PDO School Newsletter
17th February 2022
Dear Parents,
It has been great to see nearly all of the children back in school this week, all the way from Early Years to P7!
The corridors are alive again with the sounds of children's voices and laughter, which we we have missed so much over the last four weeks, due to some year groups receiving online learning. I am pleased to say that we have had many lovely emails from parents, informing of us of how well the children and teachers have coped with the shift to online learning and also how excited the children were to come back to school to see their teacher and friends.
School has been a very busy place indeed this week, with the return of some Extra Curricular activities and swimming to the curriculum. Please read on to find out more about the children's learning this week...
Music Enrichment and Curriculum
Music Enrichment
During Term 2, we have been gradually building up a greater variety of music enrichment and curriculum activities.
After an absence of almost two years from the enrichment programme, choirs and recorders have restarted again. Phase 2/ 3 Choir began in January and although there are still restrictions in place, the children are making good progress.
One of my favourite groups and one that I am really looking forward to restarting again is the Phase 1 Choir, which will begin after the holiday. So far, most of the children in P2 and P3 have expressed an interest so I am hoping it will be just as hectic and chaotic as normal!
Phase 2 and 3 Recorder groups also commenced in January and we already have differentiated groups set up to challenge all levels. If you are interested in learning the recorder then you will need your own instrument. However, they are inexpensive at around 3 OMR and can be purchased locally. If you are interested, I will be pleased to pass on some details of where to buy them.
Lunchtime clubs such as Staff Wars music notation reading game, African Drumming and ukulele for P5 continue to be very popular. Numbers are limited but if your child is interested, please email using the address below for details.
Existing activities such as Keyboard and Guitar continue to run after school as normal and although some are full, spaces are available for P4/5 Keyboard on Sunday.
Music Curriculum
Term 2 is easily the noisiest term of the year as most year groups participate in our World Percussion Units. Music from Brazil, Africa, Indonesia and Trinidad can be heard resounding around the corridors of PDO School during the day and even on the football pitch, with P6J working on their class written Samba piece. Recordings for all year group's performances will be available soon and placed on the class pages.
Finally, we are very pleased to welcome back P2 to P4, albeit for one week only.
Mr Gary Ruston
gruston@pdoschool.com
PE Curriculum and Enrichment
Term 2A would usually mean that the whole school is preparing for sports days. We spend the time practicing running, throwing and jumping skills in preparation for the annual event. Despite restrictions, the classes that remained in school enjoyed challenging themselves throwing for distance and working out how high they can jump in the high jump event. We had some very impressive improvements and we are looking at ways that we can showcase these skills in a house event in the coming weeks.
After Half Term we will be moving onto striking and fielding. Classes will be working on striking skills using a variety of equipment and body parts. We will explore the skills of catching and throwing, fielding tactics and general gameplay using a series of fun games and activities that ensure that pupils gain good understanding of the subject and associated skills.
PE Enrichment
Unfortunately, PE Enrichment has been hit hard by the current situation but some activities have continued including benchball, basketball, rounders, cricket, run club and football.
Mr Joe has been busy coaching the next Sachin Tendulkar and Chris Gayle. Miss Steph and Mr Dave are working the early morning 7am Running Group hard every Wednesday. What a dedicated bunch they are, getting to school at that time!
If you are interested in joining any of the above groups, please don't hesitate to contact the school.
Despite the restrictions, the pupils that have been able to take part so far have certainly enjoyed themselves. We are looking forward to full PE Enrichment returning to normal after the holiday with all the pupils who registered, being able to take part in these additional activities.
Swimming
We had targeted Term 2 as the time for our swimming assessments. Despite the limited swimming across the first half of the term, we will still aim to carry out our assessments in Term 2B and ensure our swimmers celebrate their hard work and progress that they have achieved so far this year.
News from EYFS
It was absolutely wonderful to see all of the children back in school! We would like to welcome all of our new starters that have begun this half-term and we hope that you love being at PDO School.
We have been reading stories about Dinosaurs which continued on from our homelearning 'What's in the Egg?'. The children have been exploring the Dinosaur Museums, taking Dinky Dinosaurs on adventures and learning all about Dinosaurs and Fossils. These stories are proving to be very popular, so we will continue with Dinosaurs after the holiday.
News from Phase 1 to 3
Phase 1
(Y1/P2 & Y2/P3)
This week saw the P2 and P3 children return to school after four weeks of online learning. All the teachers have been very impressed with the children's resilience and adaptability, returning to school full of excitement and ready to continue their learning.
In English P2 have been reading the book Mole’s Star and are researching facts about moles to help them write their own animal fact file. They practised their addition skills by adding a one digit number to a two digit number whilst playing snakes and ladders. P3 have been exploring the Arctic through the book The way home for Wolf and will be writing a non chronological report about the Artic and Artic animals. In maths they continued to add three digit numbers using different strategies.
Phase 2
(Y3/P4 & Y4/P5)
We are so pleased to welcome Y3 (P4) back into school this week. It was so nice to see their smiley faces once again.
Y4 have continued to enjoy their IPC topic learning all about the Ancient Egyptians. This week, they dived deep into the mysterious lives of The Pharaohs. Y4 are nearing the end of of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. This week, they wrote some impressive internal monologues from the perspective of Edmund, trying to convey his sadness at betraying his siblings.
Y3, continued to work hard learning all about dinosaurs. This week, they create outstanding factfiles using some of the Google Apps for Education. In Maths, they extended their understanding of fractions by adding and subtracting them and finding fractions of amounts. Y3 children have completed some wonderful Art, exploring using lines to create texture.
Phase 3
(Y5/P6 & Y6/P7)
(Y5/P6 & Y6/P7)
Both year groups have really been enjoying their books this half-term. Y5/P6 have used their knowledge of the text Boy at the Back of the Class to write the next chapter from the perspective of the narrator. They have been applying all of the new grammatical skills learnt so far this year.
Y6/P7 have done an excellent job at developing their inference skills and applying their understanding of the text to the writing. They created detailed recounts in the form of a letter, and created origami birds out of their writing. They look great!
Say 'Hello' To Our New Staff ...we are very happy to welcome them to our school!
Ms Marwa
Ms Nabiha
Ms Maryam
Ms Shaika
Bicycle and scooter safety
We have had a number of emails from parents concerned that children are not wearing safety helmets when riding their bikes and scooters to school .
We recommend that all pupils wear a safety helmet when riding their bike, scooter or electric scooter. We aim to minimise any risks to children and would like to raise awareness of this issue, in order that all children at PDO School are safe as possible, when coming and going to school and around PDO Camp.
Max P7S
Aamin P7S
Nurse Munira - half term holiday information
In order to ensure the safety of our children and the safety of everyone at the school from the rapid spread of Covid-19 cases, please follow the protocol below:
1. Keep your child at home if they have Covid-19 symptoms.
2. Keep your child at home if they have been in contact with someone who has Covid-19.
3. If you are travelling outside Oman during the half term break, parents will need to take a PCR test on arrival in Oman.
Children from PDO School do not require a PCR test to return to school, unless a household member tests positive for Covid - 19. In which case, please contact Nurse Munira for advice about returing to school.
Dates for your Diary:
- return to school on Sunday, February 27th
- potential Public Holiday announcement Tuesday 1st March 2022 (to be confirmed)
Wishing you and your family a pleasant half term holiday. Please stay safe.