Al Sedra Newsletter 9

8th November 2018

Never A Dull Moment YOUR WEEKLY UPDATE ON ALL THAT’S GOING ON AT THE GULF ENGLISH SCHOOL

8th November 2018

CHARITY To celebrate Cancer Awareness month during October, the IB 1 students have worked collaboratively to bring the following events to GES: • Ribbon Sales • Pink and Blue Day • The thrilling students vs. teachers basketball match The entire Cancer Awareness project was also known as the IB1 students’ CAS project. CAS is an integral part of the IB curriculum which offers us IB students an opportunity to contribute to our society, and in addition watch ourselves grow through personal development. It requires IB students to plan and participate in experiences that illustrate creativity, activity and service. It was tough for us to plan the activities at first, as this was our first time to organise and take charge of a whole school event. However, I believe that our hard work and effort made what we dreamed to achieve a reality.

These activities were held so that the school community could participate in raising awareness about cancer. Additionally, all the money donated is going towards cancer research so that GES joins the battle against cancer. In the first two weeks, we as IB 1 students went around both Primary and Secondary to sell pink ribbons, as well as the tickets to the basketball game. It was heart-warming to have seen many of our students and members of staff willing to purchase them. In addition to this, donation boxes were distributed across the Infant, Junior and Secondary buildings for anyone wishing to donate.

Tuesday, the 16th of October was the highlight of Cancer Awareness month; Pink and Blue Day, as

well as the basketball game were held on this day.

During Pink and Blue Day, students came to school dressed up in either pink or blue apparel in honour of Cancer Awareness month. It was pleasing to see the array of pink and blue colours in the corridors, likewise having almost all members of staff and most students wearing their ribbons. The school day ended with the highly anticipated students vs. teachers basketball game. We were delighted to see students and parents as well as teachers attending the match with enthusiasm. Both teams played very well, however, I’m proud to say that the students won!

Finally, the school has successfully raised 23,664 Qatari Riyals, and we owe this to every student and member of staff in The Gulf English School.

Moreover, we are appreciative of all the support we received from AS students and teachers during Cancer Awareness month. A special thanks to Mr. Mousa and Mr. Taylor who attended the match and provided us with referees for the basketball match. In addition to this would would like to thank the teachers and students who have participated in the basketball game. We hope that we continue making a positive impact on people’s lives in the upcoming years.

Hanan Shalaby IB 1

8th November 2018

INFANTS There is never a dull moment in Year 2! We have

The children were exposed to learning beyond

been learning to use Base 10 to add and subtract

the classroom by participating in a variety of

in Maths, with brilliant results. Our information

fun activities - role play at Kids Mondo, a trip

text writing has come on in leaps and bounds

to Baladna Dairy to learn about the workings

and we are using powerful sentence starters and

of a dairy farm, sporting activities at SFQ and

interesting adjectives and vocabulary to make our

science, art and crafts activities in the class-

writing even better. We have learnt so much about

rooms. Now, as the term draws to an end, we

the characteristics of different animals, food chains

are looking forward to our next topic ‘Super

and caring for animals in IPC and, of course, we

Humans’, Spooky Carnival, Book Week and Na-

made our magnificent papier mache animals and

tional Day – it will be an action-packed few weeks!

many other arty creations. Most definitely, the highlight of the last few weeks was Week Without Walls!

8th November 2018

JUNIORS November is going to be a busy month for the students of GES, especially in Year 3! Our service learning focus this month is all about Children in Need and we are going to be doing lots of exciting things including: a wear your house colours day; odd socks day; a

Pudsey-themed ‘decorate your own pancake day’ and an Art Auction. This will feature some absolutely fantastic artwork that the students in Year 3 have been working on – including a giant Pudsey Bear!

3MG will also be presenting an assembly to the Junior and Infant schools, with lots more information about what BBC Children in Need is and where all of the money raised goes to help.

8th November 2018

P.E. Each year, the PE Department organises and runs Fitness at the Farm. This event is designed to promote independent physical activity, encourage students to try new things, create opportunities for cross-curricular learning and to allow students to socialise with their peers whilst being active. This all takes place at Al Sammariya, Sheikh Faisal’s Farm.

With torrential rains only days before this event, we were concerned it may need to be cancelled. However, we were blessed with fabulous weather and the grounds were dry and ready for our trail running.

Every student started the day with a trail run of 1km, 3km or 5km under the trees around the farm; the brave amongst them completed two runs, so finishing 8km or 10km. In addition to the running, there were lots of activities for the children to join and these included: (see next page) The horse riding and trail riding were extremely popular, with over 200 students taking part throughout the week. Paint Your Pony was also a firm favourite – in their groups, students were busy, creative, caring and responsible. After spending time making their designs, they were happy to take the horses for a cooling shower; they enjoyed spending time with the horses and taking ownership of their activity… and such a large animal. This activity always fills the children with confidence and is a really fun way to interact with their peers.

With so much to do, students had to make choices about which zones to visit during the day. Hundreds of children visited the museum, which has many fascinating artefacts and offers great opportunities learn about aspects of Qatar’s history and culture. There are also many quirky items that make great talking points or are just fun to look at. The 20 to 40 minutes of walking that it takes to have a good look around the museum is very beneficial to health and wellbeing and most don’t even notice that it is exercise.

Children were able to take extra exercise by walking between the zones during the day to go to the activities they had selected. Students love to walk between the stable block and the sports zone… on route they stop to see the white Oryx (Qatar’s national animal) and the gazelle, which are always a delight. At the sports zone students had the option to join the sports activities at the football field or inside the well-

equipped sports hall.

Near to the stable block, the coffee shop area was converted to accommodate the exercise to music classes, taekwondo and kickboxing. Students thoroughly enjoyed these activities and learnt that sport and exercise participation isn’t all about being the fastest runner or the best footballer. We were particularly impressed by the students trying taekwondo for the first time. We certainly had a few that would be suited to this sport if they decide they want to take it up. For the girls that weren’t particularly keen on sport per se, they loved being active in the Zumbatomics classes, where they exercised well in a very relaxed, private and social environment.

For the students who enjoy less structured and lower intensity activities, there was the Pokémon search that was set out around the running trails. Here, students walked through the farm searching for the hidden Pokémon cards. Along the way, they were able to investigate what type of crops are planted on the farm and how they are irrigated. They had the option to go to the areas where there are hundreds of peacocks… here they could eat their lunch, sit and draw, or write poetry or stories.

Samira Mohammed Y11 said, “Each time we come to the farm it gets better and better. We know what there is to do and that you have to plan your day to be able to do all of the activities that you want. There is something for everybody and if you’re organised, you can do activities that you enjoy all day long with your friends and you can learn a lot at the same time.”

Many thanks to all of the teachers who supported the children during this event and the SFQ coaches who assisted with taekwondo, Zumbatomics and some of the sports. Huge thanks are extended to Ben and his team at Al Sammariya Riding School and we especially thank Sheikh Faisal and Sheikha Maha for permitting us access to such an amazing venue for this very valuable student experience.

With best wishes, Mrs. Rebecca Cruickshank, Head of Physical Education.

8th November 2018

P.E.

8th November 2018

CONTACT The Gulf English School PO Box 2440, Doha, Qatar Main School: Tel: +974 44578777 Main School: Fax: +974 44861256 Infant Unit: Tel: +974 44886791/90 +974 44886201/93 Infant Unit: Fax: +974 44876821

Email: info@gulfenglishschool.com

Website: www.gulfenglishschool.com