Celebrating Outstanding Academic AchievementMAP Awards Assembly

The Elementary Team took a moment to celebrate the incredible attainment of students in their Measure of Progress (MAP) exams in Term 1 Our outstanding students are meeting attainment levels that are higher than the average native English speaker around the World Students were celebrated for their high scores in English Reading, English Language, Math and Science.

Map image 1 shows Mr Neil congratulating students and parents on their achievement and support.

Map image 2 shows students who received the highest overall score for each grade (from left to right) Mayed Jassim Al Hammadi 2A, Ahmed Mohammed Al Nasri 3C, Hamad Khaled Al Naqbi 4C The student with the highest scores across all exams was Hazza Khaled AlMheiri in 5B, with an overall combined RIT score of 869.

Dear Parents,

It has been an excellent start to Unit 2 with students returning from the Winter break demonstrating an excellent attitude to their studies. It has also been fantastic to see so many parents attend our Student Progress Meetings and coffee mornings

Our grade 12 students are now starting to receive university offers, so I would like to congratulate Mohamed Hasan Al Zaabi in Grade 12 who has received an offer to study at Michigan State University in the USA. I would also like to congratulate Khalifa Ahmed Al Rumaithi in Grade 12 who has received an offer to study at UMASS Boston also in the USA. The school expects to receive more international offers in the coming months We will announce gradually as offers are received

Our students have started applying to the UAE Federal universities and scholarships, in addition to completing the Military service form which is mandatory for graduation. We encourage each student in Grade 12 to start completing the form as soon as possible.

At the start of unit 2, I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak to our Grade 12 students about their graduation requirements and it has been excellent to see the positive steps our grade 12 students have taken since this lecture

Our secondary students have been involved in many sporting activities during unit 2 already, with our volleyball and football teams playing against other schools On Saturday 14th January we entered our U12, U14 and U16 football teams into the BSAK 7s tournament at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium. Our boys were fantastic and represented the school brilliantly.

Within our teaching and learning, the focus for this unit is to develop student higher-order thinking skills through questioning and extension activities in lessons. We have also had several Prefect applications from our G11 and G12 students and interviews for these positions will take place shortly The role of Prefect is an important one and, if chosen, students will be accepting a position of considerable responsibility. It is also a very exciting one and will give the opportunity to develop leadership skills and have significant influence on the daily life of the school.

Mr Vincent Maiella Head of Secondary

Upcoming, some of the activities still to take place in January include our ECAs starting on Tuesday 24th January and our Wellbeing afternoon on the 27th January that will be focused on developing student selfconfidence

Our G9 students also had the opportunity to visit the Emirates Park Zoo and the National Aquarium to apply their learning to the real world. Please see below an overview of the trip as written by Mohamed Ahmed Al Mansoori 9R1.

“The trip we had on the Grade 9 Ecology and Conservation course was an amazing experience.

Last term, we were studying the African Savannah and its prey and predatory relationships, and the trip helped with this analysis. The zoo that we visited was the biodiverse Emirates Park Zoo that is full of many diverse animal species from monkeys to hyenas. This trip helped us with studying ecology, for it has shown us the animals that we will do an analysis of and learn about during class

Now in this new term, we are learning about coral reef ecosystems. We have visited the National Aquarium Abu Dhabi, where we have seen real bioluminescent coral shining behind glass This is the fifth biggest coral reef tank in the world and is the biggest in the UAE. The aquarium tour has also included a behind the scenes visit where we have seen how the staff help and grow sea animals to return to the beach

In conclusion, these trips have helped ecology students learn about animals, how they act in the wild and how important they are in today’s life. I have to thank Ms. Eleanor for allowing us to go on these trips so we can have a more hands-on study style.”

Written by - Mohamed Ahmed Al Mansoori 9R1