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Issue 59 27 August Thursday, 2015 [2015-2016] 10 October 2013 Issue Issue 25 101 31 January 2018 [2017-18]
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Healthy Technology Habits – Promoted Balanced Technology Use in Children Written by Damien Marshall At Raffles World Academy we understand the importance of a healthy approach to the use of technology. As a school, we are very conscious of managing screen time while the students are at school, and this article has been written to help you in how to manage screen time at home. "Screen time" is a term that is used to describe activities done in front of a screen, such as watching TV, working on a computer, or playing video games. On average, children spend about 3 hours a day watching TV. Added together, all types of screen time can total 5 to 7 hours a day.
Age
Recommended Range
0–2
No screen time*
2 -7
Up to 1 hour*
8 – 18
Up to 2 hours*
Some of the negative consequence of too much screen time can: Make it hard for your child to sleep at night Raise your child's risk of attention problems, anxiety, and depression Raise your child's risk of gaining too much weight (obesity) Recommended Screen Time Levels The following table has been developed to act as a guide in managing your child’s screen time at home. * The times below guidelines that are based on a range of research and should act as a guide: Recommendations for Managing Screen Time at Home Cutting down screen time at home can be hard because technology (e.g. TV, computers, etc.) may be such a large part of daily routines. But you can help your children by telling them how sedentary activities affect their overall health. It is important that as parents you talk to them about things they can do to be healthier. Below are a few strategies you may choose to implement in your house to help manage screen time more effectively. Manage levels of television use: there are many strategies that can be implemented to minimize their television use, including: Limit TV on school days and try to avoid TV before school. Don’t have the TV on during meals or homework. Decide which programs to watch ahead of time and turn the TV off when they are finished. Keep a record of how much time is spent in front of a screen. Try to spend the same amount of time being active. Be a good role model as a parent. Decrease your own screen time to 2 hours a day. Implement a technology curfew: implement rules such as technology must be turned off during meals and by a certain time each night (e.g. 8pm). Also, don’t allow phones to be kept in your child’s bedroom. Make bedrooms off-limits for technology - Require that computers and smartphones be used in public spaces and charged in a central area - like the kitchen. Every 20 minutes Look 20 feet away For 20 seconds Offer alternatives: Challenge your family to go one week without watching TV or doing other screen-time activities. Find things to do with your time that get you moving and burning energy. Remember the Rule The rule that we use to ensure we are promoting eye health at RWA is the 20-20-20 rule. Use this at home and make sure that you as well as your children are using it.
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This term we were very excited to host our first Spelling Bee. Grades 1-5 participated in two divisions. It was stiff competition and all of our competitors represented their classes very well. The audience showed great support for their classmates and were impressed with the words the competitors could spell! Our RWA winners will represent us at the Innoventures Spelling Bee held at CAS on the 6th February. We wish them the best of luck and are very proud of them! Primary
All our Spelling Bee contestants were so confident!
Our Gr1 Participants eagerly waiting their turn.
Our Division B RWA Winners (Gr4-5) Congratulations Izahac, Hazael, Hassan and Mahrukh
Our Division A RWA Winners (Gr1-3) Congratulations Jad, Adam, Mysha and Zeina.
Cultivating Grit in children Coffee mornings are one of the ways the RWA counselors keep connected with our parent community. Based on the concerns we observe in school and feedback we get from the parents, topics are identified for coffee mornings. This is one of the ways in which school is involved in the socio -emotional wellbeing of children. We invite experts from the field to make the sessions more informative. The first coffee morning we had this academic year was on “cultivating grit in children”. The topic was presented by our guest speaker Dr. Tara Wyne from LightHouse Arabia. To summarize Dr. Tara’s talk, Grit is the tendency to sustain interest in and effort towards long-term goals. Primary Grit is a non – cognitive skill. It is shaped by the environment. Research say that grit is a significant predictor of success, more influential than talent or IQ for success.
are related but distinct: Self-control entails aligning actions with any valued goal despite momentarily more-alluring alternatives; grit, in contrast, entails having and working assiduously toward a single challenging superordinate goal. Grit and self- control
4 Psychological Assets of Grit.
Interest ~ Do you enjoy what you do? Practice ~ Do you have the daily discipline to do it better each day? Purpose ~ Do you have the conviction that your work matters?
Hope ~ Do you know you will rise to the occasion? Can you overcome failures? To conclude Dr. Tara provided the following tips to parents for developing grit in children.
Give children exposure to a lot of different things and let an initial interest develop from fun and play. Children can’t be truly gritty and great at things they are not interested in. Interests thrive with a crew of support. Bring in growth mindset in children. Bring in a belief in them that their abilities can be improved through efforts, they can get better and hard work pays off. Encourage them to be willing to take up more challenging tasks and to be more engaged with mistakes than discouraged. Parents should model stepping out of comfort zone. Do not hesitate to share you failures and how you bounced back and chased your goal.
For further reading on grit you can refer to Dr. Angela Duckworth’ book “Grit”.
News from Grade 2 Grade 2 have had a fantastic unit so far exploring light. We have learnt about procedural writing, and used this knowledge follow the scientific method for experiments. We have investigated the way light travels, how shadows are forms, reflection and refraction of light, as well as light as energy. We also loved our field trip to Tee & Putt, where we got to play glow-in-the-dark mini golf as well as watch a cool science show.
We can’t wait to show off our learning at the end of the unit at the Science Fair! Primary
Attitude of Gratitude
Want to see your child happy and satisfied? Instill a sense of gratitude early. It is an art of appreciating what we have, and being satisfied with it. Studies show that gratitude is a very important component of happiness. People with a gratitude mindset are happier and satisfied. They show better levels of self-esteem, optimism and empathy. Primary
Children who show gratitude have a better attitude towards family, school, and life in general. It replaces a sense of entitlement with a sense of interdependence, respect for people and improved relationships. As parents we need to role model gratitude.
Count your blessings in front of children and let them count theirs daily. Try not to shower them with too much ‘stuff’. Say and make them say ‘thank you’ sincerely and often. Ask them to pitch in if they want something. Encourage them to volunteer for good causes. Show and make them show politeness and respect to others. Let them keep a gratitude journal. Play a game of 15 days of gratitude. Everyday pick one thing you are grateful for and talk about it. Make meal time ‘gratitude time’.
Let’s all plant
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News from the HOD-ICT The Hour of Code is a global movement introducing tens of millions of students worldwide to computer science, inspiring kids to learn more, breaking stereotypes, and leaving them feeling empowered. The Hour of Code began as a one-hour coding challenge to give students a fun first introduction to computer science and has become a global learning event, celebration, and awareness event. Primary
This year PARWA took the student led Hour of Code challenge. The session was conducted by Timo Quarz and Faisal Qureshi of Grade 11. The session started with a discussion about what people think coding is and which fields it can be applied to. The parents also created a basic flappy bird game using visual programming. The various possibilities of coding and how it increases logical and critical thinking was discussed in the session. PARWA also offered the students to develop an app for them. We are so proud of our Parent community.
Almas Qureshi Head of Technology(SS) Raffles World Academy
Skyline University STAR Quiz Challenge 2018 Four Students from Grade 8 represented RWA for the Skyline University STAR Quiz Challenge 2018 (SQC). Team RWA was represented Team A- Akshay Ashok and Satva Upadhyay, Team B- Eshanvi Rao and Lara Culcu. Team B represented by Eshanvi and Lara qualified as one of the top 18 scoring teams in the elimination round of the Skyline University STAR Quiz Challenge 2018 (SSQC 2018) – UAE’S Most Prestigious Inter School Quiz Contest held on 25 January 2018 at Sheikh Rashid Auditorium, Indian High School. The Girls went to shoot their TV round and came second in their Quarterfinal round. The show will be aired soon on Star Plus Network. Congratulations to Team RWA for their superb efforts. Primary What is Star Quiz Challenge? The region’s leading TV channel, STAR Plus, from the famed STAR TV network (a 21st Century FOX Company) conducted the 8th Season of the region’s most prestigious inter school quiz contest on TV – Skyline University STAR Quiz Challenge 2018 (SQC). STAR Quiz Challenge have move beyond UAE and have participation from the sharpest quizzing minds from Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar. SQC is an annual quizzing event showcasing the best quizzing talent from schools in an inter-school competition of the best, keenest & brightest students. This year young minds from Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait along with UAE will be quizzed on various topics ranging from sports, music, current affairs, science, technology and general knowledge. Keeping in mind the cosmopolitan and multi-cultural environment of the region, SQC has an international flavor and is conducted in English. SQC 2018 will be an Inter school quiz contest telecast across 9 episodes on STAR Plus & other STAR channels.
Almas Qureshi Mentor- Star Quiz Challenge 2018
“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble ...� The Drama and English department welcome parents and students to an evening of 'Shakespeare Under the Stars' on Monday 5th February at 6pm at RWA. An evening of performances and poetic readings from a variety of Shakespeare's plays under a canopy of stars.
Primary
We encourage our guests to bring cosy blankets and comfortable chairs to sit on to make the most of this unique outdoor experience. Refreshments will be provided. We look forward to seeing you there.
News from the Science Department-Secondary Grade 12 - Physics: Total International Reflection Students in grade 12 HL physics investigated total internal reflection in fiber optics. They used the concept to collect data in order to find the critical angle for a semicircular glass slab.
Primary
Grade 8 Science:
Fizzics E
In grade 8 we are currently studying Electricity and Magnetism, which is always fun because there are so many exciting experiments to do! The students and teachers are exploring static electricity, circuits and magnetism. At present the focus is on planning and designing an experiment. Students have planned two investigations from scratch. 1. To analyse which materials are conductors or insulators. 2. How the thickness of the wire can affect the magnitude of current passing through the circuit. The Approach used by the students to plan an investigation is as follows: 1. Figuring out what question they are trying to answer (Research question)? 2. What do they think will happen based on what they have learnt in class or from their research (Information Literacy)? 3. What are the different variables (dependent, independent and controlled and uncontrolled)? 4. Designing a safe method 5. Conducting the experiment. 6. Gathering data and organizing it in tables. 7. Analysing, interpreting the data that they have collected and drawing conclusions. The emphasis is on team building and collaboration. We feel great studying this topic since everyone has spring fever………. because it’s exciting!
ducation
The emphasis is on team building and collaboration. We feel great studying this topic since everyone has spring fever………. because it’s exciting!
IBDP Chemistry students testing antacids Students in grade 11 chemistry class applied their understanding of changes in pH to investigate effectiveness of different brands of antacids in use. They analysed the effectiveness based on recommended dosage as well as the change in pH. It was exciting to discuss various marketing strategies employed by pharmaceutical companies to promote over the counter medications.
Primary
News from the Sports Department - Secondary School Congratulations to all our cross country runners so Far. We are currently in 9th position out of 30 schools. We are looking to continue our success in the final DASSA round 3 of the league on Tuesday 6th February. January is almost over and the athletics and cross country season is well under way. Trials for both teams will continue until Wednesday 7th February.
Important Dates Team competition dates Should your son/daughter be selected for the squad they will need to attend the following competitions SUNDAY 4TH FEBRUARY - DASSA GIRLS JUMPS TUESDAY 6TH FEBRUARY DASSA ROUND 3 CROSS EVENING - SHARJAH COUNTRY Primary
Tuesday 20th February- DASSA - ATHLETICS SPORTS CITY
Thursday 22nd February IVEI - X COUNTRY
Inter-house Competitions MONDAY 26TH FEBRUARY - GRADE 6+7 BEACH RUN
TUESDAY 27TH FEBRUARY - GRADE 8+ BEACH RUN
THURSDAY 1ST MARCH - SECONDARY SPORTS DAY - 2.30PM FINISH DASSA Boys Football Cup Matches UNDER 16 BOYS VS SHOUEIFAT AWAY KICK OFF 4.15PM MONDAY 29TH
UNDER 19 BOYS VS JESS HOME KICK OFF 4PM SUNDAY 4TH FEBRUARY
UNDER 12 BOYS FOOTBALL AWAITING CONFIRMATION
More photographs on page 14
News from the Sports Department - Secondary School
Primary