KGIS Weekly Newsletter 9 February 2023

THE KNOWLEDGE

A Message from the Executive Principal

Dear parents and carers

This week's newsletter is packed with information about the amazing array of extra-curricular and classroom activities that our students experience every week at KGIS! As I assemble this newsletter I feel such a sense of pride and continue to be astounded at how much our talented teachers manage to achieve in a single week in order to ensure that your children receive the best possible experiential learning.

This month we are focusing on our Universal Islamic Value of Equality. Equality is particularly important to us as a diverse international school and I am proud of the fact that all students, regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity and religion have equal access to the learning opportunities on offer Our focus on equal opportunities has been highlighted several times this week. It is fantastic to see our sports squads preparing for the BSME Games and to see boys and girls representing the school in all the different sports! Another highlight of the week was International Women in Science Day on Thursday where female students and staff were encouraged to dress up as their favourite scientist with a focus on encouraging more girls to pursue careers in the traditionally maledominated field of STEM (Science, Technology, Mathematics and Engineering) Finally, we enjoyed the launch of our student art exhibition in partnership with Al Mouj Community. It was great to see art work displayed that represents both the local Omani culture and heritage, as well as other cultures that are represented in our school!

Ms. Liz Stanley Executive Principal

Key Dates

Please make a note of the following important dates:

Wednesday 8 February-Wednesday 8 March: KGIS Student Art Exhibition (Azura Cafe Al Mouj)

Tuesday 14 February-Thursday 16 February: Mid-Term Break (School Closed)

Wednesday 22 February: Sports Day for KG, Grade 1 and Grade 2

Thursday 23 February: Sports Day for Grades 3 to 12

Sunday 26 February: Book Week Starts

Thursday 2 March: World Book Day

Monday 6 March & Tuesday 7 March: 'High School Musical' student performances

Wednesday 8 March: Grade 8 Parent Information Evening for IGCSE (5:00pm)

Sunday 12 March: Maths Week Starts

Wednesday 15 March: Grade 10 Parent Information Evening for A Level & GED (5:00pm)

Please click here to access the Academic Calendar for this year

Learning Overviews

Clickonthelinksbelowtoaccessthelearningoverview,homelearningexpectationsand assessmentdatesforeachgrade:

KG1 KG2

Grade 1

Grade 2

Grade 3

Grade 4

Grade 5

Grade 6

Grade 7

Grade 8

Grade 9

Grade 10

Extra-Curricular Activities

a-Curricular Timetable for this term

KGIS Student Art Exhibition in Al Mouj Community

We are incredibly proud to have the opportunity to partner with Al Mouj Community in an exhibition of KGIS Student Artwork. The exhibition was officially opened on Wednesday evening by the Executive Principal, Ms. Liz along with members of the Al Mouj Community Management Team and the Al Mouj Residents Committee. It was lovely to see the so many students and parents attend this event to celebrate the amazing talents within the school! Special thanks go to our fabulous Art Teachers, Mr. Austin and Mr. Alex who give their time so generously to support our students as they develop their talents

The Art Exhibition will be open for one month so please do go and visit! The exhibition is located in Azura Cafe, which is in the Al Mouj Customer Sales and Experience Centre (next to the Masjid). Parents, children, friends and family can go and enjoy a coffee whilst exploring the art work on display! You can also view the art work here in our Student Art Catalogue

Extra-Curricular Activities

a-Curricular Timetable for this term

Sports Fixtures: Week Commencing 5 February

Sunday 12 February: U11 and U15 Boys Football at British School Muscat

Sunday 12 February: U11 and U15 Girls Netball at British School Muscat

Football Academy: Monday 13 February

Please note that there will be no Football Academy on Monday 13 February. The Football Academy will resume on Monday 20 February as normal.

Sports Day: KG1, KG2, Grade 1 and Grade 2 - Wednesday 22 February

We are looking forward to Sports Day for our youngest students on Wednesday 22 February! The Sports Day will be held onsite at KGIS, and students will be applying the fundamental movement skills that they have been learning by taking part in an exciting range of fun activities at our different activity stations. Activities will include obstacle courses, races, tug of war and throwing KG1 and KG2 will take part in the activities from 8:00am until 10:00am, and Grades 1 and 2 will take part in the activities from 10:30am until 1:30pm.

Sports Day: Grades 3 to 12 - Thursday 23 February

Students in Grades 3 to 12 will take part in Sports Day on Thursday 23 February. Students will compete in Athletics and Dodgeball to win House Points for their House The Sports Day will be held at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, and students will be transported from school to the venue and back on the day. Further information will be sent by the PE Department. Students will be given the opportunity to sign up for their chosen Athletics events in school:

TRACK EVENTS

75m (Grades 3 to 6)

150m (Grades 3 to 6)

300m (Grades 3 to 6)

600m (Grades 3 to 6)

100m (Grades 7 to 12)

200m (Grades 7 to 12)

400m (Grades 7 to 12)

800m (Grades 7 to 12)

100m x 4 Relay (Grades 3 to 12)

FIELD EVENTS

Long Jump

Triple Jump

High Jump

Shot Put Javelin

Extra-Curricular Activities

ra-Curricular Timetable for this term

100m Breaststroke World Record Holder visits KGIS!

The KGIS Swim Squad were lucky to enjoy a very special early morning training session this week with the current 100m Breaststroke World Record holder, Ilya Shymanovich!

Shymanovich blasted to a new world record on the final of the Belarusian Short Course Championships in Breaststroke, clocking 55.34 seconds to erase the previous record of 55.41 set by Adam Peaty. He went on to then break the record three times in the International Swimming League recording a time of 55.32 seconds followed by a faster time of 55 28 seconds a week later! This record has still not been broken

Our Swim Squad were put through their paces in an hour long coaching session where Shymanovich shared his technique, strategies and training methods. Thank you to our partners, Nautilus Swimming Club, for organising this amazing opportunity!

Extra-Curricular Activities

ra-Curricular Timetable for this term

BSME Games Preparation

KGIS is so proud to have been selected to participate in the BSME (British Schools in the Middle East) Games in March! Our squads have been training hard and are preparing to compete in Muscat and Abu Dhabi against top schools from across the Middle East. This week they competed in friendly matches at the British School Muscat at U11 Boys Basketball, U15 Boys Volleyball, U11 and U15 Girls Football. We wish all our squads well in the final stages of their training!

'High School Musical' Rehearsals

A reminder that our Performing Arts Team are busy with rehearsals for our first ever KGIS musical theatre production of 'High School Musical'. Students are working hard on their acting, singing and dancing skills to ensure that the performances of the show on 6th and 7th March will be first class! We can't wait to see the show and hope that as many parents and students as possible will come along to watch!

U15 BSME Squad

U11 BSME Squad

Extra-Curricular Activities

ra-Curricular Timetable for this term

Model United Nations at KGIS

As part of our ever growing and diverse Extra-Curricular Programme, the English Department, under the supervision of Ms. Kate and Mr. Abdullah, has launched Model United Nations (MUN). The club has already grown since the beginning of Term 2 and is one of our most popular activities! The MUN is a simulation of the United Nations where students assume the roles of delegates from different countries and engage in debates, negotiations and resolution writing on current global issues. MUN provides students with an opportunity to learn about diplomacy, international relations, leadership, public speaking and to develop their critical thinking skills

Participating in MUN exposes students to a diverse group of individuals with different cultural backgrounds and perspectives, fostering an understanding of cultural diversity and global awareness. It also helps students develop their research skills as they prepare their position on a particular country's stance on the issue being discussed.

Thus far, we have been extremely impressed by the attitude, enthusiasm and global awareness shown by our participants! To find out more about the MUN, please speak to Ms. Kate: kate.m@kgis-edu.com

Student Council Beach Clean Up

We were so proud of all the students who joined the Al Hail Beach Clean Up organised and led by the Student Council! Special thanks to Grade 11 students Shourya Menon and Barsam Talebi (Deputy Head Girl and Deputy Head Boy) who took a lead role in driving this initiative.

This year the Student Council have chosen to focus on the environment and have been thinking about how to make KGIS a more environmentally place, as well as how to protect the local environment. Around 50 students gave up their time after school to collect and remove litter and debris on Al Hail Beach in order to protect the environment and preserve this beautiful part of the coastline for the local community to enjoy safely. We aim to ensure that all our students fulfil their responsibility as active global citizens, and this is a shining example of citizenship in action. We look forward to even more students working together for the next planned clean up!

KG2 Gingerbread Men

KG2 were very lucky this week as they got to finally make their gingerbread men. They spent lots of time reading all about The Gingerbread Man and his adventure. Have a look at our Gingerbread men which were made outside in the sunshine this week!

Primary News

A Message from Mr. Ian, Head of Primary

It has been another busy week in Primary this week with lots happening in all grades! Students have been working extremely hard in their extra-curricular Musical Theatre club every Monday and Wednesday after school. They have been rehearsing for performances of 'High School Musical'. This will be performed on 6th and 7th March. You can book your tickets now to reserve your seats! Please email naveen h@kgis-edu com to reserve your tickets

Grade 1

This week in Grade 1 the children have been looking at the story of 'Jack and the Beanstalk'. The children sequenced pictures, and wrote captions and labels Here they are retelling and acting out the story Fee-fi-fo-fum!

Grade 2

This week Grade 2 were studying the text 'Handa’s Surprise,' and based their independent writing activity around this. Have a look at the pictures to see them busy at work in their creative writing session based on the story! They had to remember to use capital letters and full stops, use suffixes, adjectives and connectives.

Grade 3

Grade 3A were given the opportunity this week to be directed by Grade 6A in their Drama lesson! The topic was 'treasure hunt' and they used their facial expressions, body language and their tone of voice to communicate how they were feeling throughout the performance. A big thanks to Ms. Jo and Ms. Kat for this workshop, the children had a great time!

Primary News

Grade 3 students have been learning about what is magnetic and what is not in their Science lessons this week. They went around the school on a Science walk and tested as many different materials as possible to check what is magnetic and what is not!

Grade 4

Grade 4 were introduced to a new text this week, 'Monster Slayer: Beowulf' and had the opportunity to respond to illustrations of the characters. They had a great time discussing them and predicting the roles they will play in the story.

Grade 5

The 5B class were describing characters in English lessons with Ms Atika. They worked in groups to research information about Greek mythological characters and made notes on their internal and external descriptions, using interesting vocabulary.

Secondary News

Message from Mr. James, Head of Secondary

As we draw to the end of the first half of Term 2, I would like to thank you for continued support This half term is always extremely busy for secondary students as our Grade 10, 11 and 12 students sit mock and external examinations. In addition, our Grade 6 to 9 students have taken their Ministry of Education examinations in the Arabic subjects. Well done to all the students for their focus, resilience and hard work!

This half term has also seen our basketball, football, swimming and netball teams play numerous matches as they prepare for our inaugural BSME Games participation in Abu Dhabi. I know that our PE Department is extremely excited about the prospect of KGIS challenging the very best schools in the Middle East, and I am sure they will make us proud!

Learning & Teaching:

At KGIS, our teachers seek to educate through active engagement. Ms. Atika’s Grade 6 English students recently engaged in a comprehensive learning experience to analyse extracts from the novel 'Holes'. The students participated in a series of activities designed to help them develop their analytical skills. To build upon these skills, they worked collaboratively to structure P E E L paragraphs; a technique that helped them break down their analysis into meaningful components.

This collaborative approach not only helped the students to gain a deeper understanding of the novel but also allowed them to learn from each other. They made notes as they walked around the classroom, observing the work of their peers. The combination of hands-in activities, collaboration and peer-assessment meant that they were then able to use all the knowledge and skills they had gained to construct their own P.E.E.L paragraphs!

This week our budding aerospace engineers launched their curiosity in aeronautical design. It was great to see these young minds take flight in their pursuit of aeronautical excellence! As they worked under the watchful eye of Ms. Tahnia (Head of Science), they were constantly asking questions, seeking feedback, and challenging themselves to think outside the box.

Secondary News

The final result was a showcase of their creativity, technical skill, and problem-solving ability. It was fascinating to see the variety of designs that emerged, each unique in its own way. With such a talented and dedicated next generation of engineers, the skies truly are the limit!

Our budding Grade 11 A Level Physicists, under the watchful eye of Mr. Tom embarked on a journey to explore the fascinating world of Quantum Physics. In order to grasp the concept of photons and fully comprehend Quantum theory, they conducted an experiment to verify the value of Planck's constant The experiment involved the measurement of the energy of photons and the calculation of Planck's constant, which represents the relationship between the energy of a photon and its frequency.

This experiment not only allowed the students to get hands-on experience in the Lab but also allowed them to deepen their understanding of the fundamental principles of Quantum Physics The students were impressed by the strange and unique features of the quantum world and the experiment will be a valuable addition to their knowledge as they continue their journey through the world of Quantum Physics. Needless to say, the students found it illuminating!

Secondary News

International Day for Women in Science

It was great to see so many of our students celebrating the truly significant contributions made by women in Science. Many of our female students and staff dressed up as their favourite scientist, and it was wonderful to see such creativity and celebration. The aim of the day is to inspire young women to consider careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and to show them that they can achieve anything they set their minds to, regardless of gender. With role models such as Marie Curie, Rosalind Franklin, and Fatima al-Fihriya it's clear that women have been making significant advancements in the field of science for centuries. We are proud to encourage our own students to follow in their footsteps!

Revision Tip - Studying With Music

Many students do their homework and revision whilst listening to music Many of them will insist that listening to their favourite songs helps them study.

But does music actually increase or hinder learning? And does it matter what type of music you listen to whilst revising? To answer these questions, researchers Nick Perham and Harriet Cure from the Applied Psychology department of Cardiff Metropolitan University recently ran a study. They assigned students of a range of ages to one of four groups and their results were extremely interesting:

Students who revised in quiet environments performed over 60% better in an exam than their peers who revised listening to music that had lyrics.

It made no difference if students revised whilst listening to different types of music. Both led to a reduction in their subsequent test performance.

Students who revised in silence rated their environment as less distracting, and accurately predicted that this would lead to better performances in subsequent tests

Whilst listening to music before a task can make someone feel better, listening to it whilst trying to learn something new tends not to help. This is because music, especially with lyrics, can take up processing space. This conflicts with the material you are trying to learn, effectively creating a traffic jam in our memory, as there is less space to process what you are revising We know how hard our students are working at home but it is just as important that they are working in the most efficient way!

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