PDO School Newsletter
22nd January 2024
Dear Parents
We have a busy 2 weeks ahead with several opportunities for parents to attend school events.
Next week we have the International Week (see below) where we have several dates across the week where parents can support their children. The following week we have our school sports days, this is another opportunity to support your children.
Parental interest in your child's education is key in supporting your child's learning, research would demonstrate that engaged and involved parents have a positive outcome on student well- being and academic achievement. Hopefully, you can all find sometime in your calendars to drop in at one of the events during the next few weeks.
And continuing with the parent theme- many thanks to all the parents who have supported the International Week, we are aware of the hours you have dedicated to supporting the school.
Tim Robinson
Headteacher
International Week - 26th - 29th January 2025
We would like to invite you to join us for our International Week on the following days and times:
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Sunday 26th January - Fashion - all children can come to school wearing the National Dress or home colours of their country flag
Assembly at 8am - 8.30am - all parents welcome to attend (in the main hall)
Monday 27th January - Dance
Assembly at 8am - 8.30am - all parents welcome to attend (in the main hall)
Tuesday 28th January - Song
Assembly at 8am - 8.30am - all parents welcome to attend (in the main hall)
Wednesday 29th January - Festivals Quiz
Assembly at 8am - 8.30am -all parents invited to attend. Teachers will be in the Learning Souk to register the children on arrival before making the way to the hall. Children remain with parents for the assembly quiz.
Following the quiz there will be a whole school shared picnic on the field please see separate email for further details about this.
Thursday - School closed - Public holiday
We look forward to welcoming you and celebrating the festivals around the world.
International Shared Family Picnic - 29th January 2025
As part of our International Week, we are excited to invite you to a whole school shared picnic on the field. This will take place following the family quiz assembly on Wednesday 29th January. We anticipate the family picnic ending by 9.30am.
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We ask each family to provide a small plate of food for their child to add to a shared Milepost buffet table. The food can be traditional from your home country. For awareness there must be no nuts.
For any children that have specific dietary requirements or that prefer to have their own food, please provide a plate that is just for them.
On arrival, children will take their food to a designated Milepost table in the Learning Souk, where they will also be registered for that day.
Please note that children should still bring their usual school lunch and water bottle.
If you have any questions please speak to your child's class teacher.
Learning Through Play Training for Early Years and MP1
The Early Years and MP1 teams took part in Learning Through Play training. The session highlighted the importance of play in children's development, sparking curiosity, creativity and confidence, while promoting essential skills such as problem solving, teamwork and adaptability.
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The training emphasised how play strengthens brain connections, enhances understanding and builds lifelong skills. We explored how learning through play connects to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a focus on promoting quality education, gender equality, reducing inequality and supporting sustainable communities. We also looked at how play supports the development of global competence by encouraging cultural awareness, critical thinking, collaboration and empathy among children.
Safety Notes for children cycling/scootering to school
Many students commute to school using bicycles or scooters. To ensure their safety, please adhere to the following guidelines:
Helmet Safety: All children must wear helmets when riding scooters or bicycles. Please ensure that the helmets are appropriately sized and properly adjusted to fit your child's head.
Scooter Speed Controls: We understand that several scooters do have the capacity to reduce the speed limit. We would advise all parents to review the settings of the scooter and ensure that this is appropriate for the age of the child who is operating the scooter.
Bike /Scooter Maintenance: Regular maintenance of bikes and scooters is essential. Pay particular attention to the brakes, tyres and steering to ensure optimal safety. Please make sure for scooters that the handlebars are at the correct height for the student.
Seat Height Adjustment: Make sure the bike seat is adjusted to match your child's height for comfortable and safe riding.
Route Discussion: Discuss the route your child takes to school, emphasising the importance of safe crossing practices. Many crossing points lack traffic lights, so it's crucial to encourage children to walk at these crossings. Teach them to make eye contact with drivers before crossing the street. Reinforce that this safety awareness extends beyond school and into the wider community. Only students from Y4 and above are permitted to ride scooters or bicycles to school unaccompanied. All students will require parental consent (using this form: https://zfrmz.com/CyyKCe1lMAMlQjzRCW5b) if they travel to school on a bicycle or scooter. Please contact your child’s class teacher for further information.
Thank you for helping to keep our children safe on their journeys to school.
Early Years
This week in Early Years we have been learning about wholes and halves.
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We explored shapes, learning how a circle becomes a semi circle and a square turns into a rectangle. Our topic this term continues to focus on bugs and insects, and we took a deep dive in to looking at bees and how useful they are. We then merged the learning of our topic and our Maths work. We used our halving skills to cut slices of bread in half and benefitted from the bees we had learnt about by using delicious healthy organic honey to spread on the toast for a scrumptious snack!
Milepost 1
This week in Year One, we began our new unit, ‘The Stories People Tell' by visiting special areas in our Learning Souq. We had an Arctic area, a rainforest, a campsite, and a beach area—all designed to help spark our imaginations!
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These areas were our provocations to help us create our own stories. We thought about the characters, settings, and what could happen in each place. By using our knowledge of these environments, and our skills in storytelling, we started to understand how stories are shaped by where they take place and the characters we create.
This is also part of our learning in History, where we look at how stories from the past are told, and Geography, where we explore how stories can connect to real places. We also got creative in Art, designing characters and settings to help bring our stories to life.
It’s been a fun start to our unit, and we can’t wait to keep exploring and telling new stories! ✨📚
Milepost 2
Parent support shout out!
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We would like to take the opportunity to thank and share the support of some of our Year 4 parents who have enhanced the learning of all children through our IPC unit 'Explorers and Adventurers'. We began last week with an inspirational talk from Nataly, Ella's mum, who helped us to understand the importance of raising the profile of young and female explorers.
This followed with a visit from Ryan, Rory's dad who shared his reasons for why he loves his adventure-based lifestyle and has accomplished so many goals with a 'believe in yourself and never give up' message for us.
We look forward to ending this week with a further talk from Ji Peng, Chris' dad, around his Everest Challenge!
Milepost 3
In Year 6 this week, the children have been diving into characterisation through drama. They acted out a short section of The Rocket, a thought-provoking story by Ray Bradbury.
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During this activity, the students focused on the nuances of spoken language—exploring word meanings, identifying words to emphasise, experimenting with tone and volume and considering the significance of punctuation marks.
Using their deeper understanding of the characters, the children then planned the next part of the story, thinking critically about how to develop the plot and the characters further. As part of this task, they will be drawing on their skills of writing direct speech and showcasing characters' actions in ways that captivate and engage their readers. We’re excited to see how their creativity unfolds!
Learners of the Week
Lots of goals achieved this week! Well deserved congratulations to our Learners of the Week.
Staff News
We are delighted to share some fantastic news about one of our Learning Support Assistants, Ms Awatif. Ms Awatif recently completed her PhD in the field of Physics. A huge amount of hard work has gone into this incredible achievement and we are extremely proud to share this news with you.
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Ms Awatif explained her area of study, "I am broadly interested in optics metrology, laser physics, and other new fields in physics that related to my research. My research is concerned in shearography technique. Digital shearography is a full-field speckle interferometric optical technique for measuring the whole-body microscopic displacement derivatives and shear from an arbitrary object."
This achievement is so huge, it made national news across Oman! We hope Ms Awatif will inspire our budding scientists at PDO School.
Competition: Snap and Shine!
Get creative and join the Sun Smart Mascot Makers competition!
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Children at PDO School are invited to design their own sun safety mascot (no taller than 30cm) and take fun, creative pictures with it to showcase how they stay safe in the sun.
Whether it’s wearing a sun hat, drinking water, or applying sunscreen, children can use what they’ve learned about sun safety in Oman and during this year’s Kahoot quizzes.
Remember, all pictures must be appropriate, follow sun safety guidelines, and have parental permission before being submitted on Seesaw.
Winners from each Milepost will feature on our brand-new sun safety posters around school!
All entries must be submitted by 4th February, with one submission allowed per child.
For full details about the competition, please refer to the poster included in this post.
Let’s stay safe and have fun while we create!
Toddler Hut
This week, Toddler Hut was full of creativity and excitement as the children prepared to join Dinosaur Class. They had a wonderful time painting a big dinosaur together, each adding their own special touch. We also explored natural loose parts, turning wooden logs into unique pieces of art, and enjoyed imaginative play with boats and loose parts in the water area. It’s been a joyful week, and we can’t wait to see what’s in store next time!