The Wave Sept 2017

Inspiration

Integrity

Achievement

Saudi National Day at TKS

Saudi National Day is celebrated with folklore dances, songs, and traditional festivals. It's a national celebration that occurs on September 23 to honor the establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by King Abdelaziz in 1932. The KAUST School celebrated Saudi National Day in many different ways across all Divisions; Kindergarten, Elementary, and Secondary by showcasing the Kingdom’s history, regions, food, clothes, and Saudi culture. Tents were set up in the foyers as photo booths, students dressed up in traditional Saudi clothes and took part in traditional dances, fashion shows and more ďŹ lled the spaces of TKS. It was a festive day full of fun and culturally informative events. For more photos see inside.

by Alanaud Al Jammal, Elementary Teacher

Photograph by: Eshan Wells, G11 student

September 28, 2017

From the Director We are delighted to introduce you to your 2017/18 Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) Kindergarten division Kathy Farrell Dillon Fritz Caroline Knowle Nervana Prema Mani Sarathy Genevieve Staats Najwan Zain Al-Abdin

Elementary division Ahmed Althagafi Erica du Toit Aamir Farooq Cherine Fayed Romi Nayef Omar Al-Omar Julie Tannaci

Secondary division Hani Ashqar Sandra Katakalea Niveen Khachab Dr Rami Khayat Ute Langner Marleen Stuyck Brian Ross

The PAC had its first meeting on September 20. This initial meeting allowed for members to meet the TKS Leadership team and listen to a brief overview of the strategic plan put in place for the next few years.

During the meeting members were asked to volunteer for the TKS Calendar Committee to give input on the school calendar for the 2018/19 school year. Since then this committee has met twice and the final calendar, once endorsed by the Board of Education, will be shared with you shortly.

Significantly, it was announced that for the first time in our school’s history, a PAC member has been invited to serve as a Parent Board Member on the TKS Board of Education for the 2017/18 school year. A number of PAC members were willing to put their names forward and we are pleased to advise you that Erica du Toit has been appointed for this new and valuable role. Erica, who has a son in G2, serves on the PAC as a GES member.

Should you wish to make contact with your PAC you may do so through the TKS website: http://tks.kaust.edu.sa/Contact-the-PAC

PAC for Kindergarten

Back Row (L-R): Jessica Dalton KG Associate Principal, Kathy Farrell, Genevieve Staats, Justin Somerville KG Principal Front Row (L-R): Mani Sarathy, Nervana Prema, Najwan Zain Al-Abdin, Dillon Fritz Not present: Caroline Knowles

PAC for Elementary

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Back Row (L-R): Jeff Woodcock - Elementary Principal, Aamir Farooq, Erica du Toit, Romi Nayef Front Row (L-R): Julie Tannaci, Chye de Ryckel - Elementary Associate Principal, Omar Al-Omar. Not present: Cherine Fayad, Ahmed AlthagaďŹ

PAC for Secondary Caring

Back Row (L-R): Hani Ashqar, Marleen Stuyck, Dr Rami Khayat, David Tigchelaar - Secondary Principal Front Row (L-R):Sandra Katakalea, Ute Langner, Brian Ross, Dwane Harris - Secondary Associate Principal, Niveen Khachab

from Justin Somerville, KG Principal Dear Parents, The beginning of any school year is always a time of building relationships and establishing a culture for learning in the classroom. Children who develop warm, positive relationships with teachers are more excited about learning, more positive about coming to school, more self-confident, and achieve more in the classroom and in life.

We know that emotional well-being and social competence provide a strong foundation for emerging cognitive abilities, and together they are the bricks and mortar that comprise the foundation of human development (National Scientific Council on the Developing child, 2007). Research informs us that children who are socially competent and understand appropriate behavior will show ability to adjust to new situations, demonstrate trust in adults, recognize their own feelings and manage them appropriately, share and respect the rights of others, use thinking skills to solve conflict, and recognize the feelings of others and respond appropriately.

At the Kindergarten, all staff are committed to supporting your child’s development of social competence. You can also support this in the following ways: engage in interactions that are consistently caring, respectful, and responsive to children’s feelings; comfort, reassure, and support children in a calm, considered, and unhurried environment; actively listen to children’s ideas and encourage them to express their feelings in a multitude of ways; and encourage independence by providing opportunities for children to lead and take responsibility.

I encourage you to take the opportunity during Parent Teacher Conferences this week to discuss your child’s social development.

Justin Somerville KG Principal

PARTNERSS FOR

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Teachers

Do you have a topic you would like covered at Partners for Learning?

Email your topic to: kathleen.hoffman@kaust.edu.sa

Saudi National Day Celebrations: KG

Kindergarten celebrated the 87th Saudi National Day with enthusiasm and fervor. The entire campus and staff from diverse backgrounds came together dressed in green and white to celebrate our host nation.

The Saudi national anthem was performed by K2 and K3 students while the audience waved their ďŹ&#x201A;ags. Traditional dances were performed by K3 and also by a group of students from Secondary School. A terriďŹ c time was had by all!

By: Ahmed Alzahrani, K3 Arabic Teacher

Photographs by: Eric Bakken, KG Teacher

from GES Principals Dear Parents,

Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) Testing

We know that children learn better - and faster - when teachers have a clear picture of what each child knows, understands and can do. The Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test is an external assessment tool that schools around the world use to collect data. MAP is a computerized adaptive assessment that provides students, their families, and educators with student growth and achievement data over time. We use MAP data, in combination with internal assessment data to: • Develop a picture or snapshot of the skills and abilities of individual students and groups of students.

• Measure progress in individual student learning over time.

• Inform curriculum and instruction.

• Evaluate the effectiveness of our programs.

GES will be administering the MAP test for students in G3-5 on October 8-10. Students will take the Mathematics assessment on Sunday, Reading on Monday and Language Usage on Tuesday.

You can help your child prepare for success by ensuring s/he has a full night's rest, comes to school with healthy snacks and understands the purpose of MAP testing.

Home Learning

We had an excellent turnout of approximately fifty parents at the home learning workshops last month. Key messages shared during these presentations focused on the research that supports our shift in practice, suggested opportunities for learning at home, and the importance of daily reading. Children enjoy sharing examples of home learning at school and time is built their schedule to celebrate their efforts and achievements.

Recess at GES

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines recess as “regularly scheduled periods within the elementary school day for unstructured physical activity and play.”

We value recess and provide time before school and twice during the day for unstructured activity. Recess provides students with time to rest, play, think, create, plan, laugh and be active. Additionally, recess helps children develop social skills in authentic situations.

GES offers a variety of spaces in which students enjoy their recess. We ensure a low child to adult ratio in each of these spaces to promote child safety. Some children opt to play outdoors on the large soccer field, one of the play structures, the basketball court or in between these spaces on one of the yellow bikes. Other children prefer to spend time indoors reading and playing games in the library or engaging in a structured activity lead by a teacher in the gym. Occasionally students suggest and plan additional structured activities during recess. Valuing the power of student voice and choice, we welcome and encourage their suggestions.

Chye de Ryckel Elementary Associate Principal

Saudi National Day Celebrations: GES Saudi National day was celebrated at GES. An assembly started with the Saudi anthem and informed students and teachers about the history of the founder of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, King Abdulaziz, and information about the regions in Saudi and what they are most popular for.

The assembly also taught students and teachers about some of the most famous Saudi people, e.g. Raha Moharraq and Farouk Al-Zoman who are the first Saudis who climbed, Mount Everest, Mishaal Ashemimry who is a rocket and aerospace engineer is the first Saudi woman to ever work in NASA, and many other famous and influential people from Saudi Arabia.

GES's assembly also included a fashion show, which represented different traditional clothes for each region of Saudi Arabia. For example, the north, south, east, west, and central regions. The assembly ended with a great folklore dance conducted by our 4th and 5th graders.

Photo by: Safanah Kadi, Communications Assistant

International Dot Day

During September the Elementary library recently invited students and teachers to “make their mark” on a giant “dot”. This collaborative creative effort was inspired by a picture book “The Dot” by Peter Reynolds.

It is a story of a teacher who encourages a student to trust in her own abilities, and “make her mark” The child’s first small dot on a piece of paper and the teacher’s encouragement leads to a delightful self-discovery! You can find the story being read aloud on YouTube, or check out the book from the library!

The students and teachers definitely “made their mark”. The dot is now on display in the Elementary library.

By Vivien Sewell, Librarian

Don’t forget that our latest Scholastic Book Club is now online at http://world-schools.scholastic.co.uk/kaust-school.

There are hundreds of fantastic children’s books to choose from, and every $1 you spend on this month’s Book Club will earn 20¢ for our school in Scholastic Rewards.

Please place your order online by October 12th, 2017.

from David Tigchelaar, GSS Principal Dear Parents, What a great start to the year its been! Students and teachers sloted into their routines quickly, our new G6 students fitted in smoothly, and our new teachers seemed to adjust easily as well.

We’ve had several Parent Information Sessions: a lunchtime session at the University on the MYP, an evening session at the school for G11 and 12 parents, and another lunchtime session for G6 parents, at the University.

On Thursday 21 September we celebrated Saudi National Day. It was good to express appreciation for our host country and to see our Saudi students demonstrate pride and skill in performing some national traditions.

We are very pleased with the interest of our students in our co-curricular programme. Many students signed up for participation in the Musical, in MUN and our Sports programmes. We also have a big number participating in a new co-curricular initiative: the GSS Design Service labs in which students design and create resources that can be used in classes. The equipment in our design hub, including woodworking instruments, 3D printers and laser cutters allows us to produce our own teaching resources and students are assisting us with that.

Looking ahead, our Parent Information Sessions are set to continue.

Monday, October 16, 6:00 - 7:30pm: We are hosting an Out of Kingdom (OOK) Trips Fair for G6 - 12 students and parents. The Fair will present all the OOK trips that are taking place this year, giving families time at the beginning of the year to register for a specific trip.

Tuesday, October 17, 12:00 to 1:00pm: We will present a lunchtime session at the University for parents of MYP students on the structure of units, assessment tasks, assessment criteria and assessment results. We will send a reminder later this month with the details of the venue.

October 30 - 31: We also look forward to seeing parents for the 3-way conferences at the end of October. October 30 is for G11 and 12 parents after school, and 31 October is for G6 - 10 parents. This is an opportunity for all our parents to discuss the progress of their child with the individual teachers. Invitations will be sent at a later stage detailing the exact time of your conferences.

Programming for high ability students At TKS we are establishing an inclusive approach to supporting the needs of our high ability students. We support the academic, social and emotional needs of all students and establish where a student’s current level of ability is, compared to their cognitive abilities and program classroom work to bridge any gap. We also support teachers to program in the classroom to ensure that high ability students are engaged and learning all day, every day.

The inclusive classroom programming we are developing is innovative and research based and is being recognized around the world as best practice.

Recent results from an ongoing 45 year study of high ability students by Vanderbilt University highlights several areas: 1.

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Classroom based programming for students is essential.

Talent is varied and is seen in many different ways.

Early intervention for high ability students is a predictor of later success.

We are committed to an inclusive approach to classroom programming for high ability students and support for their teachers in understanding the characteristics and needs of these students when they are programming. We are working to ensure that all students are happy, engaged and learning.

By Robyn Collins, Gifted and Talented Coordinator

Saudi National Day Celebrations: GSS

Photos by: Eshan Wells, G11 student

Counselors Corner - NB Info for Diploma Students As always it is a very busy start for our Senior Grade 12 students and new IB DP Grade 11 students. University applications, admissions tests and Personal Statement/Essays are on the menu and the deadline to get this work completed is fast approaching.

This year TKS will again be hosting groups of universities that will present their programs to students and parents. The following universities and visit dates are important to note: Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences: Linden University Fair: UK University Fair: Memorial University: University of British Columbia: Carleton University:

Sunday October 8th @ 5:30PM Wednesday October 11th @ 5:30PM Sunday October 29th @ 5:30PM Thursday November 23rd @ 5:30PM November 2017 February 2018

We look forward to hosting these universities and providing informational evenings for students and parents to learn about university destinations and course possibilities. Email reminders to parents and students will be sent from the Counseling OfďŹ ce for these evening events.

Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) Dates Also, it is important to note the Scholastic Achievement Test schedule for this coming 2017-18 year. TKS is a SAT Testing Center, providing testing opportunities for our students.

The following testing dates have now been set: Saturday October 7th, 2017 Saturday November 4th, 2017 Saturday December 2nd, 2017 Saturday May 5th, 2018 Registration is through the College Board website. Please free free to contact me or set up an appointment if you have any questions regarding university applications or external testing. Wishing you all a fantastic 2017-18 school year!

By Andrew Zienchuk, Guidance and College Counselor

G6 Robot (Sumobot) Battle

Working as partners, all of the G6 students just completed a Lego Robot (Sumobot) Battle that was held in our Design classrooms. We’ve been building and programming our robots since the beginning of the year and it was so exciting to see them try to push other robots off of the mat or flip them over.

We were very nervous for our “bot” and it felt like we were inside, driving while it was battling. It was so much fun because the whole class was around the battle mat cheering and clapping for their robot. We enjoyed learning how to put all the parts together, customizing our “bot” to our liking (we put a cool flag on ours), and then understanding the sensors and the programming needed to win. We also got to be very skilled at cleaning up Legos and keeping them organized. What a great battle!

By: Elise Paterson and Timona Sladakovic, G6 Students

Open-minded

Communicatiors

Edible Cells

At TKS, the Grade 11â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s have been learning about the ďŹ ne internal structure (ultrastructure) of cells as part of their DP Biology course. They had an assignment to make an edible cell.

We received some wonderful varieties of prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic cells in both plant and animal versions. We had some wonderful looking cells as either cakes or pizzas with all the organelles (small functional parts) clearly shown.

The students worked hard to understand the function of each of the organelles. Labels were recommended so that it made it clear to the visiting judges what each of the organelles were. Students celebrated at the end of the class by eating their cells!

By Emma Nason, Biology Teacher

Photos by Safanah Kadi, Communications Assistant

Power is Gained by Sharing Knowledge

Upcoming Event: The Year 5 MYP students are pleased to announce the:

4th annual Personal Project Exhibition in Discovery Square As part of fulfilling the requirements of their project, and subsequently their action, students are required to receive feedback in order to re-evaluate and adjust their goal, research, action, and reflections.

40 students have chosen to receive feedback from a larger population, hence an open forum in Discovery Square.

Take your family and head down to Discovery Square the evening of the 5th of October to support the students in their endeavors! They have worked incredibly hard to finish their action, formulate great feedback questions and provide information on their project as a whole.

Students need to receive feedback from at least 30 community members to have a valid starting point.

Thursday, October 5th 5:00-7:00pm Discovery Square

by Laney Rweyemamu, Personal Project Coordinator Photos by Naomi Bakken, G12