SZPAB Newsletter Volume 6.15

The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Boys

SZPAB Community Newsletter Volume 6.15

News and features 2

Autism Awareness 3

World Book Day 5

Report Cards

April 25th, 2021

TABLE OF

contents

APRIL 25TH, 2021

3

Message from the Executive Superintendent

4

Calendar Dates

5

This Week at SZPAB

6

This Week in Early Years

9

This Week in Elementary

13

This Week in Secondary

15

This Week in Learning Support

16

This Week in VPA

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A Message from the executive superintendent

Dear Parents I would like to begin by wishing Ramadan Kareem to all members of our school community.

Welcoming students back for Term 3 has coincided with the beginning of the Holy Month of Ramadan. With school hours reduced until after Eid, it is more important than ever that students remain organised and diligent in their studies, so that they can balance the commitments of school and fasting, if applicable.

At SZPAB we monitor lesson attendance every day. I am pleased to note that lesson attendance remains very high for nearly all students. This is of the utmost importance in ensuring that students maintain their academic progress during the Holy Month.

This week, the school has issued academic reports for Term 2. Parent conferences will be available over the coming weeks, during which the content of the report can be discussed in more detail. The conferences will provide parents with the opportunity to discuss their children’s progress during virtual meetings with teachers. I would like to urge all parents to take advantage of this opportunity. Conversations between teachers and parents always contribute to a better understanding. When the school and parents work together, it is the child that benefits the most. Heads of School will be communicating with parents to explain how appointments can be made.

Thank you, as always, for your patience, support and commitment. Students are always more successful when parents and school work as a team. At SZPAB we are privileged to work with such supportive parents.

Yours in Education Mr John Conway Executive Principal SZPAB

JAN 3RD, 2021

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Calendar Dates April 26th-April 28th: Elementary Progress Meetings. Homeroom teachers will contact parents to schedule appointments.

April 27th: Registration deadline to enrol in higher education institutions in the UAE April 27th: Registration deadline to apply for scholarships to study abroad, under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Education April 29th, from 9am-1pm: Secondary Academic Mentoring May 3rd-5th from 1:15pm-2:15pm: Early Years Parent Conferences. Please contact your homeroom teacher regarding appointments.

May 12th: Eid Al Fitr (TBC) May 22nd: IELTS Test for Grade 11 (TBC) June 6th-10th: Grade 1 MAP testing June 6th-10th: Secondary MAP testing

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This week AT SZPAB Ramadan Timetable Reminder Ramadan Kareem to all our families as we begin to prepare for the Holy Month! Please note, that from the first day of Term 3, students will follow the Ramadan Timetable. This will be available from your classroom teacher, or phase lead.

Timings will be: Student start time: 9.30am Student dismissal time: 1.00pm

2021-2022 Enrolment Re-enrolment for our current students for the 2021-2022 academic year is now open.

Please check your email to complete the re-enrolment form. If you did not receive the link, please email us on registrar@zayedacademyboys.ae

COVID Emergency Response Number Reminder In order to keep our community safe, it is important that you contact us immediately if any student or member of your family contracts COVID. In this event, please call and/or email us at the following: Email: emergency.szpab@zayedacademyboys.ae Mobile: 056-9929433

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This week in Early Years Dear Early Years Parents, In this week’s newsletter, we will discuss Term 2 report cards, parent meetings, and World Book Day. I would like to congratulate all parents on the strong progress their child is making this year. Your child’s Term 2 report card was emailed to you last Sunday.

SZPAB uses a standards-based report card to clearly, fairly, and objectively communicate how your child is doing in school. All teachers, in each grade level, measure student learning against set academic criteria and progress is measured towards end of year standards in the American curriculum. Each standard is broken down into three phases of mastery. Report card grades are based on what students should have learned during the term. All students in Early Years were assessed at the end of Term 2 to measure their progress and attainment.

The purpose of the report is to provide you with information about your child’s progress, attainment, and socialemotional development. The report comments give guidance about how your child can make progress and how you can offer support at home.

The Early Years report card uses the below grading scale:

To support parents, the workshop: “Understanding Your Child’s Early Years Report Card” is available on our SZPAB Early Years Parent Point https://sites.google.com/zayedacademyboys.ae/parentpoint/early-years.

Parent-Teacher Meetings will be scheduled by appointment on May 3rd-May 5th from 1:15-2:15. During these parent meetings, we look forward to discussing your child’s progress and answering any questions your may have.

Yours Sincerely, Honey Tondre Head of Early Years

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This week in Early Years World Book Day Early Years celebrated UNESCO World Book Day last week. Each year, on April 23rd, celebrations take place all over the world to recognise the scope of books - a link between the past and the future, a bridge between generations and across cultures. Students in KG1, KG2, and Grade 1 celebrated by dressing as their favorite storybook characters. Early Years students also enjoyed a read aloud by SZPAB KG2 Teacher and published children’s author, Amanda Abou Samra. Ms. Amanda read students her first children’s book, The Young Pearl Diver, and each classroom received a copy to keep in their classroom library.

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This week in Early Years

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From the elementary principal Dear Parents, The Elementary team would like to wish our families and community Ramadan Kareem for this the Holy Month of Ramadan. Our children and teachers have been celebrating the many aspects of Ramadan and producing videos and pieces of work in classes and lessons.

Here is a selection of their fantastic work.

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From the elementary principal

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This week in elementary Learning About the Human Skeleton in PE This week in PE, students in Grade 1to 3 have learnt about the skeletal system. Students have learnt how the skeleton protects important organs, such as the heart, lungs and brain. They've also learnt how the skeleton helps to keep our shape; allowing us to stand up and move around.

Students have shown their learning by making their own skeleton rib cage to protect the heart and lungs.

Grade 3 Success!

Miss Kyra wanted to congratulate her class for their outstanding effort this week. Her class has now completed 40,000 questions on IXL!

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This week in Elementary Move in March Move in March challenged students in KG1 to Grade 3 to move every day in March.

We had fantastic support for the event. Over the month 395 students participated, and 125 students showed excellent commitment by completed every day.

As a group we completed 4,773 activities in March. Wow! A number of students also showed off their leadership skills by designing their own activity videos for the other students to follow.

Well done to our Move in March leaders: Mariam Mohammed KG1A Saeed Abdulla KG1B Saif Salem KG1C Mansoor Ali KG2B Mubarak KG2B Khalifa Ateeq KG2C Adam 1A Rayan 1A Saeed Khaled 1D Mana 2A Hazza Khaled 3B Hamdan Ahmed 3D Saeed Mohammed 3E Ahmed Mohamed 3E

Congratulations to everyone who joined in Move in March. Hope you all enjoyed the challenge.

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From the SEcondary Principal Dear parents, This term sees our inaugural graduation at SZPAB, the class of 2021.

For many staff this event has been anticipated for over six years. Plans are afoot and students are completing the final steps of their graduation requirements notably; first aid, SATs and EMSAT. Arrangements for graduation are understandably different from what one would hope due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, we are excited to welcome all Grade 12 students to a drive through ceremony at SZPAB in early June.

Grade 8 – 11 have also been submitting their elective requests ready for the 2021 – 22 academic year. This is a fantastic opportunity for students to tailor their curriculum to subject which match their own career aspirations and interests.

SAT Students in Grades 11 and Grade 12 have the final opportunity to take the SAT on Saturday 8th May 2021.

Students should bring a face covering and must also need to remember to practice social distancing at all times.

Students should be prepared to answer questions about their health prior to entering the test center. If they feel sick the day of the test, please advise them to stay home and contact SZPAB for their options. They won’t be charged for a change or cancellation fee if they stay home due to illness. A sick note should be required in this instance.

EMSAT Grade 12 students are vigorously completing their EMSAT assessments in English, math, Physics and Arabic.

The final test of the academic year are below: 29th May 2021 5th June 2021 12th June 2021 Students must register for these and email Mr. Zeyad results one these are received.

Faculty Competition Thorough the year, students participate in a number of faculty competition. These create the opportunity for friendly competition and rivalry between each faculty; red, green and blue. Throughout Ramadan, the Islamic department have created a weekly quiz for students to reflect upon the meaning of the holy month The current leaderboard is as follows: 1st Place: Blue Faculty (900 point) 2nd Place: Yellow Faculty (800 points) 3rd Place: Red Faculty (400 point) Many I take this opportunity to wish all parents, families and teacher Ramadan Kareem Kindest regards, Mr. Paul Dallyn Principal – Secondary

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From the SEcondary Principal Academic Mentoring In order to support and review your child’s academic progress this year we will be holding Academic Mentoring days on Wednesday 28th and Thursday 29th April 2021, from 9.00am – 1.00pm via MS Teams.

Parents are invited to arrange a meeting with your son’s Head of Faculty, Head of Secondary Arabic or myself. The meeting will provide a summary of your child’s academic performance, primarily focusing on term 2 following the release of report cards this week. Your son’s Head of Faculty will discuss general areas of focus and development in order to maximize academic progress and attainment for the remainder of the year.

To submit your request for an Academic Mentoring meeting please complete the following document, selecting your preferred time and date. Once received, the respective member of staff will email you an MS Teams link. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSetLjfIvhSfjdQxl9NyzrjPX4Q3R3gnV4YNY4oHt6ADG3s8w/viewform

To clarify: Head of Red Faculty – Mr. Greg Etheridge Head of Yellow Faculty – Ms. Laura Osman Head of Blue Faculty – Mr. Phil Head of Arabic – Mr. Tammam Principal (Secondary) – Mr. Paul Dallyn

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From the Learning Support Department What is autism?

Autism, or autism spectrum disorder, (ASD) refers to a large range of conditions characterised by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviours, speech and non verbal communication.

Autism Video 1

Homework ideas for working with your child Here are some homework ideas to help you work with your child at home!

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This week in VPA Grade 6 students were creating 10 ways to be a student, using mime and body movements in drama this week.

Students in Grade 4 art created Ramadan cannons last week.

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