20th May 2024

Dear Parents

What a busy short week! As I write this I am leaving my 3rd exit point of the morning where our children proudly shared their learning with parents, teachers, and peers. To those of you who were able to attend, thank you for being part of these special moments—your presence makes a real difference to your child’s enthusiasm and sense of achievement.

Exit Points are more than just a showcase; they are a meaningful way for students to reflect on, celebrate, and bring closure to their units of learning. Through our International Curriculum (IPC and IEYC), children engage in topic-based projects that connect subjects like science, history, and art around a central theme. This approach makes learning more engaging, as children explore big questions, work collaboratively, and apply their knowledge in real-world contexts.

Exit Points give purpose to this journey. They allow children to revisit what they’ve learned, synthesise their understanding, and communicate it with confidence. Whether through presentations, performances, or displays, students develop key skills—speaking, creativity, and critical thinking—while feeling a genuine pride in their progress.

These moments are also a reminder of who we are as a school: a community that values curiosity, collaboration, and celebration. Even if parents aren’t always able to attend, we appreciate your support from home—asking your child about their project or discussing what they’ve learned helps extend the experience beyond the classroom.

Thank you for being partners in your child’s education.

Many thanks to all the parents have taken time to offer congratulations on the Peter Pan performance last week, all the children and staff involved will be having a well deserved pizza party today.
We are all looking forward to our Art week, please refer to last week's newsletter for full details and how as parents you can be involved.
A reminder that the school is closed for 2 days starting from tomorrow, we open as normal on Sunday.

Tim Robinson

Headteacher

School Production - Peter Pan!

After months of preparation, our school production of Peter Pan came to life this week in two evening performances for families, staff, and the wider community.

The show brought together students from across the school in a collaborative effort that included acting, singing, choreography, backstage crew work, costume design, set painting, prop making, and technical support.

This production has been a true team achievement. Thank you to all the staff who contributed to the show from rehearsals and supervision to set building, music, logistics, and more. A special thank you to the families who supported students along the way.

Many cast members shared that being part of the show was a highlight of their year, and a chance to learn new skills, work as a team, and build confidence on and off stage.

Well done to all the students involved for their energy, creativity, and commitment throughout the entire process.

Year 2 Exit Point

To round off our IPC topic Greenfingers, Year 2 put on a brilliant and lively exit point inspired by our English text, Greta and the Giants. The children greeted their parents with colourful placards and a pretend protest to save the forest, sharing an important message about looking after our planet.

They then proudly led their families into the classroom to show all the amazing learning they’ve done, everything from how seeds germinate and disperse, to the investigations they carried out themselves. Parents were also treated to some stunning artwork, full of colour and creativity. A fantastic way to celebrate a topic full of discovery and care for the environment!

MPSL SUCCESS

We have been busy with MPSL fixtures lately. After success in the boys and girls basketball which we will highlight more next week we hosted the MPSL Gymnastics Competition. It has been missing from the MPSL calendar for the past 8 years and we are pleased with support of Orion Gymnastics to bring it back to the league at PDO School. We had 60 gymnasts from around Muscat compete in a tense competition were the competitors performed a set routine at three levels - Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced. The PDO team performed incredibly well picking up 5 medals overall across all three levels. A fantastic performance in what was the first competition for many.

The week prior, we headed to BSM with two Unihoc teams. The teams had been coming to the sportshall to train for the past 3 weeks in preparation and both teams played incredibly well with a 4th place and 1st place finish. The gold team with a 5-1 win in the final. Well done to everyone who took part.

Next up, we have girls' basketball at MISA and U11 Waterpolo at the Scorpions Fortress to bring the MPSL season to a close.

Early Years

Our first visit to the Skills Room was a blast! From hopping and tossing to crawling and shooting hoops, the children were all smiles as they explored new ways to move their bodies. A big thank you to Ms. Iveth for making it such a fun and active adventure!

Magic Movie 4.mov

Milepost 1- Year 1

As part of our IPC Unit, Let's Celebrate, this week we have been learning all about celebrations from around the world! We focused on Hanami, the beautiful Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan. During Hanami, people come together to admire the pink cherry blossoms that bloom in spring—it’s a very special time of year in Japan.

The children used fact sheets to learn lots of interesting facts about Hanami. We wrote wonderful descriptions, created beautiful canvases inspired by cherry blossoms, and even made a fantastic video to share everything we have learnt. We are so proud of all their hard work! If you’d like to learn more, make sure to watch our video—we can’t wait for you to see it!

Milepost 2

Year 4 students have been working together to sharpen their reading skills through an engaging activity focused on sequencing key events from The Great Chocoplot.

Using teamwork and critical thinking, they pieced together the story’s timeline, ensuring each event flowed in order. The collaborative approach helped them understand how narratives unfold and strengthened their comprehension. Discussions and group exercises sparked excitement as they uncovered plot twists and connected ideas. Their enthusiasm was evident as they confidently shared their insights with one another. It’s been a fantastic journey, building both literacy skills and teamwork!

Milepost 3

In their What a Wonderful World unit, Year 6 students have been exploring what lies beneath our feet in order to uncover the secrets of the Earth’s internal structure and explore what makes up our incredible planet.

To begin, students completed a knowledge harvest adding labels to a diagram of the Earth’s interior. This helped them get familiar with the four major layers: the crust, mantle, outer core and inner core as well as introducing them to new vocabulary such as hydrosphere and lithosphere.

Each student then became an expert on one layer, conducting focused research to understand its composition, temperature, depth, and contents. Throughout this process, students demonstrated their resilience by tackling complex scientific material.

Finally, they shared their findings with their classmates, demonstrating effective communication and showing respect for the ideas and contributions of their peers.

Next, the students will be finding out about the many powerful forces at work that are constantly shaping the exterior of our planet in their learning about tectonic plates.

Save the date!

Our PTA are organising and inviting children to a school dance on the afternoon of Wednesday 11th June!

Please save the date - more details to follow next week.

Congratulations to our Learners of the Week

As always, it's wonderful to see lots of learning objectives and PLGs being achieved!

Dates for your Diary

21st & 22nd May - School closed - INSET Days
w/b 25th May - Art Fair - Each afternoon
w/b 25th May - Year 6 Assessment week
w/b 1st June - Year 1-5 Assessment Week
w/b 1st June - BSM Transition week
5th June - Assessment Workshop - 8:05am
8th & 9th June (TBC) - School closed for Eid al-Adha (Dates to be confirmed)
w/b 8th & 15th - In School Transition Weeks
18th June - Y6 Production - 5pm
19th June - School reports shared with parents
19th June - Y6 Graduation Assembly - 1pm
19th June - Y6 Graduation Car Parade - 4pm
24th June - Reception Graduation - 1pm
25th June - Last day of school year - 1200 closure

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