2020-2021 Newsletter Term 2

THE RAPTOR

REPORTER

IN THIS ISSUE Message from the Principal Messages from the Vice-Principals Term 2 Highlights

IMPORTANT DATES

Look at the great learning this term!

25 March: Last Day of Term 11 April: Term 3 Starts

SPRING BREAK REMINDER Admissions and administration offices will remain open over the break.

Office hours will be: Sunday - Thursday 8:00am - 4:00pm Families should contact the school via email or by calling 02 556 1567 (Gardens) or 02 550 5271 (Khalifa). The campus will be closed to Raha families until further notice.

From the Office of the Principal

FROM MR IAIN Dear Parents, I hope you are all well.

We were delighted to welcome our students back to both of our Raha campuses this term.

May I offer my sincere thanks to our parents for being amazingly sensitive, sympathetic and

supportive of all the requirements and measures

put in place to ensure a safe and secure return to school. We're happy to share that 86% of our

students opted for on-site education during

Term 2. Your support has been invaluable over the last 12 months and it is a great testament to the compassionate and

collaborative community that sets Raha apart from other schools. There was a

terrific buzz around the school and a very welcome return to near normality that was unfortunately cut short, however we are looking forward to welcoming students back on campus next term.

We currently have 281 students enrolled at Khalifa City Campus (KCC) with many

more joining next academic year. With an increasing number of parents seeking an IB education, the new campus is being built to satisfy the exceptionally high

demand for places at Raha. We expect that the number of students studying at both campuses will be in excess of 3,000 next academic year. I am also very

pleased to inform you that the second phase of the KCC build is right on track and we look forward to a formal opening of the campus in September.

From the Office of the Principal

With this significant rise in the number of students across both campuses, we will be expanding our Senior Leadership Team. In 2021-22, the Senior Leadership Team will

be increased to include five Heads of School and two Vice Principals. These positions have been put in place to ensure that our school’s future expansion is guided by an energetic and experienced team of educators. I will remain as

Executive Principal of both campuses, but the wider role that I have undertaken over

the last year aimed at school improvement across IB schools in the Taaleem portfolio, has now been formalised as ‘Director of Education’ for the Taaleem group.

Finally, as we continue to emerge from this COVID period, I look forward to meeting

many of you to offer my personal thanks for the incredible support you have so generously and empathetically offered myself and all the Raha staff.

Yours sincerely,

Iain Colledge Iain Colledge

Executive Principal Raha International School

Gardens Campus It has been truly amazing to see our students back on Gardens Campus and sharing their experiences of the past year. It has also been valuable to see them participate (socially distanced of course) in some of the activities that make our community thrive, such as dressing up for Book Character Day, dancing their way through Thunderous Thursday or just taking a moment to reflect with Time Out Raha.

I am delighted to announce a number refurbishments on our campus. The first is the secondary gym which has been completely renovated. We are eagerly awaiting a delivery of spinning bikes, another example of our staff working creatively to introduce health and wellbeing solutions amidst the pandemic and our strict safety measures.

We have also expanded the Serenity Garden for Secondary students to allow more outside engagement. I am also very proud to announce the opening of the breastfeeding room, as very soon we will have several little Raharians joining us.

I must also share that it is with sadness we say goodbye to 3 very valued members of our teaching staff this term.

Kristina Dosset has been with us since Raha began 16 years ago, so has long been a huge part of our warm and loving community. She will be continuing her adventures with her husband Alan and will be hugely missed in Early Years. Ms Luciana Tristante will be taking over responsibility for this class for the remainder of the year and has been team teaching with Kristina and Eri since Sunday 21st March.

Luciana has been working in Early Years as our supply teacher since September.

She is originally from Brazil and brings a wealth of experience to the EY1 team.

Eithne McGuire leaves our secondary English team following 4 wonderful years.

Having not seen her fiancé for an entire year, she leaves us to finally get married in

Sri Lanka. We are currently finalising our interview process and hope to give news of her replacement soon.

We will be sorry to see Stephen Delano leave us in May. He has built something really special and unique in the work he has done for our Raha Performing Arts department. We wish him well and happily welcome Caroline Kelly to follow his lead.

It is also that time of year when our Grade 12s will soon be leaving to embark on their onward journey in life ‘beyond Raha’. We are exceptionally proud of their achievements and I'm sure they will be extremely successful in whatever comes

next for them. I hope you will join our celebration of their graduation, with more details on this to be shared soon.

I wish you all a relaxing break and look forward to seeing you in Term 3. Stay safe, stay well.

Kath Simms Gardens Vice-Principal

Khalifa City Campus Each day I have the privilege of walking through our beautiful, purpose-built school, dropping in on classrooms where our learners are so friendly and happy. Our students are excited to learn, our teachers are excited to teach, and the energy is infectious.

Through all the laughs and smiles, you will see our students’ personal stories unfolding right before your eyes as they become curious about the world around them. Our Early Years students are learning through authentic play, collaborating with each other to learn. Our Primary students are discovering their own potential, immersed in projects and becoming confident communicators and risk takers, both academically and socially.

Our Khalifa City Campus has had an extraordinary year so far. Over this term we have enjoyed celebrating Book Character Day and 100 days at school. We have had art exhibitions, created an amazing collaborative music performance and had a live science show by our fabulous staff. It has been a lot of fun and we have loved watching our children participating in these learning experiences.

With Phase 2 well underway we look forward to welcoming Raha students up to Grade 8 in September. With our plans to house 700 students at our Khalifa City Campus, the new buildings are literally popping up around us. The large indoor pool and gymnasium now have a roof, and the Design Technology suite and cafeteria are already constructed. We have multiple playgrounds and have worked closely with the architect and landscapers to design natural, open, green spaces. The new build is as impressive as the Early Years Centre and we can’t wait to see it when it is completed in July!

Nicola Neethling KCC Vice-Principal

KCC Phase 2 We are delighted to share that Phase 2 of the new Khalifa City

Campus (KCC) is right on schedule with the planned expansion of facilities ready for students from Early Years through to

Secondary in September 2021. With Phase 2 well underway, we are excited for our new academic year, and to welcome Raha

students up to Grade 8. We look forward to the next year with enthusiasm and a shared passion to continue to provide excellence in education for Raha students.

What Phase 2 will be shortly!

The Phase 2 build at the moment

Principal Iain, Taaleem CEO Alan Williamson and Head of Operations Marthinus checking out the building site

Book Character Day

Ms Nicola loves Book Character Day!

Staff and students both had a fantastic day dressing up as their favourite book characters

Great minds think alike!

TIME OUT RAHA

Secondary students got the chance to 'Just POS' this term, and spend some time exploring a project, skill, activity, or talent of their choice!

Secondary staff had a great time getting creative too!

Build Up Song

Over 160 Khalifa City Campus students across all grades learned and performed the song Build Up! You can watch it here

We are so proud of them!

Virtual Science Fair Grade 8 students are having a virtual science fair, with 145 students each having a virtual room to display their individual project.

How cool are these rockets and spaceships?

KCC Science Fair

Be careful up there, Ms Anna!

Grade 11 Spanish Interview As part of the Human ingenuity IB theme, Grade 11 Spanish students met and participated in an online interview with the famous Spanish hyper-realistic artist José Luis Corella.

Ready for launch!

Hope Probe

Raha students celebrated the Hope Probe entering Mars' orbit with a huge show of creativity!

100 Days

Both campuses celebrated reaching the 100 day milestone in style, either dressing up as 100-year olds, or with 100 items!

So adorable!

THE RAPTOR REPORTER | SPRING 2021