DP Presentation

Your son or daughter may speak to you in coming days regarding their MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) tests, which commence on Sept 26th. While assessment in the MYP places emphasis on many varied assessment tools, the DP and CP will require students to sit external exams. These tests provide our MYP students with an opportunity to experience examination conditions. Therefore, sitting the MAP tests are an important experience for your child to have.

Additionally, your child's results from the MAP assessments provide valuable information to us as a school with regard to the support and guidance that your child may need. Therefore, you are encouraged to read the more detailed information below to ensure that your child is prepared for the upcoming assessments.

It is vital that your child has prepared their laptop as per instructions below prior to the assessment window opening. They are also encouraged to sit the practice assessments to better prepare themselves for the real assessments that lie ahead.

Continuing to plan ahead, Parent Teacher Conferences in the Secondary School will occur on Oct 12th to 14th. We ask you to pencil these dates into your diary as this will provide an opportunity to chat to your child's teachers and to gain a clearer idea of your son or daughter's goals for the upcoming year. More detailed information will be shared in teh lead up to these days.

Once again, thank you for your support.

I wish all of our families a wonderful weekend.

Amanda Murphy

Head of Secondary School

At GIS, we place great importance on community well-being, and we are delighted to announce our partnership with Upstrive Education!

Upstrive Education is a practical and efficient online platform (and mobile app) that will better enable us to identify and address the social, emotional and academic needs of the young people in our care, through real-time data and feedback that provides valuable insights on student well-being both inside and outside the classroom.

Through the Upstrive online platform and mobile app, students will:

• Develop greater levels of self-awareness and the ability to equip themselves with their own personalised toolkit to successfully and responsibly overcome challenges.

• Enhance their self-management skills through a range of bespoke courses that focus on creating confidence, building resilience, SMART goal setting, and lots more.

• Have a safe platform through which they can to communicate and access science-backed tools to help them look after their own mental, physical, emotional and social well-being.

More information about the launch of Upstrive Education at GIS will follow in due course!

Language Stars of the Week

G6

Carmen Elfeky, Martina Escobar, Moutaz Duwaji, Gamal Elnefeidi, Vedant Rajpurohit, Skandar Zouaoui, Andy Faddoul

G7

Luciana Moya, Sama Abdulaal, Maryam Majid Ibrahim, Laylo Nadjmiddinova, Grayson Corbin, Sebastian Merila

G8

Samridhi Sharma, Tobias Madsen, Nysha Modi, Yalda Ahmadi, Fatima Imran, Vihaan Gadkary, Layan El Dawi

G9

Yassin El Shafie, Aadit Chandrani, Ayla Fardinfard, Jenefa Albert, Isidora Munoz, Tia Sarrouh, Neeraja Giridhar, Aleks Ropelewski

G10

Boitumelo Kganyago, Suhani Kothari, Ezra Dsouza, Daniel Nyborg, Sarra Bouzambou, Hannah Bagoly, Yohaan Kapur

Students are encouraged to bring a packed lunch to school - particularly while COVID-19 restrictions are in place - as it ensures that they are able to eat and drink as required throughout the school day.

If you wish to make use of the Slices catering service, please note that:

1. Food deliveries will not be permitted from external restaurants/catering services.

2. Food orders must be ordered through Slices in advance by completing this GOOGLE FORM.

• Orders for following weeks must be placed by 10am each Friday.

• Orders must be placed in advance for the full week (Monday to Thursday).

• Same-day orders/deliveries will not be possible.

3. Food orders will be delivered to the students' classroom.

4. Students will not be permitted to visit the canteen in order to purchase water or snacks throughout the day.

• Please consider an appropriate quantity and variety of foods to sustain your child for the duration of the school day.

• Students are encouraged to bring sufficient water with them to school to sustain them throughout the day.