Dear Parents,

Welcome to the start of the school year!

I hope that all your children have settled quickly into school and are connecting with other children in the class. 

For the first few days of this term we have all taken part in training on the IPC and the IEYC. See more details below from Ms Munira.

We understand that the educational process in all schools can be complicated and challenging to understand at times, we also know that you want to support and help your children with their learning.  We encourage you to contact your child’s class teacher at all times, if you have any questions about the learning process, they will support you. Should you need additional information then please contact the Milepost Leaders or the Headteacher. For your child to progress they need support at home, realistic parental expectations will impact significantly on your child and their development.

Learning

Below is a definition of learning that we have been introduced to this week  "Good struggle". This will mean different things to many people, however I think it is important to acknowledge that learning can be challenging at times. At PDO school we intend to bring continued rigour to all our learning. 

This will be a challenge for us all, our whole school community. However, we anticipate with all our input that the learning in our students will develop to a deeper and more complex level. 

Class Parent Representatives and Parent Connect

We will be looking for every class in the school to have a class parent, the role will involve them acting as a messaging point between the class teacher and the parents. 

They will also play a role in collecting questions from parents and bringing them to the school Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher during a Parent Connect meeting. The questions should relate to the key issues; learning and school operations.  The Parent Connect meeting will take place twice a term, it will involve just the class parent representatives meeting with school leadership. The aim here is to involve parents in the school, they will be able to ask questions and the school can discuss some plans for the future. All of this will be explained in more detail to the class parents. The whole community will receive the minutes from the meeting.

We hope that parents will support the school and look forward to meeting with you in the future.

Tim Robinson

Headteacher

At the beginning of this week, staff were very fortunate to receive in-school training from Robin Belles and Christy Tanghe-Snider who are both senior consultants at Improve Education. They have a breadth of expertise in delivering and developing the IPC curriculum and they will continue guiding the school and staff as we transition through this next exciting phase.  

IPC will operate on a greater platform at PDO School and with the support of our consultants, teachers have been busy planning purposeful and innovative units of learning with which to engage our students.  As an international school, the celebrated diversity of nationalities and cultures that is represented by the children and school community is a key driver in how we seek to shape and structure our learning experiences. We are conscious that the lines between home, host and heritage are not as clearly defined for our young learners. Therefore, our endeavour is to support our children to successfully navigate these terms and at the same time cultivate a true sense of self. Global citizenship and international mindedness, coupled together with the Personal Learning Goals underpin our aim to develop skills that will continue to hold our pupils in excellent stead when they continue their learning journey beyond PDO School. 

Early Years

Children in Nursery and Reception were extremely excited to return to school this week.  They have been doing what they do best:  playing!  They have been busy exploring their new classroom environment, making lots of new friends and getting into the swing of school routines.

Milepost 1

 It has been an action packed few days and we have loved having the corridors alive with chat and excitement from our new and returning students. The start of the Academic Year is spent ensuring each and every one of our students feels valued and secure in a safe learning environment. Therefore, we dedicated substantial time discussing our Personal Learning Goals with special focus on Collaboration, Communication and Empathy. Children worked collaboratively to prepare bucket fillers containing Personal Learning Goals and in Year One the focus was on undertsanding our place within family, school and the wider world.

Milepost 2

It has been great to have our corridor filled with children this week. The Year 3s have been enjoying exploring their new space and the Year 4s have been setting a great example for them. We have started the year by reinforcing our Personal Learning Goals and investigating how we learn through the Brainwave IPC unit. 

Milepost 3

Children in Year 5 and 6 returned to school full of excitement for the year ahead. This week, teachers have been spending time getting to know the children in their class and ensuring they are settling into their new learning environment. Across the Milepost, children have been learning about learning by teaching their peers new knowledge and skills.  

Year 4 - Year 6 Students can walk or cycle to and from school alone only after completing this form:

Year 4 to Year 6 children who live on Camp can walk or cycle to and from school alone only after completing this form:

Walk or cycle to school 

Please only complete the form a second time if you have moved house since the last time that you completed it.

Information for Parents on Parent Portal

Please log into the Parent Portal to see the 2023/2024 Information for Parents. You can access it from the Parent Portal, or via this link:

Information for Parents 2023/2024 

Leaving Oman -  please let as know as soon as you can

We request that parents who have plans to move away from Oman, to please provide us with the details as soon as possible by emailing Mr Tim, trobinson@pdoschool.com or Ms Zoe, zmcintyre@pdoschool.com.  This will allow us time to prepare the Transfer Certificate and other documents your child may require for their application to a new school, as well as to be able to give your child a traditional school farewell.  

Wishing you a pleasant weekend,

The PDO School Team