Week Four - September 23rd 2022

Secondary School

Whole School Newsletter

PYP Newsletter

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Dear Parents & Guardians,

Firstly, I would like to thank the many parents that attended the ConnectEd this week. Ms Sandy provided an excellent overview of the Personal Project for parents of Grade 10 students. Her passion for the Personal Project is infectious and therefore, it was a very informative session. Thanks also must go to Lana Al Ezzi, now in Grade 11, who shared her recent experience of the Personal Project journey. The presentation slides can be viewed here for those parents who may have missed the session.

I will take this opportunity to remind you that Parent Teacher Conferences (PTC’s) are just around the corner. The meetings are scheduled for Wednesday Oct 12 to Friday Oct 14. In previous years, these have been dedicated goal setting conferences with Homeroom teachers. However, this year student goals will be discussed with relevant subject teachers. In preparation for the conferences, we are surveying parents to find out if you would prefer face to face or virtual conferences with your child’s teachers. Can you please complete this form no later than Monday Sept 26^th to advise your preference and therefore, assist planning.

Connected to the PTC’s please be aware that there is a mid-term break on Monday Oct 10 and Tuesday Oct 11. Therefore, there will be no classes from Oct 10 to Oct 14 inclusive, due to the break and PTC’s. Students are, however, encouraged to attend the PTC’s with you. We also encourage our students to use this break to work on some of the long-term tasks they may have connected to their programme Core (e.g. Personal Project or Extended Essay).

Hopefully by now you have signed your son or daughter up for a Week Without Walls trip. Earlier this week, I wrote to parents advising that the deadline for signups was Friday Sept 23^rd. However, we have extended this until Wednesday Sept 28^th.

I wish you all a wonderful week ahead.

Amanda Murphy

Head of Secondary School

IMPORTANT DATES FOR SECONDARY STUDENTS

September 26 Secondary Spirit Week | MAP tests begin

September 28th Extended deadline for WWW sign-ups

September 29 USEG College Fair (2:15-3:15pm)

October 7 Progress Report published

October 10-14 No School due to Mid-term break & PTC's

November 7-11 Week Without Walls (WWW)

December 9 Term 1 Report published | End of term 1

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Have you completed the PTC survey?

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Secondary PTC Survey

Upcoming Secondary ConnectEd Sessions

ConnectEd Session: Personal Project

ConnectEd #1.pptx

Spirit Week

The Student Executive Leadership Team (StuELT) is so excited to announce the return of their annual fundraiser and fun-filled event... Spirit Week!

Spirit Week is a week-long themed dress down where students are encouraged to get creative and dress up according to the daily prescribed theme, in exchange for paying 10 AED at the start of the week. All money collected contributes directly towards the StuELT fund, thereby, allowing them to bring you more exciting events and initiatives throughout the year!

Week Without Walls - Update

Please find our remaining offerings HERE. In this presentation you will find links to sample itineraries, prices as well as other important information.

Please note that registration for all international trips are now closed.

Important Points:

Payment links for local and residential trips are now live on the GEMS Connect App and GEMS Oasis Parent Website.

*You will find guidance on how to make payment using these platforms below.

Those of you who have already paid deposits for residential trips last academic year can pay the balance at the finance desk.
The extended deadline for all payment will be Wednesday 28th September. As a school we need time to ensure all safety protocols are in place and that we have the correct student to teacher ratio for each trip.

After this date, when all numbers are finalized, you will hear from the lead chaperone of your trip with more detailed information on your specific trip/ camp.

MAP Testing

The fall MAP testing window will begin during the week commencing September 26th. Parents/guardians are encouraged to explore the following resources to support your child's understanding and preparation:

12 Common Questions Parents Ask About MAP Growth
NWEA Family Toolkit - provides useful information to help families’ understanding of MAP Growth; how it works, how it’s scored, what it measures and how it supports student learning.

Exam conditions will be simulated

High-stakes examinations are not a requirement of the MYP, so MAP testing presents an opportunity for students to experience exam conditions and to practice examination techniques. Students will, of course, be required to undertake high-stakes examinations later on in their academic journey, where catch-ups and re-tests are not common practice. With this in mind, catch-ups and re-tests will only be considered in exceptional circumstances. Students are expected to uphold academic integrity while completing MAP tests.

How long will tests take?

“In general, NWEA expects that students will complete a MAP Growth test in about 45 to 75 minutes...”

https://www.nwea.org/blog/2018/how-long-is-too-long-to-spend-map-growth-assessment/

Preparing Student Laptops For MAP Testing

Please support your child to ensure that their Mac/laptop is running the most current operating system:

Below, you can find the operating system requirements for Mac and Windows users. Please ensure that your child's device is running these (or newer) versions.

Installing the NWEA Lockdown Browser

Next, the NWEA Lockdown Browser needs to be installed on your child's device. Please support your child to complete the installation at home.

MAP Practice

Students can attempt practice tests and watch videos to become familiar with MAP Growth tests. The practice tests can be accessed via the student login page (test.mapnwea.org) or via studentresources.nwea.org

Username: grow
Password: grow

To practice using the on-screen calculator, students may visit:

Upstrive Education - Launching Next Week!

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.

Next week, all secondary students will receive a welcome email, including login credentials to access the platform. Upon logging in for the first time, students are encouraged to create a personalized password. They shall receive prompts and guidance (via Upstrive and from their Homeroom Teacher) about how to engage with and interact via Upstrive. Parents are encouraged to explore the platform together with your child(ren).

Keeping Our Children Safe Online

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.

E-safety: Parent Guidance

GIS Student Voice

Make sure to check out our Website and Instagram!

@gis_elt

@gis__thelink

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.

Parent WhatsApp Groups

Scan the QR code(s) to join our

Grade Level Parent WhatsApp Groups

From the Classroom (and beyond)

Jaguars Updates

Throughout the year, you will be able to review information about the week's sports results and scorers, in addition to action photos, match reports, sports news and much more on our Jaguar Sports website.

You will also be able to read reviews of the latest GIS sporting action via the GIS PHE site, courtesy of our Head of Sports Committee, Cigdem Kavcar.

Language Stars of the Week

Reham Mujtaba, Kyra Crasto, Ilyes Benkara, Jennifer Tohme, Keagan Janse van Rensburg, Dario Pedari & Vanessa Almeida

Ivan Lialin, Geetika Goyal, Pranay Mathur, Zainab Ali, Thijs Hoebe & Labiba Rashiduzzaman

Haluk Kocer, Sasha Pachala, Joaquin Barrionuevo, Fredrika Klintell, Lois Benschop & Zein Eldalgamoni

Kareen El Skaf, Jenefa Albert, Iman Bint faiz, Lara Borges, Christian Salides¸& Priyamvada Deshmukh

G10

Ayaan Abbasi, Mikhail Bukshtynovich, Olexandra Kuzmenko, Chahine Ouchari, Hilya Bougherra & Kai Stephen

Mathematics

Grade 6

Global contexts/Real world links: Orientation in space and time - Babylonian Number system

Approaches to Learning: Information Literacy Skills - Present information in a variety of different formats

Mathematics

Grade 10

Global contexts/Real world links: Globalization and Sustainability

Approaches to Learning: Information Literacy Skills - Present information in a variety of different formats

Students are preparing to debate in a World’s Scholar Cup revised format. The question was Is simpler always better? The debate ended in a tie.

Drama

Grade 8

Students are inquiring into color perception as we explore the script of Anxiety is Orange by Lindsay Price. This week students worked together to create color perception collages and shared what different colors mean to them. It was very interesting to hear the many different perceptions and ideas that we have of various colors and how society has influenced the way we think about them. Students will be using these ideas to help with characterisation later on in this unit.

French

Grade 9

Students are inquiring and learning about different family members and types of family in French. This week students of phase 2 worked together to identify information for each type of family as well as learn new vocabulary to describe family relationships. During different activities, students have improved and developed different skills, mainly collaboration and communication.

Integrated Humanities (I&S)

Grade 6

In Integrated Humanities (I&S) Grade 6 students had a show and tell about a cultural object from their home which represents their culture.

Science

Grade 8

Students have been investigating the effects of exercise on Heart Rate. Students have designed an experiment in groups to conduct the experiment to collect relevant data. They will be analysing the results next week.

Science

Grade 9

Students investigated the different ways of heat transfer; conduction, convection and radiation. They used online simulations and conducted some lab experiments. They were very excited to observe how convection currents occur using warm and cold colored water.

The water does not mix, since the warm water with lower density stays at the top and cold water with higher density stays at the bottom.

Cold water with higher density is sinking to the bottom. Warm water with lower density is rising up.

Science

Grade 10 Students were ‘shocked’ at how much fun static electricity can be… Look how excited they are to explore more about the interesting world of electricity.

Arabic B

Grade 8 Students are learning about traveling. They are sitting in groups based on their learning style. Students in visual group and aural group are working together to enhance their understanding of the topic.

Arabic B

Grade 9

Students are working together, using the All Round Robin strategy to complete the mind map answering the relevant questions about the text after deducing the meaning of the new vocabulary words through the context. Students worked collaboratively and shared their answers to enhance their knowledge .

Arabic B

Grade 9

Students have been learning about Helen Keller as an inspiration and role model in life. In their groups they worked collaboratively to define the challenges she had in her life, and how she overcame them. Students discussed how challenges can affect our identity formation, then they evaluated each other’s work as a team. The winning team was awarded certificates for the best team work, and individual members were awarded as best team players.

Environmental Systems and Societies

Grade 11

Students took part in a speed dating session. Students were asked to research important people in Environmental history and how they impacted environmental understanding and discuss their environmental movement. This is a great way of sharing research with each other and informing each other about what they have learnt. The students then decided who was a best match for them and why?

Homeroom

Grade 6

Ervin in grade 6E has been a SuperHero by being Principled and Caring and helping another student in class. Congratulations Ervin you are a fantastic role model to the students in grade 6.

Visual Arts

Grade 9

As an introduction to our monster’s unit, students explored the idea of imitation vs appropriation as they investigated this misunderstood topic. Throughout the art world, this has been a discussion for decades on whether it is, in fact, an honor to the original or blatant theft. The group was divided on their views, but all agreed that if an artist wishes to use something that belongs to someone else, they should at the least give credit to its origins. Take a look at some of the stunning, yet hilarious examples of how the students thought to appropriate some of the most famous historical works of art. NOTE: masks were only removed for the photo

Islamic Studies (B)

Muslim students are learning Surah Sajdah and having a discussions during the lesson. They created a mind map with the main themes in the Surah and shared their thoughts on the lessons they draw to apply in their lives.

Morning Drop-off and Pick-up Arrangements

Morning Drop-off

Students are to be dropped off between 7:50 - 8:05am.

Homeroom begins at 8:10am, following the UAE national anthem.

students are considered late if they arrive to class after the anthem.

Dismissal

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.

Pre-order Food Through Slices

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:

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

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

COVID-19 Update

Any student accessing remote learning school sessions must provide the necessary medical documentation and the school must submit a report on their behalf to avoid fines. Please understand that GIS does not have authority to permit remote learning without KHDA approval.

For more information on how to apply for exemption to on campus learning, contact our clinic at GIS_MedicalAlert@GEMSEdu.com

Useful Links

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School meal processes

Email bus Services

Travel declaration form

Secondary School Handbook

Parent Portal for fee payment, updating details etc.

Email IT support (password reset etc.)

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