Week Nine - November 5th 2020

Secondary School

We celebrated UAE Flag day this week with our students and staff. It was lovely to see students wearing the colours of the flag and national clothing so thank you to everyone that did so. It was a pleasure to gather with our Emirati students at the front of the school for the raising of the flag.

In the next week, you will receive a student progress summary (I will write a letter to accompany this with more information). This summary is an additional reporting point that we have introduced this year as we hope to increase our efficiencies and frequency of reporting. In the summary, you will find any available grades for your child and a statement related to engagement in lessons and commitment to learning. The grades will be the same as what is continually available to you in ManageBac but the engagement and commitment comments can help you to initiate conversations with your child.

The video below was shared in the newsletter a few editions ago but some families have fed back that they are still not sure about accessing grades. The video gives some guidance on general navigation of ManageBac but does focus on reviewing your child's outcomes.

I have also included the guidance related to Honor Role in this edition of the newsletter. Last year, some students requested that the information be shared earlier in the year as a reminder of what is required to be acknowledged for Honor Role (or Principal's list). If students have questions about Honor Role then they can connect with their homeroom teachers, Mr Rafael, Mr Nic or myself.

The value of being an avid reader!

My name is Laiba Abbasi and this is my second year in GIS. Like many of you, most of my days consist of going to school and studying, which gets tiring. So to take a break, I tend to spend some time reading. Every book is its own world and when you read them you get transported there. Many people may find books very boring; but, in my opinion they just haven’t found a book that interests them and captivates them.

I started reading at a really young age with books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Nancy Drew. Reading helped take my mind off of the stress from school and assignments. By the time I left my old school, I think I’d read most of the books available in the school library.

I try my best to read a few minutes before going to bed. It's proven that you should stop using electronic devices before you go to sleep so I use reading as a substitute. I think my favorite book as of now is The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

When I came to visit GIS, one of the things that attracted me to the school was the wide variety of books of different languages available in the library. I was able to find many classics as well as other well known books within our school library which allowed me to continue to practice my hobby. I no longer have to hoard books in my house and can instead borrow as many different books as I want, which also helps me reduce paper usage. Meanwhile, our school library has a good selection of books (and a great selection of e-books as well) a lot of students don’t take advantage of that and I think that it’s because they feel overwhelmed, might not have much knowledge about books or their preferred reading style and they may feel like reading will be an additional burden.

I’ve also noticed that many libraries in Dubai lack variety; which is why, both of these problems inspired my Personal Project. If reading is something that interests you, or it’s something that you’d like to explore... follow @book_haven2 on Instagram and TikTok to find book reviews and recommendations of books that helped me fall in love with reading.

Dubai 30 for 30 and GIS MyHealth - Get involved!!

Talking heads, stomping feet and running colors

EE workshop

#WeRTalented

The first round of performances can be viewed in the video below!

There's still time to get your entries in for round two of #WeRTalented!

This initiative is all about showcasing the various talents of GIS students. Are you a gymnast, musician, songwriter, freestyle footballer or basketball player, skateboarder, skier, magician, etc.?

If so, please record your talents and submit them to Ms. Anastassia or Mr. Barry, who will create and share a compilation of talents to showcase to the community.

If you have a talent, please share and celebrate it! The deadline for submissions is Saturday 14th November.

The Dubai Student Wellbeing Census

Dear Parents,

The wellbeing of your children is important and KHDA is working with schools to measure their wellbeing so that schools can take action to help them learn about their own wellbeing and improve it. When children add their voice to the Dubai Student Wellbeing Census, they become part of an initiative that will help them to succeed at school and in life.

Students in grades 6-12 will respond to a variety of wellbeing questions including happiness, relationships with friends and teachers and physical health.

In previous years, students participated in the Census online while at school. This year, many students will be taking the Census at home. Our remote access learners will undertake the survey at the same time as their in-school classmates, while the teacher provides guidance via Phoenix Classroom and Zoom.

The survey will take approximately 30-minutes and is scheduled as follows:

Grades 6-10 Sunday 15th November 9:00-9:40 (during Advisory)
Grade 12 Wednesday 18th 2:30-3:15
Grade 11 Thursday 19th 9:45-10:25

For further information about the census, please refer to:

The ‘Parent Letter’ (provided in Arabic and English), which was emailed to you earlier this week.
This Informative Video

Back in the game!

The government have now made it possible for sports squads to get back to training. So good to see the girls back in action in our tweet of the week.

GIS Secondary School Parent WhatsApp Groups

WhatsApp groups are being created by our 'Secondary School Parent Representatives', as a means of enhancing access to information and updates at GIS. All GIS parents are invited to join the groups that are pertinent to your family.

Grade 6 Representative

Nesha

WhatsApp Number: +971 56 298 6249

Grade 7 Representative

Shams

WhatsApp Group Link: CLICK HERE to join

Grade 8 Representative

Meenu

WhatsApp Number: +971 55 304 5999

Grade 9 Representative

Volunteers required.

Please complete this Google Form to express interest.

Grade 10 Representative

Alana

WhatsApp Number: +971 56 226 6322

Grade 11 Representative

Irene

WhatsApp Number: +971 56 708 7982

Reminders & Updates

Absence

Please can we remind families that they must make contact with the absence email address on days where their child is sick and staying home from school.

Any absence that is longer than 3 days requires a doctors certificate for this to be an authorised absence.

gis_secondaryleaverequest@gemsedu.com

Distancing at pick up

We please ask that parents remember to honor social distancing during pick up in the afternoons.

This is particularly important on Tuesday pick up as this is a busier period.

It is important that all adults in the lives of young people role model what we expect of them on a day to day basis.

TheLink website Launch

As many of you will be aware the student magazine, TheLink, was set up by students a few years ago. This year has seen a great deal of expansion begin on this project with the introduction of TheLinkTV and TheLinkPodcast as well as TheLinkMagazine also going fully digital. With these developments, TheLink team have now developed a website to house all of these projects. You can visit this website via hyperlinked image here.

This site is a work in progress and will develop organically but please offer your support by visiting regularly to see the project unfold.