Issue No.1 - February 2010
Sharjah English School
www.sharjahenglishschool.org
From the Principal’s desk...
Contents:
It’s a pleasure to introduce the new revamped SES NewslePer to you – this will be produced on a monthly basis from now on, but there will con<nue to be a weekly bulle<n and diary updates on the school website. Please let us have feedback if you have any thoughts about the changes or ways to improve the newslePer further. Thanks to Mr. Hitchings and Mrs. Hennessy for all their work on the new format. I would like to thank parents for all the very suppor<ve emails and messages which I have received during the past week; taking over as Principal of such a wonderful school is an exci<ng and daun<ng experience. The challenge of maintaining the unique ethos of the school, while taking it through its next stage of development is one that will require lots of hard work, but with an experienced Senior Leadership Team and the commitment of our dynamic staff, I am certain the school has a superb future. Parents can be assured that there will be no compromising on the things we have done well in the past, and that those areas where improvement is possible will be tackled urgently.
Primary News
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Secondary News
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Whole School News
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Spotlight on Science
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Dates for your diary
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SES Ski trip 2010 Re-live the secondary students ski trip to La Tzoumaz by reading their blog at: http://sesskitrip.blogspot.com
Please take <me to read through the following pages; there is news of some outstanding accomplishments and a number of successful events to report on, as well as no<ce of some key dates coming up. The heavy rains have created some disrup<on to teaching and learning in the past week. Students and parents (and staff!) are to be congratulated on their some<mes epic efforts to get to school. Our policy is to remain open whenever possible, unless instructed to close by the Ministry of Educa<on, or where the weather is such that travel becomes unsafe or impossible. If the school were to remain closed, every effort will be made to inform parents by SMS in a <mely fashion. I look forward to serving the students, parents and staff of Sharjah English School – together we can make a formidable partnership for the good of the school.
Mr. John Nolan Principal
Golf Lessons
A unique opportunity for you to learn golf with your child. You and your child (Year 7 and above) can undertake lessons from a professional over a fifteen week period. The cost is subject to numbers but will be in the range of 45 to 55 AED a lesson per person. Lessons are likely to take place on a Tuesday starting in March at Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club. All enquires contact Miss McNulty. mmcnulty@seschool.ae
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News from the Primary School To all our readers a warm welcome from the Primary School. We like to think of our section of the school as being a “happening place”. We look forward in the coming issues to giving you a look at the vast array of learning, events and activities which are continually taking place throughout the terms. One focus last month was the DISCOS, and as usual the children didn’t disappoint with their costumes, their “moves” or their enthusiasm!!! Even some teachers were seen to do more than toe tap! Sports Day was a great success and a good time was had by all. Please refer to the PE bulletin for more details. We also had our Parents Afternoons and we hope you gained valuable insights into your children’s progress. As always thank you for your unstinting support of your children and the school. ENJOY! Miss Jenefer Race - Primary Headteacher
Key Stage Two Discos
..singing D I S C O
The KS2 Primary discos were held on Wednesday 10th February. DJ Gill encouraged the Years 3 & 4 children to ‘Rock the House’ – and they did. Costumes, on the theme of ‘Rock and Roll’ and ‘Animal Prints’ ranged from 1950s Rock to Leopard prints and the dancing had to be seen to be believed! The combina<on of games, dancing and refreshments meant that the <me flew by and before we knew it, the parents were at the door wai<ng to take their ‘rockers’ home.
Primary Parent Teacher Mee:ngs
Thank you to all the parents who aPended the mee<ngs. It was great to see so many parents aPending. We realise that the <mes of the mee<ngs are not always convenient for ever yone. However, should you be unable to a P e n d a t t h e < m e a l l o c a t e d t o y o u , teachers will endeavour to arrange a mee<ng at a <me and date that is more convenient for you.
The Years 5 & 6 disco, on the same theme, was more a ‘Flintstones’ or ‘Grease’ affair, although we did spot at least one Hippy and a Punk. Mr. Smithard, fresh [well almost] from his triumph in the parent’s race was DJ for the evening and his choice of music had the girls rocking and the boys rolling – two very different dancing styles. Fuelled by slices of pizza, the dancing became ever more energe<c un<l it was <me to call a halt. As the children departed, we heard sighs of relief that there were no lessons on the following day.
Flea Market This event was again extremely popular with our children. It seems that we have a lot of budding entrepreneurs amongst our students who are keen to cash in on their old toys. A lot of money changed hands and some sizeable profits were made. 2
News from the Secondary School Young Musician
Anthony Collins AGRFU Tour – Singapore
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Year 10 student Anthony Collins (10LG) traveled to Singapore to represent the U16 Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union (AGRFU). Three games were scheduled Singapore along with a cultural tour of the South East Asian microstate. Anthony scored in all three games the first against St. Andrews (1 try), the National Singapore team (3 tries) and Raffles Academy (2 tries). He was also awarded man of the match in the second game against the National team. Aside of the rugby and training, Anthony visited the Merlion (an imaginary creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish), Sentosa Island (theme park) and a gem factory watching artisans working on gemstones carving out beautiful shapes.
SES recently sent its first ever competitor to the prestigious 'Young Musicians of the Gulf' competition, held annually in Bahrain. Vicky Tadros, a student in year 11, was entered the vocal section having been trained by our school singing teacher Mrs Lis. Vicky did very well indeed against strong competition, getting to the quarter finals. Vicky followed up her impressive performance by singing to a captivated audience of students at a special school assembly on her return. Congratulations to both Vicky and Mrs Lis!
English Department Theatre Trip Maths Problem Of The Month Suppose that a = 1, b = 2, ………, z = 26 Evaluate the expression below: (n - a)(n - b)……………(n - z) Hint: The answer to this problem has its origins in India and revolutionized Mathematics!
The answer will appear in the next issue of the newsletter. 3
A theatre trip has been organized to take Year 9 to see ‘Macbeth’. It i s b e i n g p e r f o r m e d b y Shakespeare 4 Kids, a theatre c o m p a n y s p e c i a l i z i n g o n performances for students, and has received fantastic reviews. This will give students an excellent insight into the play in preparation for their GCSE studies next year.
News from the Secondary School Year 9 Camp Mr Powell, Miss McNulty and Richard Thomas took twenty five Year 9 students away to Dibba to attend the Year 9 adventurer camp. The camp was led by five Wilderness Instructors from all over the United States with expertise in climbing, mountain biking, trekking and sea kayaking. The group was split into three and got the chance to experience one main activity plus trekking. In the evening after a good meal there was opportunity to try out the base camp climbing wall. The camp was an overwhelming success but next year the students would like to go for longer and experience even more activities.
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Whole School News and Information Invoices
Your child should have brought home the invoice for the Summer term. Please be aware that payment is due by the first day of term -‐ 19th April 2010.
Ques:onnaire – Places for next year
2010-2011
Your child should have brought home the ques<onnaire regarding places for the next academic year. May we ask you to complete and return it to your child’s class teacher by WEDNESDAY 10th March 2010. Please return the form even if you are uncertain about your future plans. Any informa<on provided will remain confiden<al. We can also assure you that you do not jeopardise your school place by indica<ng your uncertainty.
Class Photos
We will have the photographers in school on Tuesday 9th March and Wednesday 10th March to take class photos. Please ensure that your child is wearing the correct school uniform. If you child has P.E. on that day, she/he has to bring the school uniform with them.
Tuesday 9th March -‐ Primary classes Wednesday 10th March -‐ Secondary The Student Council The Student Council helps our school in many ways trying to improve the environment, aiming to be the best school possible. Lately we have been adding various items and ideas to the school. We have put up recycling bins. We had a talk on Sunday 7th March for International Women’s Day, (which is celebrated on March the 8th) to give recognition to women. We are also having a Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services presentation that will take place on Sunday 14th March. This is the current school charity that we voted for. We have donated money to them that was raised from selling bags of sweets. The Student Council felt that it would be a good idea for Year 6 representatives to join the Student Council. If we include them we will feel more connected with the Primary school through their representatives. It will also give the Year 6 representatives an idea of what Secondary school is like and will prepare them for it. We, the Student Council have worked hard for all these things to happen to help improve our school. By Laila Hamza - 7SO
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Whole School News and Information International Picnic On Thursday, 4th March, we had our annual International Picnic at the school. It was a fantastic afternoon - we were lucky with the weather, and it was a good chance to sample dishes from 25 different countries, as well as to see some national costumes and decorations. Many thanks to everyone who contributed and volunteered on the day. We took over Dhs 7000 on food sales alone and this will help towards buying more shading for the recreation areas. You can still help out by purchasing the International Cookbook on sale at the secondary reception for Dhs 50.
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Spotlight on Science as SES Science as a subject at SES has taken a big step forwards this year, with some new and interesting activates taking place. It has been a busy term and we would like to share some of our developments with you. January this year saw the department link up with the Primary school to prepare our second annual Primary Science Day. All of KS2 were invited to our labs to take part in practical work where they learnt about a variety of topics ranging from magnetic fields to the working of the lungs.
Year 7 and Year 8 are in the process of studying adaptation of plants and animals, and as part of this they were taken to the Arabian Wildlife Centre in Sharjah to look at some of the interesting creatures that they have on show. Here is an account by one of the Year 7â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s that took part in the trip.
On Thursday 18th February Year 7 & 8 went to the Arabian Wildlife Centre on a science trip. We were given a sheet to fill in about how animals were adapted to live in harsh desert conditions. We went around the preserve taking down interesting information about desert animals and reading any other information about many other animals and insects. After lunch we looked at the birds and nocturnal animals. Next the group walked to the Natural History Museum and the Botanical Gardens. We all enjoyed the trip and found the information very interesting. Nina Ferrari - Year 7
Year 9 have been completing some extension work on evolution to enhance their knowledge ready for the GCSE courses next year. Here are some examples of work that they have produced.
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Spotlight on Science as SES Year 10 have also been looking at adaptation and evolution. They were asked to examine the famous crystal palace dinosaurs, which were first exhibited in 1854, and use these to comment on Victorian approaches to scientific studies.
Year 11 are currently working on their chemistry practical skills and can be seen here completing work in preparation for their practical assessments.
Year 13 Physicists recently took a trip to the desert to make some astronomical observations of the moon using a telescope that was kindly donated to the department by a parent. We used our time in the desert to use a reflecting telescope to look at the moon. We also learned how to align the viewfinder with the central lens. We used a handy iPod application to find various constellations and practiced focusing the main lens on them and viewed them using various filters. All in all it was a valuable experience which served as a good induction to the A2 astrophysics option. Jack Sparkes - Year 13 8
Dates for your diary Monday 8th March
KS1 Swimming Gala
Tuesday 9th March
Primary Class Photos
Wednesday 10th March Secondary Class Photos
GCSE Op<on Evening
Monday 15th March
Years 3 & 4 Swimming Gala
Tuesday 16th March
Sixth Form Presenta<on Evening
Friday 19th March
Mina Mile Open Water Swim (Swim Team)
Monday 22nd March
Years 5 & 6 Swimming Gala
Thursday 1st April
BaPle Of The Bands
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