NEWSLETTER July 2021
Congratulations, Grade 5! You have finished part of your journey at The Hamilton International School, and we are so proud of what you have achieved.
MESSAGE FROM THE SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM
Christopher Perry, Middle School Coordinator As the academic year draws to a close it is natural to feel conflicting emotions: sadness as one year ends, students, move on to new classes, and some teachers move on to new chapters of their life; and anticipation, excitement, and possibly nerves, for what the new year will bring. This year has been exciting, challenging, rewarding, and eventful! The Hamilton International School moved into its second year with the hope that the worst of the pandemic was behind us and that we would be able to enjoy an uninterrupted year of education. Sadly, that was not to be, but with all credit to the teachers and the students, they rolled up their sleeves and got on with the task in hand and amazing learning continued online for parts of the year. The Middle School opened this year, welcoming Grades 6, 7, and 8 to The Hamilton International School. A brand new teaching team and many new students founded the Middle School and quickly settled into excellent routines and patterns of learning. New friendships were formed and a positive atmosphere quickly flourished among the Middle School community. Although the global pandemic has continued to limit what we can do as a whole school, class teachers have found a way to create many memorable learning moments throughout the school year. I could not list every event that has happened throughout the year even if I used this whole page, but throughout every grade and every class, I know that there have been countless moments of amazing learning experiences that will stay with our students. Outside of the classroom, our opportunities have been limited, but it has been wonderful to see so many students get involved where they have been able to. We have had so many teachers and families contribute to our Street Child United challenge of walking 15,000km in the final five weeks of term and there have been some lovely submissions for the mural design.
We were overwhelmed with the entries for Hamilton’s Got Talent and it was amazing to see how many talented students we have among our student body. We cannot wait to see all of these talents on display as the next year unfolds with more opportunities for community events to showcase these gifted individuals. It has been an incredible year in many ways, and it simply could not have happened without the incredible effort that has been put in by so many people. The Hamilton International School has several incredibly hard-working individuals who take care of all of the administrative and financial aspects and ensure that amazing learning can take place in the classroom. Thank you for all your efforts. We have a dedicated team of teaching assistants who care deeply for our children and have been an essential part of everything this year. Our teachers have gone above and beyond to ensure that every child is making the progress they should be, and challenging them to get better every step of the way – this talented group of educators have made a difference in so many ways. Schools cannot operate successfully without the support of parents and carers. I have spoken to many parents through the year and without exception, the meetings have been positive, supportive, and collaborative with everyone working together for the best outcomes for the students. Thank you for your ongoing support. Finally, our school is our students and it has been a privilege and a pleasure to get to know our incredible students this year. They are diverse, engaging, intelligent young people whom it is a joy to teach. We look forward to welcoming you back.
AMAZING LEARNING!
EARLY YEARS In Pre KG we focused on our exit point of " To the rescue" and recapped on the use of our imagination, whilst also having fun with our peers before transitioning to KG1. In KG1 we have been focusing on our " Once Upon a Time" topic and enjoyed reading The Gingerbread Man story, as part of our exit point. We also spoke about our transition to KG2 and are extremely excited. Our Early Years team would like to say a huge thank you to our Hamilton parent community, for their amazing support throughout this academic year. We wish you a fantastic fun-filled summer.
ELEMENTARY In Elementary the students completed their end of year assessments, celebrations and graduations. The children had an opportunity to take part in their final exciting Exit Points for their IPC topics and also participated in enjoyable end of unit projects. The Hamilton Writing challenge was another enjoyable experience for them too. The staff would like to wish you all an amazing summer vacation.
MIDDLE SCHOOL Students have been working hard to prepare for and then do their final assessments for their core subjects. Many of these assessments were held in our dedicated exams room, which will help students to get used to such conditions in future examinations. Even after the exams learning continued across all subject areas. In science, Ms Wills set Middle School students the challenge to come up with creative engineering solutions to launch their own rockets. In English Language Arts, students have tied together some of their literature learning by seeing how texts are interpreted in the arts. In Social Science, students have been challenged to develop their critical thinking skills through considering philosophical questions and testing their deduction in a murder mystery.
EARLY YEARS
ELEMENTARY KG2 MATHS ACTIVITY In Maths, KG2 learnt to tell the time. To develop these skills they made their own clocks, and then used them to show different o'clock and half past times.
Flowers and Insects Our Grade 1 students recreated the unique patterns of the monarch butterfly using water colors.
Big Write Challenge Our Grade 3 students at Hamilton have been participating in their independent Big Write Challenge set by Mr. Rinaldi. Students were tasked to write an exciting and engaging description of our wonderful school.
International Fashion Our Grade 3 class learned all about fashion from across the world in their IPC topic. They decided to get creative by designing and making their very own Egyptian style necklaces out of pasta!
Middle Years Mad Rocket Launch All Middle School students participated in the "Mad Rocket Launch 2021". It was the final science project of the year and students were asked to build a rocket from any materials they could find. The idea was to make the rocket launch as high as possible. Students used the knowledge learnt in their science lessons to create the rocket. Ideas such as; chemical reactions, air pressure, forces. Students were marked on the height of the rocket, aesthetics, wow factor, and creativity. The winners were: Victoria, Amelia, Wynn (Grade 7)
CRIME SCENE WITH APOLLO As you may have seen from our previous newsletter and social media activity, we have been very busy with our CSI Investigation. Our Grade 6 Apollo class were looking at DNA, using their scientific knowledge to identify PH levels in various items at the crime scene. They were able to gather key pieces of evidence and arrest 3 individuals. Take a look at the accused below.
ARABIC
رﺣﻠﺘﻨﺎ اﻟﺠﻤﻴﻠﺔ ﻟﻢ ﺗﻨﺘﻪِ ﻫﻨﺎ إﻧﻬﺎ ﻓﻘﻂ ﻣﺤﻄﺎت ﻻﻧﻄﻼق ﻣﺤﻄﺘﻨﺎ ﻓﻲ ﻫﺎﻣﻠﺘﻮن ﺗﻮﻗﻔﺖ ﻫﻨﺎ اﺳﺘﻌﺪادا ٍ ﺟﻤﻴﻞ آﺧﺮ واﻋﺪ ٍ ﻧﺴﺘﺬﻛﺮ ﻫﻨﺎ أﻳﺎدﻳﻜﻢ اﻟﺼﻐﻴﺮة اﻟﺘﻲ ﺗﺨﻂ ﺣﺮوف .ﻣﺴﺘﻘﺒﻠﻬﺎ ﻋﲆ دﻓﺎﺗﺮ اﻟﻮﻋﺪ ﻓﻲ ﻫﺎﻣﻠﺘﻮن ﺳﺘﺒﻘﻰ ﺻﻮرﻛﻢ ﻓﻲ ﻣﻼﺑﺲ اﻟﺤﺞ وﻓﻲ ﺗﻌﺎﻟﻴﻢ اﻟﺼﻼة ....ﻣﺮﺳﻮﻣﺔ ﻓﻲ اﻟﺬاﻛﺮة وﺳﺘﺒﻘﻰ ﺣﺮوﻓﻜﻢ اﻟﻤﻨﻤﻘﺔ ﺑﺄﻟﻮاﻧﻜﻢ اﻟﻤﺒﻬﺠﺔ واﺧﺘﺮاﻋﺎﺗﻜﻢ اﻷوﱃ ﻣﻌﻠﻘﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺟﺪران ﻫﺎﻣﻠﺘﻮن ﺑﻴﺘﻜﻢ اﻟﺪاﻓﺊ وﺳﺘﺒﻘﻰ ﻫﺎﻣﻠﺘﻮن ﻓﺎﺗﺤﺔ أﺣﻀﺎﻧﻬﺎ ﻟﻜﻢ ﻣﺘﻰ ...ﻋﺪﺗﻢ ﻋﲆ أﻣﻞ اﻟﻠﻘﺎء ﺑﻜﻢ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺎم اﻟﻘﺎدم ﻧﺘﻤﻨﻰ ﻟﻜﻢ ﻋﻄﻠﺔ .ﻣﻠﻴﺌﺔ
ENRICHMENT OPPORTUNITIES ISP launches a football school programme in Spain with Villarreal As an ISP School we strive to ensure the learning journey of each of our students includes chances to experience learning outside of the classroom and connect with other ISP students across the world. Being a part of a global group of schools our students benefit from being part of a wider international community, which provides many additional learning and cultural opportunities. ISP has launched the Football Player Development Program – an initiative that is aimed at giving children with a passion and skill for football a chance to improve their game. The Football Player Development Program, which is managed by new UEFA Europa League Champions, Villarreal, in partnership with Spain-based ISP School, Laude The British School of Vila-Real, will enable students passionate about football to improve their game, by joining the Villarreal Football Academy. As part of the football program, ISP students have the option to study in Spain for one school term (three months) or a full academic year (10 months).
ISP HOLY QURAN COMPETITION 2021 Our two winners Fahmy(Grade 8) and Awn(Grade 2) were awarded for winning the prestigious ISP Quran Competition. Our principal Mr. Terry Senior said, “The Quran competition was a great initiative for all of our students to get involved in. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our winners for their outstanding achievement and amazing effort. We are proud of you! We are looking forward to having even more winners in next year’s competition.”
I AM AN ISP SCIENTIST I am an ISP Scientist is a new ILOS project which allowed students to connect classroom learning to real research. It allowed them to develop a greater understanding of scientific methodology and participate in enquiry-based learning. They were able to practice problem solving, teamwork and communication. The theme for this year was plastic pollution and was done in partnership with Ellipsis Earth, which enabled students to use innovative technology to help map the journey of missing plastic and identify trends to help influence environmental changes. ISP students aged 8-14 were invited to participate in this real-world STEM research project through citizen science. Congratulations to our students from Grades 2-5 who completed the project.
UPCOMING CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Refer A Friend We recognize that parents and friends are the best ambassadors for our unique style of learning and community-minded environment. To thank you for every friend that you refer to Hamilton, you will receive a QAR 1,000 as reward this can be credit to use towards any school related cost or cashback by end of the academic year. Contact the Admissions Team for Terms & Conditions - admissions@this.qa ENQUIRE NOW