Hamilton Newsletter - June 2021

NEWSLETTER June 2021

Welcome back!

We are very happy to welcome our students back into school so that they can continue their amazing learning experience. We are all smiles, under our masks!

MESSAGE FROM THE SENIOR LEADERSHIP TEAM

Ian Rinaldi, Head of Elementary Dear Parents, Term 2 was a very exciting, enjoyable and successful term for us at Hamilton. We were still able to provide 100% fulltime, onsite learning for our students, as we complied fully with the latest guidelines. With Covid now having impacted schools in Doha for over a year, we really are proud of how well our students, families and staff members have coped with these unique demands. Collectively, we continue to pull together as a team to provide amazing learning experiences for your children in a safe and friendly environment. As I say in our weekly Parent Webinars, I do not believe we fully appreciate the skills that the students have developed during this time and how well they have done. Their behaviour, resilience, flexibility and patience have all been put into question and they have answered with aplomb.

At the start of Term 3, as directed by the Ministry, we moved to full time online learning. At Hamilton, we believe that every challenge brings with it an opportunity. Our day was slightly shorter in line with Ramadan school hours, but our teachers continued to motivate and empower the students to achieve personal success. To support students and parents, we delivered our full breadth of curriculum, up to 4 hours per day of teacher directed learning through interactive, live lessons. Our online provision was not only aimed at supporting the students to achieve their personal goals, but to support parents too. We believe that creating an online learning programme that is teacher directed and does not require compulsory printing, projects or work out of the lesson hours, fully supports student and parent wellbeing.

In addition, we also included extra online Maths and English lessons to help boost student progress during this period, as well as offering ‘Reflection Time’, an opportunity to celebrate student success, give out online rewards and listen to student feedback, as we continue to put students at the forefront of our thinking.

We also sent an ‘online learning pack’ to families to support students and parents with online learning, which included useful resources such as: mini whiteboards, stationery, phonics charts, and maths number fans. Each learning pack also came with a personal message to your child to encourage them and thank them for their fantastic work.

We are delighted that we are now back to 5 days a week of onsite learning at Hamilton whilst still being able to support those students online if parents select to do. The final weeks are very exciting as we carry out our final projects, topics and assessments, as well as dedicate time to end of year celebrations, graduations and Exit Points. ‘Hamilton’s Got Talent’ is generating exciting conversations amongst our students as they have the opportunity to showcase their talents in a range of forms. Our whole school charity challenge is also well under way; our Hamilton community are coming together to raise money for one of our chosen charities we support, Street Child United, as we aim to support the lives of street-connected children all over the world.

Hamilton is an amazing school, aiming to push boundaries with personalised teaching strategies and specific, transparent communication. Whilst our newsletter, website and ‘word of mouth’ provide a snapshot of what we offer, the evidence of success is in our school itself.

We are here to make a genuine difference for your child!

AMAZING LEARNING!

EARLY YEARS Pre KG – In Pre KG we have had lots of fun with our IEYC ‘To the Rescue’ topic. We have been making our own costumes and imagining the amazing and incredible powers we will use to help ourselves and other people around us. Lots of exciting new adventures await us as we explore and learn about the world of Superheroes!

KG1 – In KG1 we had a fun exit point of creating an online collage as part of our IEYC ‘Animal Rescuers’ topic.

We have told our teachers how excited we are to start our new topic.

When we hear the words ‘Once upon a time’, we know we are about to be taken on an exciting adventure.

We’re going to discover some new stories! By exploring these stories, we will learn how to become better storytellers and create our own amazing worlds of make-believe.

ELEMENTARY Our students in Gr 1 studied poetry and learned all about how to tell time. Grade 2 students spend time in examining human body and the importance of having a Healthy Lifestyle.

The pick of the month for Grade 3 was the Virtual Fashion Show, where students had the opportunity to wear their national dress and presenting it.

As for Grade 5, Hamilton's students are working in the current term on a new topic "Here and Now, There and Then". For the current month they have discovered culture, art and traditions of Japan, Italy and Jamaica. They will continue developing their geographical and historical knowledge with other countries.

MIDDLE SCHOOL In Middle School, Grade 6 – focused on risk and consequence, Grade 7 – relationship, and Grade 8 – justice and interpretation.

The highlight of middle school was a Crime scene with Apollo forming a CSI special branch unit.

The students were tasked with an important mission: to help gather the evidence and start a list of suspects.

The unit links in with the IMYC units ‘risk and consequences’ within a range of subjects – Math, English, Science, Design technology and Social science. Over the next few weeks Grade 6 will be devising their own interview questions, analyzing witness statements, sketching the crime scene, learning about forensic experiments to find the criminal and hopefully solve the crime.

Follow our investigation on social media to find out how our Hamilton detectives are getting on.

ENRICHMENT OPPORTUNITIES STREET CHILD UNITED

During the final weeks of this year, we will be raising awareness for ISP’s chosen charity: Street Child United. This charity aims to change the lives of street-connected children all over the world: There are millions of children surviving on the streets worldwide.

Life on the streets for these children is filled with danger. Instead of receiving support, they are often blamed for their situation and stigmatized. As a result, they face violence and abuse.

Although they are vulnerable, they are also resourceful and resilient – but are denied the opportunities they need to realize their potential. Our goal is to change this.

At The Hamilton International School, we will be launching a campaign to raise awareness of the lives of street children. We want the whole of our community to get involved. You can walk, run, cycle, swim or any other form of human-powered travel 15,000km There are places in Africa where Street-Connected children in one class can walk up to this distance in 5 weeks simply to get to and from school. We are inviting students, parents, and all staff at THIS to contribute to this distance by walking, running, cycling, rowing, swimming, and skating, and then recording the distance covered on a fitness tracker.

This is an amazing opportunity to raise awareness of the lives of street children but also the work of SCU in changing lives. We want to raise awareness within our community and throughout Qatar as SCU builds towards the Street Child World Cup 2022 right here in Doha. Please share videos and photos of your children and families as they complete the “15,000” challenge wearing the Hamilton on PE kit. You can submit these by emailing scucampaign@this.qa and we will compile these into a video, and share them on our social media pages.

The HAMILTON'S PRINCIPAL AWARD We are delighted to announce, for the second year, The Hamilton Principal’s Award. The award recognizes a current student (Grade 5 to Grade 8) who has demonstrated outstanding academic achievements and provides them with a scholarship of 50% of their tuition fees.

The successful applicant will: • Exhibit exceptional academic progress (getting better) • Have positively contributed to the school community • Provide a personal statement • Provide evidence of progress from their teacher We have also launched the Ali AlFardan Scholarship for Excellence in Education for students joining in the 2021/2022 academic year. For more information, follow the link below: https://hamiltoninternationalschool.qa/scholarships/

Closing date for applications is: August 7th, 2021

INSPIRATIONAL SPEAKER HASSAN AL-IBRAHIM At The Hamilton International School, our aim is to inspire students and equip them to reach their full potential. One of the ways in which we do this is by providing opportunities to interact with inspirational role models from our Community.

On Monday June 14th at 5pm we invite you and your family to attend a webinar with At The Hamilton International School, our aim is to inspire students and equip them to reach their full potential.

Hasan Al-Ibrahim is a Qatari pilot, who is passionate about cooking. As a pilot he has been flying for 16 years all over the world and during his travels, he makes it a point to visit local restaurants and street food vendors for inspiration. Hasan founded the cooking academy, where kids and adults learn the craft of cooking good food. Hassan will talk about how his passion ignited his purpose and potential, and what it takes to reach your dreams.

For details on how to register check your email.

ISP QURAN COMPETITION This year ISP Schools in the Middle East had over 600 applicants competing for the prestigious ISP Quran Competition. Students were challenged to memorize and recite from the Holy Quran.

Well done and congratulations to our winners from The Hamilton International School, Fahmy(Gr 8) and Awn (Gr 2) who were crowned winners in their respective grades. We wish you all the best for the rest of the academic year. ‫ﺗﺄﻟﻖ ﻃﻼﺑﻨﺎ اﻟﺮاﺋﻌﻮن ﻓﻲ ﻣﺴﺎﺑﻘﺔ اﻟﻘﺮآن اﻟﻜﺮﻳﻢ ﻟﺸﺮاﻛﺔ اﻟﻤﺪارس اﻟﺪوﻟﻴﺔ وﻛﺎن اﻟﺘﻤﻴﺰ ﻣﻦ ﻧﺼﻴﺐ اﻟﺮاﺋﻌﻴﻦ‬ ‫ﻋﻮن ﻣﻦ اﻟﺼﻒ اﻟﺜﺎﻧﻲ ﻋﻦ ﻓﺌﺔ اﻟﻨﺎﻃﻘﻴﻦ ﺑﺎﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ وﻓﻬﻤﻲ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺼﻒ اﻟﺜﺎﻣﻦ ﻋﻦ ﻓﺌﺔ ﻏﻴﺮ اﻟﻨﺎﻃﻘﻴﻦ‬ ‫ﺑﺎﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ‬. ‫اﻟﻤﺰﻳﺪ ﻣﻦ اﻟﺘﻔﻮق واﻟﺘﻤﻴﺰ ﻳﺘﻤﻨﺎه ﻗﺴﻢ اﻟﺪراﺳﺎت اﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ ﻫﺎﻣﻠﺘﻮن ﻟﻄﻼﺑﻪ اﻟﺮاﺋﻌﻴﻦ ﻛﻤﺎ ﻳﻌﺪﻛﻢ ﺑﻤﺰﻳﺪ ﻣﻦ‬ ‫اﻟﻤﺘﻔﻮﻗﻴﻦ ﻓﻲ اﻟﻌﺎم اﻟﻘﺎدم ﺑﺈذن ﷲ ﺗﻌﺎﱃ‬.

Fahmy Grade 8A

Awn Grade 2B

DON'T FORGET

EARLY YEARS

ELEMENTARY POETRY & TIME During online learning, Grade 1 students studied poetry. They learned how to write interesting, detailed poetry using features such as descriptive language, onomatopoeia, metaphor and simile.

Our ‘grammar toolkit’ was used to provide students with a check list of what AMAZING written work includes, such as adverbs, adjectives, and different punctuation.

In Math students learned all about how to tell time! They can now tell time to intervals of 5 minutes including quarter to, and half past.

Students were sent home clock crafts to make in their online learning packs to help them with their studies!

Students were given clock crafts at home so they could use these to support with their online learning.

ELEMENTARY THE HUMAN BODY In English this term, our Grade 2 students learned about the human body.

Students spent time examining body parts, the internal organs, the human skeleton, the digestive system, the importance of exercising, and eating the right amounts of food to stay healthy.

ELEMENTARY VIRTUAL FASHION WEEK Grade 3 had a Virtual Fashion week as an entry point for their new IPC topic, fashion. In this unit, they learned about fashion, design, colors, and patterns.

They shared examples of the national dress from all over the world and discussed similarities and differences between their clothes.

ELEMENTARY CREATIVE LEARNING During online learning, our Grade 4 students worked extremely hard on their creative writing. They have used a Pixar animated short film named 'Soar' as stimulus for writing which tied into their 'Fascinating Forces' topic. They created story boards, word banks and small chunks of the video to write descriptive sentences using a range of language features and adventurous language.

ELEMENTARY HERE AND NOW, THERE AND THEN This term in IPC, Grade 5 students will begin their new topic Here and Now, There and Then.

Students will find out about different countries around the world and compare them with their home country. They will also develop their geographical understanding and skills by map reading and using grid coordinates. Students will develop a deeper understanding of countries around the world by exploring their history, climate, society, and physical geography.

To immerse students in their new topic, they were introduced to the culture, traditions, and history of Japan, Italy, and Jamaica. Grade 5 students took part in a traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony, where they got to taste traditional Matcha Green Tea and tea from other countries around the world. They also found out about the famous Italian inventor Leonardo De Vinci, as well as learning about the culture and songs of the famous Jamaican musician Bob Marley.

Middle Years CRIME SCENE WITH APOLLO Coming back to Middle School started with a Crime scene with Apollo forming a CSI special branch unit. The students were tasked with an important mission: to help gather the evidence and start a list of suspects. The unit links in with the IMYC units ‘risk and consequences’ within a range of subjects – Maths, English, Science, Design Technology, and Social science.

Over the next few weeks, Grade 6 will be devising their own interview questions, analyzing witness statements, sketching the crime scene, learning about forensic experiments to find the criminal and hopefully solve the crime.

Stay updated for next month's newsletter to find out who the criminal was.

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UPCOMING CALENDAR OF EVENTS

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