THE OXFORD FRONT NEWS LETTER 2015-2016- MARCH EDITION
The Oxford School ,Dubai
From the Principal’s Desk
Dear Parents, Oxford is a school with an incomparable soul, intent on building strong academic standards and promoting solid principles. The motivation and joy that is prevalent in the corridors and classrooms is very impressive. This reflects that the students and Staff share a close bond and supportive relationship. Respect is a core value and we need to ensure our students practice this everywhere. We have been raising awareness against cyber bullying and the importance of monitoring the use of social media especially facebook by all parents. It is imperative that you continue speaking to your children with regards to the ethics and etiquettes of internet usage.
May, June session of examinations of CIE 2015-16 started off with ICT practical and speaking tests. The writing papers will begin in the first week of May. This stressful period requires immense parental support in ensuring that the students are eating and resting properly as well. They would need a lot of encouragement and guidance throughout the examinations. Motivation, self-awareness and the ability to focus would definitely help toward better preparation. We wish all IGCSE, AS and A Level students the very best of luck for all their papers. A soft reminder with reference to the importance of attending school. It is the fundamental responsibility of all parents to ensure that the students are in school every day as is the responsibility of the school to cater to their needs in all possible ways. A strong home school partnership will surely ensure that we provide the best possible learning opportunities for all students and best support them on their onward journey. Aisha Ansari Principal
FS 2 - CHARACTER PARADE
As we celebrate the Year of Reading, we took it forward by giving the children an opportunity to connect and relate with their favourite story book characters. Students were asked to dress up in different costumes in regards to a book character of their choice. Each student from every class got an opportunity to come and showcase their costume and speak a few lines as well about the same as they paraded along with the class on the stage.
Children showed great excitement as they entered the class, all dressed up in their fancy costumes. Among the girls, Elsa and Anna from Disney Frozen were the popular hits. The boys preferred characters from Marvel Comics like Spiderman, Batman, Superman, Iron Man etc. as well as characters from Star Wars. Also all-time classics children’s story characters of Red Riding Hood, Thumbelina, Rapunzel, and Aladdin were seen. Some were also dressed up as cartoon characters and animals like Jerry, Pink Panther, Share khan and Bagheera, Balu the Bear from The Jungle book. Children also spoke and shared with their peers about their characters. It was great fun for children and adults alike.
Guess Who am I ???????
Book Character Parade FS2 Pink 2015 - 2016
Last March 17, 2016 the Foundation Stage held an event at the Multi purpose Hall of The Oxford School, Dubai. It was the "Character Parade" participated by the FS 2 students. FS 2 Pink class was one of the participants in the said event. They came to school wearing different costumes. Most of the boys wore super hero costumes and the girls were either Disney Princesses or
fairies.
The
kids
introduced
themselves on stage and said something about their costumes. After the said event each class went on stage and had a chance to pose for a photograph. The MP Hall was filled with joyous cheers from the teachers and the students.
FS2 -EARTH DAY CELEBRATIONS To bring awareness of Earth Day, the children of FS 2 had a celebration at a special assembly during the month of March 2016. Our wonderful children spoke about different things pertaining to Earth Day.
They briefly elaborated the importance of the day and why it is essential to save our planet Earth. The importance of 3”R”s, RECYCLE, REDUCE and RE USE were also outlined; very much to their level of understanding. To round off the celebrations and stimulate children’s thinking process, some critical thinking questions were posed to them on various environmental issues. Questions like ‘Why it is important to keep our environment clean? What happens if we don’t do the same? How we can save electricity and water etc. It was a great way for the school to showcase environmental education; students were given a message about awareness on environment. It was a very productive assembly!
PRIMARY SECTION
M
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Literacy Month Literacy is the ability to read, view, write, design, speak and listen in a way that allows you to communicate effectively. The power of literacy lies not just in the ability to read and write, but rather in a person’s capacity to apply these skills to effectively connect, interpret and discern the intricacies of the world in which they live. In line with our theme for the Month which is “Literacy”, the Year two conducted different activities such as Handwriting competition, Spelling Bee, Poetry recitation, Storytelling and Quiz Bee. These activities aim to hone the children’s skills in speaking, listening, writing and reading which the main focuses in English language. These also encourage the children to confidently apply, use and value the English language as tool for understanding.
These are the list of activities: a. Handwriting Competition which was held last March 14 – In this activity children were given a piece of paper and a paragraph to be written on it which was shown through power point presentation. b. Spelling Bee. It was held last March 16 for the first round and March 21 for the final round. On the first round three best spellers were chosen to join in the final round which is the interclass competition. c. Poetry Recitation – It was held last March 17 for the first round and March 21 for the final round. The winner in each class competed in the final round.
d. Storytelling Competition – It was held last March 20 in the class. Children were given a chance to tell the stories in front of the class. e. Quiz Bee – It was held last March 22. Set of questions were shown through power point d. Storytelling Competition presentation. – It was held last March 20 in the class. Children were given All Activities were done Students were a chancesuccessfully. to tell the stories in front of the class. all competitive and showed e. Quiz Bee – Itinterest was held last in all activities. March 22. Set of questions Parents were even very supportive. were shown through power They trained point presentation. and prepared their children so well in each competition. They have showcased their talents which is the best part of it giving each child a chance to discover and showcase his/her talent because as educator we believe that each individual is unique and has own intelligence and capability.
Year 1 Indigo : Assembly The theme for the assembly was “Reading”. The assembly started with the recitation of the Holy Quran followed by the National Anthem of UAE. The students talked about the importance and benefits of Reading in their daily life. They sang a song on reading ‘I CAN READ’. Our Principal, Ms. Aisha encouraged the students to read books daily and appreciated the student’s performance.
Year 2 Green Assembly The theme for the assembly was “Reading�. The assembly started with the Quran recitation followed by the National Anthem of UAE. Students of Year 2 Green presented a group performance on a library song. The students talked about the importance of Reading in their daily life with the help of banners. Quotes related to reading were displayed through banners. In the end, certificates were awarded to the winners of Reading Challenge and for star student of the February month.
Year 2 Yellow - Assembly The theme being “Rhyming Poems and Healthy Food” some children spoke on healthy food with the translation in Arabic. The students read short poems with rhyming words. They also spoke about the importance of Earth Hour which is going to be held on the 19th of March 2016 and also the “International Day of Happiness” which is going to be held on the 20th of March 2016. Finally, the children sang an action song with rhyming words on “Down by the Bay”.
“If we do not permit the earth to produce beauty and joy, it will in the end not produce food, either� On Saturday, 19 March, as skylines went dark for WWF's EarthHour, millions came together to shine a light on the climate action our planet needs. Under the Patronage af HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Head of the Executive Council, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), in association with the World Wide Fund for Nature, on Saturday, March 19th 2016, the teachers of Oxford School participated in the largest global initiative to unite millions around the world to create a positive impact on climate change.
Students actively took part in all the activities! Students actively took part in all the activities!
Literacy Month! It was all about fun and activities!
Students actively took part in all the activities!
Students participating in role pay
All geared up for the bookmark competition.
Poetry competition winners!
Activities in the literacy month
Students took part in many activities like role play, poetry competition, spelling bee, reading about Shakespeare and book mark competition. Etc. The students performed role play on their favourite characters from different myths and fables. Poetry competition was all about the confidence and the fluency, phonic awareness and self expression! Spelling completion was held to improve their spellings and improve vocabulary. Students collected information about the famous playwright, William Shakespeare and learned about his life and plays. Kids enjoyed making the bookmarks! They showed us their artistic talents and it was very hard to choose winners. On the whole it was a fun filled month and students’ participation made it a success.
ENGLISH MONTH English month was held in the month of March. The Students started with a Role play competition. The theme of the role was any character from a mythical story. The children spoke few sentences on the character they depicted. The best 3 characters per section were picked and they qualified for the final round which was held on the 20th March 2016. The second competition was the spelling bee competition, which was held on the 23rd March 2016. The best 5 students were awarded. Thirdly, the Poetry Recitation competition was held on the 21st March 2016. Three students, one from each learning ability group were selected for the finals. The best one from each learning ability was awarded. Lastly, the book mark competition was held on the 22nd March 2016. The best one from each learning ability was selected and awarded.
Year 5 (20th March 2016 - 24th March 2016)
It has been customary at Oxford School to organise 'Literacy Month' every year and this year, it was in the month of March. The English department organised different competitions to mark the occasion. These competitions were mainly held to build up the students' confidence and to nurture positive attitude among them. Moreover, the purpose was to bring awareness among students on the importance of upgrading themselves in English language. The activities that were discussed, selected and planned out were Quiz Competition, Story Writing and Creating Advertisements.
These competitions served as a platform for the students to enhance their speaking and writing skills, but above all, to exhibit their talents. Moreover, as UAE has declared 2016 as 'Year of Reading', the class read a few master pieces of William Shakespeare during the month. The feel of English was all around as every board in the corridors displayed works marking ‘English Month’. It was a joint venture of both students and teachers.
Language Quiz Competition The aim was to measure growth in abilities and skills pertaining to English Language. The competition was conducted among sections - Orange, Green, Yellow, Red & Blue. Each team had two students from grade 5 & 6 representing their sections. First Place was taken up by team 'Orange' representing Mair Riaz & Juwairyah Shah. Second Place by team 'Yellow" represented by Marzia Mehzabir & Omar Bukhari.
Story Writing:
The aim was to improve the literacy skills of the students and build confidence in them . The students wrote stories based on the theme Friendship. There were 37 participants and the students were judged on the basis of their writing skills and creativity. Mohammed Baba from 5 Yellow secured the 1st prize, followed by Zain Salman Shafaat from 5 Orange who took the 2nd position and Abdel Rahman Osama from 5 Blue bagged the 3rd position.
Creating Advertisements Around 50 students participated in this competition. The students in groups were asked to create advertisement for the products assigned to them-English Dictionary, English Grammar Book for Primary or English Textbook for Primary. The basic aim was to identify the students' skills in creating advertisements and they were judged on the basis of their ability to persuade the viewers.
In short, 'English Week' encouraged all students to make use of the English Language in the school, visible. A Quick glance at STORY WRITING
A Short look at CREATING ADVERTISEMENTS COMPETITION held on 23.03.16
An Overall look at READING HOUR OBSERVED IN 5 'ORANGE' on 24.03.16
Secondary Section
Topic 窶的nauguration of Literacy Month
Morning assembly is the most important feature of school curriculum where students learn the value of collective prayer and are exposed to the need to inculcate moral and ethical values. Since 2016 is marked as The Reading Year, the assembly conducted on 7th March was on The Importance of Reading. From time to time people have wondered why reading is important. There are many adults who cannot read well enough to understand the instructions on a medicine bottle. Filling out applications becomes impossible without help. Reading road or warning signs is difficult. Even following a map becomes a chore. Day-to-day activities that many people take for granted become a source of frustration, anger and fear. A person is limited in what they can accomplish without good reading and comprehension skills. Reading is important because it develops the mind. A person who knows how to read can educate themselves in any area of life they are interested in. We live in an age where we overflow with information, but reading is the main way to take advantage of it.
"The pen is mightier than the sword." Ideas written down have changed the destiny of men and nations for better or worse. The flow of ideas cannot be stopped. We need to read and research to build on the good ideas and expose the bad ideas before they bring destruction. Only by reading can we be armed in this never-ending, life-and-death struggle. Reading develops the creative side of people. When reading to children, stop every once in awhile and ask them what they think is going to happen next. Get them thinking about the story. When it is finished, ask if they could think of a better ending or anything that would have improved it. If they really liked the story, encourage them to illustrate it with their own drawings or to make up a different story with the same characters. Get the creative juices flowing!
To start off the English month, senior students conducted a special English assembly on the 7th of March. The assembly started with the Quranic recitation and translation, followed by the National Anthem. The hosts for the day started off with a small introduction on the importance of English; with the help of a short video clip on the evolution of reading. Straight after that the students of Year 9 and 10, did a choral recitation of the poem “Lucy Gray – or Solitude” by William Wordsworth. It was an orchestra of poetic notes written by William Wordsworth. To spice it up the girls of 10-G2 had transformed the poem into a real life news report on the disappearance of Lucy Gray. It was a job well done that showcased their communicative skills. The assembly wouldn’t be complete without the involvement of the students from the audience, so an English trivia was carried out to test the speakers of the beloved language. Ms. Aisha Ansari ended the assembly on a good note, by motivating the students and commending the students and teachers who carried out the informative assembly.
TOPIC :- Go Green Since the beginning, trees have furnished us with two of life's essentials, food and oxygen. In order to highlight the importance of planting trees and taking care of them, our students of Year 8B1, conducted an assembly on the topic GO Green on 14th of March. They narrated Hadeeth from the Holy Prophet about the importance of trees. Later, a group of students performed a mime and conveyed the message of taking care of trees. Through their act they described how trees preserve warmth by providing a screen from harsh wind and downfall of rains. Trees also lower the air temperature and reduce the heat intensity.
The child and the birds get together to save the tree
All of them fight with the evil man to stop him from cutting the tree. The performance was enjoyed and the lesson well learnt by the audience especially our young generation.
Topic :-Importance Of Urdu Language
On 20th-March-2016, the Urdu assembly was held to underline to students the importance of maintaining links with their home countries whilst being a part of the UAE melting pot of cultures. The assembly began with a Quranic recitation followed by translation. It exhibited a brief biography of many poets such as Allama Iqbal, Mir Taqi Mir, Mirza Ghalib, Parveen Shakir and Faiz Ahmad Faiz, the history of Urdu and its evolution in the recent centuries. A video which included an interview with the Principal and our section head who spoke in Urdu were a part of our assembly showing the importance of Urdu and its wide usage in different regions of the subcontinent. The assembly was concluded by a skit performed by the girls showing the use of language in our day-to-day life.
It was held in presence of Ms. Deepa and Ms. Amina who applauded our efforts in making this a successful assembly. They had a few words to say in Urdu regarding the Urdu assembly which was a huge motivation to all our students.
TOPIC :- Importance of English Language
On 21stMarch “Importance of English Language� by students of Year 7B1. They showcased their talent through a short skit by demonstrating the various obstacles faced by a new student who is willing to learn and excel in English language. Unfortunately he came across a group of students who were creating problems and were not allowing him to focus on his target and used to make fun of him. It also explained that how students should move friendly with one another at all given time. English may not be the most spoken language in the world, but it is the official language in a large number of countries. It is estimated that the number of people in the world that use in English to communicate on a regular basis is 2 billion! It is the dominant business language and it has become almost a necessity for people to speak English if they are to enter a global workforce.
Magic Window Competition
“We gave our directives that the year 2016 be the year of reading because reading the basic skill for a new generation of scientists, intellectual, researchers and innovators,” said Shaikh Mohammad. He also warned of the “reading crisis in the Arab world” and the urgent need to rectify it. The year 2016 has been declared the year of reading in the UAE to create a generation of book lovers and consolidate the UAE’s position as a global capital for culture and knowledge. Therefore, in order to commemorate the declaration, our students of Year 7 and 8 participated in the Magic Window Competition which was held on 3rd March 2016. They chose a book, as a class, and displayed their reading comprehension of the book through a magic window which could lead a viewer into the magic world of reading. The boards were judged by a team of judges.
Newspaper Making Competition In the month of March, the school had hosted the newspaper making competition in order to showcase the creativity of each and every individual, allowing the students to test their writing abilities as well as their presentation skills. The competition was carried out during the circle time and it was held for the senior section. The students were particularly enthusiastic about this activity, some even used their English class to discuss and complete their newspaper. It brought exceptional results with everyone’s constant hard work and determination.
PROUD MOMENT for The Oxford School
We are pleased to inform that Ms Zoha Asim, student of Year 8G2 wins the ATF Pakistan 14 and under Tennis Championship.
UAE teenager Zoha Asim wins ATF Tennis Tournament in Pakistan
The 14-year-old UAE resident proved her class as she overcame Ridha Khan in a mammoth two-legged final. In the first leg Zoha bounced back from losing the second set to secure a 7-5 1-6 6-4 victory in two hours. Before the second final she tore the cartilage in her wrist but still triumphed 6-4 6-2 to claim the title. “It was a huge accomplishment for me because it was the first international tournament I have ever won,” said Zoha, who trains at least six hours a day. Having been used to playing on hard courts in Dubai the tournament in Pakistan provided an extra challenge for Zoha as it was held clay – on new surface for the youngster to adapt to. “It was very different compared to hard courts as the balls were slower and just dropped,” she said. “It tested my physical and mental strength.” Having enjoyed success across the UAE, the youngster now hopes to excel throughout the summer when she steps up in level to play in ITF tournaments. Zoha added: “I’m working hard to get even better results. There are no limits.”
REPORT ON PTM The PTM was conducted on 24th March 2016. Teachers discussed review test performance with the parents and suggested ways and approach for further improvements and they understood the importance of learning so as to balance their curriculum for a holistic development. Many parents appreciated school authorities for their constant help and support in academic as well as non academic areas. Parents felt that children are encouraged to study on regular basis and not take undue stress during examination. PTM went off smoothly. The overall turnout was good.