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Week Six - October 7th 2021
From the Head of Primary
From the Head of Primary
Dear Primary School Parents,
As we come to the end of our first units of inquiry, we have already set our sights on the second unit of inquiry of the year! Units start with provocations and questions that are used to engage students and "provoke thinking" around a big idea. Check out the class and grade pages to learn more about the grade level units!
Thank-you to all the parents that attended the ConnectEd this week about our Behaviour Guidelines. This session dove deeper into how we support positive behaviour and regulation. Social and emotional learning is a significant part of our curriculum which benefits all students at GIS.
Please read below for some highlights from this week and for important upcoming dates.
PYP Newsletter at a glance
PYP Newsletter at a glance
ConnectEd Archive
Student Leaders Update
Instructions for Covid-19 Quarantine (if ever needed)
Peek into Learning Grade 3
**Updated Class Pages**
Upcoming Dates
Upcoming Dates
October 12th: Wear Pink for Women's Health
October 18th: Wear White if you wish to celebrate the Prophet's Birthday
October 18th: Narrative Progress report open to parents
October 19-20: Mid Term break
October 21*: Prophet's Birthday (TBC)
October 24th: Extra Curricular Activities begin (more info for sign up next week)
October 28th: Costume dress up
October 29th: Dubai 30x30 starts
Parent Workshops
Parent Workshops
Don't miss our parent sessions every second Wednesday
Don't miss our parent sessions every second Wednesday
Primary Student Leaders
Primary Student Leaders
It has been an exciting few weeks for Student Leadership in PYP!
In September, G3-5 classes began exploring the idea of leadership - what does it look like? What forms of leadership are there? What qualities make an effective leader? Students interested in becoming a student council representative wrote and delivered a speech in front of their class. Their classmates voted and the top 2 finalists from each class interviewed with Ms. Au, Ms. Raquel and Ms. Sarah. After an exciting week of elections, the student council representative was chosen based on their ability to demonstrate qualities of a leader, alongside their enthusiasm and ideas for action and service. Our aim this year is to focus on developing meaningful and service-based action to serve our GIS community and beyond.
Over 50 grade-five students rose to the challenge of delivering a speech to their house peers in grades three, four and five. After hearing the speeches, students across the PYP democratically selected their 12 house captains, three for each of the four houses. Our PYP house captains are as follows:
Blue Dragons: Emma Le Roux, Moutaz Duwaji and Fayth Fernandes
Green Mambas: Vanessa Almeida, Sofia Alriyami and Aly Issa
Red Raptors: Anannya Ajayan Rakendu, Goncalo Sarmento and Zain eloraby
Yellow Pythons: Alessandro Vaccaro, Andy Faddoul and Talia Ragab
With a focus on compassion, resilience and understanding, our new house captains are meeting twice weekly to uplift school spirit in a variety of ways. To start the school year, they have begun working on planning three major events, each focusing on a different aspect of a person that makes them a whole. House Captains are also constructing plans for encouraging their peers to take part the in Dubai 30x30 fitness challenge. Finally, house captains are planning on constructing some fun challenges that will presented during Thursday assemblies. Four houses, one home!
Congratulations to our Student leaders who will be representing their classes in Grades 3, 4 and 5 and house colors across the Primary. Our first Student-led events are just around the corner - we can’t wait!
New Student check-in
New Student check-in
Being new isn't always easy and we are here to support! This week, all new students to GIS in grades 1-5 shared a break time with Ms. Carolina and Ms. Raquel to check in on how their first month at a new school has been. The students met other new students in their grade, reflected on how their first month has been and played a fun game that demonstrated how many things they have in common.
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.
Peek Into Learning: Grade 3
Peek Into Learning: Grade 3
Grade 3 have been very busy this week!
Grade 3 have been very busy this week!
Writing Process
Arrays
Values
Biographies
Students in Grade 3 have been learning about a variety of things this week. Here are some highlights!
Students are in the beginning stages of research to create their very own biography. They have agency to choose the focus of their biography and are working independently to navigate the writing process: pre-writing where the decide their topic and generate ideas; drafting stage where they organizing their facts; revising stage where they choose the best words and sentences to express themselves; revising stage where they add, remove or rearrange content to make it flow for the reader; editing where they correct all the mistakes known to them.
Students took a moment to connect learning from their unit of inquiry (vales and beliefs) to an artist being focused on in visual art class: Pablo Picasso. Students created inspirational pieces of art after reflecting on his main values: different techniques, friendship, colors, self-expression, creativity.
Students have been exploring arrays in math investigations. They are building a deeper understanding of how to represent numbers using arrays in both concrete and symbolic forms. They are using that deeper understanding to represent and solve multiplication problems using new strategies that build upon and further strengthen the strategies they already possess.
Primary Class Pages
Primary Class Pages
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
2021/22 Academic Year Calendar
2021/22 Academic Year Calendar
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