Young minds Design the change
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From The Principal’s Desk Dear Parents, The month of October was celebrated as the Science and English month with the value of Creativity and Curiosity’ with a wide array of activities and special presentations including quizzes, Competitions, Debates, TED Talks, which provided cross curricular links and association to real life scenarios. Campaigns, special events, trips and competitions marked the month where students’ active and enthusiastic participation ensured that each event was successful. Honing their skills of collaborative work, critical thinking, problem solving and effective communication, groups of students effectively organised many activities that demonstrated their commitment to contribute to the community and become strong global citizens. We had our first Coffee Afternoon with parents and shared the School Action Plan along with Assessment Policy. We plan to conduct many Parents Workshop on relevant topics leading to ideas and support to help develop 21st century skills in our students. I would like to request parents to attend the coffee mornings and share their ideas on school improvement as well as other areas related to students. I would also like your support in encouraging your children to be punctual towards all their commitments and to follow the school rules effectively. Best regards,
Aisha Ansari Principal
Importance of Play in EYFS Play underpins the EYFS. Through play, children develop language skills, their emotions and creativity, social and intellectual skills. Play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive, and emotional strength. Play is important to healthy brain development. At Oxford, our children enjoy LEARNING through PLAY
Hands- on Activities Studies show that students learn best when learning is active, when they are engaged in hands-on classroom games and activities and involved in what they are learning. Scientists believe that when children use all of their senses it helps the brain create pathways that make it easier and quicker to retain information. At Oxford, our students enjoy learning through hands-on activities
FIELD TRIP Little Explorers Foundation stage students went to little explorers on 17th October 2018.They were very excited to explore different corners in the play area. They explored with water, building blocks, puzzles and mechanical toys. They played in the water area using different objects like buckets, balls etc. They used construction material to build pretend houses. They also had group sessions in different exploration corners. Our little FS students thoroughly enjoyed their first trip of the year
SANDWICH MAKING ACTIVITY Developing life skills for children is a great way to encourage independence, practice fine-motor skills, and foster self-confidence. Sandwich Making is an important life skill that children as young as 3 can do with assistance. Once mastered, children will enjoy feeling the success of making their own lunch and snacks.
Mathematics is FUN
short / l l a T / Long t u o b ing a Learn
erns t t a p t abou g n i n r Le a
Science Experiments with Parents Students enjoyed the science experiment day. Parents were invited to come and conduct simple science experiments in their child’s class. They were well-prepared and conducted some wonderful experiments such as: How primary colors change into secondary colors • Sinking and Floating • How a volcano erupts • About Static Electricity • Sugar - water density • There were many other experiments as well. Our children were thrilled; it was indeed a great learning experience.
SCIENCE Experiment FLOAT or SINK
Science experiments promote the development of scientific thinking. It develops their resourcefulness, particularly their skills at goal-setting, planning, and problem-solving. It also nurtures intellectual curiosity, helping children acquire new ways of asking questions and understanding the world. At Oxford, students are exposed to many such opportunities. This month, children learned about FLOATING AND SINKING. They first predicted then experimented and recorded the results.
Healthy Eating ASSEMBLY To compliment the Science and English month our students of FS 2B presented an amazing assembly. They performed a small skit related to healthy eating. Students spoke confidently. They displayed healthy eating posters/banners. They rounded off with a song on healthy eating habits.
Outdoor Learning….all about
ROAD SAFETY
Science and English month Assembly The theme of the October is ‘Creativity and Curiosity’ integrated with two subjectsEnglish and Science. The students of Year 1 got an opportunity to present their assembly on this theme. The assembly started with an introduction of the theme of the month, followed by a small skit. Students were speaking about how science is magical, and they called two Year 1 scientist who performed an experiment in front of everyone. The experiment was about how balloon was inflate using just two materials- soda and vinegar. All the students were astonished watching the experiment.
On 11th October Year 1
One of the scientists asked few questions to the audience and they answered all the question enthusiastically. The show was ended, and our respected Principal Ms. Aisha Ansari and Vice Principal Ms. Deepa Vinod were called to motivate our children with their few words. Later, students were dispersed to their classes.
Creativity and Curiosity ASSEMBLY The students of year 2 presented a special assembly on the them Creativity and Curiosity from Science perspective on 4th October 2018. The little curiosity seekers gathered in the girls basket area by 7:35 A.M. Sanuli and Yuri were the masters of the ceremonies and led the skit presented by Year 2 students. The participants took the students back to 18th century to highlight that if the scientist Isaac Newton was not curious to know why the apple fell down and didn’t move in other direction then the world would not have come to know about the law of gravity.
On 4th October Year 2
Creativity and Curiosity ASSEMBLY Class of Year 3E presented an Assembly on Creativity and Curiosity on 24th October,2018 in the M.P Hall. This assembly was presented to make our year 3 and 4 students recall the month theme ‘Creativity and Curiosity’. Assembly begins with Holy Quran Recitation and translation. Students are requested to stand in attention for the UAE National Anthem. Students questions the students from the audience to recall the meaning of creativity and curiosity and how will we link creativity with curiosity. To conclude the assembly, our beloved Principal Ms Aisha Ansari ask the students of Year 3 and 4 few questions on importance of being creative. Students of Year 3 and 4 actively participates in answering the questions and expressed their views regarding creativity and curiosity.
On 24th October Year 3
World Health Day ASSEMBLY Class of Year 4E presented an Assembly on World Mental Health Day on 17th October,2018 in the M.P Hall. This assembly was presented to make our Year 3 and 4 students aware of how mental health is important in our lives. Assembly begins with Holy Quran Recitation by Musab and translation by Tameem. Students are requested to stand in attention for the UAE National Anthem. World Mental Health meaning and importance is shared by the students enacted as Quiz Finale round. All the questions related to Mental Health is answered by the students. To conclude the assembly, our beloved Vice Principal Ms Deepa Vinod ask the students of Year 3 and 4 few questions on importance of Mental Health. Students of Year 3 and 4 actively participates in answering the questions.
On 17th October Year 3
Creativity and Curiosity ASSEMBLY On Wednesday, October 31, 2018, the class of year 3C conducted an assembly to officially close the English and Science Month Celebration with the theme, “Curiosity and Curiosity”. The concept of the assembly was a look back to the entire month’s activities and students learning experiences on the said theme. Just like a field trip, the entire class took the audience in a fun bus ride and each stop a particular event was highlighted. A child got to speak about each event while the captured photos of the kids were projected on screen to make the reminiscing moment even more special. Among the mentioned events were: Bulletin Board Display, Science Poetry Recitation, Story Writing, TED Talk, and the Character parade.
On 31st October Year 3
The host class indeed enjoyed their time on stage especially that it was a full class assembly. In the same way, the audience also enjoyed the enthusiasm and energy of the presenters. It was undoubtedly a successful assembly but as said at the end of the presentation, the class sincerely hope that more than the fun, the students will value more the learning and message of the month, and that is to be Curious and Creative all the time.
Anti- Bullying ASSEMBLY Last October 23, 2018, selected students of 5D hosted the assembly on anti-bullying. They presented a skit elaborating when an action or words be considered bullying, the characteristics of bullying behaviour and the forms of bullying. The skit ended with an interactive question and answer portion between the host and the audience to check students’ understanding about the topic. Students patiently witnessed with interest the new learning they gained from those assemblies.
On 23rd October Year 5
CIRCLE TIME ACTIVITIES In the month of October a number of activities were conducted during the circle time and zero period. Some of them are :
Mental Health day: In this activity held on 10thOctober 2018, the students watched a video on “Mental Health” and how we should support people suffering in such situations. The presentation was followed by a class discussion wherein the students analyzed on different areas why people suffer mentally and how we can help them. The session ended with a 3 minute meditation. Anti- bullying: Another yet important activity for month was on “Anti-bullying” and what we should do when we are bullied or when we see others being bullied. In this activity, students created posters to bring awareness on this important issue in the school environment.
CIRCLE TIME ACTIVITIES The activities related to the monthly theme creativity and curiosity were carried out during the circle time in the month of October
SCI-TED It was indeed a remarkable day for the primary students as they talked and justified their ideas on different topics about Science! It was the 24th of October 2018 when this historical event happened at MP Hall during the zero period. As educators always say, “Do not underestimate someone’s abilities.” It was Reeve’s talk about the planet that he wanted to visit started the exciting event. He is from Year 1. As early as it may seem, he proved his genuine love about planets. Fajr was the second speaker and is from Year 2. He had the same topic but he did it in different manner. The third speaker was Mithul from Year 3. Futuristic Inventions was his topic. He was so smartly informing the audience how advanced the technology we are using nowadays. He even compared and differentiated the gadgets and appliances of today and yesterday. Deva of Year 4 talking about Black Holes gave another topic. She explained with full contradiction the myths and realty about these vacuum-like holes in space. Mahmud of Year 5 gave the same topic. He further explained the existence of black holes. The last speaker of Primary Department was Nabiha. She talked about the space being underrated. She mentioned the how vast the space that she described it, pointless.
With the support and effort of teachers and heads of the Science and English Departments, it was a successful and meaningful event for our dear primary students. We look forward for more innovative initiatives and activities for our primary students. Always remember that these generations will be our future. With unity and collaboration, together, we let our students, the:
“YOUNG MINDS, DESIGN THE CHANGE”
Science and English month Assembly The science and English month was launched in an assembly on 7th October by A2 students. The purpose of this assembly was to emphasize the importance of Language in science and to promote curiosity and creativity among students to communicate their ideas and thoughts. Science is one of the few truly international human endeavours and it benefits from open and regular communication. Let’s think about improving that capability by improving our language. With this theme in mind students of A2 compiled their version of this beautiful integration in the form of a video which launched the month “ Curiosity and creativity.�
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On 7th October A2
The assembly inspired many students to express their scientific ideas in various forms which was evident in their participation in various month events and activities later during the month. With this assembly we aimed at bringing forth those students who fear the audience to fight against their fears and be confident presenters and speakers. The event invited the participation of a small crowd of students and could be better improved involving more students to promote greater number of students to effectively communicate their ideas.
Science and English month Assembly The science and English month was launched in an assembly on 8th October by year 7 and 8 students. The purpose of this assembly was to emphasize the importance of Language in science and to promote curiosity and creativity among students to communicate their ideas and thoughts. Science is one of the few truly international human endeavours and it benefits from open and regular communication. Let’s think about improving that capability by improving our language. With this theme in mind students of A2 compiled their version of this beautiful integration in the form of a video which launched the month “ Curiosity and creativity.�
On 8th October Year 7 and 8 The assembly inspired many students to express their scientific ideas in various forms which was evident in their participation in various month events and activities later during the month. With this assembly we aimed at bringing forth those students who fear the audience to fight against their fears and be confident presenters and speakers. The event invited the participation of a small crowd of students and could be better improved involving more students to promote greater number of students to effectively communicate their ideas
Autism Awareness and Tolerance ASSEMBLY October is the “Mental Health awareness” month and we believe, mentally illness is not a concern of stigma. Students should understand the professional help available within the school campus. The assembly was hosted by the students of year 7 G2. The assembly was started with the Quran recitation, followed by UAE national anthem. Students performed a short role play, highlighting the need for seeking professional help. The role play was based on the theme, where student’s good and bad consciences contemplate on seeking professional help (as she is suffering from mental illness). She listened to her good conscience and sought the professional help.
On 15th October Year 7 and 8 The theme of the role play is “A right decision (seeking help), at the right time, will save your life”. The assembly was concluded with the speech of Principal, Ms. Aisha Ansari emphasizing the need for understanding Mental illness and to seek help. She also highlighted the importance of accepting people with mental illness. Ms. Deepa, the vice principal appreciated the team for the assembly. She was highlighting the acceptance of people with mental illness and the courage to speak about the mental health issues.
Creativity and Curiosity ASSEMBLY Students of Year 9B1 presented an assembly on creativity and curiosity. The objective of the assembly was to make the students aware about the difference between constructive and destructive curiosity and how creativity impacts our daily lives.. With Abdul Rahim being the host, the assembly began with an Islamic recitation along with the national anthem of the UAE. Afterwards, a video was shown which explained the two types of curiosities. Abdullah Ghulam described and provided different examples of creativity in our real lives and presented works of the students from the class. Then finally, Khubaib narrated Einstein’s story about how his creative and curious mind led to the new inventions that we make use of today.
On 28th October Year 9
Mental health awareness ASSEMBLY The class of 10G2 conducted an assembly on 14th of October, 2018 on the topic ‘Mental Health Awareness’. The objectives of the assembly were to highlight the existence of various mental health issues among our school community and how we can cater it to reduce its effects. For this purpose, one of the student wrote a poem portraying the emotions of an affected person. Also, the class made a video to show what they feel on daily basis and how they can reduce the effects.
On 28th October Year 10
Breast Cancer Awareness ASSEMBLY The month of October is dedicated for Breast Cancer Awareness . Students of Year AS Girls presented an assembly themed “Breast Cancer Awareness� on Sunday21st October ,2018 in the Multipurpose Hall The purpose of the Assembly was to enlighten the students about the need for early detection to prevent the deaths from breast cancer The assembly began with recitation of Holy Quran and singing of National Anthem. The students then explained what was cancer about about the risk factors involved and the types of people and lifestyle that can increase the risk of cancer. The statistics shown revealed that number of people affected by cancer has increased multiple time over the past 30 years. The assembly also emphasized the need for early detection for all people. Our Principal Ms Aisha Ansari reiterated the need to educate all mothers about the need to go for regular check ups for early detection and prevention.
On 28th October AS Girls
CIRCLE TIME ACTIVITIES
CIRCLE TIME ACTIVITIES Teaching learning survey
AL NUJOOM AWARD CEREMONY
The Al Nujoom ceremony, a day when we celebrate and acknowledge our brightest student was held at The Oxford School on 11th of October 2018 from 5:00 to 8:30 PM. The program started when our beloved principal, Ms. Aisha Ansari welcomed all the attendees; the students, parents and all the teachers.
In order to highlight the activities from last year, the audience was updated through a video presentation. The students were awarded for their efforts and hard work for the academic year 201718. The awards were divided into the following categories: • IGCSE, AS, and A2 topper • Best Endeavor • Best All Rounder • Subject toppers • Academic Excellence The function came to end with an ending note form the student head boy and head girl.
OXFORDIANS ROCK AT BITSMUN The students of Year 10 under the guidance of their teacher Ms.Shalron Nasir participated in the BITS Mock United Nations organized by BITS Pilani Dubai BITSMUN is an inkling of Model United Nations- an imitation of the UN General Assembly, UN Security which introduces the students to the world of diplomacy, negotiation, and decision making. Participation in the BITSMUN helped interpersonal and communication skills among the students and helped them become truly global citizens while they debated on various issues of the countries allotted to them.
It was a proud moment for the Oxfordians as they won accolades for their performances. Cyril won the Best Delegate of General Assembly while Ousmane Malick won the Best Speaker for General Assembly. Iqraa Asfaaq received Special Mention for performance
SCIENCE and ENGLISH MONTH ACTIVITIES
Character Parade In celebration of the English and Science month, last 27th of October Saturday, our school gave chance to our lovely children transform to be anyone they wanted to be like a princess, prince, scientist, superheroes, astronauts, etc. for a day! All the students and their parents and even all the teachers enjoyed seeing their adorable kids wearing their life-like costumes.
Ted talk SCI-TED held on 24th October saw speakers from different cultures, different age groups who believe no matter what people tell you , words and ideas can change the world, coming up on this platform to share their ideas and spark a conversation. The agenda of SCI-TED was to make great ideas accessible and spark conversation. SCITED aimed to provide a platform for thinkers and visionaries, so that people around us can gain a better understanding of the world, and feed a desire to help create a better future. Core to this goal was a belief that there is no greater force for changing the world than a powerful idea. Students of all year levels from year 1 to 13 participated in this event.
The speakers were selected after an audition of different interested candidates from each year group. The event was a success in inspiring many young learners to take up an issue, look for solutions and share ideas with the community. Due to space constraint only year 8 and year 6 girls could be the audience. Next time we target to have more audience.
The Oxford School Dubai believes that equally important to inculcating any forms of knowledge among the students is impressing interest in them which will be made possible through series of fun activities wherein they could be allowed to show their creativity and do the output that they could definitely take pride on. In this regards, the host department of the recently celebrated English and Science month thought of an activity called “Magic Window”. The aim of the said activity was to provide an avenue for the whole class to visualize and work together to be able to produce a very creative and beautiful work of art – a collection of Science Fiction images and related thoughts on the month’s theme, “Curiosity and Creativity”, which were undeniably worth pondering upon.
Excitement is an understatement as to how we could describe the kids as they did the organizing, cutting, and pasting of their images to their respective windows, and the result was indeed a magic! They were creative, beautiful, and of course educational. Looking at the Magic Windows, one could see the variety of science fiction images, the admirable quotes on curiosity and creativity and most importantly, the effort, enthusiasm, and dedication of our beloved students
SCIENCE POETRY RECITATION There could be no better way to celebrate the English and Science month than by having an activity that could actually show the students’ skills in both subjects. Thus, the English and Science Department of Oxford School Dubai was very proud to organize and conduct a Science Poetry Class Recitation that was participated by all year 3 and year 4 sections. Each section was provided with a poem related to a specific interesting science branch or topic. The entire class was then asked to memorize the poem and to come up with a very creative way of delivering their piece, applying of course the different skills in English language that they have learned throughout their years of students. As expected, since it was a competition, the activity turned out to be very exciting among all students and English and Science teachers across all sections. For a whole week, everyone had been very busy and enthusiastic in making sure that they give their best interpretation of the poem assigned to them. After a week of serious yet fun week of preparation, the moment of truth had come. The coordinators of English and Science Department roamed around the different sections to see each class’ performance at the same time to screen who will perform live on stage, and truly indeed, it was far from disappointment for the students have delivered a commendable results. After the deliberation, year 3A, 3C, 3D, 4A, and 4B stood out and were given the chance to perform again and compete with one another. On the day of the stage presentation, the students’ excitement was indeed evident. A program was held on the MP hall and it was graced by the presence of the distinguish heads and coordinators of the concerned departments. The judges of the contest were Ms. Priti Shenoy, Primary Section Head, and Ms. Shahina, FS Coordinator. It was a very spontaneous program, one section after another stood up on stage, and every performance left everyone in the room with awe and admiration. The participant did not just come with their poem but with costume, properly planned gestures, and of course confidence that made all the difference with how they performed. In the end, year 3D was declared as the winner and followed by year 3C and 4A as the second placers baring equal points. The Science Poetry Recitation did not only make the winning sections happy. It also brought a lot of learning and of course a memorable experience to all the students
Instant Challenge PAPER TOWER CHALLENGE
PYRAMID CUP
BOGGLE and RIDDLE BATTLE
Project Making The Nature Friend Challenge: Toy Made of Recycled Materials is designed for Year 2 learners which can be completed individually, with partners, or in groups of maximum 3. It promotes the use of crossdisciplinary tools and critical thinking skills in an inquiry and solution-based learning environment. It is not only a fun challenge for learners, but it will allow them to gain new knowledge that they can then apply to problems they encounter in their everyday world.
Little hands at work as nature friendly toymakers
Young minds designing the future of nature friendly toys for a better world.
Inter- class Primary Quiz “Learning gives Creativity, Creativity leads to thinking, Thinking provides knowledge and Knowledge makes us Great….” Quiz competitions are always interesting and informative, which provide excitement among the students and also open the new ways of learning to them. Our school encourages such positive competitions and aims to bring out the best in all its students through such competitive events, while ensuring that the children learn through all possible waysnot just through books and monotonous classroom teaching. With regard to Science and English month, The Oxford school primary section successfully conducted a Quiz competition in the school hall on 3rd October. Four fervent participants in each group were taken from year 3-6, one student from each level. These students were chosen after the preliminary round held in the classes.
The programme started with the verses from the holy Quran followed by their translation. The quiz comprised of six rounds including general round, buzzer round, visual round, take your chance round, rapid fire round and audio visual round. Each round was a mixed bag with questions from English and Science. Rules and regulations of the quiz were explained at the beginning. The teams gave a tough battle to each other during the competition. The Rapid-fire round gave the teams a chance to catch up with leaders and put-up a tough fight. A range of emotions were felt in the course of the quizhappiness, sadness, regret and excitement. Everyone waited with baited breath for the announcement of the final scores. Team 2 won the quiz while team 3 bagged the runner up position. Their victory was celebrated with a round of applause by the audience. At the end, our venerated vice principal Ma’am Deepa Vinod was invited on stage who appreciated the participants and the entire team of science and English teachers for their effort in organizing this competitive event. The programme ended with a vote of thanks by the hosts.
Seminar Presentation Climate change : A Reality Seminar Presentation on “Climate Change: A Reality” which was held on 10th October, 2018. The students of Year 6 presented on different factors and areas on the above topic. Mahmoud and Subhan of Year 5 hosted the event. On the outset they welcomed the audience as well as the speakers and introduced the main purpose of the event. The first Speaker for the day was Hafsah Saif Year 6G2, who introduced the topic, its causes along with some evidences. The next speaker of the day was Zaafir Mohammad from Year 6B1. He threw light on “How Climate Change affects the Individuals and Society.” He stressed that ‘hot days are getting hotter’ and Climate change has resulted in new diseases and affected human health incredibly. The third speaker spoke on “Climate Change and its impact on Nations and Economy.” It was rightly agreed that the vast changes on the climate due to global warming results in decrease in labor productivity, decrease in drinking water, infrastructure etc. Some of the major sectors affected are Tourism, Forestry, Fisheries, Energy, Insurance etc. Ana from Year 6G2 enlightened on all the above areas. Jazaan from Year 6B1 also made another powerful presentation on how “Climate Change affects the Environment and Ecology.” After listening to him it was indeed felt that we all need to take a serious call and work to save our environment and the planet Earth. Hiba concluded the seminar by speaking on “Different Way how we can help fight Climate Change.” Some of the suggestions made were to Green our Commute by reducing use of vehicles on road, use energy saving lights and bulbs, consume less and waste less, use energy saving renewable resources, etc. The presentation ended with an interactive session wherein the audience asked some questions and the speakers answered the queries with evidences. It was a fruitful event.
STREET PLAY ANTI-BULLYING On the occasion of the Sci-fest the students of Year 5 presented a ‘Street Play’ in the school bus area on 27th October, 2018 The audience were students of The Oxford School, Teachers and Parents. The Street play highlighted on some important aspects as to how we litter our environment, why we should avoid littering around us and how it affects the nature when we litter with plastic and other materials which do not decompose for centuries. Through this act the students showcased some issues which we face in our daily lives and how we can help keep our environment clean. The event was a grand success
Our Vegetable Garden Gardening and growing vegetables within an early years setting opens a myriad of opportunities and provides a host of benefits from problem solving to inquiry-based learning. Children that are encouraged to gardening activities become more resilient, confident and eager to learn. Our little FS children have a vegetable garden of their own. They loosened the soil and planted different vegetables; they are now watering it regularly and watching their plants grow.
BREAST CANCER AWARENESS ACTIVITIES
BREAST CANCER AWARENESS TALK On 31st October 2018 As a part of the ‘Breast Cancer Awareness Month’, The Oxford School took initiative to create awareness amongst the students about the possible symptoms and precautions from breast cancer. The talk was conducted by Dr. Rinda Priya. The audience were the senior girls and the teachers. The Aim of the talk was to raise awareness and clear the stigmas attached to the symptoms and treatment of breast cancer. It focused on the increasing awareness of breast cancer detection and treatment. The main highlights of the talk were the awareness about the early detection of the symptoms to prevent the disease and emphasis on the self-examination by the individuals regularly specially at the age of 40. The session was very interactive, and the students and teachers were able to clear the doubts using the platform.
MUFTI DAY and BAKE SALE On 25th October 2018 Every year, the Oxford School Dubai is organizing a Breast cancer awareness on the month of October. This is a good thing that the students can help with small amount of money but has a bigger impact to the ones who are ill. We have organized a Mufti day and Bake Sale last 25th of October for the students to raise awareness and money. The students came to school in smart, decent shades of pink for the girls and shades of white or blue for the boys. On this occasion also, a Bake sale is also conducted. All the foods and goodies were brought by most of the students, collected and were all sold during the bake sale. Students brought money 10 AED above depends on the parents. All the money that was collected during this drive will be donated to cancer patients.
Enterprise Stall for Parents-Year 10 School has started yet again, with teachers looking forward to teaching and students looking forward to learning. TOS holds bake sales for different causes throughout the whole year. Causes can vary from raising money for The Kerala flood relief institution to Breast cancer awareness foundations. We, at The Oxford School, believe that activitybased learning appeals to those who enjoy learning through doing. It is fun and motivating for students and gives them scope for independent learning. It also inspires the students to use their creative ideas, knowledge and problem-solving skills and promotes a healthy competitive spirit among them. This Academic year the Enterprise students of year 10 were given the privilege to open up their own Enterprising stalls on 27th October 2018 for the Parents visiting school for Parent Teachers Meeting. The main objective was to improve and enhance their enterprising skills onto day to day life and help them implement their prior knowledge in a new and creative manner. This activity also inspired the students to become future leaders and entrepreneurs. The girls were successfully able to manage the event and make a high profit of AED 415. This money was donated to the Kerala flood victims.
Enterprise Stall for Bake Sale-Year 9 Social Market Year 9G enterprise students had set up an enterprise stall as part of the Bake Sale on 25th October 2018. The bake sale was a part of our enterprise project. The objective of the project was to showcase our entrepreneurial skills in an innovative/creative way. We were total of 17 students and we divided ourselves into 2 groups, the first group had 8 students and the second group had 9 students. The dress code was pink and white as we were celebrating the breast cancer awareness day and we raised money for the charity. Many students visited our stalls and bought a lot of our goods which made a good profit for us and we made the budget of 2-10 AED. Students from Year FS-13 visited our stalls. The items which were mostly sold were our homemade pasta and homemade sunflower spring biscuits. We made a huge profit of around 1700 AED which was surprising for us and we were proud on our achievement. The entire activity helped us in learning a lot of life skills which included team work, leadership, resilience and empathy for others. We learnt how to run an enterprise/business and provide goods and services to the society.
Charity Football Match Last 17th of October 2018, our hard-working student council members has organized a Football Charity Match between the selected boys from the senior and including some male faculty staff. All the participants of the match have given 25AED each while all the spectators from the seniors has paid 10 AED to witness the game. All the money collected to the event will be donated to the victims of the Kerala flood.
IGCSE WORKSHOP Last 30th of October 2018, at Al Dhiyafa High School, selected teachers attended a free seminar conducted by Hodder Education. Our attendees are Mr. Ranvill, Ms. Shalron and Ms. Huma. The highlights and focus of the session includes the Cambridge IGCSE requirement, taking examples from several different subjects that are taught in the UAE, and how these requirements can be met using the Hodder Education textbooks. They also covered ways in which Active Learning can be integrated into the IGCSE classroom.
CPD National Agenda and CAT4 Ms. Deepa Vinod conducted CPD on National Agenda and CAT4 data. She asked the whole academic staff what National Agenda is and explained that the UAE National Agenda was launched as an extension to achieve the UAE Vision 2021. Education was defined as ‘a fundamental element of developing a nation and the best investment in its youth’. The targets of Oxford School for PISA was also explained as follows: Afterwards, the TIMMS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) result from the past year was shown followed by the targets.
PISA Domains Science Math Reading
Targets 512 493 516
The training started by Ms. Deepa welcoming all the present attendees followed by the display of the classification of the fee structure per year level and explained the allocation of each fees. Focus areas for National Agenda Inspection are as follows: •Attainment •Leadership •Data informed adaptations •Professional development •Skills development •Adjustment in the curriculum •Adjustment to teaching •Improvement in learning skills
It was followed by how to use the obtained data by analyzing with the below factors: •Triangulation between CAT 4, curriculum based assessment and NAP benchmark test results •Clearly identify the strengths and weakness •All stakeholders should fully be aware and understand these analysis and how to use them to personalize provision. The teachers were also shown how to make Adjustments to the curriculum based on the following points: •Effectively align to new TIMSS and PISA requirements •Planning for continuity and progression •Subject skills and knowledge is thorough •Data analysis directly influences the curriculum adaptation . How to make Adjustments to teaching was discussed which included the following points: •Direct impact on teaching strategies based on NAP findings •Activities to be planned for the development of critical thinking, investigations, open-ended problems, inquiry and application to real life situations.
Professional Development workshop ‘ACTIVE LEARNING IN BUSINESS, ACCOUNTING AND ECONOMICS’
As a step towards improving teaching practice and enriching learning process by inculcating ‘active learning methodologies’ a professional development workshop on ‘Active learning in Business, Accounting and Economics’, sponsored by Hodder Education in collaboration with Cambridge was held on 30th October 2018 at Al Salah Private School, Dubai. The main speaker of the session was Anne Sparrowhawk who spent her career in working in the research and development of resources to support classroom practice and has also been a part of Cambridge International Examinations. The workshop provided immense and appreciable opportunity for the new secondary teachers of Oxford School, to connect with a leading expert, and discover more about what good teaching and learning look like, and how students learn best. The support extended by the Oxford School paved way for the teachers to be a part of this workshop. The main objectives of the session was to ensure that the delegates are aware of how to find out about syllabus requirements in their appropriate subjects; to feel confident in interpreting the Cambridge syllabus documents and recognize areas of change; be acquainted with the opportunities that active learning approaches offer in their classroom and finally exploring resources to support classroom practice. The workshop which lasted for two hours ended with a questioning session followed by a closing note by the speaker where she expressed her desire that all the delegates have an incredible journey from being a good teacher to a great teacher
MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS "Caring for the mind is as important and crucial as caring for the body. In fact, one cannot be healthy without the other" - Garza Hillman The Oxford School, believes in holistic development of the students and therefore, we observed October as Mental Awareness month. Assemblies on the theme of Mental awareness were conducted across all the year levels. A mental health awareness survey was conducted for the students of Year 5 - 13, to understand the level of mental health awareness among the students. During the circle time, students were shown a video on “Importance of seeking help for Mental health issues�. Followed by the video, students filled in the survey questionnaire. Activities will be planned based on the results of the survey. Staff of the school were also involved in the survey. A Mental health stall was put up by the students, with the information on various mental health issues and the general coping strategies. Many students and teachers visited the stall and shared that they gained more information on mental health issues, especially the coping strategies. Many parents visited the stall on October 27th, ( on the day of Parent teacher meeting). Majority of the parents appreciated the effort of the school and the attempt to create awareness on mental health issues. Few parents, took pictures of the stall to share the information with others and they liked the idea of sharing the coping strategies which might be of help to them.
PTM REPORT On 27th of October Saturday, our school has opened to give chance to our working parents a chance to meet with the teachers to give feedback from their child’s respective class teacher. It is a good way to have connection between parents and teachers working simultaneously together for betterment of each child.
Royal spell bee- school level On 31st of October 2018, at our MP Hall, we conducted the School Level Spell Bee under the supervision Royal Spell bee. About 120 students from Year 1 to 8 participated in different categories. The winners will proceed to the Inter-school level (Emirates Level) scheduled on March 2019. The winners from each category are as follows: Category 1 ( Year 1 ) 1st place - Kayenne Blue 1-D 2nd place - Reeve 1-A 3rd place - Ismael 1-D 4th place - Jamil 1-D 5th place- Mahde 1-A Destiney 1-A Category 2 (Year 2) 1st place - Naseem 2-D 2nd place - Alexander 2-D 3rd place - Nanda 2-F 4th place - Zoe 2-F 5th place- Yalda 2-F
Category 3 (Year 3 and 4) 1st - Mohammed Hafiz - 3B 1st - Adithya 3A 2nd - Alaa Marwan 4A 3rd - Sebastian Laggui 3C Michelle Onmonya 4A 4th- Iman Rehmat 3D 5th - Mohammad Zaraad 3C 6th- Mohammad Amin bin Mehdi 4C 7th- Maryam Asif 8th -Diya Dipu 4B Category 4 ( Year 5 and 6) 1st - Huda Natisa 5C 2nd- Joanne Elizabeth - 6G1 3rd- Zion Kenzi - 5B: 4th- Manahil Nasir - 6G2 Category 5 ( Year 7 and 8) 1st - Muhammad Saad Abdul Hafiz 2nd- Arwa Broundian 3rd- Wali Syed Azbar 4th -Jibreel Ibrahim
TEACH IN DAY The Teach-in day, conducted last 4th October 2018. It is a vigorous attempt to express appreciation to teachers on the World Teacher’s day. All aspiring teachers applied for a chance to be a teacher for a day. Their classes were given according to the time table given to them. It was wonderful to see all the students trying to be at their best possible level and feel the essence of being a teacher. The students of each class were very keen to know their student-teachers for the day, and it is very evident home much they enjoyed learning from them. Not only this, the head students of the school took charge of handling the principal’ office. By the end of the teach-in day, all the students-teachers assembled in our MP hall to commemorate the day. Based from the assessment guided by the teachers, we have chosen the best student-teachers for the day:
Best Student-Teachers for Teach-in Day Fathima Afrooz Abdul Mahir - 11G2
Eisha Naseem Naseem Akhtar - 11G2 Rawan Adel Elsayed Abdelrahman - AS Girls Surraya Abdul Baseer - A2 Girls Sharjeel Nawaz Brohi Muhammad–AS Boys
The Young Vision Business Talent Hunt competition The Oxford School took part in The Young Vision Business Talent Hunt, an inter-school competition targeted primarily at young entrepreneurs, on October 16-18. Hosted by Skyline University in association with Young Vision magazine, the competition gives students the opportunity to put forward proposals, which would benefit businesses. Around 260 teams from around the UAE participated in the Talent Hunt. Students competed in the following categories — advertisement design, proposal for a new business, and proposal for a new mobile application, to challenge their entrepreneurship skills. AS commerce students from The Oxford school had put their utmost efforts for the competition. Group of eight students formed into three teams , two teams competed for Advertising designing and other team for general business plan category .One of their main focuses of all three teams was to distinguish themselves from other competitors, hence with their maximum effort and trying to bring the business to life as much as possible, one of the team also designed and built a 3D model in the business plan category. It was a pride moment for all of us when one of our team for Advertising designing was shortlisted for final.