PDO 

School  Newsletter

  1st November 2023

Dear all,


I hope that you all had a good break and are ready for a busy term ahead.  The school calendar is full of events for this term.


As a school staff we are currently working on several definitions of learning, we are developing our Purpose for the school and our definitions of Learning, International Mindedness and Play. As a school we are having conversations about learning, it is important that as a team we agree and are focused on our school Purpose. We will be inviting parents and students for their input this term. Our final goal is to have a bank of statements that clearly defines our focus for the future and how we will drive towards these statements.


We are aware that a number of events were postponed last term due to the current events in Gaza. We are working with the MOE and they will advise us on the activities that we are able to host in school. Currently the Glow Party, Hat Day and the Y6 quiz are postponed until further notice. The School will continue to work with The PTA to reschedule these events in the future.


Drop off in the morning- As a school we are looking at a number of school areas and making several changes to our operations. We have currently reduced the number of staff on drop off from 3 to 2 (this original initiative was introduced during Covid). We are looking to create more independent children, and where possible we are looking for children to leave the cars on their own; if necessary we will support and we will ask parents to support also in opening car doors.  We are also welcoming parents to park and walk their child into school, and for students to cycle or walk to school if safe to do so. We will review this with Parent Connect in the future.


During Parent Connect we had several requests for more information on the school curriculum. We have held 2 workshops this week and we will hold several more in the future. As parents you are our partners in the learning process and we do encourage you to attend these workshops. Education is constantly evolving and all parents need to be aware of how children learn in the 21st century; for example our reporting and assessment procedures have been changed significantly this term. As we have indicated previously, research indicates that strong realistic parental expectations and interest will impact on student outcomes. Many thanks to all the parents that were able to attend.

Tim Robinson

Headteacher

Early Years

Splash Day

Nursery children were buzzing with excitement for the much anticipated and first ever 'Splash Day' at PDO School!  This entry point for our new unit, 'Let's Play Outside' made this the perfect time to get outside and explore water. There is nothing more fun than spending time splashing and frolicking in the water on a hot day! The children had a wonderful time pouring, carrying and splashing alongside each other. Playing with water not only keeps your child feeling cool but you may also be surprised to learn that water play has so many benefits for childhood development, making it one of the most popular activities in Early Years. 

Milepost 2

In Year 3, we had the opportunity to delve into the fascinating world of Mary Anning, a famous fossil hunter and paleontologist. Through our English lessons, Guided Reading sessions, and IPC activities, we explored her life and work, sparking curiosity and prompting us to ask thought-provoking questions. To gather information, Year 3  turned to various sources, including videos, webpages, and informative texts. The children were incredibly enthusiastic and eager to share the knowledge they had acquired. To document our findings, we created an engaging information poster. Additionally, in IPC, we found out about the different types of fossils! 

Milepost 3

Nabil Al Busaidi 

Few people can boast of their job title as being a professional adventurer but the special guest speaker who came to talk to Y5 this week is exactly that! Nabil Al Busaidi, real-life explorer, world record holder and adventurer extraordinaire, shared his remarkable experiences of walking to the North Pole, climbing Mount Everest and rowing across the Atlantic!  


In IPC, Y5 have been exploring the most extreme habitats on Earth. Having the opportunity to hear about the harsh conditions of these places by someone who has been there brought an engaging and interactive dynamic to their learning.  


The children (and staff) were captivated by Nabil’s gripping accounts of his expeditions. Sharing the physical and mental challenges he faced, Nabil emphasized the importance of having a growth mindset. During the Q&A session, further dialogue was sparked about the power of perseverance and adaptability. His experiences served as a source of inspiration, teaching the students valuable life lessons about setting goals, overcoming obstacles, and never giving up on their dreams. Indeed, it was wonderful for the children to hear about so many of the Personal Goals in action. 


Nabil has kindly donated a copy of his book to the school library and I know the children are already vying to bring it home to read and share these incredible adventures with you. 


Ms Munira - IPC Leader for Learning 

GL Assessment and Early Years slides

On Tuesday, the Early Years Team team offered a curriculum workshop to give parents information about our new Early Years Curriculum (IEYC).

On Wednesday, Ms Claire and Ms Anre offered a Parent Information session on our new assessment programme for Year 1 - Year 6.

If you were unable to attend these sessions, we recommend that you look at the slides below:

Supporting Early Childhood Learning and Development at PDO School  

Parent Information Session on GL Assessments 


School Calendar

You can find the school calendar on  the Parent Portal in the tab "School Calendar". You will be able to find an overview of all events in here.

MPSL Benchball Success

On Tuesday we hosted the Girls MPSL Benchball tournament. We had six schools and over 110 Children take part in this fast paced exciting game. Benchball is a great game to develop the skills for Basketball, Netball and other invasion games.  We had a huge crowd turn out to support the teams and our PDO teams performed incredibly well. Our U11 and U9 teams were unbeaten heading into the finals with some huge scores. The under 11's had a close final game, narrowly losing 11-8, to finish 2nd overall. Our Under 9 team, of whom were very young for this competition, managed a very convincing victory to become champions. We are very proud of all the girls and look forward to the boys event in a couple of weeks time. 

Muscat Marathon

We are pleased to announce that we have our registration link for the upcoming Muscat Marathon Event in January. If you are interested in joining you can use the link below to register directly and pay for the event as a PDO School representative. 


Group Name                     

: PDO School


Password to register                          

: MM2024


Link : 

https://www.njuko.net/-muscat-marathon-2024/groups-list


Code for Payment : PD2HVZZ9S


Please be aware this is not a school-organised event and parents are responsible for registration, transport and supervision on the day. 

Parent Workshop - Seesaw 

All parents are welcome to join me on Sunday 5th November at 1:30-2:00pm for an informal workshop on how to access Seesaw and use it to engage with our children. The workshop will take place in the Computing Lab. Please ensure you bring a data enabled device with you. If you are interested in attending please register via the form here.

Ms Kirsty  - Computing teacher

What is the IPC and where else is it taught?

The International Primary Curriculum (IPC) was first introduced in 2000 and was developed as a curriculum that supported learning, irrespective of the geographic location of the school or the nationalities and cultural background of the learners. Originally written for a specific cohort of schools that were established to provide education for the children of a large company’s employees and then expanding into other international and state schools, the IPC is now present in more than 1000 schools in over 90 countries and celebrated its 20th birthday in 2020.


The International Early Years Curriculum (IEYC) was introduced in 2016 after new research and feedback from member schools demonstrated that early years settings needed their own curriculum to meet the needs of children at such a crucial stage of development. The IEYC is now used in over 500 schools and early years settings in more than 60 countries. 


Ms Munira - IPC Leader for Learning

Beach Clean Up - 4th November

PDO School and PTA welcome you to take part in a beach clean up on Saturday 4th November. As part of PDO School's new green initiative, all students, parents and friends are invited to join, in order to help maintain our beautiful surroundings and save our wonderful wildlife. 

The event will take place at Azaiba Beach, starting at 8 am. Please find the meeting point link and directions for parking below. 

Help us make a difference!


Important notice: Children must be accompanied by an adult. Do not drop children off without parent supervision. 

Recycling Drive

Thank you to all who have donated their plastic items for our whole school recycling drive so far!

We are currently collecting a variety of plastic items, e.g. egg boxes, water bottles, plastic bags and detergent bottles. Please note that we are no longer collecting milk bottles as these do not store well in the heat. Please see the items checklist below for more details.

If you would like to donate any of the items on the list, please send them in with your child on Sundays, when there will be someone at hand to help sort through the recycling. Please also ensure that items have been cleaned thoroughly as the children will be using them for a future art project.

Thank you for your cooperation! 

Plastic items and polystyrene.pdf

Reminder

International Market Day Logo Competition

The deadline for submitting your logo entries is drawing closer! Your entries must be in before 9th November if you want the opportunity for your artwork to win.

If you haven't done so already, you can create a hand drawn logo using one of these templates or you can create a logo digitally. Please also find the specifications and submission instructions on this link. 

Well done to those who have already submitted! 

Kids Yoga & Zumba at RAHRC

Dates for your Diary

Wishing you a pleasant weekend,

The PDO School Team