The Grade 12s then enjoyed a special Graduation Ceremony on Friday 24th. This took place at the Fairmont Hotel on the Palm and was beautifully arranged. The students and their families relished the memorable moments and the graduates expressed gratitude to teachers, friends and parents on the support received during their educational journeys. Speeches given mentioned the importance of learning to fail well, taking action and learning to listen and consider others’ views. We hope that our students receive the strong results they deserve in July and head to their chosen wonderful institutions all around the world. The students have even been awarded over 2.8 million dollars in scholarships, which is so impressive. It was a privilege for me to be able to say goodbye and thank them for all they have done. 

Watch the full ceremony HERE

Our Grade 5 students excelled themselves on Thursday at the Grade 5 Exhibition. This culmination of so much deep thinking around the UN Sustainable Development Goals was extremely well presented by so many and appreciated by every audience throughout the day. When hearing naturally curious young students express themselves so clearly and passionately, one knows that this will be a memorable and meaningful educational event in their journey through school. This is way beyond the content memorization-test-retest approach of many curricula and really shines a light on the cognitive challenge of the IB.  My thanks to all the students, to the parents who came to support, and of course to the hard-working Grade 5 team led by Ms Rebekah.

It is not only the students who enjoy learning – the educators at GIS also believe in learning for life and our teaching assistants, along with many from other GEMS schools, received excellent professional development this week, thanks to Ms Lynn White from GEMS World Academy, Abu Dhabi. Well done to all our teaching assistants for their enthusiasm to improve their practice. 

In amongst all the events, we also ensured that we didn’t miss out on an excellent university visit. Professor Eleni Mangina from University College Dublin this week lectured to our students on data structures and how to develop them in java. Our Computer Science students certainly benefited and my thanks to Mr Sujay for organizing this visit. 

My thanks to so many parents for supporting the school so wholeheartedly and also for engaging with the school when dealing with any concern. This is partnership at its best. We hope that you will take the time to the latest survey which you will find on your email from Monday 27th. Thank you for your time on this. Here is how the net promoter score works:

A short comment from me about term dates. The last day on campus is July 4th, as advertised throughout this year on our calendar. Term dates are made clear by the school and by KHDA in our parent-school contract. May I ask that no parent requests for any school assessment to be moved to accommodate early departure. Our assessments are set well in advance, are well spaced, and the expectation is that students will be present. I thank all parents who adhere closely to these term dates. 

Finally, it was a delight to hear beautiful piano playing from Daniel N (G11) during the Friday music morning in the lobby. His Debussy and Hans Zimmer renditions were so well received by all!

Again, as places are filling fast in all year groups, I would urge all families to reserve your child’s seat, if you have not already done so. Please contact our Head of Admissions, Ms Maria, on m.arias_gis@gemsedu.com  Those who have re-enrolled are of course given priority for class placements and options choices. 

Kind regards and have a good weekend,