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Week Seven - October 14th 2021
From the Head of Primary
From the Head of Primary
Dear Primary School Parents,
Thank-you to GISPA and the school community for our community Pink Day this past Tuesday to highlight women's health! We hope you enjoyed the day and the popcorn!
Next week, we have a short two day week leading into the fall break and the holiday for Prophet Muhammed's birthday. Today our Islamic Department held an assembly to share stories about Prophet Muhammed and some of the virtues promoted such as caring for others, tolerance, and integrity. Thank-you to the Islamic teaching teams and students all involved.
October 24th, the sign up system for Extra Curricular Activities (ECA's) will open. I encourage parents to log in immediately to avoid the disappointment of full sessions. Below you can find an overview of the ECA's on offer to begin having discussions with your children over the weekend (ready to sign up on Sunday).
New dismissal times! With the start of ECA's regular classes will end at 3:15 and 1:10 on Tuesday. PK, KG1, KG2, G1 will be dismissed 10 minutes early from the classrooms (3:05/1:00). See the main page for more details.
Monday October 18th, you will have access to a narrative comment for your child written by the homeroom teacher. This comment will report on the start of the year, progress made and next steps in learning. You will also have access to your child's results on the beginning of year MAP assessment.
A Note about MAP Assessment:
Created by NWEA, students in many countries take MAP tests two to three times per school year. At GIS, we conduct MAP tests in the Fall, Winter, and Spring. MAP stands for Measures of Academic Progress. MAP tests are computer-adaptive benchmark assessments that provide a personalized testing experience for each student. The test results provide teachers with information to help them deliver appropriate content for each student and determine each student’s academic growth over time. The results will deepen our understanding of what each individual student is ready to learn. These will support the other sources of data that we have and assist in personalizing instruction for the success of your child. MAP progress results are just one of various data points that teachers at GIS use to inform instruction. If you would like to learn more about MAP and NWEA, please visit the NWEA Family Toolkit.
PYP Newsletter at a glance
PYP Newsletter at a glance
Upcoming events and announcements
ECA sign up info
Peek Into Learning
Reading across the genres
Primary Pages
Upcoming Dates
Upcoming Dates
October 18th: Wear white to honour the Prophet's birthday
October 18th: Narrative progress report open to parents
October 19-20: Mid Term break
October 21*: Prophet's birthday
October 24th: Extra Curricular Activities begin (more info for sign up next week)
October 28th: Costume dress up
October 29th: Dubai 30x30 starts
November 3rd: UAE Flag Day (information below)
November 4th: Diwali - wear traditional or colorful clothing
Upcoming in Primary
Upcoming in Primary
Extra Curricular Activities
Extra Curricular Activities
Sign-ups for school led ECAs will be done through SOCS. Please take a look at the SOCS Parent Login Help, so that you are familiar with the platform prior to the sign-up window opening on Sunday.
Please note that sign ups are not yet open to register and ECA's will not be fully populated prior to Sunday. All information will be up to date and ready for sign-ups at 16:00 on Sunday 17th October.
Please find a list of the activities that will be offered for the remainder of this term HERE.
Parent Workshops
Parent Workshops
Don't miss our parent sessions every second Wednesday
Don't miss our parent sessions every second Wednesday
A message from PYP Student Council below:
This past week in Primary
This past week in Primary
Peek Into Learning: Spotlight on KG1
Peek Into Learning: Spotlight on KG1
KG1's Unit of Inquiry explores how 'We use our senses to understand the world'. Each class have been finding out about their five senses, why they are important and how we use them. This week, teachers across KG1 used Michael Rosen's 'We're going on a Bear Hunt' so students could make connections across a variety of disciplines.
In the homeroom, students retold the story while through the squelchy mud, the splashing, sploshing water and the swishy swashy grass! In music class, students differentiated between loud and soft sounds and created sounds with loose parts, inspired by the story. In PE, classes focused on their locomotor skills such as skipping, crawling and running. They used the sounds they could hear as inspiration for different kinds of movements, using their bodies to communicate the story.
A sensory walk through the Bear Hunt story
Using body movement to react to the story in PE
Creating loud and soft sounds in music
Retelling the story with small-world props
Developing fine motor skills by rescuing the bears
Stepping through the swishy, swashy grass!
On the bear hunt journey
Reading Across the Genres
Reading Across the Genres
The PYP Library’s fiction collection has recently been generified and each book pictorially identified on its spine by one of 12 topics - fantasy/adventure/classics/graphic novels/historical fiction/humor/mystery/scary stories/science fiction/sports fiction/animals /realistic fiction.
Many adventurous readers in grades 3,4 and 5 have decided to try out each of the 12 genres, showing that they are indeed risk-takers, and reflect on their stories with me once completed. Many have discovered new types of books that they would never have thought to try and it has opened up a whole new world of adventures!
We are delighted to announce the winners of each grade – those students who have completed reading across all twelve different genres in record-breaking time! They are Lucia in Grade 5, Sarvesh in Grade 4 and Sophie in Grade 3. These students have each won a book voucher to purchase a book of their own choice.
The competition is now open to all classes to see who will be the first to complete reading all twelve genres in their class – each of these courageous students will earn house points. All students who show perseverance and complete all twelve genres, will also earn points for their House.
Come on everyone, let’s see which house will earn the most points!
Primary Class Pages
Primary Class Pages
Check out for weekly class updates
Reminders/Quick Reference
Reminders/Quick Reference
Quarantine
Quarantine
Any students requiring remote learning access must contact the Primary office to initiate access. The conditions shared have been:
A student has a medical condition which prevents them from accessing face-to-face learning. In this case, the student must provide a medical certificate from Dubai Health Authority, stating the reason they cannot attend school. I understand this is challenging to get with strict criteria.
A student is outside of the UAE and is unable to return due to international Covid restrictions. In this case, the student must provide a certificate from the relevant government authority as applicable and in advance.
A student has tested positive for Covid-19 or has been identified as a close contact of someone with Covid-19. In this case, the student must have the appropriate certificate from Dubai Health Authority.
Not your typical day?
Not your typical day?
My child will be absent
My child will be absent
Email your child's homeroom teacher before 8am so that he / she can mark their absence as excused.
Complete an absence form for more than 2 days and submit to homeroom teacher on the child's first day back at school after absence.
Absence for more than 3 days requires doctors clearance (in some cases a medical certificate is requested )
My child will leave during the school day (exceptional/unavoidable cases only)
My child will leave during the school day (exceptional/unavoidable cases only)
Email the gis_primaryleaverequests@gemsedu.com and your child's homeroom teacher 48 hours in advance to ensure your child and their leave slip are prepared in advance.
At the time of collection, please come to the Primary Reception at Gate 4.
Key Contacts
Key Contacts
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