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Yujin Seu, Grade 9 Javi

Contents Introduction : The House System Where a House becomes a Home Interview with Mr Monaghan The Sorting Hat Mr May – Head of Jais Mr Garrett – Head of Javi Mrs Dawson – Head of Hafeet Mrs Dunn – Head of Yibir The House Events Coordinator

House Spelling House Public Speaking House Music House Chess Former House Captains Present House Captains

The House Mountains Grade 5 House Captains The advantages and disadvantages of a community The House System at NLCS Schools around the world Thoughts on Home 2 | THE OASIS | VOL 4 | MARCH 2022

Imagine – Creative Writing

Introduction By Christianna Oduneye-Braniﬀ Grade 9 Yibir

There is a difference between a house and a home. They say home is where the heart is, but how do we make a house a home? When you first join the school, your house maybe as simple as a name, however, whether it be through our various House events, insightful conversations with your tutor group, or gathering as a school during assembly, it is our hope as a community here at NLCS, we can truly make your house a place you can call home. The Houses are named after the mountains here in the UAE, Yibir, Jais, Hafeet and Javi, each representative of strong, tall structures - exactly what our Houses become when we work together. Houses are responsible for each other, and are compiled of members of staff and students, each bearing different roles in the community. It begins with the Heads of House, who represent the foundation of each of the four. They, as individuals, guide those in their Houses toward leadership positions which are chosen each year. Then the House Captain, Vice House Captain, Assistant House Captain, each with ranging responsibility, however all demonstrating significance in the order of the House as a whole. The leaders within each of the respective houses will also guide the House through events. For example, Sports captains and Chairpersons for different societies. There are several opportunities which are presented to students to benefit their house, as well as shape their ability as leaders. These opportunities allow students to immerse themselves in their community, while also leaving room for growth and development. They also hopefully allow students the opportunity to have a range of experiences at NLCS, truly taking the steps toward making their House a home.

Interview with Mr Monaghan on the House System By Hannah Gino, Grade 8 Jais

Firstly, since you are not the founding Principal of this school, what made you decide to continue the House system here? A: When I was sent to open our school NLCS Jeju in South Korea in 2011, one of the jobs I had was setting up the House system. In Jeju, I was the line manager for the Heads of Houses, as well as setting up the first House competitions. So, when I first came to NLCS Dubai, I had these responsibilities as well. This is something I’m passionate about because when I was a boy in boarding school, the House system was the main reason why I enjoyed school so much. What was your favourite House competition? A: That’s a tricky question. I love the big events, like House Drama when the whole school can get into the PAC and watch performances. If I had to pick one House Competition, I would probably choose House Music. Have there been certain dynamics across Houses during these House competitions? A: That’s a good question. I think every House is competitive and wants to win things. I know when I was at school, I was very lucky. Sometimes Houses adopt slightly different characteristics that can come from their Head of House. For example, when I was a Head of House in London, I was very sporty, and we ended up doing quite well in the sporting events. I don’t know whether that was because I was more passionate about sports and less good in areas of music and other events. I don’t know, maybe sometimes Houses adopt the traits of their Head of House or their tutors. I think here at NLCS Dubai though, everybody is very passionate about their House, always giving their best for the House and trying to win everything. Whenever there’s a house competition, the week or two after that, before seeing the scoring system and everything, you always say that the results have been counted and veriﬁed. How do you do that exactly? Do you just have multiple teachers go over it? A: I think with House Competitions, it’s always very important to have a checking process because you don’t want to get it wrong. Obviously, it would be upsetting if you had to go back and change your mind about the results. Since I’ve worked in a House system for my whole teaching career, there has been the odd occasion where mistakes were made and points had to be taken away, which was a nightmare. It is very important, and it has become a joke in some ways because I always say the results have been counted and verified, but we do always do that.

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If any students wanted to suggest a House Competition, how would people be able to do that? A: That’s a brilliant idea. I would suggest creating a proposal with your friends and setting up an appointment with Ms Ward, who would then be able to take that into account for next year. I noticed that the House names here in NLCS Dubai are from mountains in the UAE, and the House names in NLCS Jeju are from similar phenomena. So my question is, what criteria do you use to choose House names in diﬀerent schools? A: So, when we were in Jeju we spent a lot of time thinking about what to name the Houses. In the end, we decided to name the Houses after the extinct volcano peaks present in Jeju, and we picked four of the main ones, although recently some of the House names have changed. When we came here- in fact, I have a notebook at home with ideas for what the Houses could be called. In the end, though, I decided to follow Jeju’s lead, and after doing some research on mountains, we decided to name the Houses after four significant peaks in the UAE. Finally, I would like to ask, for new students that could be coming from schools without a House System, or from a school that didn’t place that much importance on the House System, what advice would you give them on how to get used to the House System? A: The House System does seem more complete than in some other schools where it just involves a red T-shirt on sports day or a red swim cap during swimming, whereas here at NLCS competitions and other events are going on pretty much every week. My advice to new students joining is to try yourself out. Don’t be shy to sing in the House Music or give yourself a go in sporting events and other House events.

The Sorting Hat An Interview with Ms. Powell By Sophia Both, Grade 7 Javi

On a sunny afternoon, all the students are in their House spaces, in the Budge Square, or the dining hall during lunch. Ms. Powell and I sit across from each other in her office. If you have gone into Ms. Powell’s office, you would see it doesn’t look like Hogwarts with dark rooms and spiderwebs in the corner of the classrooms. No, the curtains are drawn, and light enters the room and there are certainly no spiderwebs to be seen in her incredibly tidy and organized space. Nevertheless, Ms. Powell is a living, breathing, talking sorting hat. NLCS’s school spirit is like no other, with House competitions, sports tournaments outside of school, and the academic drive to be the best of the best. The House spirit is something this school does best, with each student cheering and fighting for their House. Each House is unique in its way that everyone somehow fits perfectly inside like a puzzle piece all connected to create a wonderful group of individuals who all contribute to their House. The metaphor “we all fit into the Houses like a jigsaw puzzle” perfectly fits when being put into each House. Ms. Powell, the heads of House, and other Assistant Vice Principals look at several factors when new students are entering the school. “We look at their academic levels, what sport they enjoy, or have a specialist sport. We look at what they enjoy outside of sports, such as creativity, maybe music, or maybe drama,” explained Ms. Powell. These ‘sorting hats’ look at Houses and see if they are missing someone or if they think this person would fit in well with this House. “We make sure to look at the student’s whole being instead of one number or aspect.” Nowadays every school you go to in the UAE has a House system, this lays out a good foundation for students to strive and to be as competitive as possible. “I think having a House system is one of the key things in every school,” said Ms. Powell. “What makes our school is very much the fabric of the school, it is not just color, it is about this is your House, this is motto, this is your House captain, this is your head of the House, these are the older students in your House. It is about trying to make sure that you know about that House spirit or ethos,” she explained. Having a House system is incredibly special; it helps us have a sense of belonging in school. “I don’t have a House and so that gives me a chance to see each House without bias, or the feeling ‘this is the best House.’ This also means I can judge them objectively and see how special each House is,” said Ms. Powell. The House system is integral to a school having a competitive atmosphere. If you asked any person in the school what their favorite part of a House system was, they would most probably answer with House competitions. House competitions are one of the few events where everyone, whether it’s teachers, students, friends, classmates, or other members of staff, cheers each other on and works hard to ensure a win for their House. “I would say one of the things I love about our House competitions is that they have an element of specialism within them,” responded Ms. Powell. Our House competitions allow students to 6 | THE OASIS | VOL 4 | MARCH 2022

express themselves and allow people to compete in events they are confident in. “My favorite House competitions are the competitions that everyone is involved in, and so House music for me, my favorite day of the year so far was the last day of term last year, when we had House music because everyone is involved, everyone is working together, everyone is dedicated, everyone is trying to show their House in the best way possible,” explained Ms. Powell. I and many other students in the school personally think that to be part of a House is a very special feeling that creates bonds and friendships that can last a lifetime. In other words, “the family within a family” quoted by Ms. Powell, is an important aspect of having a House system within a school. This ‘family within a family” creates a feeling of community, a place where everyone belongs and feels safe. Schools all around the world use the House system in their unique way, and I think many fellow students can say the House spirit we have at NLCS is like no other. As a younger student having many role models in the grades above is a huge push of motivation to strive for being better. Many of the students in this school can confidently say that school is hard, it doesn’t matter which grade you are in, but having friends in our Houses or our big school family, makes it so much easier to cope with and work hard. We as the NLCS family, or the NLCS Dubai family, or whether you are in the Javi, Jais, Yibir, or Hafeet family, are incredibly lucky to be able to feel included and safe within a school where we have a family to rely on.

Interview with Mr May Head of House Jais By Sara Khashman, Grade 8 Jais

What does your House mean to you? Everything! So, when I joined this school one of the things I was most excited about was the House System and to be able to create it from scratch. Being able to watch it grow and blossom and develop has been an absolute joy. I think it is an integral part of the NLCS Dubai experience. To me personally, it is a family within a family, and I love watching students coming into the House and then grow over the years and then we set them free, off into the world of work and university. It’s very lovely.

What are the pros and cons of being in a House? The pros are endless. The pros are a sense of family, a sense of community, getting to know each other on a different level, especially when we used to have vertical forms, which we hope we will go back to. It means that children can get to know friends and make friends within different grades. It’s a really different experience. Cons of being in a House... I suppose the only con is when competition can become a bit too fierce. But that’s fine and it’s very rare, we just bring it back to what the true meaning of competition is. What was your favourite competition? It’s always House Music, the House song element of House Music. Simply because I love the process of it. I love the fear in the student’s eyes at the beginning of the process and their acceptance of my interesting techniques; that always works because we always produce something that is brilliant and wonderful visually and sounds amazing. It’s my favourite thing because whatever a student feels like at the beginning of the process, every single one of them by the end of the process can feel very, very proud and excited about what they have achieved. Did you have a House System when you were at school? No, not really. We had names for forms but there was no kind of House competition element. What values do you want to bring to your House? ‘Integrity’ is the biggest one. We obviously have the motto: Believe today. Inspire tomorrow. We tried ‘love’ and created that in 2017 but I think the most important thing is integrity. Doing what is needing to be done or being a good person when no one else is watching, so actually having that integrity living through a person’s life.

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How have any failures in your life shaped you as a person? You bounce back and I think that’s really important. When something doesn’t go your way, it doesn’t matter because its’ not the end of the world. There are always alternatives. There are always new opportunities. If something hasn’t gone well in my past, it hasn’t kind of defined me. It’s forced me to make different decisions and I when look back on those decisions now, they have actually been more beneficial to me than potentially the original ideas that I failed on. Bounce back and always look forward! The world is coming to an end in a week. What are the three things you would like to do? A week is not long enough to travel the world, but the first thing I would do is get on a plane and head to some incredible places that I want to visit. Huge landscapes, amazing cities. As for my second one, I don’t know whether I would go home because I am sure I would just facetime my mum but that’s fine too. Although, it would be nice. And the third one – eat all the cake I could possibly find. How do both victory and failure bring you closer as a House? Victory brings you closer as a House because it’s a sense of achievement, it’s something lovely, everyone can get behind it and it’s something to look back on with pride. I don’t like to use the word failure because I don’t think you can fail in a House. You might not win; you might come second, third or fourth; but I don’t see that as a failure. I would see failure as non-participation. If people don’t attempt something, I think that is failure. If they attempt it and put their best foot forward, that would never be a failure in my opinion. It would be something that they tried, and they did their best, and for me that’s all that I care about.

Interview with Mr Garrett Head of House Javi By Elyza Jamal, Grade 6 Hafeet and Julianna Leslie, Grade 6 Javi

What does your House mean to you? To me, my House is like a family. I sort of see myself as head of the family. All the students in Javi are basically my children, and the staff within the House are the family members, like brothers and sisters, but they all contribute and share the same vision, the same ethos, and that same care in nature that we all want for everyone in Javi. What are the pros and cons of being in a House? Well, the pros certainly outweigh the cons. One of the pros of being in a House is that everyone has someone that they can turn to. There is our motto: “Everything is possible”; we try and push through on a daily basis in order to build confidence within the House. We can look after everyone so we can make sure that we support everybody who needs that little bit of extra care and attention. If somebody has emotional needs, we can look after them. It just makes sure that we have a really tight, careful approach to how we look after the people at NLCS, and within the House particularly. Another pro is that, again it’s that family atmosphere of wellbeing; there’s always somebody there that members of the House can turn to. And when we look at the House competition, that success breeds confidence. There’s a lot of solidarity, a lot of camaraderie. There are a lot of skills that are developed through that, such as leadership, communication, and trust - the fact that all the tutors know the students extremely well is another bonus, again, it helps that care and attention that we want to give to the students. I suppose a negative aspect is that it can sometimes get a little too competitive. The House events do have a huge drive and emphasis in the school but I think we have to remember that that’s not the be-all and end-all of the House system. For me, it’s about pastoral care and not the actual competition. What is your favourite competition? Well, there are two actually, and they go hand in hand. House Debating and House Public Speaking. When I hear students debate and speak articulately about a subject that they’re passionate about or about something that they’ve researched, and they’re able to digest that information and project it vocally, it inspires me to continue doing what I’m doing. Without a shadow of doubt. It’s not just the Javi students, it’s in every House. Did you have a House system when you were at school? Yes and no. I attended a school in Germany for one year, it was a military school, it had a House system there but it was primarily for sporting occasions. Then when I moved back to the UK, I didn’t have a House system. So, I was very much aware of the House system but my school never had one. 10 | THE OASIS | VOL 4 | MARCH 2022

What values do you want to bring to your House? Just that self-belief, that regardless of the size of the task, everything is possible, and along that journey, you have got to accept that there are going to be setbacks, and there are going to be “light bulb moments”, and there’s going to be highlights. It can be quite an emotional rollercoaster, but if you really set your mind to something, there is really no reason that you can’t achieve something. Again, that links to the Javi motto, which I really like. Other values are teamwork, care - if you think about the IB profile attributes, I quite like them. I want people to take risks, I want people to look after each other, have respect for each other – and that links to the school values of care, courtesy and consideration. I think that once we get them embedded, we are in a good place.

How have any failures in your life shaped you as a person? Yes, I’ve had plenty of failures. I suppose in a sporting sense, I have had lots, and when you reflect on the reason why you’ve failed, that’s when you did something about it. For example, when I was supposed to win a race, but I didn’t and I came 5th. When I reflect on it I think, ok actually, I didn’t work hard enough, that then that spurred me on to adjust the training, so that I did a higher mileage and out in harder work, and therefore I saw better results. Academically, when I did my GCSEs, in my mock exams, I came out with an F in French, and that wasn’t something that I was very proud of. When I reflected on the direction I was going in for my Modern Foreign Languages subjects, within a space of 3-6 months, I changed my attitude towards learning the language, and I came out with a much better grade. That is probably one of the proudest moments, all that hard work, focus, attention that I gave to learning the language. The world is coming to an end in a week, what are the 3 things you would like to do? So, one, I’d like to go heli-skiing in Alaska, and get some mountain skiing done. Two, I’d like to sail a big competitive yacht, one of those around-the-world yachts. Three, I’d like to play the guitar, on stage, in front of a huge live audience. How do both victory and failure bring you closer as a House? Reflection, I think, when we reflect on failures, where things could have changed, we could have made a difference, and again that important feedback, that self-feedback and external feedback. I think this will allow you to find where you made a mistake, and what you need to do to avoid making the same mistakes again. I think that is a crucial cycle. The successes breed confidence, and maybe that success also allows you to understand how you have learnt your lesson from previous failures, and so I think that it is that act of reflection that brings them both together. 11

Interview with Mrs Dawson Head of House Hafeet By Sannat Odhrani, Grade 9 Hafeet What does your House mean to you? Family, and community. People who are there for you unconditionally, and support the very high standards that you have. What are the pros and cons of being a House? The pros would be community; that there’s a strong network of people present for support. That there is a form of extended family in school, and most importantly, and as always, that feeling of being part of something that is bigger than oneself. Hmm. As for the negatives, I don’t think there are any negatives to the House system. Everything has two sides, but I can’t think of a negative. Maybe I’ll come back to it… What was your favourite competition? Definitely House Music, even though I’m a PE teacher! Did you have a House System when you were at school? Yes. I was in the West House. We had four houses I think. Yes, North, East, South and West. No vertical forms but still a House system. What values do you want to bring to your house? Definitely an extension of the school’s current values. The three Cs; care, courtesy and consideration in Hafeet. Especially the value of being part of something bigger than yourself How have any failures in your life shaped you as a person? It definitely taught me to develop, and have grit. They let me know that everything is possible, so long as you try. Most importantly, they taught me to never give up, and to try harder, and not only harder, but also differently. The world is coming to an end in a week. What are the three things you would like to do? Eat chips on the beach, and watch the sunrise with my daughter and husband; definitely number one on my list. Secondly, I would climb to the top of Mount Everest. Ooh I need at least one more.. Lastly, I would have dinner with my entire family, and hug every single one of them. Yes, those are the three things I’d do. How do both victory and failure bring you closer as a house? It’s not just the outcome of the actual competition. It’s more about the journey and I don’t think it’s the actual outcome that brings you closer as a house, but the journey to the outcome that brings you closer and really matters.

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Interview with Mrs Dunn Head of House Yibir By Ahyaan Lawal, Grade 6 Yibir

What does your House mean to you? For Yibir, our ethos is to be there for each other all the time. Students in the House really do embrace that ethos. It brings a sense of family and a sense of belonging. So, I know every child in my House, from Grade 6 to Sixth Form extremely well; I know their families; I know their ups and I know their downs. It’s about being there to help those students to achieve their best and to help them through any difficulties that they might be having on personal level or on an academic level. My House means everything to me; I absolutely love Yibir; I love the students and I love the staff in the House. So, it’s being a family all together. Our House mascot is a griffin, which is known for its loyalty and protection of others. Members of the House in Yibir are really supportive of one another – they’re always there for each other, they treat each other with respect, not only in the House but then they treat others in the school community with respect and kindness as well. What are the pros and cons of being a House? Definitely House competitions. The pros are when you win a competition – it’s really exciting but when students have put their all into something and they have worked really hard to achieve something and then they might not get first place – that’s the main difficulty of being in a House. In a House, you have different talents. In Yibir, we’re very good at things like Public Speaking and Debating, we also won House Music this year. There are so many different talents in the House. The con would be that other Houses have different talents, so House Art and House Photography have been won by other Houses. What was your favourite competition? This year it has to be House Music, because Yibir were the winners, but it was definitely the most stressful. It was the whole House coming together and it was the first time that we could all do an event together - in one go. Even though Sports day last year was amazing, that had to be done by Grade, but House Music we could do as a full House. Did you have a House System when you are at school? Yes I did, and we also had vertical tutor groups. There were competitions but they weren’t as competitive, or as many, as NLCS. I don’t think there was the same passion and sense of belonging as we have here. I really enjoyed being in the House and the family it created. I knew my Head of House really well and that’s why I try and get to know all of my students really well. What values do you want to bring to your house? Care and kindness are at the forefront for me - students looking out for each other. I want this 14 | THE OASIS | VOL 4 | MARCH 2022

to be instilled in everyone so that it becomes second nature to be loyal and to be there for one another. I would like to see more students from different grades getting to know each other. How have any failures in your life shaped you as a person? When I was studying for my ‘A’Levels in Sixth Form, I was adamant that I wanted to study English at University, but didn’t get the exact offer I was looking for. I was really disappointed. In my final year, I had a complete change of heart and realised that I loved Art and Design too much to finish studying it – I was spending all of my time studying Art and Design. I still really enjoyed English but knew I wanted to pursue Art more. If that disappointment had not had happened, I would not have had a rethink about what I wanted to do. So, I went down the route of studying Textile Design at University. This gave me the chance to work in industry and to work abroad, in India. All of these things have shaped me into what I do now and it has lead me to follow my real passion of pastoral care. The world is coming to an end in a week. What are the three things you would like to do? Number 1 – I would want to make sure I saw my family as they are so important to me. Number 2 – I would love to visit somewhere really exciting, like New Zealand, or Canada, and go skiing. Number 3 – I would like to go to lots of lovely restaurants and try lots of food that I have not tried before. How do both victory and failure bring you closer as a house? With victory, everyone is really excited, everyone is congratulating each other. Students who might not know each other from different grades are working together. But this happens with failure as well – everyone has to think about what to improve, what do to better next time. Both bring students closer together because they want to work together to achieve something and to be the best. There is a really healthy competition between other Houses as well.

INTERVIEWING Miss Ward

By Rameen Ali, Grade 9 Hafeet

What house do you belong to and what does it mean to you? I am in Javi house, and to me, it means a community. I enjoy being a part of Javi and being able to push students to try something new and get involved in competitions, as well as seeing that students in younger year groups are also encouraged. I think that’s an important part of the House System. What inspired you to take up this position? I think that house systems are really good for a school and it’s good for student leadership. It’s great for being able to mix with different year groups and have competition. I wanted to become involved in helping that to develop. And, making sure that now that Covid’s over, we can have competitions faceto-face as that is really important for our school. What kind of House events do you organize? I organize all the House events throughout the year, helping teachers that oversee a specific competition and I help to facilitate that. There are sports competitions, Art and Drama competitions. Some competitions aren’t linked to a subject, for example, Public Speaking. How do you ensure everything is in order before a House competition? I will have drafted rules for the competition to ensure all the Heads of House and students taking part are aware of how many points they can get, what points are awarded for and how the competition is going to run. I make sure everyone is aware of it on the assembly notices and when it is taking place. I liaise with the person running the competition, for example in sports competitions I will be speaking to Miss Jones a lot of the time. For Art competitions, Mrs. Michaels. I make sure everything is booked in the calendar for the event and that there is a time frame for the event to happen as well. Please, tell us about the point collection and verification system. There are different points awarded for different events. In terms of overall points, there are ten points for first place, eight points for second place, six points for third place, and four points for last. Those are the points you get after each competition. Each competition has its own point system. Whoever wins, is allocated those points. That’s what’s totaled up to get the overall points throughout the year. How do you schedule each of the events and is there a team who helps you? Yes, there is a team that helps me. Miss Powell is helpful; she helps to oversee House competitions. I meet with her once every two weeks to discuss that. The Heads of House help with running the competition. As well as each competition’s facilitator or teacher who’s in charge of that event. There are lots of different people involved. What are your three main objectives behind organizing each event? You must think about fairness. Is there a possibility for everyone to be involved and have enough openings in different age groups? Is the competition going to provide a competitive spirit? Is there an equal opportunity for everyone to win the competition? And just making sure there is a range of 16 | THE OASIS | VOL 4 | MARCH 2022

different competitions for different strengths. For example, having a range of Sports, Arts, Drama, English, and Public Speaking. Why do you believe House events are important for the students and the school? I think it helps to develop a strong ethos in the school. It goes along with the NLCS ethos of ‘trying yourself out’. I think students put themselves forward and work as a team. It provides a great opportunity for students to show student leadership skills within their House. What factors do you believe motivate students to take part in these events? Winning. Getting points for their house. But also taking part in things they enjoy. Some students love debating and public speaking and are so passionate about it and get involved in the competition. So, I think passion motivates students as well. What was your favorite House competition and why? I really enjoyed House Music, because every single student had to be involved and some of the performances this year were incredible. The students had put much effort into them. I think those final House song performances were a highlight for me. What can be done to improve House competitions or the House system? I think as we go forward, we can look at opportunities for new House events that we haven’t had before. As I mentioned, this year there are a lot of changes from Covid competitions to face-toface competitions. Therefore, I think working on the aspect of the competition being face-to-face will improve year by year.

INTERVIEWING

Interview with Mr Riddler about House Chess

Sadene Qaddumi, Grade 8, Jais As a kid, did you enjoy chess? Was there a specific reason you liked it? When I was a kid, I started off playing checkers, then moved on to chess. Although it was only when I got older that I started playing regularly. I Iike it for the same reason I like Mathematics, I like the challenge, the puzzle and using your brain. I also like the competition and the challenge of outwitting them. Do you think every kid should play chess? What skills can be developed? There are lots of skills, and everyone can gain from it, however I don’t think it’s right to say every kid should play it. It’s the idea of logical thinking and problem solving. There are 2 elements to chess: one is planning your attack and what you’re going to do, however the second element (and more difficult skill) is to predict your opponent’s attacks. Chess helps with logical thinking, but also creative thinking skills and the ability to think outside the box and the ability to envision the outcome of your choices. What do you think makes chess a good House competition? Incorporating it with the House system creates a good sense of competition, but in a different nature. It is not a physical competition, it’s a mental challenge. Sports are important, but chess takes a lot of mental dexterity. It allows other people into House events (people who are not particularly confident in public speaking or sports). It doesn’t require anything other than yourself and the board. Does making it a House competition make it more enjoyable? It’s interesting to watch people play for their House. While they want to win for themselves, they want to win for their House as well. Even in the 5th year of doing House chess, it’s been successful and popular with decent crowds coming to watch. How has COVID-19 affected chess? Is there a big difference between playing online and in person? We tried doing it online with some online chess programs and it was difficult. It didn’t work out as well, it was relatively unsuccessful, but we managed. Now, we are getting more people involved; this year it was four people from each House in each year which is more than we’ve had. With online, there might be a temptation to cheat, but when you’re face to face with someone it is a battle between you and the other person and I quite like that atmosphere. Do you think certain restrictions on the games took away from important elements (i.e. the 10-minute limit per game)? We could improve it lots of ways, like having proper clock timers, which would keep the pace up and might be what people are more used to. But, we want to be a bit more inclusive. In House chess, we have some people who are very experienced and some who aren’t, so to put those constraints on people who’ve hardly played seems unfair. So, the rules are not as strict as they could be. 18 | THE OASIS | VOL 4 | MARCH 2022

Sannat Odhrani, Grade 9, Hafeet

House Spelling. Truly a remarkable, and often nerve-wracking experience. Under normal conditions at least. Or so you may think. Due to a COVID-19 resurgence at the start of this academic year, the competition took place in an empty PAC, with vacant seats, and an equal level of tension. With every student either onstage at tables with their respective Houses, ready for the competition, or in their form rooms, eagerly anticipating the beginning of the competition, thanks to the beloved Microsoft Teams. This year, the format remained largely the same as it did in previous years. The competition began, albeit after an introduction by Mrs Monaghan, who would be our host for the competition. We began with Round One: Group Spelling. Every member of the team had to work together in order to spell 10 words correctly, after Mrs Monaghan read them out twice, put them in a sentence, and read the definition of each word aloud. The atmosphere was tense. Each house gathered around the single sheet of paper, and eagerly awaited each word. Furtive glances were cast at other tables, suspicion mounting onstage. As someone who was a part of that experience firsthand, I can only wonder what the other members of my house were thinking as they watched us, in silence, following the gap between each word, which appeared to stretch for eternity. An attempt was also made by a certain house (Ahem, Yibir) to deliberately call out incorrectly spelled words, to ensure their victory, before being reproached by their Head of House. It wasn’t very sportsmanlike, and not a very good look for the house, in my very unbiased opinion. Finally, round one came to an end, and our sheets were collected from us to pave the way for the final round of House Spelling. Individual spelling. This round is undeniably the most excruciating, and if the conditions are just right, or should I say, wrong, the most humiliating part of the competition. In this part of the competition, one speller from each house, from grade 6 to 12, is required to come to centre stage, stand in a line with their peers and spell a word. The order for each grade remained the same. Alphabetical. First, grade 6. A student from Hafeet was given a word. They said the word, spelled it out, and said it once more. A student from Jais was given a word. They said the word, spelled it out, and said it once more. Followed by Javi, then Yibir. Rinse and repeat. All the way to grade 12. Now, for a little secret. Prior to the live broadcasting of the event, each year group is briefed on exactly how to act during individual spelling, and the order in which students stand, deliver their word, even come up to the stage, and sit back down. Every year. With this, you may think that this makes it easier to prepare for the actual round. It doesn’t. One can only hope for, not simply an easy word, as this year had proven, but at the very least, a word that they had encountered at least once, or had some consolation from within that it truly was part of the English lexicon. This year, the individual spelling was difficult, all around to say the least. Nearly everyone, if not everyone, received a word that they didn’t know, hear, or understand entirely. Well, the show must go on. Or at least, house spelling must go on. In Hafeet, there was even a case of a speller mishearing a word entirely! 19

As for myself. Well, I misspelt surrealism, so there’s that. By the end of the second round, houses were anxiously attempting to tally up the points their house, and their competition, had scored. For most of the teams, the future seemed bleak. But wait! The judges made a sudden announcement that there had been a tie between two houses… Jais, and Yibir. They made it extremely clear that the tie needed to be broken, but had emphasised that they were not necessarily competing for first place. This crucial piece of advice was not, but definitely should have been, heeded by every single house onstage. The judges proposed a spell off. The two houses were expected to receive a word, consult their teammates, and spell the word out on A3 paper, which they would pass on to the judges. This process would repeat, as many times as required, until one of the houses misspelt a word. The bonus round begins. With a word, which, if my memory serves me right, definitely did not sound as though it was part of the English Dictionary at all. Or perhaps I’m being dramatic for the sake of this article. You’ll never know. Despite this, the two houses finished spelling, and handed their sheets to the judges. The atmosphere is getting extremely exciting, yet for Jais and Yibir, they wait in trepidation. Every form is, no doubt, intrigued to see how this previously unseen bonus round will progress, and how another round will pan out. It won’t. Jais misspelt the word and Yibir won the tiebreaker for an unknown position. Alas, the world will never know how that round might have progressed if Jais had better spellers!

With all things considered, House Spelling was, and continues to be, a wholly surreal experience, one that I am adamant will only improve in the academic years to come. (See, I can spell!) The atmosphere of the competition, the opportunity for teamwork, as well as the sheer possibility it has to set the trajectory of each house’s overall positioning over the course of the academic year, is undeniable. This specific competition, coupled with the House Quiz, are the perfect ‘introductory’ competitions in the year, and the perfect way to improve a person’s confidence, as well as the bonds between the members of different houses. Soon after, the results for the house competition were revealed, and in 4th place came Jais. Meanwhile, 3rd place was awarded to Yibir. Finally, 1nd and 2st place were awarded to Javi and Hafeet respectively. With those results, it’s safe to say all’s well that ends well. Well, for Javi anyways! :) Sanah Jain - Grade 6, Hafeet

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House Music By Sufi Ali, Grade 8 Hafeet

House Music is one of the biggest House Competitions of the year, with all of Senior School involved. It is one of three House competitions of the year that awards double points- with the winning House earning 20 points, 2nd place earning 16, 3rd earning 12, and 4th earning 8. This year, each House was tasked to prepare beginner, intermediate and advanced solo/duet performances; posters, a logo, and a record sleeve for the House song; and of course, the House song which everyone is involved in. The judges all had backgrounds in music, with two external judges, as well as our music teacher and Vice Principal Mr Zambonini. The judges marked entries based on technical control and mastery, development of creative ideas, music coherence, presentation and communication, and expression and interpretation. Rehearsals were carried out throughout the weeks before the competition. Solos/duets performed in front of the judges during set lunchtimes during the week of Sunday 5th December and the winning soloists as well as the house song were performed as a wonderful end to our winter team on Wednesday 8th December. House Songs: House songs were marked out of 25. Hafeet came in first place in the house song category with their performance of the song “Fallin’” by ʻAdrenaline’. Jais came in second place with their performance of “If You’re Out There” by ʻJohn Legend. Yibir came third place for their performance of a medley of “Clocks” by ʻColdplay’, “Counting Stars” by ʻOne Republic’ and “I’ve got a feeling” by ʻBlack Eyed Peas’. Finally, Javi came in fourth place with their house song “Roar” by ʻKaty Perry’. Other Assessed Material: Solos/duets were marked out of 15 each at all difficulty levels. Yibir won all three of these and they were performed on Wednesday 8th December along with the House Songs. The House Music Logo, Record Sleeve, and Concert Poster were each marked out of 10. Yibir and Hafeet came in joint first place in all of the art pieces. Final Rankings: 1 Yibir 2 Hafeet 3 Javi 4 Jais

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House Public Speaking House Public Speaking was one of the most anticipated events of the year. It was different to most other House competitions as it was an evening event, taking place at 6pm on Wednesday, the 16th of March in the Performing Arts Center. But it was a very exciting competition to watch, and this year, parents were also allowed to come in! There were three different age categories: Grades 6 and 7, Grades 8 and 9, and Grades 10, 11 and 12. This year, the theme was the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Each team had to choose one Sustainable Development Goal to base their speech on and choose a statement or open-ended question surrounding that topic. This year, the fifth goal, gender equality, and the thirteenth goal, climate action, were a couple of the most popular topics amongst the speakers across all grades. The knowledgeable judges that were chosen for this competition were Ms. Frances Powell and Mr. Marco Zambonini, our Vice Principals, as well as Mrs. Emma Dhesi, a History and Politics teacher. Each judge gave a total of a hundred points, and they were all added together. A total of twenty-five points could be awarded for the Chairperson, twenty-five for the Vote of Thanks, and fift y for the Main Speaker. All the speakers were assessed on their presentation and delivery skills, subject knowledge and subject passion. The Main Speaker was also asked one question by one of the judges about their speech and marked on the quality of their response. The final placings were Yibir in first, Jais in second, Hafeet in third and Jais in last. The winners in the Grade 6 and 7 category were Jais; the winners in the Grades 8 and 9 category as well as the 10, 11 and 12 category were Yibir.. For a competition like this, ten points are awarded for a win, eight for second place, six for third place, and four for fourth place. Yibir, however, played their joker, meaning that they received double the points for this competition. Each House is allowed to play their joker in one competition, apart from the ones that are worth double points which are House Music, House Drama and House Sports Day. This means that Yibir secured twenty points, as they came in first place and would normally have been given ten points. All in all, the House Public Speaking Competition was a very enjoyable event for all the spectators, including parents, and the students involved, who worked very hard on their respective speeches and rehearsals prior to the actual evening. Their enthusiasm and passion for the subjects were evident in their wonderfully written speeches and equally fantastic delivery! By Sufi Ali, Grade 8 Hafeet and Fatima Tariq, Grade 8 Yibir

New 2022-2023 House Capitans

Here, one new House Captain explains what the role means to her. Emilia Herrera, Grade 11 Yibir The moment I entered NLCS, what most excited me was the House system and spirit that our school had. Being in other international schools before, I was aware of what it meant to be in a House, but NLCS embraces this by breaking boundaries between grades and coming together as one, something I had not experienced before. People in the sixth form were still friends with people moving into senior school, all because they were brought together by their house. As soon as the applications for the positions were announced, I was determined to apply, as being a leader of something that I admired so much felt like a way of giving back to my House in a sense. As a part of my application, I made sure to mention that I wanted to make sure everything was coordinated to let all the students enjoy being a part of the house. In all my memories of being in Yibir, I was never worried about my role in an activity, or where I had to be. Rather, I only have good memories. Being a part of Yibir was always something outside of my academics that I could enjoy my time with and not have to worry about. I hope as a leader I can bring back the house spirit that was lost during the pandemic, and encourage students to try themselves out, whether it is in something that they excel at and want to contribute to, or something that they have never tried before and would like to have a go at. I am excited to get to know more people in my House due to my position and to collaborate with other leaders in the House such as Sports and Vice House captains. I am extremely excited as to what is to come, especially events where we are able to plan events altogether and have a chance to participate as one group. I hope that as the year progresses, members of Yibir will be able to connect more and strengthen their house spirit!

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IMAGINE: A collection of poems, short stories, and artwork

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A Utopian Description As I felt the lush, verdant grass beneath my bare feet, I admired the view of the pristine sky above me. Could life feel any better? I strolled along the animals that ran beside me. I started feeling slightly hungry, so I picked a few elderberries. My teeth dug into the first succulent elderberry; a rush of liveliness ran through my veins as if I had eaten some fruit from heaven. I felt as exuberant as ever. As I then stepped foot into the scrubby forest, I felt the damp moss and I gaped at the small leverets following their mother. I realised that one had become lost, so I very gingerly picked it up and safely returned it to its family. I watched the trees dance and sway with the direction of the wind. The symphony of life sounded beautiful, I meditated to the sound of the nightingales singing and the burbling of the river water. I lowered my hand down to stride it through the soft and crumbly soil. I then reached the stunning mountains. As the glamorous sun began to set, the chalets all around the mountains began to light and the church bell rang loudly. I decided to admire the view from the cable instead. The view was breath-taking. I had never played my eyes on something so picturesque. I could make out the acres of feverfews and dahlias. The animals were being shepherded into their barns and the sky-piercing mountains stood out like never before. I had unfortunately then finished my ride, so I tapped out and I felt a gush of ice-cold wind fly past me, so I decided to wear my coat. The dazzling aurora lights hovered above the apices like coloured flames dancing soulfully to a peaceful rhythm. It was a new morning and I decided to have a walk on the beach. I smelt the breeze of saltiness in the air, and I listened to the waves gliding on the flax gold sand. The sand I stepped on was powdery, yet firm. I spotted a couple of kids making sun castles and the adults sunbathing. I walked closer to the shoreline until I let the cold-water crash against my legs. And that, was the of my journey at 4-world utopia. By Adam Foad, Grade 7 Yibir

The Watermelon Farmer By Asa Mittal, Grade 11 Yibir

I squirmed in my bed, shifting, and turning. I couldn’t stop thinking about all the people at the homeless drive today. It had been heartbreaking seeing how destitute and impoverished they were. I knew that I didn’t want to go back there ever again. I heard the door of my room opening and squinted against the sudden onslaught of light that against my eyes. I felt a weight settle into my bed next to me. “Hey buddy,” my dad said, “why aren’t you asleep yet?” “I don’t know.” I mumbled. “Please, can you tell me a story?” I requested, thinking it would clear my mind. “Of course,” he said, smiling at me. “There was an old and prosperous watermelon farmer who went into the village every year to sell the fruit he harvested. Every year he would visit the orphanage before going to the market. He would pick out the largest watermelons, cut them, remove their seeds, and feed them to the orphans. Only then would he go to the market to sell his fruit. When the farmer passed away, his children took over the farm. But when they went to the village to sell their watermelons, they stopped visiting the orphanage. Instead, they went straight to the market and sold the largest watermelons to the highest bidder. Within a few years, the children went bankrupt.” My dad paused the story to ask me, “Why weren’t they successful?” Noticing my befuddled expression, he chuckled and continued, “The old farmer fed the largest watermelon to the children and kept their seeds for planting. The younger generation sold off the best watermelons and was always left with the worst seeds for the next year’s harvest.” “Why do you think I told you this story? What did you learn?” my dad questioned. I thought about it and replied, “It’s good to help others and give back to the community.” Dad beamed and said, “Exactly. The more you give in life, the more you get.” As he got up to leave the room I asked, “Could we please go back and donate more to the homeless drive next month?”

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Covid-19 Corona Virus the world’s worst fright, Where people fight with all their might, There is nothing worse than what you see, Wherever in the world whoever you may be, The doctors and nurses are saving people’s lives, The old and the young husband and wives, The virus is spreading way too fast, There is no record of this virus even in the past, Millions of vaccines have been injected every day, Some might be safe to live another day, While we are suffering, animals are having fun, Reproducing and mating under the bright hot sun, Cheetahs running, ants crawling near the lake, Bears playing make your own dead look fake, Animals have never been so free all these years, As people have been, so wild and so fierce, All the animals, which are going to go extinct, Now have an unbreakable link, All the people have to stay in their house, No kids running wild like a mouse, This is permanently announced by law, The worst one I ever saw! By Asma Jameel, Grade 7 Hafeet

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Estrangement Sealed off from the world in perpetual dusk A sailor’s voyage doomed, his journey awry. His raft shaken uncontrollably by waves so brusk, Swallowed mercilessly by a violet black sky, Ill-fated by crashing waves and thunder strikes. As the waves quelled and a pitying sun rose once more, The sailor realized he had nowhere to go. Estranged, he is renounced forevermore, Longing the world he had belonged to not long ago. The mediterranean breeze reminded him He belonged everywhere. He belonged nowhere. By Ilyes Zeraiki Grade 11, Javi

Follow Please be advised that this story explores a more mature theme. I watched them through the small window in the attic. They looked small, almost like short poles from his vantage point. The Woman looked smaller than the Man. Mr. Richards stopped them before they came up the driveway. There was a smile on his face and a gaze so steady that even I was once convinced by him. There is something non-threatening about the amiable and well-to-do businessman, a subtle but sincere encouragement in his mannerisms. In his late fifties with a rather large midsection, he seemed like the perfect family man who decided to retire early to spend more time with his family. He was a liar, just like the Man. They talked for a few minutes outside. The Woman wore a large black coat, covering up her arms and neck, and held a large plastic grocery bag in her hand. The Man had his thick arm wrapped around her shoulders, and she leaned into him. It was ironic how I felt like a member of the audience, watching a movie from behind the window. Trees with leaves of red, gold, and orange-brown stood in between identical suburban houses, a soft and mellow scene of a young autumn evening. It wouldn’t last long, I thought to myself. The nights were harsh, at least to the Woman. She would slip into bed gingerly, tossing and turning until she found the position where the bruises on her body didn’t hurt as much. She’d soon sink into a shallow and uneasy sleep before she awoke with a harsh jerk. Her nightmares came and passed today as they usually do. Her black eyes scanned the dark room vigilantly. Her shoulders heaved up and down, brief and violent shudders zipping through her body every now and then. She looked like a criminal, nervously stealing one breath into her body, and then another. Or maybe like a hypothermic clinging onto debris to keep herself from drowning. It made me feel cold. I left. Went downstairs. Sat by the fireplace. It wasn’t warm. I knew it wouldn’t be. I’d felt nothing but cold since I’d woken up, but there was a sense of ritual to it. Whenever I felt like hitting something, I would put my hand in the fire to calm down. It didn’t hurt - the flames passed right through my fingers. They were violent and twisted but confined in that rectangular box in the wall. Even if I reached into the box, they couldn’t touch me. It was the same the next day. The Man visited her, and she let him in happily. I felt angry again, so I went back to the attic. I could hear her from upstairs hours later. She sobbed. Great ugly sobs, they were. The sound made me wince. It was a piercing noise, sometimes high like how a chicken shrieks before it’s slaughter, and sometimes low, like the mournful wails of a beached orca. It was high and then low, and it sounded so ugly that I wished she would just stop. I didn’t want to put an end to her pain. I just wanted her to shut up. Each cry seemed to shove a fistful of rage down my throat. Before I could say anything, a sharp noise from downstairs cut through her sobs. I watched as she folded into herself - elbows digging into her abdomen

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and bony fingers holding her mouth as if she could suffocate the sound between her sunken cheeks. Somehow, her silence infuriated me more. Leave him, I screamed. Leave him if it hurts. What a vain woman, I thought. Even in despair, she wants everyone to hear it. What a stupid woman. As if anyone would sympathize. She calmed down soon, but the Man came again. She turned towards the door when she heard the Man’s clumsy attempts to fit the brass key into the lock. She stood up once he had left, looking into the mirror of the dresser across the bed. She went into the bathroom and washed her face before pinching out a small cotton swab from her make up bag and squirting some iodine solution on it. She ran the cotton swab over the open wound on her neck, flinching at the sting. At the sound of something knocking against the door, she pulled the hand towel off its rack. She held it in front of her, as if it could protect her. I tried to push her behind me, but my hand touched air and the doorknob turned and the latch opened with click. A small shadow darted in, but both the Woman and I sighed. The numbing coolness of relief spread through my body and the dark-haired boy hugged the Woman. I wanted to hug Charlie too. He was the only innocent one in all of this. When I was alive, I had also been one to hurt her. Not like the Man - never like him. But I had. I said a lot of things and spent my childhood trying to be like him. When I was younger, I did try to protect that Woman; protecting others isn’t for cowards, though. I soon realized that pleasing him was more useful than wasting time trying to convince her to let go. By the time I thought I should make amends, I had realized that she would be more upset if I asked for her forgiveness before I left. So, I died without making up for the hurt I caused her. I didn’t care, at first. She deserved it, I had said to myself. I told her so many times, but she didn’t care about me either. After a few days, it didn’t hurt as bad. Later I imagined being able to talk to her again. I wondered what she’d say if she knew that I’d never really left. In my daydreams, I talked while she listened. I would ask her how Charlie was doing, whether he was still a champion Mathlete, whether he still wanted to be a scientist. I would ask her whether she had started that community book club that she and Auntie Charlene were so excited about. After some meaningless chatter, I would ask how she felt about me. Then she’d smile. It wasn’t big, just a slight upturn at the corner of her lips. Her eyes would be filled with exhaustion but no resentment, and she’d say, “I love you, mijo. Of course, I do.” Then, at some point, I’d see her brace herself. She’d set her jaw, eyes wide open and teeth clinched together, and slam the lid of a suitcase shut. Some clothes and enough money for a few months was all she would take. Her shaking hands would grow steadier as she zipped it up and fastened the clasps. Then she’d pick up Charlie’s little hand in her own weathered one, and they walk out. As the door closed behind them, I would follow. By Tanisha Mehrotra, G11

By Tanya Manek, Grade 11 Hafeet

By Luisa Goncalves, Grade 11 Javi

By Maria Gramma, Grade 6 Hafeet

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By XIyuan Yin, Grade 11 Hafeet By: Emilia Herrera, Grade 11 Yibir

By Emilia Herrera, Grade 11 Yibir 35

Our House Mountains By Shaza Khan, Grade 9 Jais

Jebel Yibir: Jebel Al Mebrah, also known as Jebel Yibir, is the second tallest mountain in the UAE at 1,727 meters tall. Several minor villages and settlements can be found along the mountain’s meandering slopes and rugged pathways, yet the mountain is inaccessible to the general public due to the military presence. Despite the presence of other mountains such as Jebel Jais, the Jebel Al Mebrah is thought to have the highest peak as Jebel Jais’ point enters into Oman.

Cold weather and the phenomenon of higher parts of the mountain often sinking in the clouds attracted a lot of adventure seekers, including photographers, explorers and hikers. During the month of April, the highest temperature is estimated to be 24 °C, and the lowest to be approximately 14 °C. During the winter, it ranges from 6 °C to 20 °C.

Yibirians value ambition, leadership and resourcefulness; with the motto “Ready for Anything.” The House mascot is the griffin which originated in the 2nd millennium BC in the Mediterranean, and green and silver are its colors.

Jebel Hafeet: Jebel Hafeet is the UAE’s third highest. It is also home to some of the country’s most stunning highways. Standing guard over Al Ain and the borders of Oman, this craggy limestone behemoth has been weathered over millennia, with significant fossil discoveries made in the area. At the foot it occupies a 9-kilometer stretch and reaches the height of 1,249 m.

Because of the discovery of a cluster of major Bronze Age beehive tombs at its slopes, it has given its name to an era in UAE history called the Hafit Period (3200 to 2600 BCE).

During the month of April, the highest temperature is estimated to be 31 °C, and the lowest to be approximately 17 °C. During the winter, it ranges from 7 °C to 26 °C.

Hafetians value hard work, patience, justice, and loyalty; with the motto “Our Strength is in our Pack.” The House mascot is the wolf, and canary yellow and black are its colors.

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Jebel Javi: Jabal Javi is a mountain in the Omani enclave of Aturrah, which is landlocked in the United Arab Emirates and near Khor Fakkan. It stands at 1,056 meters above sea level. It is a well-known hiking and climbing destination. The peak was named after Javier Guillén, a Spanish adventurer who climbed it while on a journey to the Arabian Peninsula.

During the month of April, the highest temperature is estimated to be 24 °C, and the lowest to be approximately 10 °C. During the winter, it ranges from 3 °C to 13 °C.

Javians value kindness, hard work and determination; with the motto “Anything is Possible.” The house mascot is the phoenix which originated from Arabian myth and red and gold are its colors.

Jebel Jais: The UAE’s highest point, Jebel Jais, is part of the spectacular Hajar mountain range that was formed over 70 million years ago in the eastern part of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates and Oman. The area is rich in archaeological sites and its height reaches 1,934 m.

The climate and record temperatures in Jebel Jais are much cooler than the rest of the UAE. For example, during the month of April, the highest temperature is estimated to be 21 °C, and the lowest to be approximately 13 °C. During the winter, it ranges from -5 °C to 16 °C.

It first snowed on Jebel Jais in 2004, where heavy loads of snow covered the mountain. The most recent time snowfall was spotted was in January 2020, where a mixture of snow and hail rained down on the mountain and the temperature dropped below 0 °C.

Jaisians value intelligence, courage and helping others; with the motto “Believe Today, Inspire Tomorrow.” The house mascot is a bear, and blue and silver are the house colors. 37

Grade 5 (2021-22) House Captain Interviews By Naya Najjar, Grade 7 Hafeet and Riyana Bhojwani, Grade 7 Hafeet Asjad: Why did you want to become House Captain? I wanted to become House Captain because I wanted to lead everyone in Hafeet and wanted to feel like they were in a team. I also wanted this position so that all the younger kids would know who I am and know that I am a good role model so that they could look up to me. What does your House mean to you? Our House motto is “Our Strength Is In Our Pack” which means we all must work in a team, and this is one of my favorite things about Hafeet. What process did you go through to become House Captain? To become a House Captain, I had to write a speech in which I got help from my friends and family. I found writing the speech harder than delivering it. What is your favorite House competition and why? My favorite House competition is House swimming because I started swimming at an early age, and I gradually got better at it. What advice would you give the House Captains next year? I would tell the future House Captains not to be hard on themselves and to put their House first and to try their best to please everyone in their House. I would also tell them to try their absolute hardest to make their House proud.

HAFEET Maisie: Why did you want to become House Captain? I wanted to be House Captain because it gave me an opportunity to share my thoughts and ideas with the rest of my House. I also wanted Hafeetians to believe in themselves. What does your House mean to you? My House means kindness, teamwork, and along with that sharing ideas and thoughts. What process did you go through to become House Captain? Writing the speech was difficult for me because I wanted to please everybody. It was also quite difficult for me to deliver the speech in front of the whole school since I felt nervous. What is your favorite House competition and why? My favorite House competition is Sports Day because I am very athletic, and I love seeing my House do what they do best. What advice would you give the House Captains next year? When they are writing their speech, I want them to make sure that it means something to all the grades. I would also tell them not to be hard on themselves and try their absolute best.

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Nikita: Why did you want to become House Captain? I wanted to be a House Captain because I want to make people In Jais proud to be in this House. I wanted everyone to feel appreciated and feel included. What does your House mean to you? My House is where everyone can feel happy and have a place in Jais. I wanted everyone in Jais to believe in themselves and to persevere. What process did you go through to become House Captain? I first had to make a speech which was to be delivered to the whole Junior school. I also had to make a campaign where I edited a video which included why everyone should vote for me as heir House Captain. I was happy with the video because it persuaded the whole Junior School. What is your favorite House competition and why? My favorite House competition is Sports Day because it is about sportsmanship, and everyone can be united. What advice would you give the House Captains next year? I would tell the House Captains next year to try their best, persevere, and to not be upset if they do not get the position, they can try a different one.

JAIS Mika: Why did you want to become House Captain? I wanted to become a House Captain because I thought it was a good opportunity to improve my leadership skills. I also wanted to lead Jais to remarkable success and to make everybody in Jais proud of themselves. What does your House mean to you? Jais is a House where even if something goes wrong, we will find ways to improve from our mistakes and do better. I think everyone in our House is kind and loyal to each other, which are things that symbolize Jais. What process did you go through to become House Captain? To become House Captain, I had to write a speech about what I would change about Jais and what I could do to make it a better House. The hardest part was delivering the speech in front of the whole Junior School. What is your favorite House competition and why? My favorite House competition must be Sports Day because it is a day where everyone is united, and it is a day where everyone can have fun. It is also a day where everyone can support each other. What advice would you give the House Captains next year? I would tell the future House Captains to try their best, persevere and make sure to make their House proud. Even though they may not get elected they should apply for other roles which may be the one for them.

Grade 5 (2022-23) House Captain Interviews Simar: Why did you want to become House Captain? I wanted to become a House Captain because I wanted to be a leader and good role model to the whole school. I also wanted to follow my sister’s footsteps as she was a House Captain as well. What does your House mean to you? My House means to never give up, persevere, keep going and it means kindness. What process did you go through to become House Captain? The hardest part was convincing the whole grade that I would be a great House Captain. I did this by using humor in my speech and by promising my Housemates things that they would really want to happen during this school year. What is your favorite House competition and why? My favorite House competition is the House talent show as everyone can show what they are good at. I find it fun to watch or listen to their performances. It makes me incredibly happy. What advice would you give the House Captains next year? I would tell the House Captains to try their best to persevere and to make their House proud. Even though they do not get selected as a House Captain, I would tell them to try out for many other leadership positions which they might end up being the one for them.

YIBIR Asiru: Why did you want to become House Captain? I wanted to become a House Captain so I could support everyone in my House and to do everything in my power to make us win more often. I also wanted to become a good leader. What does your House mean to you? My House means being in a team where everyone communicates which each other and everyone supports each other. What process did you go through to become House Captain? The hardest thing was making a campaign and writing a speech so that I could get as many votes as possible. It took me a lot of courage to go up to people and ask them to vote for me and it was even scarier to deliver a speech in front of the whole school. What is your favorite House competition and why? My favorite House competition is sports day because everyone can get involved and try their best. I also love doing all the sports activities and love watching my Housemates do them too. What advice would you give the House Captains next year? I would tell them to always believe in themselves and to not be hard on themselves. When writing the speech, I think that they should make it entertaining to listen to and they should always be kind to all their Housemates. I would also tell them that if they do not get selected as a House Captain, they could try out for other leadership roles. 40 | THE OASIS | VOL 4 | MARCH 2022

Javi Sebastian: Why did you want to become House Captain? I knew that I wanted a leadership role and being a House Captain felt right. I wanted to make everyone in my House proud by fulfilling my promises unlike the past House Captains. What does your House mean to you? My House is another family to me and everyone in Javi is genuinely nice and we all have each other’s backs. What process did you go through to become House Captain? Writing my speech was the most difficult part of the process. This is because I wanted to write about things that are achievable but that could still impress the audience. Along the audience. Along with that, I needed to make it fun and enthusiastic so that I could make the younger grades happy. After being chosen as one of the finalists by the fifth graders, my younger brother helped spread the word about me to all the other graders. This helped me a lot. What is your favorite House competition and why? My favorite House competition is the House talent show. This is because everyone gets to show what they are good at, and I love watching all the performances. My favorite House gathering event on the other hand is House breakfast as it really connects us as a House. What advice would you give the House Captains next year? I would tell the future House Captain to make promises that they can keep and make sure that their speech is entertaining to all the age groups they deliver it to. I would also tell them to keep motivating their House and to make sure that they are proud of being in Javi.

JAVI Ruby: Why did you want to become House Captain? I wanted to become a House Captain because I get to be a good influence on the whole of lower school, and I get to lead them. I try my best to make everyone in Javi proud of their House and the people in their House. What does your House mean to you? My House means everything to me, and I feel like Javi is my big, second family. What process did you go through to become House Captain? I did not find writing the speech difficult, what was difficult for me was the fact that I had to deliver it in front of the whole lower school. I fear speaking in front of people, but I am happy I overcame my fear. What is your favorite House competition and why? Sports day must be my favorite House competition as I am very athletic and competitive. What advice would you give the House Captains next year? I would tell the future House Captains not to make promises that they cannot fulfil and to try their absolute best to make Javi a House to be proud of. 41

Advantages and Disadvantages of Communities At the end of the day, our House system is a community. Communities are often talked about from a positive point of view, however we would like to shed light on the not-so-talked-about part of communities. Are they overrated? Do they deserve the reputation they have? We decided to write about both sides of the argument, the advantages and disadvantages of being in a community

Advantages of a community By Sadene Qaddumi, Grade 8 Jais ‘Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much’ - Helen Keller Communities connect us with common interests, shared experiences, heritage, even just Geography. Humans are social by nature and need to interact and live amongst each other to thrive as a species. We need to cooperate with one another, it is the fabric of our society, whether it be daily interactions or significant matters. There are 7 main functions that communities provide: support, influence, sharing, reinforcement, connection, learning, and passion. Our weaknesses may be others’ strengths, being part of communities gives us a space to engage in environments we feel comfortable in and ultimately live better lives. We support others’ wellbeing; we empower each other to influence positive change; we share to provide room for growth between members; we are rich in resources; we give people outlets for their passion; we have a sense of belonging in our communities. Support networks are something reliable and are there to fall back on in difficult times. People can show their emotional support by offering encouragement, reassurance and compassion. They might be there just to listen if you need that or offer their own advice. Clear communication is the best way to ask for help from people we love. Communicating clearly and concisely might take practice, and asking for help can be hard, but we all go through hard times, the people in our life are there for us and are there to help us. Our need to belong isn’t something we can ignore. It is a part of our nature. We need people just as much as we need air to breathe. Connections are vital to our health. With a lack of strong connections, people are more likely to have higher stress levels, and it tends to take a toll on someone’s physical health, for instance, chronic diseases like heart disease and high blood pressure, immune disorders, and cancer. With high stress levels alone, someone can develop diabetes, skin conditions, asthma, arthritis, depression, and anxiety.

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It’s also easier to live healthier lives with support from our friends and family. You might have heard things like “laughing makes you live longer” and while just the simple act of laughing might not extend your life by very much, people with positive relationships tend to live longer lives. Having good, meaningful interactions affects neurobiological endogenous opioid system (endorphins) and makes us feel good. Relationships with friends do make your life more enjoyable and easier. Though I must clarify that they be heathy and positive relationships. Otherwise, they could potentially add more stress and hardship to your life, thus making everything worse. Red flags are a term everyone is probably familiar with. Some red flags might be obvious, and others might slowly start revealing themselves after you’ve established a bond with someone. And if you already trust that person, these flags can be overlooked, and people can be more vulnerable to being too nice or overly understanding. Establishing boundaries within communities and relationships is so important to keep yourself safe and make sure you are comfortable. Recognizing toxicity within your life can be difficult, but sometimes you need to let go and leave a past relationship behind, which might sound harsh, but in the end will be more beneficial for both parties. In some situations, you need to put yourself first. Communities should be safe spaces, where you feel like you belong, in order to have that sense of security you need to actually feel safe and accepted and be in a place where you can be who you are. It is with that that healthy relationships and communities can be built. Finally let’s look at our House system. Collaboration and giving students the opportunity to work together is the main strength and focus of our House system. While some may argue against the competition aspect, healthy competition can be good for you, it motivates students to give things a try, strive for the best and improve, while also teaching them to understand failure and learn from it. The house system also allows for development in leadership roles, like house captains which allow students to learn organizational skills which will have major benefits in their life. We may not realize it, but we are involved in many communities, whether it be primary or secondary, and you may be closer to some than to others, but they are the fabric of our society, and we would struggle to function without them. While it’s important to be aware of establishing healthy ones, which can be difficult, we can’t let bad relationships take away from the possibility of good ones. 43

Disadvantages of a community By Sara Khashman, Grade 8 Jais ‘Birds born in a cage think flying is an illness.’ - Alejandro Jodorowsky Social advantages and disadvantages are potent catch-all terms. They have no established definition but, considered in relation to one another, they can embrace a wide variety of more specific concepts that address the ways in which human society causes, exacerbates, or fails to prevent social divisions or injustices. Traditionally the concept of advantage and disadvantage has been solely equated with economic factors such as income and levels of unemployment. The disadvantages of life in a community are multifaceted. To begin with, your first loss, as soon as you become part of a group or community, is your freedom. In a society you are not free anymore. You must oblige by the societal expectations and comply with the communal rules. Your income and your property are not solely yours as you must pay the government a fee for having them on a yearly basis in the form of taxes. You are not free to live your life the way you would like to, it must be compliant with the society’s approval. The more one can adapt to and accept the principles of one’s community, the better chance one has of being acknowledged by society as normal. Questioning the prevailing dogmas only results in one’s ostracism. Being excluded and ostracised is an invisible form of bullying whose impact is often underestimated. Can we then say that societies are basically bullies? Offering us a friendly hand of comfort and support with the underlying motive of controlling and dominating our life and thoughts? To cite another example, let us briefly consider the educational system. (Obviously not our NLCS School system!) Ever wondered why your teacher discarded your assignment that you worked so hard on and were fairly sure was spot on? If your work is not matching your teacher’s style or expectations your work is going to be marked as unimpressive or requiring improvement. Your perspective is going to be of no value. What the teacher was expecting from you was to present work that was in conformity to their requirements. Conditioning a child to accept only the methods their teacher defines to be correct results into adults who adapt to whatever is said by the society without questioning, for they have lost the power to imagine a possibility beyond what has been decided for them. Oppression, violence, and crime are other by-products of society. Crime is defined through the eyes of society. An act is not a crime until society dooms it to be, and if the society considers some act not opposed to their group sentiments, then that act is not a crime at all.

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Crime is an act which offends and threatens society and that’s why it needs to be punished. Society’s particular outlook on the act is important in defining crime because, for example, if in a particular community bribe is not considered as a crime then bribing will not be counted as a crime and no law will be made on that although it is morally incorrect. Another bitter fact of societal life is the victimisation of its under-privileged and the vulnerable. According to an alarming statistic, people with a disability are three times as likely to die prematurely because of lack of better care. Should not the benefits of living in a community be that its vulnerable groups are prioritised and protected? On the contrary, these are the people who seem more likely to be economically disadvantaged, and therefore more vulnerable to crime and oppression of the stronger lot. Corruption; another irrefutable by-product of communities and society. Where there a mixture of people, there are bound to be elements of corruption. Research has indicated that the more populated a country is, the more likely it is to have a higher corruption index. Corruption is one of the most vexing problems confronting us today: it causes misallocation of resources and holds back investment, innovation, entrepreneurship, growth, and productivity. It can have important distributional implications as its effects may fall more heavily on some segments of society than others. Right to privacy is another shortcoming of being in a community. No individual information is private in a society. Governments have access to all details for its members like banks accounts, important dates, family connections and asset details. In the recent years all individual communications, emails and any other digital data base of individual contacting can be traced and tracked. To add to that, logarithms have been put in use to predict a person’s future intentions and outcomes of his current behaviour and online activity with other people to increase and promote consumerism. Having made all these statements, life as part of a com munity and society in general has started to impact our day-to-day well-being. As a result, there is an increase in the general stress and anxiety level of people. A teenager today is researched to be facing the same amount of stress as in the 1970s as a middle-aged person. Do I need to look any further than these statistics? They are clearly indicative that the benefits which communities boast of providing its members are being fast outweighed by their underlying disadvantages.

House Systems in NLCS Schools: Jeju, South Korea

Rameen Ali, Grade 9 Hafeet What are the names of the Houses and what/who are the House names inspired by? Sejiun: Currently, our School has five Houses. Sarah (Red) is represented by a Phoenix, Jeoji (yellow) associated with Lions, Geomun (Sky Blue) represented by Griffins, Mulchat (Green) which has Dragons, Noro (Purple) associated with wolves. They are the names of Oreum’s which are small mountains located all around the Island. Jiwon: Ourem’s are secondary cones of Mount Hallasan. However, this year we have had a change in our boarding system. It is not called a House anymore but the boarding homes which are named after five different famous beaches. Does each of the Houses have a common room? Sejiun: In the past nine years, each House had a building. Each building had an atrium where the House members could meet. The Atrium is in the middle and on the Left and Right are the Girls’ and Boys’ dormitories, the two systems being separated. Last year, we had common rooms for each gender and a large atrium that connects the two boarding Houses. Jiwon: Every Friday morning in the atrium we have a House meeting. At this time, every tutor group gives a presentation about any subject, based on a Rota. It’s a fun way to learn new things and you can expand your knowledge and discover new interests Please describe the structure of authority each House follows. Sejiun: We have Housemasters who are teachers. The Boys have a Housemaster and the Girls a Housemistress. Directly underneath that position, are the students. Year 11s are the House Captains. We also have Sports Captain, Arts Captain, and the Social Captain Jiwon: All House Captains have their specific roles, for example, if there was House Drama the Arts Captain would be in charge. The general Captain organizes the overall schedule of meetings and communication with a Housemaster or Housemistress. Could you name some inter-House competitions that usually take place and how frequently? Sejiun: All five Houses compete every week on Monday. There are lots of Sports, Art performances, Choirs, Ensembles, and Drama productions which all follow a certain criterion. The most interesting part is when all students participate. For example, every year we have a cross country event where students run 5ks and 10ks depending on their year group, and everyone pushes themselves. Jiwon: We prepare for these competitions every Monday after school and on Fridays when we have our House meeting. Usually, House competitions happen every week or so but for those that need preparation, we have two to four weeks to prepare for that event.

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What type of in-House events are conducted and how often are they arranged? Sejiun: In terms of last year, as COVID was not bad in South Korea, we were able to meet every Friday morning. As our timetables slightly changed, we now meet on Friday afternoons Jiwon: Yes, on Fridays, we bring up announcements and the upcoming House Competitions and schedules for competition practices. We have two House times at the end of each week. How is the student body selected? Sejiun: It is a hundred percent student-based. At the start of the year where Year 11s are candidates for House Captains. Students have a choice of four positions. Each student delivers a speech. Jiwon: After delivering speeches, the following week students vote on Google Forums and then are announced. The selected students receive special badges. How are students motivated to participate in events? Sejiun: I believe the key motivator is the House point system and winning encourages students to try themselves out. Jiwon: Although it’s necessary for everyone participate, lots of students show enthusiasm as well as support for those participating in the events. Motivation is actively influenced by the general House atmosphere. What kind of rewards and compensations are oﬀered to participants in competitions? Sejiun: It depends on your House, lots of effort is put into competitions such as House drama which are acknowledged by House Captains. In the case of Sarah House, afterward, we meet up in the atrium to have a small gathering or party. Then it’s up to the House Captain how they want to be motivated Jiwon: We usually don’t offer lots of rewards but then again it varies by House. However, there is always lots of praise and mentions for participants. Do the Houses follow a point system? Please, elaborate. If yes, do points get Sejiun: Thankfully, points can only be accumulated, and individuals can get points only through House competitions. House competitions. House competitions have a lot of significance and House Captains try to have as much practice as they can. Jiwon: Yes, our House system is purely collective and we value the House points. Are there any ways of enhancing/upgrading points other than from winning competitions? Sejiun: We also have a Joker, which doubles your points, limited to once every year, and Houses play them tactically. Geomun and Noro which are sporty Houses play their Jokers during either House Basketball or Football. House Sarah plays them during Art Competitions. Jiwon: As mentioned, you can get disqualified, but a newly introduced thing is that you can also receive House points by cheering your team Is there a yearly House trophy? If yes, does a ceremony take place? Sejiun: At the end of the year there is a huge celebration where the accumulated House points are revealed. That is something every student loves to see. Often, there are celebrations afterward. Jiwon: At the end of year assembly, the winning House will receive a House Shield which has the image of the school along with the date and the name of the House. Is there any kind of check and balance to ensure equal opportunities? Sejiun: We divide House competitons into three parts. Years 7 and 8 are in one part. Years 9 and 10 in one part and Year 11 onwards the last group. They all play the same event but compete against their age group to make sure the event remains fair. Jiwon: There aren’t specific checklists to make sure everyone is participating but we must follow the specific grade categories. What was your favorite competition and why? Sejiun: I don’t have a particular favorite House Competition because the Competitions that you encounter are very exciting. I am happy to see my friends and younger year groups as students are going out of their comfort zones and pushing themselves and helping you learn something despite winning or losing. Jiwon: I participate in more sports competitions; therefore, I have to say Sports Day because everyone has to sign up for events. The atmosphere is amazing, and everyone encourages one another, team spirit is very emphasized. What can be done to improve House competitions or the House system? Sejiun: The system in general, maybe the school could have a diverse range of competitions. For example, adding competitions for cycling.

House Systems in NLCS Schools: London, UK

Zahra Ahmed – Grade 12 NLCS London What are the names of the four Houses and what/who are the House names inspired by? At NLCS London we have five Houses, and they are all named after successful ONLs (Old North Londoners) from the 20th century: We have Gibbons, Collet, Angus, Lindsay, and Aitken.

Does each of the Houses have a common room? Unlike NLCS Dubai, forms are not organized by the House structure, in each form, there is a mix of different girls from different Houses, so in short, each House does not have a common room. However, when we have House meetings (once every half term on a Wednesday for layer assemblies) we congregate in spaces such as the Lecture Theatre or the Hall. The only common rooms that we currently have are for the sixth formers in the Old House.

Please describe the structure of authority each House follows. We have Year 9 and Year 11 House Captains that are elected through a process in which you have to write letters and be interviewed for the position of leadership. In year 12/13 we do not get elected for House positions, as the sixth formers take charge of running societies and organizing more academic events such as Senior Society lectures. We used to have teachers in charge of every House, but the position was removed to allow the student body more control. Essentially the Year 9 and 11 House Captains have the authority over House events and activities.

Could you name some inter-House competitions that usually take place and how frequently? We love our inter-House competitions such as Lacrosse, Netball, and other sports at the end of term. We also represent our Houses in debating competitions and sports day (probably the biggest event). We also love our Christmas Quiz and Canonaid is a really big point of pride for the school, which is also done Houses. Canonaid is the school’s charity foundation, each year we select a couple of causes and the girls raise money through events such as staff v student sports, clothes sales, bake sales, and more events which the upper school and sixth form are quite active in organizing and taking part. As a collective student body, we are more motivated by charity events than House events.

How is the student body selected? Allocation into your Houses is completely random, and as mentioned previously, you apply for a position through a formal letter and interview.

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How are students motivated to participate in events? NLCS London is a particularly academically rigorous environment, but all the girls love to unwind so most of us enjoy opportunities to play sports and have some friendly competition (essentially the House Captains bring food)

What kind of rewards and compensations are oﬀered to participants in competitions? Chocolates and other edible treats are in frequent use, there is the Cup for Sports Day and we also use a system of House points. We achieve points through ‘placing’ in House competitions but you cannot acquire House points on an individual basis.

What was your favorite competition and why? The House Debating competition was my favorite.

What can be done to improve House competitions or the House system? I don’t think many of us take the House competitions as seriously as in Dubai, and while it isn’t a bad thing that it is run differently, perhaps there could be more of an emphasis placed on the ‘importance’ of House competitions to increase involvement?

House Systems in NLCS Schools: Singapore

Maeji Son Grade 9 and Lucas Leo Grade 10 – NLCS Singapore What are the names of the Houses and what/who are the House names inspired by? Lucas: We have four Houses: Banjutan, (red) Meranti (Blue), Keruing (green), and Cengal (yellow). Maeji: We do not have any logos associated with the Houses. They are all inspired by trees from Singapore’s heritage. They can also be found in Singapore’s national park and outside our School. Does each of the House have a common room? Lucas: We don’t have meeting rooms or common rooms. This is mainly due to COVID, but next year there will be something similar to common rooms. Maeji: Students are allowed to visit each other’s tutor groups to socialize and communicate. Please describe the structure of authority each House follows. Lucas: We have Heads of the House, who are teachers, for each House. There is also one House Captain and Vice-Captain, who are students. Maeji: Grade 9 to 11 can apply for House Captain and any grade can run for Vice-Captain, except Grade 6. We select pupils for the new leadership roles every year, at the start of the new academic year. What type of in-House events are conducted and how often are they arranged? Lucas: We don’t have any official activities within a House. But teachers may decide to have a party to reward students. Also, every other Wednesday for Banjutan there is an assembly led by the House Captain and Vice House Captain, to give an update and announce upcoming events. However, the meeting day varies depending on the House. Maeji: When there are celebrations such as Christmas, Easter, or Founder’s Day, we have a huge celebration in tutor time and Houses. Activities can include, baking cookies, decorating our Christmas tree, and even dressing up, and even reading with younger year groups. However, some Houses may choose to do something different What kind of rewards and compensations are oﬀered to participants in competitions? Lucas: House Captains have the chance to award treats to participants as a form of encouragement. Maeji: Otherwise, we do not offer any merits or compromise.

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Could you name some inter-House competitions that usually take place and how frequently? Lucas: Every two weeks there is a House event. Divided into two categories of Academic and Sport. We have sports: Basketball, football, tennis and many more. Additionally, we have, Mathletics, Scrabble, table tennis, and various Science competitions. Maeji: Students look to Samba, where you must create music using percussion. We have competitions where students must make something out of recycled cardboard and materials. It’s particularly interesting to see how different competitions contribute to communication and creativity between pupils and their Houses. How is the student body selected? Lucas: It varies for each House. For some Houses, teachers and previous House Captains will get to select the student, or the decision will be fully student-based. The decision is purely based on teachers through anonymous voting for our House Banjutan. Maeji: To apply for a leadership position there is a two-to-three-minute speech from the applicant, and you can apply to as many roles you would like. After shortlisting the candidates, a five-to-ten-minute interview will take place by the Head of House. How are students motivated to participate in events? Lucas: It’s usually the energy we House Captains try to channel into the students. Our Head of Houses are also very passionate and there is always something for everyone. There are always students who are very eager to participate in House competitions. Maeji: We always push students to participate in events but never force them to. We believe that students can develop a new passion or perspective by competing in different House events. You always have to spread a positive message. Do the Houses follow a point system? Please, elaborate. If yes, do points get docked oﬀ as well? Lucas: Points are awarded based on your position in a House competition. Usually, first place is forty points, second is thirty, third is twenty and last place is ten. The competitions which stretch out to over a month are worth more points. In the very rare case, points can be deducted but only due to unfair play or behavioral issues. Maeji: However, in sports competitions, points are awarded based on if you won or lost a match and they are totaled up. Our point system is collective. At events like Environmental week, gift cards are awarded to the most passionate House to keep up House pride. Is there a yearly House trophy? If yes, does a ceremony take place? Lucas: There is a House trophy and for the House that wins, there is a huge celebration and an assembly to thank all the students that participated. Maeji: Usually, In the Senior School assembly the Big Six and House Captains announce the winner of the competitions along with a trophy or medal to mark the achievement. At the end of the year, for our final assembly, the Principal announces the overall winner Is there any kind of check and balance to ensure equal opportunities? Lucas: For every House competition, we have three different categories based on grades. Grades 6 and 7 are one group, Grades 8 and 9 are the second, and Grade 10 and 11 are the last. Maeji: From these groups, we have to allocate four different students from each category, so all grades can participate. We also select two boys and two girls to ensure equality. What was your favorite competition and why? Lucas: I like the Sports completions as they are a very good way to calm yourself after a hard day. On the other hand, debate competitions are the most interesting to watch. Maeji: My favorite House competition is House Debating because all grades can participate without having a different perspective as we are given a specific motion. It also shows that our House collectively supports each other. What can be done to improve House competitions or the House system? Lucas: I think to improve the House competitions we should be implementing something like the Joker, which is implemented within the NLCS Dubai and Jeju House systems, where you can double your points. I think students would like that addition

Thoughts on Home Our Houses define who we are as a person, our values, and our beliefs. Every individual in NLCS feels safe and comforted within the space of their House. In the last 5 years our Houses have grown larger and have formed a tight knit community that we call Hafeet, Yibir, Jais and Javi.

By Navya Kumar, Grade 7 Hafeet and Marie Rouanet, Grade 7 Jais

52 | THE OASIS | VOL 4 | MARCH 2022

Sara G6 Javi- ‘a family for me’ Haniah G6 Yibir- ‘My House is great, we are a winning team’ Shyonna G6 Jais- ‘One word I feel as I take part in competitions with my House; unity’ Zaria G8 Yibir- ‘Group of friends, a collaborative and innovative space where our friends can come together and help each other’ Thomas G8 Jais- ‘Jais is the very definition of House spirit , our House performs at its fullest each competition.’ Sufi G8 Hafeet- ‘We strive together, create friendships and aim for the best always’ Joseph G10 Hafeet- “My body fills with pride knowing that I’m in such a tight-knit and bonded community and safe in this environment’ Yusuf G8 Yibir- ‘a way to be connected and communicate with people around you despite differences’ Arsh G11 Javi- ‘Resilient, a sense of community that propels you to succeed”. Heloise G7 Javi – “I love my House and it is such a tight-knit community that I can’t wait to develop in further and meet more people” Keyla G7 Hafeet- “I feel like our House is a team and always works together and collaborates well” Bingyan G10 Hafeet- “A good place for me to communicate with people” Cyrus G7 Javi – “Friends to be united in class and have bonded friendships forever” Sholia G7 Jais – “Community of people who support each other” George G7 Hafeet- “A community that thrives” Izzy G7 Yibir – “I have made very close friends who mean a lot and my House feels like a second family” Raaga G7 Jais – “Although I have joined this school recently, I have found that my House is a comfortable space in which I can share my emotions well” Anika G7 Hafeet – “A perfect community for me to learn” Alice G12 Javi - “always trying something new and being involved in everything we can” Hayat G12 Yibir – “I feel connected to my House on a deep level and leaving this year always makes me emotional since I grew with my House members” Isabelle G12 Jais – “Everyone in my House is so friendly and it is such a tight-knit community but as the school has grown so have the people in my House and not being to know all the people in my House” Alex T G8 Jais – “A lot of teamwork is used in our House, and I particularly love House games because it brings in the team spirit and everyone is involved, and I truly love my House and feel a deep connection with the students in it”