al news may 2012

AL ZAHRA COLLEGE - AN IB WORLD SCHOOL " MAY 2012

VOLUME 15, ISSUE 4: MAY 2012" PAGE 1

Knowledgeable is one of our core values at Al Zahra College and one of the attributes of the IB Learner Profile. Being knowledgeable means that students explore concepts, ideas and issues that have local and global significance.

In doing so, they acquire in-depth knowledge and develop understanding across a broad and balanced range of disciplines. We encourage all of our students to be caring at home and at school.

Weekly awards are presented to students who demonstrate Learner Profile attributes.

The Inside News....Inside this Newsletter, you can read about:• Hijab Ceremony;• Astro Ahmad’s Amazing Facts;

• Cyber Bullying;• Video Games & Children;

• Nut Free Zone;• Discovery Club; and• Ready to Learn.

Online Newslettershttp://issuu.com/

alzahracollege All editions of Al News are available online each month at the above link or on the Parents Portal under Publications.

VALUES

Budding Investigators

AL NEWS

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CYBER BULLYING Year 5 and 6 students enjoyed a talk from police on cyber bullying. Of concern was the fact that several students accessed Facebook accounts. Even more disturbing was the number of students who accessed the computer in their bedroom, away from adult supervision. Some parents may be surprised (upset and disappointed) about what their child/ren access on the computer, accidentally or intentionally.

READY TO LEARNIt is absolutely essential that

students arrive at school, ready to learn. This won’t happen if students do not have adequate sleep (10-12 hours, depending on age) or have unhealthy eating habits. If parents don’t have these two factors right, then learning and personal achievement will be a ‘hit or miss’ affair.

How much sleep do your children have each night? Primary students going to bed after 9.00pm are not having enough sleep!

VIDEO GAMES & CHILDREN

Video games have been avalible for the past 30 years.The lateststudies on video games showed

negative and positive impacts onthe players and especially children.

The positive side of video games is that it provides the player witha better role than television and the radio. Video games help kids become more computer literate and increase problem-solving skills.Having all these positive impacts, we can't deny the disadvantage of these games and especially the violent ones, which elevate aggressive feelings and thoughts. The time that children spend sitting and playing these games is linked to ''children obesity''.Video games affect children’s academic achievement. The more the child spends in front of the screen, the less time they have to do their schoolwork.So, let us take advantage of the positive impact of these games

and play them in moderation for short hours and choose the games that suit our age.

Ismail Hammoud (Y4)

PaymentsParents are reminded that all payments should be made by direct deposit, Bpay or through the EFTPOS facility at AZC.

The reason for this procedure is twofold:

- AZC does not want to handle or hold cash on the premises; and

- AZC wants to minimise any bank charges for parents who are withdrawing cash from ATMs to make a fees payment.

AZC appreciates your cooperation in this matter.

CALENDAR 1 June

• Peer support sessions

7 June

• Interschool sport (futsal)

8 June

• Peer support sessions11 June

• Public holiday - AZC closed13 June•2013 Kindergarten

socialisation session14 June

• Interschool sport (finals)

• CIS State cross country championships

15 June•Peer support sessions•Clown dress up day (gold coin

participation)



DISCOVERY CLUBOn the 30th April and 2nd May, the junior and senior Discovery Club opened with many members waiting excitedly for their chance to enter.I interviewed Mr Jessurun on his thoughts on why he started Discovery Club. First I asked him, “How did you come up with the idea of an activity named the Discovery Club?” “Throughout my teaching years, I have worked with bright students who wanted to learn about different topics which were not in the school curriculum. They were a bit bored at school so I thought of a way to teach students different things. That is how I came up with the idea of the Discovery Club.” he replied. My next question was “what do you teach in Discovery Club?” He answered “Discovery Club is a mixture of different topics like buildings, ancient wonders and advertisements. The main purpose of

Discovery Club is to give students tasks that interest them so that they can learn about it in their own time and receive a deeper understanding on the subject”.I then asked some members of the Discovery Club about their opinions. I first interviewed Ahmad Sabra from Year 4. “What do you think about the Discovery Club?” “I think it is a decent, fun and interesting activity which will teach us more about different things” he answered. I then asked “Is Mr Jessurun a great teacher?” He replied, “Mr Jessurun is a great teacher because he gives us a deeper understanding on the topics we learn.” “How do you think we can enhance Discovery Club?” “I think we can improve Discovery Club by organising visits from different experts in such topics.”I then asked Hadi in Year 3 what he thought. He replied

“Discovery Club is an interesting and exciting activity to learn new things. It gives you the opportunity to expand your knowledge on different things. I think Mr Jessurun is a great teacher because he is funny and gives us a deeper understanding on the topic. I think there is no way to improve Discovery Club because it is perfect the way it is.”

Discovery Club is a fantastic way to learn new things. It is fun and interesting at the same time. It helps children learn and enhance their education.

Khalil Youssef (Y4)



Hijab Ceremony

Friday, 11May 2012, was a special day for the 8 girls in Year 4. On this day we had our Hijab Ceremony. Hijab ceremonies are usually celebrated around the time of Fatima Al Zahraa's birthday at AZC.

A hijab ceremony happens when a girl becomes of age to put on her scarf and become responsible for herself. It was a joyous occasion and the Year 4 classroom was decorated in pink and purple by Fatima and Merna from the preschool, and Anaya.

The ladies also organised a party with lots of yummy treats for us. The choir from Year 5 and Year 6 lead by Mrs Akbar performed beautifully at the ceremony. Some students did solo pieces on the mandolin and the keyboard. The choir did a great job and made the ceremony memorable for all of us. Some of our special guests on the day were our parents who came to watch, Sheik Jaffar who advised us about our new responsibilities and Mr Mokachar who gave us lovely gifts to celebration the occasion.

Our pictures taken in our special coats that we wore specially for the ceremony.

Overall it was a memorable occasion and the Year 4 girls would like to thank all those involved who made the ceremony special.Yasmine Mansour, Shahiba Kalam & Farah Haidar.

COLLEGE UNIFORMParents are reminded that they must purchase available uniform items from AZC and missing/out-of-stock items from Yeronga School Uniforms (900 Canterbury Rd, Roselands).

There is concern that some families are substituting College uniform items by purchasing items from unapproved suppliers. Specific concerns are boys’ trousers, school shirts, AZC caps and tracksuit pants.

Parents can save themselves a lot of money by ensuring their child’s name is marked clearly on all pieces of clothing.

NUT FREE ZONE

Mohamed Soummaka, who is in Year 1 in 2012, has a severe nut allergy. To prevent a medical emergency, there can be no nuts or foods con-taining nuts in the school.

This includes, especially Nutella and hazelnut prod-ucts, and anything containing tree nuts.

Al Zahra College and the Soummaka family appreciate your assistance in making our College a nut free zone.

Thank you in advance for your complete support.



ASTRO AHMAD’S AMAZING FACTS

THE TRANSIT OF VENUSGet your telescopes out my fellow space rangers! On the 6th June 2012, an astonishing and rare event will occur. The planet Venus will pass directly between the Earth and the sun. Scientists call this the Transit Of Venus. During the transit, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black disk slowly moving across the face of the sun. This will be the last oppurtunity for us to witness this amazing astronomical event because the next event will occur on the 11th December 2117......that will make me 115 years old!!

The transit of Venus is very important to scientists because it has allowed them to calculate the distance from the Earth to the sun, which is approximately 93 million miles......in other words, if I was to drive my magic black lamborghini to the sun, it will take me aproximately 177 years to get there!

Did you know???......The transit of Venus of 1769 is significant to Australian history because this was the scientific event that led Captain James Cook to ‘claim’ Australia. Captain Cook was ordered by King George to observe the transit of Venus from the island of Tahiti. After observing the transit, Captain Cook was given secret orders by the king to search for the unknown land of the South - "Terra Australis Incognita". Therefore, he sailed until he arrived at the East coast of Australia, and he named this area New South Wales.

So space rangers, mark your calenders and join me in observing this rare event. Remember you must wear special solar sunglasses to observe the transit because staring directly at the sun can cause serious eye damage. For more information visit the Sydney Observatory website: http:// www.sydneyobservatory.com.au

Until next time, this is Astro Ahmad taking you to infinity and beyond........

Ahmad Sabra (Year 4)

http://www.sydneyobservatory.com.au

http://www.sydneyobservatory.com.au



YEAR 4 FUNDRAISER

On Wednesday, 23 May, Year 4 held their first fundraiser of 2012. A ‘blue and maroon’ day was held for the first game in the state of origin. Students at AZC were allowed to dress up in support of their state of origin team. The Starlight Foundation is the chosen charity of Year 4 students. The Starlight Foundation does marvellous work helping sick children in hospitals right across Australia. All Year 4 students want the opportunity to help these children. So far we have raised $305.30 and we look forward to game 2 in the state of origin. We will have another blue and maroon day and hopefully it will be as successful (and the blues get a win).Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far.Tia Mohsen

NAPLAN WEEKTuesday, 15 May was a day Year 3 and Year 5 will never forget. It was the start of the NAPLAN tests. NAPLAN brings out a lot of different emotions in everybody. It causes nerves for both students and teachers. Behind these nerves there is a lot of hard work that was put in by students and teachers.By Thursday lunchtime,you could see the smiles and relief on everybody's face. Well done AZC students and teachers for your hard effort and work. I interviewed a few students across both years and tis was their response.Hadi Abu Gaidah –Year 3Were you nervous? Yes!How do you think you went? Excellent!Are you glad it’s over? Yes!Heba Mourad –Year 3Were you nervous? No.

How do you think you went? Excellent!Are you glad it’s over? Yes.Amane Abu Al Kassim –Year 5Were you nervous? Yes.How do you think you went? Good.Are you glad it’s over? Yes.Israa Nasser –Year 3Were you nervous? No.How do you think you went? good and bad.Are you glad it’s over? Yes.

I asked Year 3 how they felt about NAPLAN and all 30 students said they didn’t feel scared. I’m sure they are all glad it’s over though!Tara Youssef



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The!best!kid’s!zone!EVER!!

This!month’s!topic!SPACE!!

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SPACE!QUIZ!!

What!planet!is!furthest!from!the!sun?!!!!!!!!!Name!all!the!planets?!

How!many!planets!are!there?!!!!



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Dear Mother,

You care for me

I care for you

You love me

And I love you

We both know that in our hearts

We can never be apart

This is a poem I wrote myself

To make you happy

Not for the shelf

So now I just want you to know

That in and out I love you so

!


VOLUME 15, ISSUE 4: MAY2012" PAGE 9

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AL ZAHRA COLLEGE An IB World School

Catering for students from Preschool to Year 9 3 - 5 Wollongong Road, ARNCLIFFE. NSW 2205

P: (+61) 2 9599 0161 F: (+61) 2 9599 0162

E: [email protected] W: www.azc.nsw.edu.au

al news may 2012

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