l Junior School News

from Whole School Newsletter T1 AY 2021/22

by North London Collegiate School Dubai

l Senior School News

Junior School News

PETER PAN By Steven Helliwell

This term, we had the pleasure of bringing our school Performing Arts Centre back to life with the Grade 3 Production of ‘Peter Pan the Musical’.

The Grade 3 students provided their audience with an outstanding performance, sharing the magic of Neverland with a glittering showcase of their acting, singing and dancing talents, all in front of a live audience.

After such a lengthy absence, it was also a wonderful opportunity to welcome parents back into the school to share and celebrate the students’ success, a culmination of many weeks of rehearsals and hard work from all the students and the Grade 3 production team. A huge congratulations to all of the students and staff involved in the production and thank you to all parents for their support.

ALADDIN By Rebecca Fernandes

Students from Pre-KG to Grade 3 were treated to a performance of 'Aladdin' by the S4K International theatre company. The buzz of excitement as the students entered the PAC, and when they left following the performance, made everyone smile and it was clear that they thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The students quickly got into the spirit of clapping along to the songs and shouting out to questions and comments from the actors on stage - it was certainly an interactive show. The performance was adapted slightly for our youngest students, who fully embraced their rst experience of watching a play in the PAC. We hope there are more to come over the year!

We began the year with our House Quiz, whereby children came to school wearing their house colours and answering questions which were age appropriate to their age groups. Students took part from PreKG to Grade 5, wearing their house colours with pride. This enabled the students to feel enthusiastic about being in their house and brought a healthy competitive spirit to our Junior School. Our younger students became aware of what being in their House means to them and it was a great way to begin the year. House Captains were then elected from Grade 5 and they have been a fantastic asset to their Houses so far. They have organised a weekly House Breakfast, enabling them to meet other students from their houses and deliver surveys and speeches to stay in touch with the student voice.

The House Photography Competition with entries from First School and Lower School really gave the students an opportunity to showcase their creative talents. They demonstrated excellent skill with a camera and the Padlet of photographs highlights some of the talents that we have within our Junior School. To support Dubai 30/30 the PE department organised a House Fitness Endurance Challenge whereby students took part in various tness activities to earn points for their houses. Finally, this term we launched our eagerly anticipated House Music Competition. The students auditioned within three categories and were selected to compete in a live nal. It was wonderful to see such musical talents ranging through all of the age groups.

HOUSE COMPETITIONS By Nicola Ali

GUEST SPEAKERS By Nathan Gibbons

The Grade 4 students had the pleasure of having four different guest speakers to enlighten them with their knowledge and experiences when exploring the world. The central idea was, 'Exploration leads to discoveries, opportunities and new understandings.' Our rst guest speaker, Mike Davis, told fascinating stories of sur ng across the different seas and skiing down multiple mountains in all corners of the globe. This enabled him to visit and live in many different countries. This was followed by our second guest speaker, Robert Anderson, who shared the Grade 4 students with tales of how he scaled Mount. Everest, alongside Sir Edmund Hillary’s grandson.

In addition this, he summited multiple mountain peaks all across the globe and told us the advantages and disadvantages of mountaineering. Following on from this, we had an engaging presentation from Mrs Emma Navin in the School's PAC, where she informed the students of her upbringing, living in various countries around the world all throughout her childhood and how this exposed her to many different cultures, religions and cuisines. Finally, our last guest speakers were ‘Monday Feelings’, Tiago and Fernanda, two globe trotters who travel around the world for a living, blogging and writing about their experiences in the hope of helping and supporting other travellers with the bug to explore. They told stories of their travels and how it has shaped their lives and outlook on the world from the different countries they have been to.

TRIPS By Nicola Woodroffe

As soon as day trips were given the green light, planning commenced with excitement and certainty. Grade 1 took the lead with the rst day trip to Kidzania as they learnt about how the structure and interconnectedness of rules and laws in uence community wellbeing. The KG1 and G2 trips to Jam Jar linked with the unit “How We Express Ourselves” and allowed the students to experiment with art techniques and concepts to create expressive outcomes. Meanwhile Pre-KG visited Woo-Hoo, a state-of-the-art children’s museum, ready to fuel the children’s enthusiasm and provide them with an engaging space to acquire new knowledge and take part in different workshops. With over 50 interactive exhibits, linking to the unit of inquiry about Play and Discovery.

The nal Junior School trip of the term saw KG2 visit OliOli, to experience a series of immersive & interactive experiences for students to think, imagine & create also inspiring the unit ‘How We Express Ourselves.’ Next term, students in KG2- G5 can look forward to visiting Expo in the cooler weather. Grade 5 and Grade 4 will also visit Umm al Quwain Marine club- just before half-term for their adventure days.

Student Council members have made an enormous impact towards school life since taking on the role in September. The creation of the First School Lego Wall was nally completed and it has been wonderful to see the students using this creative break out space on the ground oor. After this was completed, Student Council decided to take on their next challenge by enhancing the reading area for Lower School. With artwork contributed from each grade, the area was transformed into a reading rainforest, which is now an inviting, comfortable space for the students to go to develop their love of reading. Finally, Student Council have just launched their next initiative to make recycled instruments for Miss. People’s musical garden. We look forward to seeing all of the contributions from across the Junior School and turning this garden into another purposeful learning environment for NLCS Dubai students.

PRE-KG PLAY EXHIBITION By Nathalie Allen

Pre-KG began their learning experiences at NLCS by exploring how play can help them learn. The students have worked to understand how sharing, negotiating and listening to one another can aid them all in having happier and more successful learning experiences, which is key to their development at this stage. It was wonderful to see the students explaining their thought processes and engaging their imaginations as they explored the exhibition activities with their parents. It is truly evident how much they have grown already.

KG1 ART EXHIBITION By Nathalie Allen

This term we announced our House Photography Competition for students to showcase their talents in taking photographs of their choice. They were given tips and advice to start their process. A variety of photographs have been entered into the competition, from First and Lower School, which demonstrates the excellent skills the students have. It is amazing to see how they have captured elements of colour, line, detail and shapes, as well as the originality in the subjects they have chosen.

The variety of photographs show animals, plants, buildings, sunset and skylines to name a few. It has been a dif cult process in selecting the winning entries, due to the high standard of skill throughout.