GPS Newsletter

Dear Parents

Another great week at GPS.  Year 2 went to Oli and Oli and Years 3-6 went to the Sheik Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi.  All children enjoyed (as did the teachers!)

To answer requests from the students - GPS' Got Talent will be held on the 28th February.  We would LOVE to have parent involvement - perhaps you could perform with your children?  Together as a group of Adults?  Mininum time for a performance is 2 mins and the maximum is 5.  Please coordinate with either Monica or your class teacher.

Calling all parents - PLEASE complete the survey (thank you if you have already).  Not only will it help us develop the school for your children, but it is essential for our inspection rating.  The link is below.....

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScrtjtnnMMfUY5UW_7MmbVCtAjZiPPmaGfrJ2mJ0qXNRCXYMQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Save the Date: 

The week of 3rd February Internal written assessments for all subjects

and

Thursday 6th of February - Year 1 "Makers Market" - Selling plants and planting kits- prices ranging from 10 aed

Friday 7th February "Spread the Love" - dressing up in red and white colours with activities on empathy and caring

Friday 21st February "Sports Day"

Half-term break starts 12.00pm Friday 7th and we return Monday 17th February

Monday 24th February DHA dental health check for all children

Friday 28th February - Emariti Education Day - we will celebrate this with the UAE for the first time ever! and GPS' Got Talent

Have a lovely weekend

Ms Jan

Developing Healthy Risk-Taking in Children

Risk-taking is an essential part of a child's growth and development. It helps children build confidence, resilience, and decision-making skills. Encouraging appropriate risk-taking enables children to navigate challenges, overcome fears, and develop a growth mindset. Here are some strategies to foster healthy risk-taking in children.

1. Create a Safe Environment for Risks

Children should feel supported when taking risks. Provide them with a secure and encouraging environment where they can explore new experiences without fear of harsh criticism or failure.

2. Encourage Problem-Solving

Teach children to assess risks and come up with solutions to challenges. Asking open-ended questions like "What do you think will happen if you try this?" helps them analyze situations and develop critical thinking skills.

3. Allow Room for Failure

Failure is a valuable learning opportunity. Help children understand that setbacks are a natural part of growth. Instead of focusing on mistakes, encourage them to reflect on what they learned and how they can improve next time.

4. Expose Children to New Experiences

Encourage children to try new activities, whether it's learning a musical instrument, participating in a sport, or exploring a new hobby. Experiencing unfamiliar situations builds adaptability and confidence.

5. Model Healthy Risk-Taking

Children learn by example. Demonstrate taking positive risks in your own life, such as trying a new skill or tackling a challenge. Share your experiences, including both successes and lessons from failure.

6. Praise Effort Over Outcome

Reinforce the importance of effort, persistence, and courage rather than just success. Praise statements like "I love how you tried something new today!" help children focus on their growth rather than the result.

7. Teach Emotional Regulation

Help children understand and manage emotions related to risk-taking, such as fear and frustration. Breathing exercises, positive self-talk, and discussions about emotions can equip them with strategies to navigate uncertainty.

8. Set Achievable Challenges

Encourage small steps toward bigger challenges. Gradually increasing the level of difficulty helps build confidence and prepares children for larger risks in the future.

Conclusion

Developing risk-taking skills in children prepares them for success in both personal and academic settings. By fostering a supportive environment, allowing room for failure, and modeling healthy risk-taking, we can empower children to become resilient and confident individuals ready to embrace challenges.

Hello, everyone! I am Ms. Tabitha, the EAL teacher at Al Ghaf Private School and I am excited to join you all on this amazing journey of growth and development! This week in EAL, we have had a wonderful time learning! The students have learned how to summarise the main idea of a paragraph, using engaging educational technology. They have had a fantastic time learning how to decipher the meanings of the words they read through their context. The students have been using their reading skills to organise a coherent story sequence. And finally, they have been learning what nouns are in the context of their daily life. 

Good day! My name is Ms. Imelda Sales, the Inclusion Teacher. I am very happy to be sharing with you all the fantastic activities we have been doing this week! The students have been developing their hand-eye coordination and ability to follow instructions by doing the hand-over-foot activity. They have enhanced their memory, problem-solving skills as well as their fine motor skills. They have been exploring with their senses during the water play activity. Also, we have been revising the parts of speech used in daily life. The students have built their confidence and handwriting skills by writing in the sand and tracing letters on paper. 

Exciting week for Year 3! In Maths we practiced multiples of 8,  the children focused on remembering and recalling the multiples first with lots of practise and partner games. We then dipped into practising dividing by 8 and will be continuing to practise this next week. In English the children really enjoyed exploring more in persuasive writing, this week we looked at a variety of different adverts (especially UAE based ones). The children practiced coming up with their own slogans and started planning innovative ideas using persuasive language for their own 'Choco-Goo' product. 

We ended the week with a fun school trip to Abu Dhabi to visit the Grand Mosque, the children had lots of fun and thoroughly enjoyed learning the history and process of building the mosque. They were really well behaved and loved asking lots of questions to our tour guide!

What we've done

It has been great week of learning in Year 4!

We started the week by planning and preparing our science experiment with the inquiry question of ‘Do sugary drinks cause tooth decay?’. Children made their prediction on what tooth they thought would have the most impact. We then conducted our experiment by testing how 4 different drinks impact tooth decay by using an egg. The children thoroughly enjoyed this and recording the progress of the egg each morning.

In Maths we continued our topic of multiplication and division, looking at other methods such as using a number line to multiply, divide 2 digits  by 1-digit numbers.

In the latter part of the week, we visited Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and had a wonderful and insightful tour around where we learnt lots of interesting facts! It was a great cultural experience and every child was eager to ask questions. 

Have a wonderful weekend.  

Wow! What an incredible cultural experience the children had on their trip to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. They were amazed by the mosque's beauty and learned many fascinating facts about it. Their enthusiasm was evident as they eagerly asked questions throughout the visit.

This week in English, the children began exploring The Pearl Diver, a story by Julia Johnson. They practised their prediction skills by anticipating what might happen next and explaining their reasoning. The children were fully engaged with the book and excited to discover what would come next.

In Mathematics, the children continued learning about fractions, focusing on comparing and ordering fractions less than and greater than 1. They also began exploring how to add fractions with different denominators.

In Science, the children experimented with irreversible changes. They observed the reactions when vinegar was mixed with hot milk and when Mentos were dropped into Coca-Cola. This also concluded our topic on Properties and Changes of Materials.

Lastly, in MSC, the children explored how to manage conflict. They discussed what steps they should take if a conflict arises.

It has been great week of learning in Year 6!

We started the week with poetry and the Jabberwocky. In maths we finished our imperial and metric unit conversions. Children made their experiment on refraction in Science. We then conducted our experiment by testing how glass and water affects an arrow. The children thoroughly enjoyed this and recorded their ideas.

In the latter part of the week, we visited Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and had a wonderful and insightful tour around where we learnt lots of interesting facts! It was a great cultural experience and every child was eager to ask questions. 

Have a wonderful weekend.  

                       السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

يسرني أن أقدّم نفسي لكم الأستاذة أسماء عبدالظاهر الشربيني، رئيسة قسم اللغة العربية في مدرسة الغاف. يشرفني التعاون مع فريق المعلمين المتميزين في المدرسة لتقديم أعلى مستويات التعليم في مواد اللغة العربية والتربية الإسلامية، بما يساهم في تعزيز الهوية الثقافية والدينية لطلابنا. نسعى دائمًا إلى تنمية مهارات الطلاب في القراءة والكتابة والفهم، وتعزيز قيمهم الإسلامية بما يتماشى مع رؤيتنا التربوية.

I am pleased to introduce myself to you as Ms. Asmaa Abdel-Zaher El-Sherbiny, Head of theArabic Department at Al Ghaf School. I am honored to collaborate with the distinguished teaching team at the school to provide the highest levels of education in Arabic language and Islamic studies, contributing to the enhancement of our students' cultural and religious identity. We constantly strive to develop students' skills in reading, writing, and comprehension, while promoting their Islamic values in alignment with our educational vision.
 

                                                              What did we learn? /    ماذا تعلمنا؟ 

                                        Arabic  A    /  اللغة العربية للعربية                       

  الروضة:  كانت بداية رائعة لهذا الأسبوع، قمنا بمراجعة درس الفواكهة وتعرفنا على أنواع جديدة من الخضروات من خلال درسنا الجديد  مثل : ( طماطم - فلفل - جزر -
خس ) ، وتدربنا على جمل بسيطة باللغة العربية : ( هذا خس - أنا أكل طماطم -  لون الجزر برتقالي )، قمنا بعمل أنشطة مختلفة وتلوين أوراق العمل.
الصف الثاني: تم مُراجعة الدروس السابقة التي تم دراستها خلال الفصل الدراسي الأول في أوراق المراجعة الحروف : (أ إلى ذ) استعدادًا لإختبار الأسبوع القادم
      
  الصف الرابع : تم مُراجعة الدروس السابقة التي تم دراستها خلال الفصل الدراسي الأول في أوراق المراجعة : ( غابة العجائب - مالك النِّسر الذهبي) استعدادًا لإختبار الأسبوع القادم 

                                                   Islamic A  /     الإسلامية للعرب                                       
الصف الثاني: تم مُراجعة الدروس السابقة التي تم دراستها خلال الفصل الدراسي الأول في أوراق المراجعة : درس ( أبو هريرة - أركان الإسلام - سورة الإخلاص - حديث الرفق بالحيوان) استعدادًا لإختبار الأسبوع القادم
   
الصف الرابع : تم مُراجعة الدروس السابقة التي تم دراستها خلال الفصل الدراسي الأول في أوراق المراجعة : ( سورة البينة - السيدة خديجة - الأذان والإقامة - فضائل القرآن ) استعدادًا لإختبار الأسبوع القادم  
                 
                                            Arabic B /     اللغة العربية للناطقين بِغيرها               
 

FS:It was a great start to the week! We reviewed the lesson on fruits and learned about new types of vegetables in our new lesson, such as (tomato, pepper, carrot, and lettuce). We practiced simple sentences in Arabic, such as: (This is lettuce – I eat tomatoes – The color of the carrot is orange). We engaged in various activities and colored the worksheets.

y1:The previous lessons studied during the first semester were reviewed in the revision sheets, focusing on the letters: ( د - ذ - ر - ز  - ع - ج) in preparation for next week's test.
y2: The previous lessons studied during the first semester were reviewed in the revision sheets, focusing on the letters: ( أ - ب- ت -ث- ج -ح - خ) in preparation for next week's test
y3:The previous lessons studied during the first semester were reviewed in the revision sheets, focusing on the letters: (Healthy food - The five senses - Body parts) in preparation for next week's test.
y4:The previous lessons studied during the first semester were reviewed in the revision sheets, focusing on the letters: (Every morning - The first day of school - Some Arabic Grammar ) in preparation for next week's test.
y5:The previous lessons studied during the first semester were reviewed in the revision sheets, focusing on the letters: (The Festival of Colors Lesson - Insect Festival -  Some Arabic Grammar ) in preparation for next week's test.
y6:The previous lessons studied during the first semester were reviewed in the revision sheets, focusing on the letters: (In my house - In my school -  Some Arabic Grammar ) in preparation for next week's test.
                                      Islamic B   /  الإسلامية للناطقين بِغيرها
y2:In year 2 as we usually do we started greeting students  and teaching them how to reply to this greeting in Islamic it was so fantastic to start our lesson with revision for the assessment. We made a revision of the lessons (Surat al-Ikhlas), pillars of Islam, kindness to animals and AbuHurairah it happened through worksheets revision paper.

y3:As we usually do we started greeting students  and teaching them how to reply to this greeting in Islamic it was so fantastic to start our lesson with revision for the assessment. We made a revision of the lessons "surat ash-sharh", I pray, Muhammad is the truthful the honest and Ali Ibn Abi Talib it happened through worksheets revision paper.
y4:As we usually do we started greeting students and teaching them how to reply to this greeting in Islamic it was so fantastic to start our lesson with revision for the assessment. We made a revision of the lessons surat al-Bayyinah, the call to prayer, the virtues of reciting the holy Qur’an and the lady Khadijah bint Khwailed it happened through worksheets revision paper.

y5:As we usually do we started greeting students  and teaching them how to reply to this greeting in Islamic it was so fantastic to start our lesson with revision for the assessment. We made a revision of the lessons .surat at-Tariq, belief in the devine books, making sure of news and the mother of the believers Zainab bint Khuzaimah it happened through worksheets revision paper.   
y6:As we usually do we started greeting students  and teaching them how to reply to this greeting in Islamic it was so fantastic to start our lesson with revision for the assessment. We made a revision of the lessons ( surat at-Takweer, the most beloved deeds to Allah, the night journey and the ascension to the heaven and the call of the people of at-Ta’if.). apply them in their daily lives it happened through worksheets revision paper.  
  Regards, Arabic and Islamic team
Mr. Desoky, Ms. Basma

Ms: Asmaa Elsherbiny   Arabic & Islamic Head   

What we've done

Hola todos , 

We had a great week students have learned new concepts along with that they practice and reviewed their all concepts to prepare themselves for upcoming written assessments by doing worksheets and class quizzes . In year 1 students reviewed about days of the week and months of the year by doing worksheets and praticed song based on the topics in Spanish . In year 2  students learnt about En mi estuche (In my pencil case ) by writing and doing wordsearch worksheets in Spanish . In year 3 students have learnt Abecedarrio by blending words and writing  short phrases in Spanish also reviewed about Saludos(Greetings) and short phrases in Spanish. In year 4 students discussed about Los miembros de la familia (Family members) in which they understand and learned how to address family members in Spanish .  In year 5 students learned about Los Animales with adjective in which students discussed and understand genero (gender) by writing their nature and types of animals in Spanish . In year 6 students learned about pronombres with defination of verbo - Ser with formal and infromal way in Spanish . Gracias for your support . 

Tengas buen fin de Semana

Hasta Luego 

Señor Radhey