SZPAG February newsletter - English

HONORING THE PAST EDUCATING FOR THE FUTURE

SZPAG NEWSLETTER

February, 2023 volume 5

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

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

Principle's Letter

Dear parents

We were delighted to welcome some very special guests to our school last week as we celebrated becoming an Apple Distinguished School. This recognition is a testament to our school’s unwavering commitment to providing our students with the best possible education and preparing them for success in the digital age. Our collaboration with Apple has been an essential part of our journey, and we are proud to have Apple technology integrated into our classrooms. Through the use of iPads and a range of Apple apps, we have created a learning environment that is engaging, interactive, and personalized. Our students can access educational content at their fingertips and engage with their peers and teachers in new and exciting ways.

We are thrilled to have been recognized as an Apple Distinguished School, as it reflects our commitment to excellence and innovation in education. This recognition is not only an honor for our school but also a testament to the hard work and dedication of our students and staff who have embraced technology as a tool for improving learning outcomes. We believe that by leveraging Apple technology, we can continue to innovate and provide our students with the best possible education, equipping them with the skills they need to succeed in an ever-changing world. We firmly believe that by incorporating digital innovation into education, we can create a learning environment that is both rich and effective.

Technology is constantly evolving, and we have a responsibility to ensure our students are digitally agile. We use technology to personalize learning experiences for students, tailoring instruction to their unique learning styles and abilities. Our school encourages our students to be creators, not just consumers, of technology, and to use it to express themselves and solve real-world problems. Its use allows students to work together on projects, share ideas, and communicate with their teachers and peers. Through these systems, teachers are also able to monitor student progress and provide immediate feedback, which enables students to better understand their strengths and areas of improvement.

We are also proud to be a mainly paperless secondary school. Our students no longer need to carry heavy backpacks filled with textbooks and notebooks. Instead, they can access all of their course materials and assignments through our online learning platforms.

I would like to publicly thank Apple for attending our event and for their ongoing partnership with our school. We are proud of the work we have accomplished thus far, but we also know that there is still much more to be done. We will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible and seek out new ways to integrate technology into our teaching and learning practices. Let's celebrate this achievement together and look forward to the future with excitement and enthusiasm.

Yours in education

Carolyn Bailey Principal

Early Childhood

The last few weeks have flown by and we hope you enjoyed the perfect weather during the mid-term break.

Sports Day Awards

After sports day, Miss Marian chose a child from each class who tried their very best on sports day and they received a certificate from her

Little Red Riding Hood

The children were treated to a performance of Red Riding Hood They really enjoyed the opportunity to visit the theater and watch a performance live. The children were so excited and mesmerized by the performance

Phonics workshop

Thank you to all of the parents who attended our phonics workshop We are so pleased that you found it so informative

CIS NEASC Accreditation

We were very proud of our ambassadors who took our visitors on a tour of Early Childhood. They were so very confident.

Early Childhood

100 Days Celebration in Grade 1

The children and staff in Grade 1 celebrated 100 days in school by coming to school dressed as very old people. Thank you to all of you for thinking carefully about your child’s outfit and the additional props! We could not believe how authentic the children looked

International Food Day in KG2

Thank you to all our KG2 parents who sent in food for our International Food Day. The children had a fantastic time trying food from around the world and developing their palates

Carwash in Pre KG

The teachers in Pre KG drove off for the midterm break in very clean cars As part of their curriculum, the children had plenty of fun playing with water and washing the cars. This opportunity gave the children an authentic experience of how to use water and completed the unit The Unit Topic was ‘On the Move’, where children learnt about the community, wheels, and movement

Phonics Day in KG2

Learning their sounds is so important and helps to underpin reading The children in KG1 are always so enthusiastic about the phonics. The children and staff in KG1 had great fun dressing up as their favorite letter sound

February has been a month of visits and visitors Trips have taken place across Abu Dhabi and the Elementary school has been visited by parents and a travelling theatre company Enriching the curriculum and linking learning to real-life, provides a real focus to learning in class The children sharing and articulating their learning to parents strengthens the home school partnership, and deepens the understanding of what and how the children are learning in school. Thank you, parents, for all your support with attending our Parent in Partnership events when you are able to.

Miss Nicola Head of Elementary

Charity Day

On Friday, February 24th, students, and mothers joined us for Charity Day to raise money to support families affected by the recent devastating earthquakes in Syria and Turkey. Students participated in a variety of games and activities that were organized by secondary students, specialist teachers, and mothers Thank you all for your generosity and donations

Grade 4 Field Trip

This month Grade 4 visited the Louvre, “Treasures of the UAE” exhibit. This exhibit linked to Grade 4’s theme this term, “Honoring the Past, Building the Future.” Each Grade 4 class had their own tour guide who took them through the exhibit, answered any questions students had, and gave them lots of ideas for future research projects. Students enjoyed this exhibit, learning more about the UAE’s past, and they loved being able to experience the beautiful Louvre Abu Dhabi

Little Red Riding Hood Theatre Performance

Presenting shows in the gulf region since 2007, SZPAG welcomed back the wonderful S4K International Theater Company with their production of Little Red Riding Hood. Our students were wowed by the pop-up theater’s musical comedy, who brought their own scenery, costumes, lights, sounds, music, and actors Students enjoyed cheering for “Little Red” and “Sheldon the Sheep” on their way through the woods, as well as booing “The Big Bad Wolf” It was clear the students loved the show by the volume of applause at the end of each performance! We hope to invite S4K back in the near future

Elementary Math Fair – A Parents in Partnership Event

We were excited to welcome so many parents and students to our Elementary Math Fair Event. Students were able to learn and play new games with their families that help to develop their math skills. The games were designed and created so that they can be played at home and in school with just a few resources. The students were excited to share games with their families and demonstrated they were autonomous learners as they picked games that helped them work towards their mathematical goals. In case you missed it, here is the website link so you can play at home too!

https://sites.google.com/zayedacademy.ae/szpagmathfair/home?authuser=0

Grade 5 Open Classrooms

Grade 5 loved the opportunity to showcase their amazing math skills, especially to their parents. During our open morning the students had the chance to teach their parents new methods. They taught them everything from multiplication to long division. They cracked the secret code while solving order of operation problems and planned a party adding, subtracting and multiplying decimals It was a lot of fun!

Grade 3 Field Trip

Grade 3 students had a fantastic trip to Manarat Saadiyat. They learned how to create a mobile showcasing extreme weather. They also learned how to draw their surroundings in the garden area. Shamma Mohamed from 3A said, “This was such a fun trip! I loved that we got to create lots of different things!”

Secondary Grade 7 Reading Fair

On Friday, February 3rd we had a wonderful, creative event to promote a love of reading and promote literacy in our school.

All the students in Grade 7 have been working hard on their reading fair projects since November of 2022. They chose their books, read them carefully, and analyzed them in detail following the steps on the task sheet. On the morning of the reading fair, the gym was filled with excited students finalizing their displays and preparing their presentations. As the G12 students and teachers walked around the gym judging each presentation, they were so impressed with the diversity of literature on display and the high standard of speaking and listening skills that our G7 girls showed. As the proud parents entered the gym it was evident what a fantastic community we have here at SZPAG We would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to all the students, staff, and family members who helped to make the G7 Reading Fair such a great success. We are looking forward to next year’s event already!

Sports Days

The last two weeks of school at SZPAG were action-packed. Multiple Sports Days were run for different grades to ensure students received the opportunity to participate in as many games and activities as possible.

In the week just before half term, we held the Secondary Sports Days. The excitement was unmatched. Students were involved in childhood games outside for the first half, competing against each other in sack races, water balloon toss, and team relay races. After lunch, we had inter-homeroom competitions. Students competed against their peers in dodgeball, basketball, and, ever the favorite, tug-of-war. All in all, it was a highly successful event, enjoyed by students and staff alike

Grade 8 Poetry Slam

Grade 8 students performed their own poems written in English class to an audience of their peers and High School students in the Theatre this month. They performed in front of videos and animations they had created as part of their class assignment. Performing was voluntary for students and we were all amazed by the standard of their performances. They were very emotive, and teachers and students alike were incredibly impressed. There were four categories for students to win, and we had a range of winners from various classes, all of whom received certificates and awards.

Reward Events and Senior Sunset

Secondary Reward Events took place in the week before half term, and this time our theme was ‘Cookout Karaoke’. Students enjoyed time with their friends, playing games and eating food! They then sang their hearts out in the Theatre to a range of Disney singalong songs. Our Seniors had an extended version of this event which they enjoyed very much! Students had a great evening with their friends. Over 90% of students qualified to attend the events, which illustrates how seriously they are taking admission to Reward Events each half term. We are very proud of our students who are committed to working hard, submitting all of their work, and behaving well throughout the day in order to achieve these Rewards each half term. Let’s keep it up!

ePraise Milestone Awards

Students achieve Milestone Certificates for achieving over a certain number of points on ePraise Already, we have 80 students who have received a Ruby Head of School Award and pin for receiving over 300 ePraise points. Even more impressively, 8 students have received an Emerald Principal’s Award for receiving over 500 points on ePraise this year. Last year, only two students managed to achieve this Milestone in the whole year, so to see 8 students achieving it halfway through the year is even more impressive. Well done to the Principal’s Award Winners so far, they are:

Shahd El Tayeb

Lana Nedal Nazzal

Shamma Khaled Shami

Roaa Mohammed Ahmed

Roudha Ali Al Khoori

Sara Rabie Al Maaz

Meera Rashid AlRomaithi

Sharifa Saif Qaddora

Charity Day

As always, Secondary students worked hard to create stalls for Charity Day to raise Monday for Red Crescent’s ‘Bridges of Giving’ Campaign. Students had lots of different creative stalls and games to play to raise money for charity They created posters and activities in their homerooms in a bid to raise the most money. Again, it was a wonderful day of fun and generosity, and we would like to say a huge thanks to all of our students for making such an effort and to our parents for supporting the event and giving so generously.

Coming up!

After a great start to 2023, we are looking forward to a busy March! Coming up, we have:; World Book Week fun; Grade 10 and 11 Career Day; a STEM Fair for Middle School; Pi Week in the Math department; Reward Events for Term 2; Soaring Falcons Awards for Term 2; Senior Events to mark the upcoming end of their school journey; University Visits for Seniors; PSAT10 and the first full digital SAT session for Juniors and Seniors; AP Term 2 Exams and Arabic subject end of term exams. I’m sure at the end of all of this, we will be very much looking forward to Spring Break! Thank you, as always, for your kind support and partnership with the Secondary School

Lyndsey Bryden, Head of Secondary

Arabic Language Department

Dear parents

The second term was full of many distinguished achievements of our students, and these achievements varied with the variety of events we celebrate in our school, such as the International Mother Language Day, and the Isra’ and Mi’raj (the Prophet’s Night Journey). In addition, we had many meetings with our dear parents who visited us on several occasions to have a look at the activities our students enjoyed in the elementary school. Parents also had the opportunity of playing and enjoying educational games with their children, and all these activities showed the passion and love of our students for the Arabic language.

In this issue, we present to you part of these activities.

Jacky Boulos Head of Arabic

Open Day for Parents of Students in Grades 1-5

We are always working to enhance the cooperation between home and school, and we consider parents as partners in the educational and social upbringing of our children Therefore, it was essential to invite them to our Open Day which was held in the Early Childhood Department (Grade 1), to participate in educational activities with their children and to introduce them to what the school day

is all about.

The presence of many parents was a wonderful thing to see, as they learned about what their children are learning in the basics of reading and writing, and shared exciting and interesting puzzles with them. We thank those who contributed with us in making this day a success, and we are looking forward to many more future meetings like this.

Parents play an integral role in supporting their children through their cooperation and communication with the school, in a way that guarantees the expansion of their participation in the educational process which will ultimately benefit the students. The school, along with the home, contribute to the success of the educational process in a way that guarantees the success of students, and this can only be achieved through strengthening the ties between both parties. Thus, the Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls organized the Open Day Event. We were honored to have parents of students in grades 2-5 participate with their daughters in fun and interesting educational activities and see what they had accomplished during the second term.

100 Days of School

Celebrating 100 days of School with grade 1 students was an opportunity to stimulate creativity and innovation, as they were able to create artistic projects, designs, and interactive activities to share with their classmates. They were also encouraged to think differently and learn in a fun and different way.

Arabic Department

“Arabi” Program

Learning the Arabic language at a young age is easy for children as it can be engraved in their memory and learning the Arabic language with its broad areas is one of our top priorities in the Early Childhood Department, where language topics are presented through several activities and events that encourage our students to read, write, and talk. Through comparison, classification, and matching, our students are able to master the topics presented to them. The “Arabi” Program is based on enhancing all the Arabic language skills, and we constantly strive to provide everything that meets the levels and needs of our students so that they can be proficient students who are proud of their mother tongue.

Applying Technology through Using the Green Screen

Being an Apple Distinguished School, we use various strategies in Arabic language classes in which students feel independent and are the main focus of the educational process, including the use of the green screen, and linking it to Arabic lessons and learning outcomes.

Little Writer in the Big Book Competition

The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls participated in the "Little Writer in the Big Book" Competition - in its 10th edition - which was launched by the Department of Culture and Tourism Our students, Hind Saeed Abdullah, in grade 11, and Wadha Muhammad Al Qubaisi, in grade 8, won the competition. This year, the competition focused on (Expo 2020), which was hosted by the UAE, as it aimed to encourage participants to document their personal experiences through their visit to the exhibition. Dar Al Kutub (UAE Public Library and Cultural Center) will work to print the winning stories in a large unified book, as an investment in these young talents who play an important role in raising the awareness of those in the same age group. We wish all students success in the coming years

The Launch of Season Seven of the Arab Reading Challenge/ 2023

1,250 students from SZPAG have registered in the Arab Reading Challenge website. The first stage of the challenge starts with participating students receiving the first stage red passport which contains 10 reading visas of 10 pages. Students read the book and summarize it in one page to obtain a reading visa. After completing ten books and summarizing them in ten pages, they will have completed the first stage, and will move on to the second stage, which is the green passport stage.

Important Dates in the Arab Reading Challenge:

Registration in the Arab Reading Competition closes on 23/4/2023

April (4-2023) First qualifiers at the level of public school

May (5-2023) Second qualifiers at the level of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (public and private schools) May and June (5/6-2023) the third qualifiers at the level of the UAE (public and private schools)

June (6-2023) Final qualifiers at the level of the UAE.

July (7-2023) Closing ceremony to announce the UAE Reading Champion.

Criteria:

The book should be in Arabic.

It should be a cultural book that can add up to the reader's knowledge of culture (art, literature, science, general culture, history, politics, story, or novel...).

It should be at the level of the student’s grade/stage in terms of subject matter and number of pages (i.e. the pages of the book should be more than 30 pages for grades 6-9, and more than 50 pages for students in grade 10 and above).

Towards a Sustainable World

In line with the Year of Sustainability 2023, students’ projects were linked to reality, as all the projects focused on the 17 Sustainability Goals which highlights Abu Dhabi’s vision towards sustainability

Poetry Night

As part of enhancing the Arabic language and preserving our authentic Arab poetic heritage, the Arabic Language Department in the secondary building launched a poetry competition of memorization and recitation for students in grades 6-12 In addition, a poetry exhibition was organized, and it included many pieces by poets from the pre-Islamic era until the modern era. This event was attended by parents who participated with our students in this beautiful poetic event

The International Mother Language Day

The Sheikh Zayed Academy for Girls celebrated the International Mother Language Day, which falls on February 21st of each year, to promote cultural awareness and the spirit of loyalty and belonging to the Arabic language and to preserve it Many activities have been organized to emphasize the importance of the Arabic language and the country’s pride in it.

Islamic Education Department

The Quran Memorization Competition – Season 3

The Islamic Education Department teachers began to recite the surahs scheduled for the Qur’an Competition, in order to move to the final qualifiers and announce the winners, which will be during the holy month of Ramadan.

Isra’ and Mi’raj (the Prophet’s Night Journey)

The Islamic Education Department celebrated the Isra’ and Mi’raj with elementary students in grades 1-5. The story of the Isra’ and Mi’raj was presented to them. We explained the miracle of this journey, and some activities were also organized on this occasion.

Implementation of the Collaborative Work Strategy

Grade 7 students researched the connotations of Surat Al-Rahman through the application of collaborative work, and they presented it on Canvas program.

Applying the Skill of Designing a Mind Map

Grade 6 students learned about Imam Malik bin Anas. They researched this character, designed a mind map, and presented it to their classmates. This was done with the aim of enhancing students' independence in the educational process.

Social Studies Department

Social Studies Department Exhibition

The Social Studies Department organized an event entitled "Social Studies Department Exhibition" which includes presenting the projects and work done by students in grades 6-9 during the first and second terms.

This exhibition is an important part of the education process, an appreciation of the students' efforts in preparing projects, an inspiring and exciting experience for them, and an opportunity to introduce their work and be proud of their achievements.

From the Digital Team

Apple Distinguished school (ADS)

On Wednesday 22nd Feb we were visited by representatives from Apple to formally award us with our Apple Distinguished schools status. Our guests were treated to an array of presentations from our students to show how SZPAG have embraced technology and are now confident users of digital tools in our learning. Our students from KG- Gr12 presented with confidence and were ambassadors of digital agility.

Green Screen

The EC building now has its own Green Screen and our students are very able in creating their own movies with the help of the backgrounds provided by the green screen Ms Rana is continually looking at how we can try new things and enhance our learning and understanding. Teachers from both EC and Elementary have been trained in how to use this and it becomes yet another digital tool to enhance our students learning experiences.

From the Inclusion Department

Talk 4 Writing is a great way to help children who struggle with learning

Talk for Writing (T4W) is a unique approach to teaching writing that has proven to be particularly effective for children on our inclusion register and who require additional support. T4W involves three stages: imitation, innovation, and invention. This approach has been widely used in schools across the world to enhance children's storytelling and writing skills. T4W helps to bring stories alive for Inclusion children.

Often our Inclusion students face challenges in communication, language, and processing information, which can make it problematic for them to understand and express their ideas effectively. Talk for Writing is an approach that is particularly beneficial for these children because it allows them to explore and express their thoughts and ideas through a creative and structured process

In addition to the three stages, T4W also includes a range of activities that can help to bring stories alive for children. These activities include drama, role-play, drawing, and other creative techniques. By engaging in these activities, our inclusion students can explore the story in a more interactive and dynamic way. They can also develop their social and emotional skills through collaborating with their peers.

Encourage your child to talk to you about their Talk for Writing work and help them in coming up with actions to represent words. Model having fun with creating stories. Use ‘speech to text’ for them to begin to create their own stories, particularly as innovators and then inventors