Week Twenty Eight - March 11th 2022

#WeRGIS Weekly

From the Head of School's Desk

Dear Parents,

I hope that you are well.

Two visitors from the Council of International Schools have been conducting a Preparatory Evaluation of GIS this week. We work with our accreditation bodies transparently and collaboratively to hone our best practice, to improve where possible and to celebrate and build upon success. This visit, although conducted virtually, has been extremely thorough and the visitors have been so supportive and collegial that it has been a real pleasure. I would like to commend all staff, students and parents involved in the evaluation. In particular, I would like to thank Ms. Kim Conlin, our Head of Primary, for being the lead coordinator of this visit. Ms. Kim’s preparations for this have been meticulous and her encouragement has been so well received. We shall share with you the CIS conclusions (commendations and recommendations) in due course. I can assure you that the visitors have been hugely impressed by our students, staff, parents, planning and culture of Respect, Trust and Ambition.

GIS has noted a hugely positive upturn in the last two years in the parental survey results, to such an extent that we have been asked to explain to GEMS senior management how this has been achieved! We certainly hope that it also translates into the best student retention we have ever had. Our fees remain the same next year, and our focus on enhancing the educational offering for your children is stronger than ever.

Our new CP and Tareeqi pathways indicate that we consider all students on their journey and really personalize the choices. We have succeeded in becoming the only school in the UAE to forge a partnership with Embry Riddle, the prestigious Aeronautical University.

The vast majority of our teachers are remaining with us next year, thereby guaranteeing, as last year, stability and continuity. As a parent myself, I know how important that is. Therefore, we hope that you will re-enrol your child as soon as possible and continue your journey with us.

Despite the current restrictions (which are finally easing a little!), our GISPA team has done a remarkable job in organizing the GIS Expo event for Saturday, March 12^th. We very much look forward to welcoming as many of you as possible, between 3-7pm. It should be a lot of fun. Two senior students approached me with great enthusiasm, informing me that it was a tradition for the Head of School to be ‘dunked’ at this event. I think it may be a new tradition, but if you see me soaking wet, you’ll know why!

On the sporting front, I enjoyed watching a volleyball match this week. Guided by Ms. Victoria, our U19 girls won convincingly, three games to zero, against the previously unbeaten Nibras School. Well done girls and keep it up!

Finally, I was delighted to present a Head of School’s Commendation to Ellie B from Grade 4A. Ellie donated no fewer than 54 books to the African Charity Drive, thereby giving a lot of pleasure to other children. This attitude really exemplifies our school values and we admire Ellie for this act of kindness.

Kind regards and have a good weekend,

Simon Herbert

Copy of Diversity Week - Student Advisory Slides- Week 11

Our Jaguars had a busy week this week. On Tuesday we had 3 fixtures across both Primary and Secondary. We hosted our first ever DASSA Volleyball game at GIS and our U19 girls did not disappoint with a 3-0 victory against Nibras International School, who were previously unbeaten.

We had 2 primary fixtures also with our U11 boys travelling to Swiss International School for a U11 tennis competition. Alessandro and Kostantinos played some great tennis and gained some invaluable experience along the way. Additionally saw the return of the primary Aquathon at Safa Community School, where we had 17 primary athletes compete and represent GIS. Congratulations to Fayth Fernandes who finished 3^rd in the U11 girls event category.

On Wednesday, we had another GIS milestone with a girls U11 football team competing in the DASSA league for the first time ever. The girls did remarkably well in beating GEMS World Academy 5-1. A mention must go to Grade 6 student Leen M, who although it was a great team effort, scored all 5 goals for GIS. This may be a new record for an individual tally for a Jaguar footballer in a match.

Our U16 tennis players enjoyed some singles and doubles action at Kent College. Kent College put on a great event which was very relaxed and allowed students to enjoy the experience in a non-competitive environment. This is the first time that we have seen secondary interschool tennis at GIS and is something that we hope will continue to flourish.

Finally we had our U16 volleyball boys who took on Horizon in their second DASSA fixture of the year. Our boys were narrowly defeated 2-1 after three very close, hard fought games.

Well done to all Jaguars who represented GIS this week and good luck to all athletes competing in what promises to be another busy week for our jaguars.

Music Hub offers private instrument lessons on GIS campus. These are offered at a cost of 1500aed (including VAT) per term.

Students are placed on a rotating timetable so that the lesson is on the same day each week but the time of the lessons changes. This is to ensure that students do not miss the same part of the same curriculum lesson each week.

Please visit www.esm.ae/login to register.

(Instruments you can learn: piano, guitar, woodwind instruments, voice, and more!)

Community News

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GIS Community Calendar 21/22

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