We
Inspiration
Integrity
Achievement
our new School!
Photo from left to right: STUCO President Colin Herrington, Olivia Pietruszka K3, President Chameau, Yamin Aljuhani K3 and Justin Somerville, Kindergarten Principal.
On Tuesday, KAUST President Jean-Lou Chameau cut the ribbon to ofďŹ cially open our wonderful new Kindergarten Campus. This celebratory event honored the TKS Board of Education and its Chair, Nadhmi Al Nasr for supporting all 3 Facility projects. Before the event, VIPs were warmly welcomed by our happy K2 and K3 students who love their new school, as well as members of the student Council (STUCO) and School Faculty and Staff. Ms. Leny DeRuijter delivered a message with speciďŹ c thanks to Mr Nadhmi Al Nasr for his vision and leadership throughout the project. Mr. Nadhmi Al Nasr then thanked the Project Teams for the on-time delivery of three world class facilities, the new Kindergarten, the Elementary Extension and the Design Hub.
September 29, 2016
Caring IB learner characteristic for the month the.wave@kaust.edu.sa
Note from the ECC Principals Dear parents Thank you for attending the parent/teacher conferences this past week. It’s always wonderful to welcome parents into the school and their child’s classroom. The opportunity to communicate in person about your child’s progress and development is a valued part of developing a strong parent-teacher partnership, which in turn is a vital part of your child’s school success. Teachers appreciated your insights into your child’s communication, self-management, research, thinking, and social skills, and this information will be used to enhance teaching and learning. If you were not able to make the scheduled appointment time, please contact your child’s teacher to arrange another time. We continue to work on completion of the outdoor learning environment for the Kindergarten Campus (Harbor West). This will include installation of swings, a track for tricycles, shade areas including a large gazebo structure, planter boxes for gardening and even tunnels for children to play in.
Reading gives children a head start in life Its never to early to start reading. The idea behind sharing books on a daily basis with children is to develop healthy attitudes towards reading right from the start. Children are never too young to start exploring books, and research demonstrates that children who are read to from a young age at home have a tremendous head start when it comes to learning to read in later years. What is important is the sense of pleasure and comfort it offers small children, who go on to develop a love of reading that will remain with them for life. It is the bonding that is crucial, and we dont expect children or parents to read story plot lines word by word. Simply talking about pictures is enough. Lorraine Brecknell, K1 Teacher
What is happening outside our classroom?
This week a group of Kindergarteners noticed a big difference in their outside environment. They went outside to investigate. They observed a backhoe pushing and lifting huge rocks. “It is an excavator!” exclaimed Oscar. “It has one scoop on the front that can lift and pour, and it has one scoop on the back that can also lift. It can push sand or rocks or dirt or soil. It has stabilizers that pushes it up so it can stay in one place.” In addition, they saw pipes, bricks and piles of sand. The children were curious about what the workers were doing and shared their thoughts. “I think they push the rocks so there is more space for them to dig and make a playground” said Omar. “They’re making new schools for more children.” said Kaifeng. Farida and Mohammed both agreed that “they are making a new playground.” “I think they are going to leave (the rocks) there to let us climb on them and jump everywhere,” said Pingxu hopefully. The children also had many questions, especially about the heavy machinery: How does the backhoe work? How does it move? How does the backhoe move the rocks? They also wanted to know how we make a new playground. We hope to find answers to these questions as we continue to observe the workers outside our classroom. The children counted 17 workers busy doing various jobs. We contemplated why there were so many. “There are so many so they can do it faster and they don’t get tired,” said Pingxu. “That’s a team that sticks together so they can build and work well” the children concluded. Hannele Al Uariachi, K3 Teacher
Happy 86th Saudi Arabia!
On September 21, K2 and K3 students and staff celebrated the Saudi National day with great enthusiasm. The K2 and K3 Arabic and Islamic department organized an assembly to highlight Saudi national day. Students and staff from diverse backgrounds came together dressed in green and white to celebrate our host nation. We all listened to the Saudi anthem that was performed by K2 And K3 students while the Saudi ag was waved. Fifty students from K3 participated in the Saudi dance that was learned during the Arabic lessons.
Note from the GES Principals
Gardens Elementary School is happy to announce that once again this year we will offer a variety of parent information sessions. The purpose of the information sessions is to build parent engagement, increase awareness of school practices and curriculum, and support home routines that can positively impact in-school achievement. The parent information sessions began two years ago with great success. In the past two years our sessions have included more than 300 parents. This year we will offer ten sessions beginning on October 2nd and 3rd, where we will discuss our new English Language and Arts Curriculum. Each session is offered twice, once in the morning at school and once at lunchtime on the university campus. We have developed this year’s schedule of sessions based on feedback and requests from the parent community. This year’s schedule is as follows: * English Language Arts
October 2nd at GES at 8:15am / October 3rd in the University Library at12:00pm
* Healthy Habits for Success
October 11
* The Role of Assessments and Standardized Testing
October 26 Offered at Partners for Learning
* Introduction to the PYP
November 22
* Supporting Language Development at Home
December 6
* How to Support Inquiry at Home
January 24
* Supporting Mother Tongue
February 21
* How the Brain Works
March 14
* Languages of Love
April 18
* How to Support Summer Learning June 6 Presentations notes will be shared through our Gardens Elementary School Facebook Group. We look forward to seeing you at one of our parent information sessions.
GES PTSA Position Available Assistant Swim Instructor
Requirements: Current Swim Instructor Certification from any agency Current CPR/First aid certificate, or can undergo training through the school. Enjoys working with children ages 4-11. (Energetic and positive a plus.) Physical work is required. Please send your CV and supporting certificates to celeste.cook@kaust.edu.sa
What do G5’s think of their new learning space? Beatrice, Lucy, Ameera, and Ms. Knight enjoy working on the new couches. “We were working on flowcharts using Lucid for a problem we looked at. It was quieter than working in our classroom and the couches are more comfy,” Ameera says.
Cronan (5LK) finds a quiet nook where he can work on his flow chart. “I like this new building. It’s way fancier than our other classrooms. Obviously it costs loads of money. We are lucky!”
“We are all responsible for picking up our mess. This is a multi-million dollar building. We don’t deserve it if we can’t take care of it,” Zia says.
5KS likes the relaxed atmosphere of their classroom. “What I really like about the space is that it is not a mystery what is happening in each class - I can see into all the rooms. I also like the new whiteboards, which are high-tech. We were watching a video here and you can also write on it,” Timo said. “It is so comfortable - I feel like I am at home!” “It’s pretty comfy - there were no comfy seats in the old building,” Hawary reports.
“It seems like we are more refreshed being able to eat in a place other than our classrooms, when we have been in there for a few hours. It makes me feel like I am older, because we have a better space. I love having new furniture! I can sit more comfortably when I am not in a hard chair. These new chairs feel so good - the design makes them feel so good,” Elijah states.
Who is in the Cafeteria? An After School Club (ASC) pilot began this year in The KAUST School cafeteria. ASC has grown into nearly thirty grade one, two and three students. They meet in the cafeteria (they call it the HUB) each afternoon between 3 - 5:30pm for story time, arts and crafts, photography and theatre and of course yummy fruit snacks. During the afternoon they collaborate with each other on: How to fly paper airplanes. How to play chess, How to play catch and frisbee, And how ride tricycles. The children you see in the tri-colored picture decided not to be named, but they constantly display many of the qualities of a Role Model. Do you recognise any of them? Dan Speed, ASC Program Lead
Peace means...no war, calm, quiet, freedom. September 21st is International Day of Peace and the third graders in Mrs. Johnson’s class spent an entire afternoon discussing the word Peace and what it means to us. Topics covered included: peace in our school, in our community, in our families, in our countries and in our world. The following poem was put together using our thoughts on peace. Peace means you are nice. Peace means love, respect, caring, calm and happy. Peace means freedom, calm, quiet, and caring. Peace means being quiet, caring, respectful and friendly. Peace means freedom and calm. Also caring. Make the world a better place for others. Peace means quiet. Peace means fresh and calm. Feels like beautiful butterflies and pandas. Peace means love, happiness, respect, and caring. Peace means calm and no war, keep animals safe from war, and keep everyone safe. Peace means to be nice to kids and people and to respect others even respect teachers, your parents, sister, brother, if you are so kind at home means you are so peace. Peace means caring words, respect, being quiet, not fighting. Peace means like a flower blooming in a meadow. Peace means have peace! Respect, calm, no one is fighting. Peace means harmony and embracing our differences. Peace means no war, respect, and caring. Peace means that we are respectful to each other. Peace means calm and quiet and no wars. We wish you peace! By: Grade 3RJ
Our hands represent 10 different Nationalities learning together everyday in Peace.
How does my Learning Process Work? This has been a question grade 2 students have been puzzling over since the start of the school year. Through skateboarding, drawing, and playing games, students have documented the steps they go through to learn something new. So far they have discovered that TKS children prefer to watch and try activities to learn. They have also figured out that their learning process might look a little different when compared to someone else's. With help from guest speakers, children have also analyzed how learning works for researchers, principals and teachers. Students recently watched a video called Austin's Butterfly. In the video, a1st grade child goes through many tries of drawing a Western Tiger Swallowtail butterfly and accepting feedback from friends to make improvements. His final drawing was a delightful surprise for all of our students. Upon reflection, the children agreed that if you show commitment, if you keep trying and if you talk to people, you can learn anything! Their summative assessment task will begin shortly with students choosing something interesting to learn about and then documenting their learning process over five days. At an upcoming Open House, students will have an opportunity to showcase their thinking and explain how the learning process helps people learn. Peter Loucks, G2 Teacher
Reflections
from the Director of TKS
The day we walked into the new Kindergarten, our jaws dropped. Light! Windows! Sea! The Italian Schools of Reggio Emilia have inspired our Early Childhood program at the Kindergarten. The Reggio schools are known for their environments and they have inspired schools all over the world to develop beautiful surroundings for children. Our new Kindergarten building delights our senses, invites curiosity, and ultimately has a powerful impact on the youngest learners at TKS. Another feat accomplished by August, was the Elementary extension at the Gardens. As Elementary Principal Ms. De Ruijter commented in her recent remarks at our Ribbon Cutting ceremony, “the design is state of the art, with glass, folding walls towards the corridor and folding walls between classes. This aims to promote collaboration and the opportunity for students to work in cross grade groupings following their individual interest. In other words: to promote learning. I was present when the Grade 4 and 5 students first entered the building. Their reaction was priceless, they literally started jumping with joy and commented about the space and light. One even said it looked like the university buildings, just like her Dad’s office.” Finally, our Secondary School Design Hub, also at the Gardens, allows our MYP learners to explore ceramics, robotics, and design, incorporating lazer cutters, 3-D Printers, and yes, old fashioned hand tools. If you have not had a chance to watch young innovators at work, consider a field trip to TKS to see what is happening in the new buildings, and to witness the impact of beautiful environments on student learning. With Appreciation,
Maddy
Note from the GSS Principals Dear Parents, We had a good start of the year with students and teachers getting back into school routines readily. This school year is also a very busy year for the teachers including a lot of Professional Development with world renowned educationists visiting the school, starting with Ron Ritchhart and Tony Burkin, visiting us in October. It was good to have so many parents attending the Back To School Night on 31 August and to see the Grade 12 parents at the parent dinner on 20 September. We are preparing ourselves for the following events: • Fall MAP tests • Gr 10 Parent Information Evening focusing on DP course selection • MYP Presentation evening in which we celebrate with our Grade 11 students who completed the MYP last year • Coffee Morning / Parent Information sessions focusing on Google Classroom and PowerSchool (first a session at school at 08:15 and a repeat session in Building 4 room 5220 at 12:00) • Book Bowl, an annual event, will be launched • The Islamic Studies students will go on a trip to Medinah • Gr 9 – 12 Activity Night • Gr 6 – 8 Activity Night • 3-way Conferences with teachers, students and parents
October 2 – 6 October 3 October 4 October 5 October 6 October 6 October 6 October 13 November 1
I look forward to seeing you at the school, at a Parent Information Session or in the community. David Tigchelaar
Invitation to all G10 Parents and Students Dear Grade 10 Parents and Students, We would like to invite you and your child to an IB Diploma Programme information session on:
Monday 3 October from 5:30 to 7:00pm in the GSS auditorium then in the School Library. - Mrs Thivin-Boutry, Diploma Programme Coordinator, will be giving a presentation about the Diploma, the IB philosophy, requirements and the course selection for next year. - Mr Zienchuk, University Counselor, will talk about career choices and application requirements. It is highly recommended you and your child attends this presentation. We are looking forward to seeing you and your child at this important meeting. Sincerely, Edwige Thivin-Boutry TKS Diploma Coordinator
Jeans for Genes
On 21 September GSS showed support for Jeans for Genes by uniting as a school and wearing denim. This is an event held around the world in August and September that raises funds for a range of initiatives that improve the quality of life of children affected by genetic disorders, including research into treatments and cures. See the information from the Australian website below https://www.jeansforgenesday.org/: “Most babies are born healthy, but sadly 1 in 20 children is born with a birth defect or genetic disease. On average, that’s one in every classroom. Children’s Medical Research Institute is dedicated to finding ways to treat or prevent childhood cancer, epilepsy, birth defects and genetic diseases in order to create brighter futures for all children including those who are with us today & those yet to come in to this world. Many major advances in children’s health have resulted from medical research including the demise of previously fatal illness like polio, smallpox & diphtheria so, together, we really can make a difference & give kids around the world the opportunity for a healthy start to life.”
Could we contact you in an emergency? Parents are responsible for ensuring that their contact details are up to date. Please log into your parent portal account this week and check and update your contact details at: https://powerschool.kaust.edu.sa/public/
Meet the Parent Advisory Councils (PAC’s) Kindergarten
Top left to right: Ana Viegas, Haitham Aljahdali, Nimisha Rajawat, Susan East Bottom left to right: Mani Sarathy, Jessica Dalton, Justin Somverville, Pingxia Zhang, Craig Werner Not present: Manola Moretti, Sandra Hancock, Lubinea Gilles
Elementary
Top left to right: Jeff Woodcock, Ahmed Abdel-Mohsen, Cherine Fayad, Leny de Ruijter Bottom left to right: Maaz Gazdar, Annika Haywood, Zehra Raza, Xin Gao, Inji Jaber Not present: Lauratu Osu, Prabhu Murugesan
Secondary
Top left to right: Sue Kershaw, Elaine Steyn, Denise Hawkins, Sandra Katakalea, Zakir Ullah Bottom left to right: David Tigchelaar, Yvonne Ikram, Dwane Harris Not present: Ute Langer
Register now for the Enrichment of the Fall FROM the KAUST Enrichment Team: From October 14-22, our Enrichment in the Fall program will focus on research, nutrition and cuisine. From the seed to the plate, it will give a deep insight in all aspects of Food. Opening Night: October 16 - 5:30-8:00 p.m. Our Community will celebrate the World Food Day with engaging activities, photography exhibition, cocktail reception and concert with the Turkish-European Pera Ensemble. The program will feature a number of keynote and lunchtime lectures: Find Out How To Feed Our Growing World: Why we eat what we eat Monday October 17 12:30–1.30 P.M. Auditorium, building 20 By Lewis Dartnell, Professor at the University of Westminster, expert in astrobiology. Can We Feed the World? Monday October 17 5:30-7:00 P.M. Auditorium, building 20 By Fred Davies, Regents Professor at Texas A&M University, expert in horticultural science. Genetic Technology’s role in Global Food Security Tuesday October 18 5:30-7:00 P.M. Auditorium, building 20 By John Bedbrook, executive chairman of DICE Molecules LLC, will discuss how to meet these demands. Many other events will raise awareness on food challenges including: lunchtime roundtable “Women in Biology” with Bettina Berger, scientific director at the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility; lunchtime lecture on “Urban agriculture” by Ryan Lefers, PhD student in the Water Desalination and Reuse Center at KAUST; A campaign and a workshop to raise awareness against Food Waste by the Student Green group; A Sci-Café “Food fo All: how do we make it work?” Be ready for a week full of discoveries and sensations! Register on our website: http://enrichment.kaust.edu.sa Follow us on Facebook and Twitter
OCTOBER EVENTS KG - Kindergarten
Date
KG PAC Meeting
Oct 19
GES - Gardens Elementary School
Print and stick on the fridge Contacting ECC: K1 Receptionist: 808 6320 K1 Health Office: 808-6280 K2 Receptionist: 808 6267 K2 Health Office: 808-6212 K3 Receptionist: 808 6408 K3 Health Office: 808-6312
GES Youth Sports Season 1 Ends
Oct 13
GES 3-Way Conferences
Oct 16 - 20
GES PAC Meeting
Oct 19
GES Youth Sports Season 2 Starts
Oct 23
GES Map Testing
Oct 30 - 31
Contacting GES: Reception: 808-6363 Health Office: 808-6412
GSS G10 DP Introduction
Oct 3
GSS Map Testing
Oct 2 - 4
Contacting GSS: Reception: 808-6703 Principals offices: 808-6867
GSS MYP Certificate Presentation
Oct 4
GSS G9 Activity Night
Oct 6
GSS Medina Trip (Boys)
Oct 6 - 8
GSS G6 Activity Night
Oct 13
GSS PAC Meeting
Oct 19
GSS Student Progress Reports
Oct 31
GSS – Gardens Secondary School
TKS - Whole School Partners for Learning
Oct 26
Co-Curriculum / Sports GSS RSAC U16 Boys VB @ AISJ GSS RSAC U16 Girls VB @ AISJ GSS RSAC U19 Boys VB @ YIS GSS RSAC U19 Girls VB @ TKS GSS SAIKAC WR U16 Girls VB @ AISJ GSS SAIKAC WR U16 Boys VB @ BISJ GSS SAIKAC U19 Boys VB @ DHS GSS SAIKAC U19 Girls VB @ TKS
Oct 7 Oct 7 Oct 14 Oct 14 Oct 20 - 21 Oct 20 - 21 Oct 27 - 28 Oct 26 - 28