SZPAB Newsletter 2022_23 Volume 1

VOLUME 1

SEPTEMBER 2022

SZPAB NEWSLETTER HONORING THE PAST. EDUCATING FOR THE FUTURE.

WELCOME BACK! OUR MISSION The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy aims to honor the past and educate for the future by developing confident, responsible and caring young people of integrity who are well educated and prepared to meet the challenges in an ever-changing world.

OUR VALUES To achieve our mission, we will work to our core values which are: Pursue excellence in all that we do Celebrate achievement and participation of all Appreciate and foster UAE National Identity Cherish the community and the environment Promote Emirati culture and ethical values Promote respect, responsibility, belonging and caring Develop leadership capacity and global citizenship

www.szpag.com

Table of Contents 01

Principal’s Welcome

02

Early Years News

03

Elementary Update

04

Secondary Focus

05

Inclusion Insight

SEPTEMBER 2022

SZPAB NEWSLETTER

VOLUME 1

Principal’s Welcome Dear SZPAB Community, It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to our first newsletter of the new academic year. Each month, our newsletters will celebrate the achievements of our students across the school and share details of upcoming events. It has been absolutely wonderful to see the return of all students back to school and as I walk the school each day, I continue to be so impressed by the enthusiasm and engagement of our students towards their learning.

The first few weeks of the new school year have seen us welcome new students and members of staff. We have also seen the return of assemblies in our Auditorium and this week we have launched our Extra-Curricular Activity (ECA) Program. Your children are incredibly lucky to have so many varied opportunities to take part in clubs and activities to develop their skills, interests and talents at lunchtime and after-school. I would strongly encourage every student to take part in at least one ECA activity to develop their confidence and meet new students. Thank you to Mr. Garry and Mr. Dan, our Co-Curricular and Enrichment Leaders and to every member of staff involved in our ECA Program.

One of the highlights for me so far this term has been the opportunity to meet parents face-to-face at one of our welcome and curriculum events. It has been some time since parents have been able to come into school and I am so pleased that this can now happen. Opportunities for us to meet parents, share our plans and developments and to discuss the achievements of students are incredibly important and I look forward to many such events during the course of the year.

I would like to take this opportunity to invite all parents to join me and members of our leadership for our first monthly Parent Coffee & Tour Event on Tuesday 4th October at 8:00 am. This will be an opportunity to enjoy refreshments with other parents, hear about our future plans and to see our school in action by taking a tour. The dates and times of our Parent Coffee & Tour Events this term are Tuesday 4th October 8:00 am, Tuesday 1st November at 1:30 pm & Tuesday 6th December at 8:00 am. I look forward to meeting many parents at these events.

It has been a very positive and successful start to the new academic year at SZPAB. I have no doubt that the combination of our hard-working and motivated students, highly talented and committed staff and supportive parents will result in another incredibly successful year at SZPAB. Yours sincerely, Neil Matthews Principal

Early Years Newsletter September 2022 Foreword Welcome to an exciting 2022-2023 school year! I am very happy to be writing this first newsletter of the academic year to you as your new Head of Early Childhood. The bubbles have gone, the restrictions are lifting, and it is lovely to start to get back to some semblance of normal.

These past few weeks have mainly been focused on settling your children, getting routines established that will support them throughout the year and getting to understand what your children know, can do and can understand. Most importantly, it is about building the relationships between all the adults in the class and your children and everybody getting to know one another.

Pre-KG - Building our Class

THE THEMES IN OUR EARLY YEARS SCHOOL THIS UNIT ARE:

Community KG1 - All about Me KG2 - People and places of SZPAB Grade 1 - Growing and Changing.

We have also begun to introduce the ‘My Identity Program Values” into our classrooms and for September we are learning to be respectful and what it means to be an SZPAB student.

So, as you can see, lots going on and lots more to come and I am looking forward to sharing these with you in future newsletters. I am also looking forward to meeting you all and working with you at different points of our school year.

Miss Nicola Lavis Head of Early Childhood

Pre-KG The first weeks of Pre-KG are a formative time for the children. We have been working on building a strong classroom community. The children are getting to know the people and places at SZPAB. They are also becoming familiar with the daily schedule and routines. By the end of the first unit of study, they will be wellprepared for an exciting year ahead - one filled with exploration, discovery, creativity, and confidence in their ability to take risks, learn new skills, and make friends along the way. All the children are now excited to be in school and are learning lots!

KG1 It has been a busy and exciting first few weeks in KG1. Our children have all settled into their environments happily and with ease. With happy faces and eager attitudes, we were able to dive right into our learning.

Students are learning that they belong to many communities (home, school, neighborhood, country and The World). Students are beginning to understand that these communities have different rules and customs and that they should be respected and appreciated by all. KG 1 students will explore these different communities and the different roles that people have in them.

We have also explored many other concepts such as phonemic awareness, number sense and our five senses through concrete and hands-on activities. It has been amazing watching our young students come in with such confidence and excitement to learn and we cannot wait to watch them grow.

KG 2 KG2 have had a racing start to Term 1.

Children have focused on routines like listening bodies, carpet rules, and constructive play with peers. We are learning about ways to express ourselves with others as well as using our quiet hands to share ideas. We have so much energy fueled by the healthy snacks we have been bringing to school (thanks Mom’s, Dad’s and nannies). We are ready to dive in to learning more about Community Helpers at SZPAB, what these people look like and how they can help us.

Grade 1 In Grade 1 this term, we have been learning to ask and answer questions, identify characters and settings and order key events from the beginning, middle and end of the story. Students have enjoyed reading stories like ‘Albert Goes to School’ and ‘That’s not fair’ and have been successful ordering the story and talking about the different characters and settings.

In reading, students have been recapping Set 1 phonic sounds and are learning to blend sounds to read words. In writing, we have been concentrating on learning the correct letter formation and beginning to put words together to build a sentence.

Grade 1 In Mathematics, students have been learning to count, recognize, read, and write numbers. They have enjoyed finding missing numbers in a 100 square and finding patterns. Grade 1 has also been learning to name and identify 2d shapes and learning to identify them by looking at the number of sides and corners.

In Social Studies, we have been learning all about our community and what qualities make a good leader.

A message from the head of Elementary Dear Parents and Families Welcome to our first newsletter for the 2022-23 school year. We have been very excited to be back to looking like a real school again after the long period of COVID restrictions. It is great having all our students back in school and also welcoming parents back in the school.

We have many things to share about our first month back. The classroom programs have started very well and our beginning of the year assessments are complete. Teachers are now designing programs to support the students' learning. You will be able to discuss the results of these early assessment with your child's teacher at our Student Led Progress meetings after half term.

Mr. Rhys Flavell Principal of Elementary and Early Years

Grade 2

Here is 2C students working on the Six Bricks Lego.

This logic thinking task challenges students to work together problem solve and create 3D patterns with LEGO bricks.

Grade 2 has been taking full advantage of the re-opening of the library. With a variety of activities happening. This year we have two new Teacher Librarians who are really bringing the library program back to life.

2A students in the library reading independently after selecting their first library books of the year

2D identifying and labeling parts of a book during their Library lesson

Grade 3 This year we are introducing the Singapore Math learning approach which focuses on students gaining deep understanding of mathematical concepts. We will share in our newsletters many of these activities throughout the year.

Ghanem and Hamdan - Grade 3D working as a group to discuss the meaning of key math vocabulary they will be using this term.

More from the library with 3B in our wonderful ‘Reading Cave”identifying main characters, setting and main ideas during a group story in their Library lesson.

Grade 3 This year we are introducing the Singapore Math learning approach which focuses on students gaining deep understanding of mathematical concepts. We will share in our newsletter many of these activities throughout the year.

Grade 3 in the LEGO lab this time using LEGO as a tool to create and tell stories.

Grade 4

Singapore Math strategies have started in Grade 4B with students working together to develop a strong understanding of place value.

Grade 4

Grade 4 have also started their writing program with student learning and memorizing descriptive stories structures and how they are written. Later they will be using the structure to write their own story.

Grade 4

4E - The boys are ready to race their innovative LEGO hopper designs. Looks like some learning by trial and error happening here.

4E - Mohammad and Nahyan collaborating on their LEGO hopper

Grade 4

The first science topic has also begun in Grade Four.

The students are working through practical activities as they learn how the human body works and is adapted to help us survive.

Here is Hamad from 4C explaining how tendons and muscles work to move the bones in the hand.

Grade 4

In Grade 4 they are showing that you don't need LEGO bricks to challenge the thinking of students. Here they are using dried spaghetti to work together to construct the highest tower.

Grade 5 In Grade 5 they are demonstrating that you don't need LEGO bricks to challenge the thinking of students. Here they are using dried spaghetti to work together to construct the highest tower.

5C working on a team building activity

5C - Mohamed and Ahmed with their tower construction

Grade 5 This math lesson is developing the boys concept of large numbers and place value

Khalaf and Ahmed of 5D working on their first lego project of the year

5D students working as a team to decide on the best method of grouping and counting a large unknown number of straws.

Grade 5

Grade 5 boys extended the work done last year and are now playing instruments by reading musical notation.

The Music Drama and Art programs are also underway. We know that there will be many great photos and videos from this department across the year.

Eissa Ali 5D and Zayed Majed 5A playing the tambourine and reading musical notation.

5D boys finding, drawing and identifying musical symbols, using our music literacy wall

Assembly This year has also seen the return of our ‘Elementary Student Led Assemblies’. Every Thursday morning the Grade 5 Leaders run our Elementary Assembly. They organize singing of the National Anthem, introduce speakers and also present the ‘My Identity' and Social & Emotional Literacy Programs which embeds our wellbeing curriculum.

Each month we have a different 'My Identity' theme which we focus on and discuss in assembly. This month, we have looked at respect. We have taken respect and broken it down into what does respect mean to us? How do we show respect at home, school, with our friends etc? Students have discussed and shared what this looks like in our morning assembly. We have taken the theme of respect and challenged our students to choose an idea from our assembly and explore how they can show respect in their daily lives both at school and home. Students have enjoyed sharing their ideas with us and with each other.

Grade 5 class presidents have engaged with all students in assembly by giving them an opportunity to speak out in front of everyone. They have shown leadership skills by being on stage and addressing the assembly confidently, clearly and enthusiastically.

We are very proud of these students for taking on this leadership challenge!

This week's Leaders were: Eissa Ali Al Khori 5A and Ghaith Sultan Al Mazrouei also 5A. Here they are presenting the My Identity value of respect.

Lastly, in each assembly we award the Star of the Week. Teachers identify students who have shown great behavior and learning attitudes.

Here are the winners from the assemblies this month.

Secondary Newsletter

Dear Respected Parents It has been wonderful to welcome back students to the start of a new academic year and it has been a fun-filled start to the year with many activities taking place. We have held our first parental engagement session of the academic year, and it was fantastic to see so many parents either attend in school or online. If you missed the session, you can view the recording by clicking this link: https://youtu.be/YwEnvQ7peRU Vincent Maiella Head of Secondary

Secondary Newsletter

Library lessons are back! Unit 1a has seen the launch of English library lessons utilizing the fantastic facility as an extension to the English curriculum in middle school. Students are taken for a library lesson once a fortnight in line with their timetabled English lessons. The facility offers students the opportunity to read and write independently and access books around the subject content they are currently studying.

Secondary Newsletter

Well-being Wednesdays are also well underway giving students a thought for the week and celebrating success every Wednesday morning during tutor time. Each Wednesday the well-being video link is posted on Schoology for students to reflect and seek any additional support if required from pastoral leaders, Student Counsellors or our well-being lead coordinator Ms. Tyler. On Friday 7th October, all secondary students will have the opportunity to be part of our first well-being timetabled lessons and activities. Students will have both theory and practical sessions to support mindfulness and focus entirely on how important this is for success in school and at home.

DEAR time (Drop Everything and Read) has been successfully followed every Friday for both high school and middle school students where reading has been modelled by tutors and students are given the opportunity to read every week to support literacy across the school. Library ECA sessions have also been offered to support extended reading opportunities.

Secondary Newsletter

We are also happy to announce the opportunity for all students to take part in the internationally renowned Olympiad exams in Science, Math, English and Computer Science. To register you will need to visit: www.olympiads.org

Our College and Careers department has started guiding our grade 12 students through 1:1 meetings looking at the requirements for graduation. We have also started supporting the EMSAT registration process on the EMSAT portal for Grade 12 students with the expectation that this should be completed by the middle of September 2022. This process will enable students to book their exams which are required for graduation from school, equivalency from the MoE and to apply to local universities.

Secondary Newsletter

As part of the duty of the Student Council and the Student Red Crescent Committee at the Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Boys, we plan at the beginning of each year to work on a gathering to welcome new employees in all departments of the school.

‫‪Secondary Newsletter‬‬

‫اليوم الوطني السعودي ال‪92‬‬ ‫في إطار تعزيز العالقات األخوية والمشاعر الصادقة بين دولة اإلمارات العربية المّتحدة‬ ‫والمملكة العربية السعودية‪ ،‬وتعبيًرا عن عمق المشاعر األخوية التي تجمع بين البلدين‬ ‫والشعبين الشقيقين‪ ،‬قام طلبة أكاديمية الشيخ زايد بمشاركة الشعب السعودي في فرحتهم‬ ‫باليوم الوطني الثاني والتسعين من خالل أنشطة صفية مختلفة‪ ،‬متمنين لهم دوام االزدهار‬ ‫ورغد العيش‪.‬‬

‫‪Secondary Newsletter‬‬

‫برنامج "عربي"‬ ‫لتعزيز مهارات اللغة العربية‬ ‫تحت رعاية سمو الشيخة فاطمة بنت حمدان بن زايد آل نهيان‪ ،‬تطلق أكاديمية الشيخ زايد‬ ‫الخاصة برنامج "عربي" مع بداية العام الدراسي ‪ ،2023-2022‬وذلك ضمن اهتمام القيادة‬ ‫الحكيمة في دولة اإلمارات العربية المّتحدة للحفاظ عىل اللغة العربية والنهوض بها وتعزيزها‬ ‫لدى الطلبة‬

‫حيث يسعى برنامج "عربي" في األكاديمية لدعم مادة اللغة العربية في الصفوف من الروضة‬ ‫األوىل وحّتى الصف الثاني عشر ضمن البرنامج الدراسي‪ ،‬وذلك لتعزيز مهارات الطلبة‬ ‫وتمكينهم من االعتزاز باللغة العربية‪ ،‬واكتساب القدرات والثقة التي ستمّكنهم من‬ ‫استخدامها في حياتهم اليومية‪.‬‬ ‫حيث تم إعداد البرنامج وفق دراسات شملت أفضل الممارسات واألبحاث في مجال تعزيز‬ ‫اللغة العربية عىل المستوى المحلي والعالمي‪.‬‬ ‫وبدأ المعلمون خالل هذه الفترة بعمل االختبارات التشخيصية للطلبة‪ ،‬للوقوف عىل مواطن‬ ‫القّو ة ومواطن الضعف في مهارات اللغة العربية‪.‬‬

Inclusion Edel Hello, my name is Ms. Edel, and I come from Ireland. I have taught for four years, two of which were in the UAE. This is my first year working at The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Boys, and I look forward to a great year in my new role as a Learning Support Teacher for Early Years. I am also extremely excited to welcome the children back to school and help make their educational experience as exciting and memorable as possible. I look forward to the year ahead and working with the incredible community of pupils, teachers, and parents at The Sheikh Zayed Academy for Boys.

Lee Hi, my name is Miss Lee and this is my first year both in the UAE, and at The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Boys. I am originally from the UK and this is my fourth year teaching students of determination. I am looking forward to working within the Inclusion Department as a Learning Support Teacher for Early Years, and welcoming back all the incredible students. I will be working closely with the children in Early Years and I feel passionately about instilling within them a love of learning and celebrating our school.

Ashley Hello, my name is Ms. Ashley, and will serve as the Early Years and Elementary Inclusion Leader, supporting a team of highly trained and specialized learning support teachers. I will also work with students in Grade 2 and some students in Grade 3 and 4. I have been teaching for 18 years, and nine years have been here in Abu Dhabi. My love for children and the desire to help them navigate educational and emotional challenges while feeling accepted and understood is the reason I became a teacher. I believe in providing children with multi-sensory learning opportunities, and I strive to support students in fun and engaging ways. I am delighted to see so many faces back on the school campus, and it has been nice meeting so many new and returning parents this year. I look forward to ongoing collaborations as we support our students in their learning journey this year and beyond.

Meaghan Hello, my name is Miss Meaghan, and I am one of the Learning Support teachers for Grade 3 and 4 this year. I am originally from Arizona, where I taught for 8 years before teaching in Spain for another 2 years. This is now my seventh year working at The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Boys, and I am excited to get to know all the students I will be working with this year. I look forward to a great year helping the students progress so they can feel successful and confident in their learning.

Inclusion Floren My name is Ms Floren. This is my 2nd year working at The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Boys. I am working as an Inclusion Assistant in Grade 3, 4, and 5. It is my pleasure to work here, and I am excited to share my knowledge and learning. Welcome back, and I hope that this will be a great year seeing everybody face to face and I am looking forward to working with you all.

Jean Hello, my name is Jean. I have been a member of The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Boys since 2016 and am assigned across different grade levels. Luckily this year, I am working as an Inclusion Assistant. I am very excited to be part of this new role where i can apply my specialization. I am looking forward to a successful and meaningful year which will help me grow more in my career.

David I am Mr. David, and I have been a teacher for about 20 years. I have taught students of determination as well as mainstream across all stages of Elementary. I am really excited to be at The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Boys, and it has been great to meet so many friendly and engaging students so far. I look forward to enabling progress and contributing to the caring community that I have found here.

Anthony My name is Mr Anthony. It is my 3rd year at The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Boys and I’m excited to begin the new school year. I have had experience as a teacher working across all ages within students of determination and mainstream. Currently I am an Inclusion teacher in Secondary and have been supporting the digital implementation across the department. I am looking forward to ensuring that our environment encourages academic success, overcome barriers to learning in a safe and stimulating environment.

Inclusion Baraa I am Miss Baraa and I am a Learning Support Teacher in middle and high school. This is my 8th year here in SZPAB and I am excited to start this academic year and to meet everyone.

I will be working with our students and making sure they are successful and ready to learn.

I will be with the students in and outside the class to provide the best environment that suits them. Welcome back everyone and can’t wait to see you all face to face in school.

Amall Hi, My name is AmalI and I am a Learning Support Teacher in Middle and High school. I was very happy to join The Sheikh Zayed Academy family last year and I am very excited to work with the Learning Support team. My wisdom is always in life, never lose hope no matter what happens, make hope your companion wherever you are. I wish you a full year of achievements and hope. Welcome back everyone and I can’t wait to work with you again this year.

Aine Welcome back to school everybody! My name is Miss Áine, and I am the Head of Inclusion.

I also teach students in Middle and High School. I am so excited to welcome everyone back face to face. We are ready to help you with everything you need to be successful at SZPAB. We will be in your classes and working with you in our classrooms too. Make sure to stop and ask us for help if you need it. Well done on an amazing September!

Pamela Hi, my name is Pamela and I am very excited to work with the Sheikh Zayed Academy Family. I have already met so many new and friendly faces and am really looking forward to working here. I will be working both in and out of classrooms. It is fantastic to see everyone back at school again after such a long time away. I hope you all have a really positive and exciting year ahead. Please say hello if you see me pass by!

PLEASE CONTACT US

zayedacademyboys@zayedacademyboys.ae

02-203-3333

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@SZPABOYS

The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Boys

@zayedacademyboys