PDO School Newsletter
24th March 2022
Dear Parents
It has been yet another busy week at PDO School for all our children. The children have had great fun and stretched their brains, taking part in the Mathletics competition and our school community has yet again showed their creativity in baking some wonderful cakes, in our first ever PDO Bake Off, for us all to oggle and drool over! No more words are needed, the fun that the children have had is evident in the photos...Thank you to our wonderful community and teachers here, for helping to make these exciting events possible.
Click here for a quick link to the Class Pages via the Parent Portal, to see what your children have been learning this week and for class updates.
The Great PDO Bake Off!
With nearly 100 cakes delivered to PDO School this morning - we are happy to declare the that the 1st PDO Great Bake Off has been a resounding success!! Children and their families from the PDO Community have excelled themselves with their imagination and baking skills! The winners have received a prize and certificate from Miss Cheryl today.
Please do click on the link below, to view the amazing array of cakes which showcases the talent of our children here at PDO School. I think everyone, children, families and teachers have had a real treat today. Congratulations to ALL children who enetered the competition today, you will receive a certificate too - well done!
Great PDO Bake Off Video (you will need to dowload this video to view it)
Early Years Winner - Theo
Hungry Caterpillar/Supertato/Evil Pea/Spider Pea Cake
Year 1/P2 Winner - Mokshitha
Harry Potter themed cake
Year 2/ P3 Winner - Usayd
"The Way Home for Wolf" cake
Year 3/ P4 Winner - Philus
A cake about "Zoo" by Anthony Browne
Y4/P5 Winner - Lilia
Narnia cake
Year 5/P6 Joint Winners - Will, Lavinia, Noah, Polina and Liesl
The "Boy at the Back of the Classroom" themed cakes
Year 6/P7 Joint Winners - Sabina, Annabella, Aamin and Max
Cakes themed on "The Arrival" by Shaun Tan
World Maths Day
There was much excitment in the classrooms on Wednesday as the children participated in the World Maths Day competition. They loved competing against other children in their class and across the globe. It has certainly improved their recall speed of their essential Maths facts.
What's the word?
Pupils in P4L know exactly what to do when they're stuck for a word. They have a fantastic word wall in their classs which they have created to empower their voluminous vocabulary! Well done P4L, you are doing a splendiferous job!
We love writing!
Children in Ms Nivine's class are so proud of their writing, they want to share with everyone. Fantastic work guys, we can't wait to see your stories when you get to Year 1 next year, you are such enthusiastic learners.
Exploring Supertato Characters
Children in Early Years are also enjoying the story Supertato. We asked them to paint a character and we recorded what they could tell us about their painting. Finally we talked about speech bubbles and added these to our characters.
I think you will agree that the children have captured the characters fantastically! We have some very creative children in Early Years.
April 6th & 7th Fun Days in Early Years
Like the rest of the school, the Early Years Team are preparing for our Fun Days at the end of Term. We will be having a Superhero theme to go along with our recent collection of stories. The children will enjoy Superhero challanges and on Thursday April 7th we will dress up as Superhero characters.
As one of the activities children will be decorating a T-shirt. Early Years parents please send in a plain white T-shirt by Monday April 4th.
Getting reading right!
Here at PDO school our mission is to teach every child to read – and to keep them reading.
Over the last two weeks new staff members have received initial reading training using the Read Write Inc phonics programme. They have developed the skills and confidence to teach key reading skills and enable children to develop a true love of reading.
Reading in Unusual Places!
Who is that reading in the garden? It's Farzana from P5/Year 4. Has anyone caught you reading in an unusual place this week - send your photo to Miss Zoe, our librarian zmcintyre@pdoschool.com or notices@pdoschool.com
Down with Homework! What??
Year 6 (P7) children are working to create Homework Excuse Generators in Computing lessons. These will create excuses so bizarre, they could only be true. If, however, the teachers are not fooled by them, at least they will have developed their coding skills in the process. ;)
Year 6 End of Year Celebrations
We can't believe it is coming to that time of year, where we have to start thinking about saying goodbye to our Year 6 leavers and celebrating the time they have spent at PDO School. We are thrilled to be hosting our very own PDO School Camp for the Year 6 children from the 22nd to the 23rd June. And back by popular demand will be the car parade on the 26th June - it is never too early to start thinking about those car designs! More to follow after the Spring-break!
Sporting achievements
Following on from last weeks request for you to send in any recent sporting achievements, I am pleased to celebrate the following successes.
The PDO Jaguars football team recently celebrated the double winning the league and the cup. A fantastic achievement with a team consisting of four PDO pupils - Will, Kamil, Lex and Imran. Not only did the team achieve group success both Will and Kamil were also awarded individual trophies.
Will Cooper - Best Goal Keeper in the League (Under 11s)
Kamil Oreagba - Best Player in the League (Under 11s)
An amazing achievement for both of these young players with a bright future ahead of them! Well done to all of the players involved.
PDO Jaguars Under 11's Team
League and Cup Champions 2022
If you have something you have achieved lately and have some photos and information you would like to share, please send it through to me so we can include it in our newsletters and we can celebrate your progress and share your successes.
Will Cooper (Year 6D)
Best Goal Keeper in the League (U11s)
Kamil Oreagba (P 6D)
Best Player in the League (U11s)
Run Club
The children have been increasing their running efforts each week in the PDO run club on a Wednesday morning. This week, they ran over 2km and even made it to the Look Out Point - taking on a steep hill to get there! Well done Runners, Mr Dave and Miss Stephanie were very impressed. Next week will be our final Run Club of the year where we will be doing silly relays and fun running games with the Phase 2 and Phase 3 runners.
Water Safety Week
All of our swimmers took part in Water Safety Week. Our pupils were introduced to a short video about safety at the pool and beach. Followed by a short demonstration. Depending on the level they are working towards our swimmers then had the opportunity to practice their own rescues and life-saving techniques.
Our Year 1-6's also took part in a word search competition to build on the understanding of the language used around the subject of water safety. Well done to everyone who entered.
Nurse Munira - immunisation notice
Immunisation is an important way to protect your child from avoidable diseases. The basic premise of vaccination is to make us immune to disease, before we become unwell.
One of our prime concerns within school is Diphtheria and Tetanus (DT) and Oral Polio Vaccination (OPV). These vaccinations are required for all children in Oman.
I am able to arrange for some children to have these vaccinations at PDO Clinic. We need to ensure that all our children here at PDO School are up to date with their vaccinations. Please let me know if any support is needed from my side, and send me your child's vaccination records, if you have not already done so.
If you have any questions or need advice, please email me on the address below:
Hotter Weather - changes to dismissal at hometime...
The temperature outside is increasing daily and we are very conscious of the lack of shade in the current collection area for parents, therefore we are planning an alternative that will be a bit more comfortable for everyone. As of Sunday the 20th March, the children will be lined up with their class teacher inside the learning souq area and exit the building via the front doors that are facing the car park. This will allow parents to wait under the shaded arched area of the building, or the shade at the main entrance, during the warmer part of the day.
The dismissal locations will remain roughly the same with the exception of P3 / Year 2 who will now be dismissed from the front of the main building instead of the outside paved area. P4/ Year 3 will now be dismissed from the first 2 sets of double doors (next to P2 and 3). Please keep an eye out for signs on the doors.
P 6&7/ Y 5 and 6 will follow the normal procedures- no change.
Mr. Tom's and Ms. Naomi's classes will leave via the main entrance. P5/ Y4 parents, please wait in the shade near the main doors. Children will wait inside and will be dismissed when you are spotted.
**Additionally, if due to to the hot weather, you no longer wish your child to walk or cycle to school, please let their class teacher know, so their permissions can be updated, by sending an email to : notices@pdoschool.com
Young Children Under 3 Years
PDO School is currently preparing to receive new children for the next academic year 2022/2023. If you have a small child at home, who will turn 3, between 1 st September 2022 and 31st August 2023, we would love to hear from you and offer you an opportunity to look around the school! Please send an email to Ms. Zoe at notices@pdoschool.com and we will arrange a visit. Hope to see you soon!
Parental Concerns:
At PDO School we acknowledge that, from time to time, parents may wish to express concerns about specific aspects of their child’s education. We are always happy to investigate and respond to these concerns. Please note that, for the Class Teachers, it is important that even informal discussions take place outside of their teaching time.
What do I do if I have a concern?
Please make the Class Teacher your first point of contact if your concern is not successfully resolved, please contact the school via notices@pdoschool.com to make an appointment with the Deputy Head Teacher, Ms. Kath Morgan, or myself.
Mr. Hamed, our School Manager, is also happy to listen to any parental concerns that have not been resolved successfully.
Dates for your Diary:
Start of Ramadan, Friday April 1st
Fun Challenge days 6th and 7th April
School closes for the end of the Spring Term 7th April
Our PDO Bastah (SME Booth at BMF) will be hosting Omani SME who sells Books & learning toys on 17th to 21st April (Banat, Oman)
School reopens 24th April
PDO Celebrate World Book Day on 24th April - more details to follow soon
Reports to parents on June 19th
Parent-Teacher Consultations on 20th and 21st June
P7/Year 6 School Camp on the 22nd - 23rd June
P7/Year 6 Car Parade - 26th June
Our friends from Outpost Muscat would also like to tell you about their Community Event:
