Week Twenty - January 14th 2022

Secondary School

Whole School Newsletter

PYP Newsletter

Newsletter Archive

Secondary Curriculum Information

This week I would like to thank everyone for their patience with the current situation we find ourselves in. Students, teachers and parents have been extremely understanding, and for this we are very appreciative.

We are delighted to advise, however, that we are returning to face-to-face learning as of Monday January 17^th. To ensure our school remains open, we require certain protocols to be followed by all community members. Namely:

If your child displays Covid Like symptoms please do not send them to school. Please advise us by sending an email to GIS_MedicalAlert@gemsedu.com
If your child tests positive for COVID-19 notify the Secondary School by forwarding the PCR result certificate to GIS_MedicalAlert@gemsedu.com
If your child becomes a close contact for COVID-19 notify the Secondary School by forwarding evidence that your child was a close contact (PCR result certificate of person who is positive) to GIS_MedicalAlert@gemsedu.com

Please note that Remote learning will be available for:

Any student who tests positive for Covid 19, or who is proven to be a close contact of a person who has tested positive to Covid 19, for the duration of the quarantine period as outlined by DHA
A period of no longer than 48 hours for any student who displays Covid like symptoms. In this situation students will need to have a PCR test within 24 hours of symptoms appearing. Should students test positive, they will continue with remote learning. Students who test negative will need to be cleared by the clinic to return to face to face learning the following school day.

Some facilities will not be fully operational in the immediate future.

The MYP canteen will remain closed. Students are encouraged to bring food from home. Slices will only deliver pre-ordered food to classrooms for lunch. Please see further information below
PE & swimming lessons will not occur for the remainder of January. Students will remain in their classroom during their usual PE lesson.
Students were advised prior to the winter break that they will move from class to class upon return to school in January. This decision has been put on hold. On Monday, students should go to their usual Homeroom location at the start of the day.

Apologies that this week’s message had to be so full of information. However, it is necessary that all community members are aware of requirements moving forward. Have a wonderful week ahead.

Amanda Murphy

Head of Secondary

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 orders must be ordered in advance by completing this GOOGLE FORM.

Orders for next week must be placed by 9am on Saturday 15th January.
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.

Essential Agreements for Online Learning

COVID-19... What Next?

MESSAGE REGARDING ECA'S

As per a recent KHDA announcement the discontinuation of all face-to-face Extra Curricular Activities and PE lessons have been extended until February 1^st. This includes squad training sessions, assemblies and events. These rules are in place to minimize the spread of Covid-19, and to ensure that students are still able to benefit from face-to-face learning.

If you have already signed up for an ECA for Term 2 then you will remain registered when ECAs recommence in February. Parents who have signed up and paid for an externally provided activity can expect to hear from the provider directly.

In the meantime, please take a look at our GIS Well-being website, which has a range of extracurricular resources for all ages. These include workouts, mindfulness activities, academic websites, arts, drama and more.

Kind Regards,

Barry McHugh

ECA & Sports Coordinator”

GIS Community Calendar - subscribe by clicking

Jan 24-28th MAP Testing (MYP)

Jan 24 - Feb 4th DP Mock Exams

Jan 28th International Fair (pending approval)

Feb 13-17th Week Without Walls (updates to follow)

Overview of communication platforms (Secondary School)

January 12th - Keeping a Big School Small

In case you missed this week's ConnectEd session, the presentation slides can be viewed HERE and the recorded session can be viewed below:

Our Student Voice

Follow Us on Instagram!

@gis_elt

MAP Testing

Monday 24th: Language

Tuesday 25th: Math

Wednesday 26th: Science

Thursday 27th: Reading

MAP Letter to Families_Jan '22.pdf

From the Classroom (and beyond)

Please find results, scorers, action photos, match reports, Sports News and much more on our Jaguar Sports website.

Stars of the Week!

Pranay Mathur, Rania Hassan, Zeyad El-Dandarawy, Josephine Roux, Lana Hiranandani, Aarush Kadam, Samridhi Sharma, Ashaz Aslam, Rudraksh Purohit, Zain Shafiq, Ananya Tanna, Matteo Forni, Aadit Chandrani, Wassel El Hallak, Aymen Kherraf, Mingsheng Yi, Ezra Dsouza, Yazan Zidan, Ahmed Idris, Rania Abdulhussein, Lina Badawi, Yazen Aboamir, Xuanru Meng, Christian Iversen & Aarnav Pilai

Science - Biology

G10 students are working hard on demonstrating how transcription and translation works in real life, by simulating a DNA sequence of a fictitious organism, decoding it using an Amino Acid Codon chart and drawing their organism.

Islamic Studies

Grade 11 students completed a check-in survey on how they feel in school generally. Later they discussed how to ‘Develop Empathy’ at school and the Islamic perspective on putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. Finally, they learned four stories about the Prophet Muhamad PBUH, who is our role model, where he exhibited this beautiful trait that is central to the prophetic character.

Student Presentation: ‘ Say NO to Discrimination’ by Lukadiia Al Lakis, - click HERE to view.

Individuals and Societies

Mr Zulk’s Grade 10 students took part in a zoom debate this week for their economics unit. The motion of the debate was ‘Scarce resources should be allocated first to those who can afford them’.

Students really put a lot of effort into organizing, preparing for and delivering the debate. It was great to see collaborative online learning!

Click HERE to view the debate.

Design Technology HL/SL

Student reflection from Arnav Sanghi (Grade 11) on learning through Computer-aided Design lesson:

"Over Online Learning, Mr Vikas helped us learn new CAD softwares. We started off with TinkerCAD, which is a CAD software. We started off with this as it is easy to use and understand. We started off with creating a photo frame and then objects found in our homes. The next step was to move to a harder software called Onshape. It was important for us to understand and learn this software as this is what we would use for our Internal Assessment. After learning the basics, we were told to create a tool on that platform. I decided to create scissors on the platform. For me personally it was a good experience as I used many features and replicated the product to my best ability. I found the benefits of using onshape and as I used it more and more, I became more comfortable with the software. Overall this was a really good learning experience for me as I got to use different softwares and got to learn a new skill preparing for my Internal Assessment."

STEM Aviation

Aviation students presented the investigation of the Air Speed Indicator. Students are learning about the six basic flight instruments. Students explore Impact/Static Pressure Chamber and Lines, Principle of Operation, Effect of Non-Standard Pressure and Temperature and instrument check. Learning how to identify the instrument's failure, what makes the mechanism fail and how to recover as a pilot from instrument failure.

Mathematics

This week, all grade 6 classes completed their Criterion D summative activity online to show their understanding of the strands we have covered over the past few weeks.

Mathematics

In preparation for their summative assessment next Wednesday, grade 7 students revised the volume of prisms and cylinders before moving on to calculating the surface area of these shapes.

Secondary School Drop-off and Pick-up Procedures

Morning Drop-off: 7:50 - 8:05am

*Homeroom begins at 8:10am

When arriving at school (from 7:50am onwards) students are to make their way directly to their assigned homeroom. Students should avoid gathering to socialize or delay their movement through school at arrival and dismissal.

Monday to Thursday

All students will be dismissed at 3.15pm.
Bus gates will close at 3:25pm.
Buses will depart at 3:30pm - AFTER non bus users have left the campus.
Students that are not picked up by 3:35pm will be directed to the main reception area.

Friday

All students will be dismissed at 11.40am.
Bus gates will close at 11:50am.
Buses will depart at 11:55am - AFTER non bus users have left the campus.
Students that are not picked up by 12:00 will be directed to the main reception area.

Parent WhatsApp Groups

Our Grade Level WhatsApp Groups offer parents another means to remain informed key events and developments in the secondary school. Parents can join the relevant groups by scanning the QR codes below. While we have a temporary admin for the Grade 8 WhatsApp group, we are seeking a permanent replacement. If you would like to volunteer your support, please complete this brief Google Form.

More information about the roles and responsibilities of secondary school parent representatives can be found here.