Week Two - September 9th 2021

Secondary School

As we see Week Two draw to a close many of our students are getting used to their new routines, teachers and classmates. Walls in classrooms are being brought back to life with refreshed student work appearing and staff have commented on how impressed they are with student’s approach to their learning. What a wonderful start, let’s keep it up!

In coming weeks there are a number academic events that parents may want to schedule into the family diary. While these events will continue to be virtual for the immediate future, we have made slight changes in format in an effort to continue to cater for the individualized needs of our young people. On Tuesday Sept 14^th

Parents are invited to attend the Secondary Curriculum Evening commencing at 6pm. The focus of the evening will be to deepen our community understanding of the three IB Programmes offered in our Secondary School and to introduce relevant staff to the wider community. The link to access the meeting will be made available via the community calendar in coming days.

Parents are also reminded to save the date for the Goal Setting Conference days scheduled for Sept 19^th to 21^st. Further details around this event will follow shortly.

We are aware that some students are unable to attend school in correct uniform due to matters beyond parent’s control. Therefore, the previously published deadline for wearing school uniform has been extended until the end of September. Hopefully this extension will alleviate some anxiety students are feeling with being unable to follow school rules.

In the current global climate, technology has played a vital role in ensuring that we can still function as a community. We want our school to continue to be a place where students & teachers will leverage existing and emerging technologies in order to create learning that is meaningful, engaging, responsible and reflects the realities of our ever-changing world. Cooperation, collaboration, understanding & digital citizenship are the cornerstones of technology use at GIS. As a community we are reminded that all electronic devices (including mobile phones) are used to promote genuine learning, research and/or positive communication. We ask that all members of the GIS community act ethically and responsibly in their use of technology and social media when such use relates to, or may impact the school and its members. It is expected that the values of respect, fairness, responsibility and honesty are always demonstrated in communications and actions.

To reflect our approach to technology, we have recently updated our Digital Citizenship Acceptable Use Policy. Please read this document in detail and complete the Parent Acceptable Use form prior to Sept 16^thto ensure continued access to the GIS network. Students will be asked to complete the student form during Advisory period next week.

Finally, in last week's correspondence I referred to the IBO CP verification visit having taken place and we were awaiting feedback from the IBO. We are delighted to announce that GIS is now officially a four Programme IB World School! Well done to all involved.

Amanda Murphy

Head of Secondary

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Tuesday 14th September Secondary School Curriculum Evening

Sunday 19th September Goal Setting Conferences (8-4pm)

Students in Grades 6-9 will not attend school (they should attend the PTCs)
Grades 10-12 will be in school, participating in an 'IB Core' day.

Monday 20th September Goal Setting Conferences (8-4pm)

Students in Grades 6-11 will not attend school (they should attend the PTCs)
Grade 12 students will attend lessons as normal

Tuesday 21st September Goal Setting Conferences (4-8pm)

September 26-30th MAP & CAT4 Testing

We are currently on the look-out for internship opportunities in Dubai-based businesses for our CP students to gain professional insight and skills. If you would like to offer internships or know of interesting opportunities that could suit our CP students that are specialising in Business or Creative Media, please reach out to our Career-related Programme Coordinator, Ms. Mariona Coderch Lopez, at m.coderch_gis@gemsedu.com

In an effort to accommodate the growing needs of our community, we are surveying parents to gauge the interest in offering Mother Tongue Classes for our students. These classes would be offered by an External provider and may operate during or after the school day. It is also important to note, that a minimum number of students are required for a class to operate and there will be extra costs associated.

Parents are asked to complete this brief survey no later than Thursday Sept 16th.

MAP_Letter to Families.pdf

StudentView_ZoomLinks+WeeklyBriefing.mp4

In case you missed it last week, here is a useful screencast that demonstrates how students can navigate Managebac to access weekly briefings, learning materials and assessment information.

*Zoom links (for online students) will also be found here.

We encourage students to bring enough healthy food & water to school to keep them going throughout the day. Should your child need to purchase food, we ask that you pre-order through Slices (details below), as this assists with maintaining Covid regulations and prevents your child from having to wait in lengthy queues.

Slices offers various lunch options for students. A cashless system is implemented on campus. For further information on how to activate your account and to view menu options, click HERE.

Technical issues can be raised via https://slices.ae/contact-us/ or by emailing customersupport@slices.ae.

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

Food orders must be placed in advance and will be delivered to the students' classroom (same-day deliveries cannot be honored).
It is advisable to place orders on a weekly basis . For examples, every Thursday, you may place your order for next week (Sunday to Thursday).
Visits to the canteen (to purchase snacks throughout the day) will be restricted. As such, we ask that families consider an appropriate quantity and variety of foods to sustain your child for the duration of the school day.
Students are encouraged to bring refillable water bottles to school, in order to reduce use of non-reusable plastics and to limit the need for students to leave the classroom (this is of particular note while social distancing restrictions are in place).

ATTENDANCE & EXITING SCHOOL EARLY

Parents are reminded that students need to be at school each day by 8:10 am. Should your child be absent for any reason, parents must contact gis_secondaryleaverequest@gemsedu.com by 9 am the day of the illness. You are asked to provide a reason for the absence. It is important to note that should a student be absent on the day of an assessment, it is the responsibility of the student to communicate with the subject teacher(s) in order to agree upon alternative arrangements for the completion/submission of work.

There has also been an update to the process surrounding students exiting school early. The minor changes are made in an effort to continue to ensure the safety of each one of our young people, we ask that should your child need to depart school prior to the end of the day, the following process be adhered to:

1. Where possible, parents are required to send an email the day before the intended early departure. This is to ensure that should the intended absence from class coincide with a planned assessment, relevant staff have been informed.

2. The email should be sent to gis_secondaryleaverequest@gemsedu.com

3. Parents need to advise who is collecting their child (e.g. parent/driver), the time of the departure, planned return time to school (should your child be returning), valid reason for the departure and registered parent contact number.

4. Should the parent approve of their child to leave school by Taxi/Uber, this needs to be mentioned clearly and put for review by the Head of Secondary.

5. Only when all of this information is received will an Exit slip be processed

6. Your child’s HR teacher will then be advised of the early departure via email

7. The stamped approved Exit Slip can be collected from the Secondary Secretary. In the absence of the Secondary Secretary the Exit Slip will be collected from either the Head of Secondary or Assistant Head of Secondary

8. Your child will need to pass the Exit Slip to security, without which they will not be permitted to leave

In the final WeRGIS Newsletter of the 2020-21 academic year, our Student Body President shared the following message to the community. Information about student leadership opportunities and the student committees will follow in the coming weeks.

A Final Message From Student Body President

It was an honor to serve as Student Body President this year, although it was an unusual one with online ECAs, masks, social distancing, and sometimes remote learning, we still persevered. This year was not easy, but our driven group of student leaders in the StuELT were able to organize many successful initiatives and events with your support.

To the student leaders across GIS from the Primary Student Council, the Deputy Heads of our committees, and our committee members across the secondary school; thank you for all of your hard work. I was especially privileged to work with our Student Body Vice-President, Neila, and our heads of committees: Sarah, Tara, Kiana, Eashani, Zoya, and Akshita.

But our work as student leaders would not be possible without the support of our community. Thank you to GISPA and the parents in our community, our teachers who make our initiatives possible, fellow students, Mr. Simon for his continued support of the StuELT, and Mr. Lee who has continuously uplifted and empowered student leaders at GIS -- the StuELT would not be where it is today without your help.

The StuELT is looking forward to next year! Once we are back from summer break we will have our final event from our current StuELT, Spirit Week. Later on, starting mid-October we will begin the interview process for the 2021-2022 StuELT. Grade 10s and 11s: take the summer to begin thinking about your applications to the StuELT positions of Deputy Heads (Gr. 10), and Heads of Committees and President and Vice President (Gr. 11). We are so excited to welcome you to the team!

Have a great summer break everyone!

Thank you

Taleen

Student Body President 2020-21