Week Thirty Six - June 16th, 2023
Dear Parents & Guardians,
Welcome to the end of another week.
I would like to start by acknowledging the Grade 6 Language Exhibition held earlier this week. Our Grade 6 students have worked diligently to showcase their language skills, creativity, and cultural understanding. This exhibition allowed them to demonstrate their progress and share their projects. Students chose to showcase their learning through food samples, models of typical French culture or by developing websites and games. I was so impressed with what students were able to share. Well done to all of our language teachers for the excellent work put into this initiative. See below for some samples of the student work.
We had some mixed fortune with our swimming galas this week. Some needed to be cancelled due to the extreme temperatures. To those who did get to swim, well done on your participation and enthusiasm. Thank you also to all staff involved in planning and coordinating the event.
Also, we were thrilled with the second annual GIS Gourmet event run by StuELT. This week, students were given the opportunity to cook a delicious range of meals to compete for the honour of being the cooking champion of GIS. The event ran every day after school, allowing students to showcase their culinary skills and explore different flavors from around the world. As we go to print, the final is taking place, so next week we will announce the winners! Watch this space and well done to StuELT!
In other news, the Future Skills Academy held another successful event this week. One of our parents came to address Grade 10 & 11 students regarding the field of health and medicine. Through the various FSA workshops, guest speakers, and hands-on activities, our students are developing the necessary tools to thrive in a rapidly evolving world. We appreciate the efforts of Rohan and the StuELT committee in spearheading this invaluable program.
Furthermore, I want to highlight the StuELT Leaders Day happening today. This event serves as a platform for our student leaders to collaborate, exchange ideas, and develop leadership skills. Students from different grades across primary and secondary will come together to participate collaborative workshops and engaging discussions. We believe in fostering a culture of leadership and empowerment among our students, and this event will undoubtedly contribute to their personal growth and development.
Finally, as we near the end of the academic year, we held our Grade 10 Final MYP assembly. This event celebrated the achievements, growth, and journey of our Grade 10 students. It provided an opportunity for them to reflect on their accomplishments and appreciate their fellow classmates, teachers, and the school community. Well done Grade 10 on transitioning into the DP or CP successfully!
Enjoy your weekend.
Best wishes
Amanda Murphy
MYP
CP/DP
PHE
MYP/CP/DP
PHE
IMPORTANT DATES FOR SECONDARY STUDENTS
June 21 Secondary School Academic Awards (Grade 6-8: 2:30-4:00pm | Grade 9-11: 5:00 - 7:00pm)
June 22 Secondary School Sports Awards (4-5:30pm)
June 26 Last day of school (students will be dismissed at 12pm)
Invitations will follow to families of students who will receive an award.
Learning Ambition: Awarded to students who stand out as having demonstrated a heightened level of sustained engagement and commitment to learning, and who have therefore made excellent progress in the respective subjects.
Academic Excellence: Awarded to the highest attaining student(s) in each subject. This will be based on the sum of assessed MYP criteria (out of 32 points)
MYP Service Learning Ambassador: Awarded to the students who stands out as having made outstanding service contributions.
Endeavor: Awarded to students who have demonstrated exceptional resilience, engagement and commitment to learning, resulting in achievement beyond expectation across the programme.
Honor Roll: Criteria
Overall Academic Excellence
Academic Excellence: Awarded to the highest attaining student(s) in each subject.
CP Core:
Personal and Professional Skills
Service Learning
Language Development
Reflective Project
Endeavor: Awarded to students who have demonstrated exceptional resilience, engagement and commitment to learning, resulting in achievement beyond expectation across the programme.
Honor Roll: Criteria
Overall Academic Excellence
Academic Excellence: Awarded to the highest attaining student(s) in each subject.
DP Core:
CAS
TOK
Endeavor: Awarded to students who have demonstrated exceptional resilience, engagement and commitment to learning, resulting in achievement beyond expectation across the programme.
Overall Academic Excellence
Honor Roll: Criteria
Overall Academic Excellence
Last year, the amazing Student ELT launched the Secondary Student Hub for secondary students. This is an ongoing collaborative project between the Student ELT, Inclusion Team & Grade Leaders.
The Secondary Student Hub will remain the students access point for the new social groups and peer mentoring, as well as signing up for the already established peer tutoring programme.
Students will also be able to find links to ECAs, student voice initiative, counsellor referral forms, mindset matters and homeroom information. We are really proud of the work that the Student ELT have put in to this so far and look forward to seeing their expansion of the site.
*Students must be logged into their gemsisak gmail account to access the site.
Language Stars of the Week
May 29 - June 2
G6
Not applicable as they have been preparing for Monday’s EOY Exhibition
G7
Aleksandra Pankova¸ Yassin El Nemr, Branislav Lukic, Carl Zaky, Sonam Wadhwani, Lana Hiranandani
G8
Tobias Madsen, Nysha Modi, Mikko Faddoul¸Richelle Phillips, Isabelle Eid, Eleonora Caso
G9
Riccardo Fabretti, Ayla Fardinfard, Omar Qudah, Olivia De Pooter, Neeraja Giridhar, Marc Anthony
G10
Boitumelo Kganyago, Ezra Dsouza, Maria Brykov, Armin Samavati, Firoza Ajmal, Leonardo Patane
We are thrilled to announce the release of Episode 2 of "GIS Speaks" in Arabic, our delightful program that highlights the most important events happening at Gems International School (GIS). Kindly view the episode here.
In this episode, our Secondary students take center stage once again to bring you the latest updates on academic achievements, extracurricular activities, and important announcements. Their enthusiasm and dedication are sure to leave you feeling inspired and proud of our school community.
But that's not all! We have prepared some surprises to brighten your day. This episode is designed to bring joy and laughter, leaving a smile on your face from start to finish.
Don't forget to participate in our "As the Proverb Says" segment. Share your interpretation of the featured Arabic proverb by leaving a comment, and you might just win a special prize!
Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm. We hope you enjoy Episode 2 of "GIS Speaks" in Arabic.
Grade 9-11
Collaborative activities enable our students to work co-operatively in pairs or groups. Completing shared tasks in a pair or group, e.g. matching, sorting, ranking or collaborative learning techniques such as three-step -interview and Graffiti Carosel. During Islamic lessons, we give students a discussion prompt, question, short problem, or issue to consider. Individuals work briefly on a response. Peers report their responses to each other in pairs. In the end, someone from each group summarizes their discussion for the large group.
Grade 6
This week grade 6 showed off their language skills at the Learning Exhibition. Students were set the challenge to create a product and display to demonstrate their language learning journey this year. We were extremely impressed with the creativity and effort that Grade 6 put in, well done!
Grade 10
Well done to the whole of the grade 10 Textiles class who made these fabulous designs from their Fashionable Armor Unit. Students were tasked with creating an item based on their inquiry into medieval armor. I think you can agree they did a great job! More items are displayed on the 3rd floor corridor.
Grades 6
Uyi from 6c proudly showing off his efforts with the completion of his jigsaw puzzle. Uyi based his jigsaw puzzle on the theme of the Movie Frozen and developed lots of new skills in the workshop along the way.
Grade 6-8
Congratulations to the ‘Drama Llamas of the month’ for May! This is an indication of their excellent engagement and hard work in Drama lessons and tasks this month . Keep up the amazing work!
Katia Elshal(6B)
Aarit Duggirala (6F)
Foteini Fasoula (7A)
Emmerieck De Guzman(7D)
Saleha Kauser(8A)
Vasiliki Chrysochoou (8D)
Grade 6
The walls of ancient Egyptian buildings are covered in carvings of scenes from everyday life. In this activity, student reenacted their own scenes from Ancient Egypt, depicting different social groups from that time.
Grade 6
Grade 6 students worked collaboratively to demonstrate their understanding of the text by using the Round Robin strategy and creating a mind map as a technique that organizes information around the text.Students show their work and get feedback from their classmates based on specific rubrics.
Grade 6
This week, our grade 6 students started with a new unit on Data Management. In this unit, students will learn how to collect, classify and represent information that is gathered from a variety of sources as they explore the global context of identities and relationships. In some classes, students took turns, rotating per group, to choose which type of data representation their group would like to work on.
Grade 7
This week, our grade 7 students were investigating rates of change, determining if the rates of change in different scenarios are constant or not. Some students were working on their ‘puppy project’, using given data to determine what the mass of each of their puppies were at birth. Some students worked online (EP), completing tables and graphs involving rates of change. A few students were doing coloring-in activities: their answers determined which color they should use.
Grade 6 and 8
We have started the last round of the 6-week Lexonik Advance programme for the year. This programme is offered to selected students in grade 6 and 8. Through this programme, students rapidly improve reading, spelling, vocabulary and comprehension, with average reading age gains of 27 months in just six weekly one-hour sessions. Looking forward to seeing which group can read 74 syllables in 60 seconds!
Homeroom begins at 8:10am, following the UAE national anthem.
students are considered late if they arrive to class after the anthem.
Monday to Thursday: 3:15pm
Friday: 11:40am
Please arrange for students to be collected promptly after dismissal. Secondary students are not permitted to gather inside the Main Reception or Slices Cafeteria while awaiting collection. They may wait in the adjacent courtyard or the outdoor area at the front of the school, being careful not to block doorways.
*Parents may enter the school campus via Gate 4, Gate 6 and Gate 8.
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Digital devices, such as smartphones and tablets, make online platforms and content easily accessible. And, while there are many benefits of seamless accessibility and connectivity, there are also many potential risks - to the health, well-being and even the safety of young people - that must be considered by young people themselves, as well as by parents and schools. Technological advances are faster than ever and new online platforms are released at a rapid rate, making it challenging to effectively monitor and control (for their own well-being) the online activity of the young people in our care.
Young people will, at times, seek out and/or be inadvertently exposed to inappropriate online content. If and when this is the case, it is important that they feel comfortable and confident to disclose and discuss the matter with trusted adults. While banning smart devices may not be practical (or desirable), implementing agreements around device usage (for instance) is a healthy and productive approach to online media balance and safety. There are a number of useful tips and strategies available to support healthy and well-informed approaches to media use. Please take some time to explore the E-safety: Parent Guidance, which has been created to support GIS parents in this regard.
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