School Bus Service

JESS Secondary has a canteen called JESS Diner which is a hub for students to eat and socialise with their friends. It offers a range of healthy food choices representing value for money as well as being nutritious. JESS students may purchase food from the Diner or of course bring their own packed lunch to enjoy in the Diner, in this way all the students can eat together. The Diner is cashless, and we will share information with you via email on how to set up and top up your child’s Diner card.

Here are the instructions on how to set up and add money to your JESS Diner card.

In response to COVID restrictions, JESS Diner introduced an online weekly lunch order system which allows students to pre-order and collect their lunch at specified times to ensure their safety. This system will remain in place for as long as necessary. Further details on how to order the lunches online will be provided to families once the student starts in Term 1.

All students studying the IB Diploma or IB Courses require a graphical display calculator; We s tr on g l y recommend this is purchased prior to the start of term in August. The calculator we use at JESS is the Texas Instruments TI Nspire CX Graphing Calculator*.

All students are required to come to school with a personal device for use in class meeting the following core criteria: All devices must: • Run on a minimum version of Windows Pro or Enterprise (Windows Home is not suitable for learning at JESS) • Have at least an Intel Core i5 processor • 256GB Storage as a minimum • 8GB RAM • Function as a laptop and as a tablet (i.e. it must have a keyboard and have touchscreen) • Have a stylus • Have both front and rear-facing cameras • Have headphones or earphones

1. Purchase any device that meets the criteria via your chosen website/store. Please check carefully when buying a device from outside of the UAE. Devices bought from outside of the UAE are not always serviceable within the country. Please also check the Windows version that comes with the device. 2. Purchase a Surface Pro Seven+ or Surface Pro 8 from our partner, Jacky’s Retail. These are offered at a special discounted rate for JESS families. All devices purchased through Jacky’s include Windows Pro at no additional cost (currently priced at 620aed on the Microsoft Store). Jacky’s also offer a 12-month financing option as well as a 1-year warranty. They are the official service provider for Microsoft in the MENA region.

Parents who are interested in purchasing a hybrid tablet/laptop can avail of bespoke deals for JESS families via our device portal: www.jackysbrandshop.com/jess

Please see the JESS Secondary Digital Learning Policy for the 2022-23 Academic Year for more in-depth information on device criteria, purchase options, warranties, device management and more.

Our primary method of communicating with parents continues to be via our iSAMS Portal and app. Much of the information is personalised to year groups so you only see documents and files that are relevant to your child/s year.

Please note these are the only methods we use to share your child’s reports. You can access the information we share in two ways:

• a browser-based portal which you can access easily on your PC or laptop. • a mobile device-based app,

Both pathways contain the same data but in a slightly different format.

The Parent Portal can be accessed through the Portals link at the top of the home page on the school website -www.jess.sch.ae

If your family does not already have an activated account, you should receive a personal registration number and password within the Confirmation Email from the Registrar. These will enable you to activate your portal and app account - this should initially be completed on the browser-based portal.

To access the app, first download ‘ISAMs Parent’ from your usual app store. Input the school code – JDXB – together with the same username and password you used to create your portal account. Please note that it is only after your child starts at JESS that you will be able to see anything directly related to them on the portal.

JESS Arabian Ranches has a designated sports site which we use to share information about sports fixtures, teams, opponents and results.

This site can be accessed via:

• The Sports Calendars found within portals at the top of our school website: www.jess.sch.ae • from the iSAMS app, within the School Life Tab, click Absence Report & Sports Website. • the website www.jessranchessport.com

The site will recognise you are on a mobile device and deliver the information in an app-style format. It also gives you the option of adding an icon to your home screen; upon opening the site, select ‘options’ and then ‘add to home screen’.

The sports site shows:

• fixtures • team sheets • opponents’ locations: • results

Please check the app/site regularly to see the latest information for your child’s team.