alain international school monthly newsletter · 16 | al ain international school al ain...

Al Ain International School | 1 Issue 21 March 2016

AL AIN COLLECTBLOOMLEARNNURTUREPLAY

ISSUE NO 21MARCH 2016

ALAININTERNATIONALSCHOOLMONTHLYNEWSLETTER

Al Ain International School | 3 Issue 21 March 2016

ContentS

WeL-Welcome to the latest issue of Al Ain International School Weekly News Letter for January 2014.

It gives Al AIn International School the chance to celebrate progress and achievement and provide more in depth information to parents on a wide variety of subjects

Please send us your feedback at [email protected]

Please send us your feedback at [email protected]

Article 1Everyone under 18 has these rights.

Article 2All children have these rights, no matter whothey are, where they live, what their parents do,what language they speak, what their religion is,whether they are a boy or girl, what their cultureis, whether they have a disability, whether theyare rich or poor. No child should be treatedunfairly on any basis.

Article 3All adults should do what is best for you. Whenadults make decisions, they should think abouthow their decisions will affect children.

Article 4The government has a responsibility to make sureyour rights are protected. They must help yourfamily to protect your rights and create an envi-ronment where you can grow and reach yourpotential.

Article 5Your family has the responsibility to help youlearn to exercise your rights, and to ensure thatyour rights are protected.

Article 6You have the right to be alive.

Article 7You have the right to a name, and this should beofficially recognized by the government. You havethe right to a nationality (to belong to a country).

Article 8You have the right to an identity – an officialrecord of who you are. No one should take thisaway from you.

Article 9You have the right to live with your parent(s),unless it is bad for you. You have the right to livewith a family who cares for you.

Article 10If you live in a different country than your par-ents do, you have the right to be together in thesame place.

Article 11You have the right to be protected from kidnap-ping.

Article 12You have the right to give your opinion, and foradults to listen and take it seriously.

Article 13You have the right to find out things and sharewhat you think with others, by talking, drawing,writing or in any other way unless it harms oroffends other people.

Article 14You have the right to choose your own religionand beliefs. Your parents should help you decidewhat is right and wrong, and what is best foryou.

UN Convention Rights of the Childon the

In Child FriendlyLanguage“Rights" are things every child should have or be able to

do. All children have the same rights. These rights are list-

ed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Almost every country has agreed to these rights. All the

rights are connected to each other, and all are equally

important. Sometimes, we have to think about rights in

terms of what is the best for children in a situation, and

what is critical to life and protection from harm. As you

grow, you have more responsibility to make choices and

exercise your rights.

Article 15You have the right to choose your own friendsand join or set up groups, as long as it isn'tharmful to others.

Article 16You have the right to privacy.

Article 17You have the right to get information that isimportant to your well-being, from radio, news-paper, books, computers and other sources.Adults should make sure that the informationyou are getting is not harmful, and help youfind and understand the information you need.

Article 18You have the right to be raised by your par-ent(s) if possible.

Article 19You have the right to be protected from beinghurt and mistreated, in body or mind.

Article 20You have the right to special care and help ifyou cannot live with your parents.

Article 21You have the right to care and protection ifyou are adopted or in foster care.

Article 22You have the right to special protection andhelp if you are a refugee (if you have beenforced to leave your home and live in anothercountry), as well as all the rights in thisConvention.

Article 23You have the right to special education andcare if you have a disability, as well as all therights in this Convention, so that you can live afull life.

Article 24You have the right to the best health care pos-sible, safe water to drink, nutritious food, aclean and safe environment, and informationto help you stay well.

Article 25If you live in care or in other situations awayfrom home, you have the right to have theseliving arrangements looked at regularly to seeif they are the most appropriate.

Article 26You have the right to help from the govern-ment if you are poor or in need.

Article 27You have the right to food, clothing, a safeplace to live and to have your basic needs met.You should not be disadvantaged so that youcan't do many of the things other kids can do.

Article 28You have the right to a good quality education.You should be encouraged to go to school tothe highest level you can.

Article 29Your education should help you use and devel-op your talents and abilities. It should also helpyou learn to live peacefully, protect the environ-ment and respect other people.

Article 30You have the right to practice your own culture,language and religion - or any you choose.Minority and indigenous groups need specialprotection of this right.

Article 31You have the right to play and rest.

Article 32You have the right to protection from work thatharms you, and is bad for your health and edu-cation. If you work, you have the right to besafe and paid fairly.

Article 33You have the right to protection from harmfuldrugs and from the drug trade.

Article 34You have the right tobe free from sexualabuse.Article 35No one isallowed to kidnap or sellyou.

Article 36You have the right to protectionfrom any kind of exploitation (beingtaken advantage of).

Article 37No one is allowed to punishyou in a cruel or harmful way.

Article 38You have the right to protectionand freedom from war. Childrenunder 15 cannot be forced to go intothe army or take part in war.

Article 39You have the right to help if you've been hurt,neglected or badly treated.

Article 40You have the right to legal help and fair treat-ment in the justice system that respects yourrights.

Article 41If the laws of your country provide better pro-tection of your rights than the articles in thisConvention, those laws should apply.

Article 42You have the right to know your rights!Adults should know about these rights andhelp you learn about them, too.

Articles 43 to 54These articles explain how governments andinternational organizations like UNICEF willwork to ensure children are protected withtheir rights.

From the Principal 4 - 5

news from FS1 6

news from FS2 7

news from Year 1 8

news from Year 2 9

news from Year 3 10

news from Year 4 11

news from Year 5 12

news from Year 6 13

news from the Art Department 14 - 15

news from Secondary 16 - 25

The latest Newsletter for this Academic Year 2015/2016Topics, trends, updates, views and news from Al Ain International School

news from the Music Department 26

Bedtime Story Photos 27

news from the eAL Department 28

news from the Counsellor 29

Modern Languages 30

news from the Arabic Department 31

World Book Day Photos 32 - 33

Internaional Day Photos 34 - 35

other news 36

April Calendar of events 37

4 | Al Ain International School Al Ain International School | 5 Issue 21 | March 2016 Issue 21 March 2016

Mr Nourse

FroM the PrInCIPAL

United Nations of Al Ain International School

Thank you so much for making last week’s International Day a truly memorable event. All sixty nationalities that make up our learning community were represented, which was great to see. It was a wonderful pageant of colour, music, food, dance and song celebrating the diversity of nations, cultures and heritage. I saw pride, passion and joy on the faces of both pupils and parents and, of course, many of the teachers too. Thanks so much to Mrs Fafard and Mr Rushby for taking the helm this year. We are very grateful to them. Thanks also to all of you who were involved.

Your hard work meant that the children had a feast for the eyes and palate whilst they took their whistle-stop tour around the world.

Next week, donations of clothes and toys will be delivered to children living in Nepal. We shall be donating items to several schools and orphanages, one of which is Koseli - a NGO approved school for the children of slum and street dwellers. I am immensely proud of the generosity so many of our community have shown in helping these children. We have certainly reached our allowance for this trip, but volunteers in Al Ain will also be taking donations out in April and June therefore more can and will be taken. Thank you so much for your donations.

It seems entirely fitting, and so typical of this wonderful community that, in a week of celebrating being a global citizen, we took time to help others.

We finish the term proud, thankful and grateful.

Regarding Nepal:

• 42% of the population live below the poverty line on less than $240 a year

• 15,000 orphans are living on Kathmandu’s streets

• 42% of the population of Nepal are unemployed

• 51% illiteracy rate throughout Nepal

• 2.5 doctors are available for each 100,000 inhabitants

• 54% of Nepali children are malnourishedInterestingly, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is a legally-binding international agreement setting out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of every child, regardless of their race, religion or abilities. For many of Nepal’s children, the rights mentioned are but a dream . Therefore, it is good to know that we can do a little something to help such children …

If you would like to know more about the UNRC, please google:

http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/child-rights/un-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child#sthash.jste0Uhl.dpuf)

The UNCRC consists of 54 articles that set out children’s rights and how governments should work together to make them available to all children.

Finally, while we talk of rights, we also need to talk about responsibility; with great power comes great responsibility. Let’s enjoy the blessings we have, while bearing in mind our responsibilities for one another also.


neWS FroM FS1This last month has been busy and exciting for FS1. We really enjoyed coming to school for Bedtime Stories and World Book Day. Dressing up as our favourite book character was so much fun, and of course we all looked amazing. Mrs Cooper read us some wonderful books, as did the big kids from Year 3. We really enjoyed listening to them share their favourite stories with us.

neWS FroM FS2

During our celebrations of World Book Day we liked to see all of the children dressed up as their favourite book characters. We had lots of activities, such as making paper dolls after reading ‘The Paper Doll’s Story’ by Julia Donaldson. We also had older children come down and share their favourite stories with us.

Last Thursday we had our International Day. It was a fantastic day and it was lovely to see all of the children celebrating their similarities and differences. We were very proud of our perfect ‘Passo Double’. We worked really hard to learn our moves and to learn about the country of Spain. It was great to see all of the children dressed in their national clothes and flag colours. We would like to say thank you to the parents for all of your hard work with costumes this term. It is quite tricky to find some of these or make them and we will appreciate your help and support with these special days.

We have really enjoyed our Pirates and Mermaid topic and we cannot wait to start our new topic of ‘Once Upon a Time’. We wish you a safe and enjoyable Spring break and we look forward to seeing you all back

We have dived into our new topic of Pirates and Mermaids with a splash! We really enjoyed seeing the teachers dressed up as Pirates and that made us really excited to learn about Pirates and Mermaids. We have learnt why Pirates wear eye patches; we have written letters to mermaids and sent messages in bottles to ask to be rescued. This week we have been looking at the story of Tiddler the tall tale telling fish. Then we made up our own stories explaining why we were late to school and they were some of the tallest tales yet. You can see some of our stories on a display board in the FS2 Shared Area. We really enjoyed our Pirates and Mermaids day especially the stories that were read to us by the secondary students.

It has been a very busy month with Sports Day and our Water Play Day, as well as trying to fit in all of our normal lessons, but we have had a fantastic month. We loved our Water Play Day - we made giant bubbles, we washed babies and their clothes and, best of all, we had a slip and slide. We loved zooming along the slide and enjoyed getting all wet.

International Day was another highlight this month. We spent our day learning about England, where it is on the world map, the flag and some things you can see if you go there. The teachers of FS1 were super proud of the children getting up in front of the whole school and dancing to London Bridge is Falling Down. We did such a great job and looked wonderful in our national dress.

Assessment week showed us how well the children have progressed in literacy, numeracy and PSED. We are so lucky to be with such caring children every day. They are kind to each other and do their very best to share with their friends. The children have all learnt some sounds with the Jolly Phonics programme, and are starting to recognise more numbers during numeracy. Some of us recognise numbers all the way to 20!

We are making the most of our garden area, as it will be too hot to play outside soon. All the children love to ride the bikes and play with the balls. The basketball hoop has been a wonderful addition to our outside area, and some of the children are getting really good at shooting hoops. Some of our ‘beanstalks’ have grown well. We love to water these and our other lovely plants and flowers. It is great to watch them all grow.

The FS1 team really loved seeing the parents and caregivers at school during World Book Week and International Day. Thank you so much for your continuous support.


neWS FroM YeAr 1

What a fantastic and busy month in Year 1. International Day was a great success. The children had so much fun whilst also learning to respect other cultures, and showing an understanding of just how lucky they all are. World Book Day was also so much fun. The children looked amazing in their costumes and thoroughly enjoyed all the activities. A special mention to Asharej - your book day assembly was awesome!

In class we have been busy planting and learning about all the things plants need to grow up healthy and strong. We have also been looking at how to write instructions to help other people with their planting skills. The children have done amazingly well at showing what they have learnt so far this year and we are extremely proud of the progress they have made.

Wishing you all a restful and safe holiday and we will see you all refreshed and ready for the final term of Year 1 on April 10th.

neWS FroM YeAr 2As we moved into the second part of the Spring Term, we looked forward to an exciting focus on reading, with our ‘Bedtime Stories’ evening taking place. Year 2 decorated their doors and read the stories: ‘The Cat in the Hat’, ‘Manfred the Baddie’ and ‘Wombat goes Walkabout’. The children were very enthusiastic in returning to school in their best pyjamas and drinking delicious hot chocolate, whilst listening superbly to all the stories. Besides our stories being read, a particular favourite of the year 2 children was being able to go to the Principal’s office to listen to Mr Nourse reading ‘Danny the Champion of the World’!

Shortly afterwards followed World Book Day. This was a fabulous day, with the children dressing up as a range of characters from Pippi Longstocking to Princesses to Pirates! The children joined with year 6 to take part in a range of reading and drama based activities, all participating with great enthusiasm. As part of our chocolate topic the children also created their own Willy Wonka characters, using alliteration to create their names and amazing adjectives to describe them.

We also continued with our chocolate topic, moving onto the geography and history of chocolate. The children had great fun in developing their skills in using an Atlas to discover the locations of the cocoa bean supplying countries around the world. They have also been finding out about the Aztecs and the journey that chocolate made hundreds of years ago across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe. The children’s enthusiasm for the chocolate topic has been terrific across all areas.

One particular highlight of the topic this term was the Maqam Chocolate Assembly. The children all rose to the occasion with superb performances on the stage. Even Mr Hynes’ couldn’t contain his excitement, dressing up as an Oompa Loompa on the day, complete with bright orange face paint! The highlight of the assembly had to be feeding curry, olive and marmite chocolate to Mr Cooper! Naughty Maqam!

In numeracy, an area the children particularly enjoyed this term was data collection. The children captured their own data around the class, used the data to make bar charts and interpreted the data by answering questions. The children were challenged to use their ever developing problem solving skills throughout this process, an area which we continue to really focus on with them.

Completing this term was an extraordinary International Day! The children all looked fantastic in their national dress and really took time to speak to their friends about their countries of origin. They loved exploring the international village in the courtyard, learning about the flags of the countries, interesting facts, trying new activities and probably the favourite, tasting delicious new food from across the globe.

Well done year 2 on a super spring term! We hope the children have a much deserved and rested spring break and we can’t wait for a scorching summer term!


neWS FroM YeAr 3

In Literacy, we have read the dreamtime story ‘Tiddalick the Laughing Frog’ and completed role plays and character descriptions based on the story. We have read the story of ‘The Rainbow Serpent’ and watched a variety of videos of the same story to compare different versions. The pupils worked on their summarising skills both orally and in their writing.

We have been doing lots of measurement in our maths lessons this month. We have used a variety of different measuring devices to measure objects to the nearest centimetre, metre, or even millimetre! We have also done lots of revision to prepare for our end of term assessments.

In Science, we have been learning more about forces. We have studied air resistance and made and tested our own paper helicopters. We also investigated the effects of air resistance and discussed the implications of our findings.

Year 3 kicked off this month’s activities with a fun-filled trip to the golf club! We had a fantastic time trying out a variety of activities including golf, football, rugby and ‘fun zone’!

neWS FroM YeAr 4Last week, Year 4 ventured out on their trips. We started with a trip to the Shiekh Zayed Learning Centre, which is based in Al Ain Zoo. The children were all very excited to be in the learning centre, which has not yet been officially opened to the public. Here the children watched a number of short videos, learning about Sheikh Zayed, the traditions of the UAE, along with many other things. The children worked well at all the interactive stations. We had a quick look around at the animals during our train ride to Zafarana, which was our destination for lunch.

We visited Shiekh Zayed Palace Museum and Al Ain Museum on day 2 of our trips. We saw what life was like when Sheikh Zayed was growing up. The children looked around and enjoyed learning about the history of the UAE before we walked through the oasis towards Al Ain Palace Museum. It was a very hot day but the children remained strong and focused throughout the day.

Our final trip was to the Rugby and Golf club for physical activities. The children climbed the wall both vertically and horizontally, they played foot golf, golf, football and bull-rush. The children showed great team sprit throughout the day and many children successfully climbed to the top of the wall.


YEAR 4neWS FroM YeAr 5

Year 5 and 6 Trip to

Al Qattara

neWS FroM YeAr 6This month saw us take our trips to develop new skills in new contexts, while collaborating with new groups. As such, this is a very important part of our curriculum and we were so pleased to be able to offer these experiences to our pupils. The first day involved activities at the Rugby Club for year 6 and the afternoon at the Golf Club, with lunch in the middle. We shared the trip with year 5 who had the day in reverse.

‘He said, no she said’ isn’t a very good piece of argumentative writing - which is why the children have not shown us this style in their work. Instead, they have been arguing over critical points that mean something to their lives such as ‘Fast Food Should Be Banned!’ to ‘Is Homework Necessary’. The children had to initially investigate a range of arguments that had been written previously and identify some of the techniques used within them so they could incorporate these into their own writing. The results have been very good, with children really identifying with the importance of putting two points of view across whilst also having the ability to draw their own conclusion.

We are ending the term with one of our favourite activities: The Great Debate. Teams from Khabisi and Falaj Hazza are going to be battling it out on Thursday afternoon to see who can win the honour of being metaphorically crowned the debating champions. The topic chosen relates to their Victorians unit of work as it relates to the on-going question of whether child labour should be banned from modern day society. It has been raising some very interesting conversations within the classroom whilst the children continue to work of their speeches; we are all looking forward to the final showdown…

On Monday 14th March years 5 and 6 were lucky enough to visit the Al Qattara Arts Centre and Heritage Village.

The day started with a tour around the Art Centre. There were different studios for different mediums of art. These included painting, pottery and drawing and a stop at the drawing studio to have a colouring session. It was really interesting discussing why people used the shapes and colours they did in the pictures they drew.

Once the tour was complete we sat at in the shade and had some water, coffee and dates. These were very refreshing! After this, we saw how traditional dresses were made by the local ladies. So much time and patience was needed to produce these amazing pieces. They also explained how people weaved baskets and mats.

We departed the souqs and were treated to a pottery demonstration where we watched a plate and goblet come to life on a spinning wheel with what seemed to be little effort! The children were in awe os this feat.

After this we walked around the corner to make our own mud brick. To do this we mixed mud, straw and water to a thick consistency and filled a square frame with our mixture. Once it was full, we carefully removed the frame, and this left our mud brick.

To finish the afternoon we went for a walk through the oasis where we learnt about the water: how it got here and what it was used for.

A great trip for everyone!


Year 7 have started their project on colour and shape by looking at Matisse and Picasso. Students have transcribed Picasso’s infamous weeping woman portrait using oil pastels on sugar paper. They have critiqued Matisses’ collage work and they will be producing a spring research project for home learning. Students have also have been experimenting with colour mixing and learning the basics of colour theory. They have been learning how to make tints and shades with pure colour hues of acrylic paint.

Year 8 have been experimenting with drawing games to make unusual and fantasy-like creatures inspired by mythical creatures and marvellous creatures from Arabic fables. Students will be producing a research project inspired by mythical illustrators such as Sara Fanelli and Tony Meeusiwissen’s remarkable animals. The drawings and ideas have been very creative and imaginative. We have made hybrid animals using collage techniques of different animal parts and have used these to make larger painting compositions. The marvellous creature designs will be made into top trump playing cards and we can’t wait to play a game.

Useful Website for year 8 project: http://www.mia.org.qa/en/marvellous-creatures

Year 9 have been developing their drawing and painting skills for the painting unit inspired by the theme microscopic. The sketchbook work has been outstanding with some very mature and fluent designs. Year 9 have shown excellent colour sense combined with innovative designs and strong links with artists’ work. Students are developing their designs and working on different colour schemes to ensure they get the best final composition for their painting. Painting will begin after the spring break, in the meantime pupils are ensuring their sketchbook work demonstrates a clear progression of ideas.

neWS FroM the Art rooM

Year 10 have been painting and drawing using a range of media inspired by cultural artefacts. Students have been working form observation and from secondary sources and some are using their inspiration from the Dubai Art trip to help them develop their ideas further; these connections with Artists will help them improve their overall grade. Our students met and discussed Art with contemporary artists and they were able to collect and record information relevant to their intentions. They will be writing up their experience and producing an Artist Board of Ideas to show their connections with their own working. The trip was a great success and has inspired many of our students, including those in year 9 opting for Art next year.

Extended learning in Art:

Pupils are expected to use these websites at home to develop their knowledge and understanding in Art.

ArtLex – With over 3,600 art terms, ArtLex is an all-inclusive art dictionary. This handy website is a great reference for artists, students, and educators.

Artcyclopedia – Students looking for an online replacement for heavy art history books will find what they need on Artcyclopedia. This online encyclopedia includes information on everything from great artists to movements.

Art a GoGo – Art a GoGo is a refreshing art news site that provides news, reviews, art links, and art events.

ArtDaily – ArtDaily is an online newspaper that covers art events around the world.

Saatchi – Saatchi is a worldwide online art gallery. The site was created for art students who want to meet others around the globe, display work, and get critiques.

The Art Project powered by Google features interior tours of seventeen world famous art museums. Select a museum from the list on the homepage and you can virtually tour it using the same interface style you experience in Google Maps Streetview.

MOOM, the Museum of Online Museums, is a list of museums that offer online exhibitions.

http://www.studentartguide.com/

http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/education/kids.html

http://smarthistory.org/


neWS FroM SeConDArY

From ‘Ye Olde Curiosity Book Shoppe’ to dressing up as your literary hero, heroine or villain, from bookmarks to book jackets, from quizzes to quests, and from rhymes to revealing favourite reads …

Al Ain International School’s World Book Day celebration saw all manner of creativity grace our corridors and courtyards. During the day we saw characters from ‘Frozen’, Fantastic Mr Fox, a witch and Wally, Scheherazade from 1001 Nights, Red Riding Hood and Robinson Crusoe – and even 007 made an appearance. 70 miles per hour in a car it would take you just under 8 hours to pass them all - and that’s without stopping for a toilet break!

An education professor, Anne E. Cunningham wrote a research paper and discovered that reading frequently does actually make you smarter. Not only does it help you retain knowledge, but it helps you to remember that knowledge later on in life. Whether or not you realise it, reading stockpiles your brain with new information, and you never know when it may come in handy.

As one student said: “I just love reading! It takes you far into a world of imagination that inspires you to do things that you wouldn’t even have dreamed of.” Another student said: “I can’t begin to imagine a world without books – it’s just too dreadful a thought!” Finally, one of our older students summed up our World Book Day with these words: “dressing up, discovering new authors, designing book jackets and getting to eat really nice cake – what a great day. Please can we do this again next year?”

Thank you to everyone who was involved with the organisation of this event.

Secondary Spring into action for World Book day

Well done to everyone for a fantastic Sports Day. Emerald House was victorious at the end of the day and Khaled and Mohammed proudly received the trophy on behalf of their House Team. We saw amazing feats of stamina and daring throughout the day, with School Records beaten and made.

We are delighted to announce the Victor Ludorum & Victrix Ludorum for each year group:

Year 7 : Zaid and Fiona

Year 8 : Evan and Nuseiba & Alanna

Year 9 : Max and Leia

Year 10 : Khaled and Hannah

Secondary Sports Day 2016 ... And the winners were: Emerald with 406 points!

Finally, our students were victorious in the recent local marathon, winning all First Prizes. Again, thank you to all concerned, especially Mr Meenagh and Miss Heidi for their support. Our Cross Country Team received their certificates of Merit during our International Day Assembly last week.

What a team! Well done everyone.

We were so proud of the ways in which the students conducted themselves throughout the event. Everyone participated and thereby earned valuable points for their House Team. The levels of enthusiasm and encouragement displayed for not only the activities, but also for each other, were humbling. We have some very fine athletes in the school who are beginning to really take off in their chosen sports. For example, our Aquathon Competition last week and our Swim Gala the week before, saw us soundly beating Brighton College Al Ain – which demonstrates marked improvements all around as a result of our excellent coaches and PE Department working with motivated students.


neWS FroM SeConDArY

I wonder what the word ‘international’ means to you? For many, it mostly means something involving more than a single country. Indeed, ‘international’ as a word means involvement of or the interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries. Interestingly, the term itself was first used by the British philosopher, Jeremy Bentham, in 1780, describing ‘the laws of nations.

Last Thursday we celebrated International Day at AAIS – a wonderful event that saw diversity on display and respected. Our learning for the day in secondary focused on how children and young people from around the globe use their leisure time; sometimes the best things in life are free, and if not free – then simple … Additionally, we ate a French breakfast together, played some traditional games, as well as enjoyed tasting foods from around the world.

It was delightful to see so much colour around the place, and the dances at the end of the day were simply magnificent. Thank you everyone for your contributions.

Poetry Corner

Cats

They stalks their prey

In the longed-for dark.

Swift and strong legs

Springing swiftly like a cheetah

With violent faces

Screaming loudly.

And, as they move about,

Their claws like needles

Scraping the floor,

Banging on the door,

A human looks from the window,

Squeals and locks the door.

Not strong enough!

With one leap, they hit the door.

- by Mohammed Saddig

Wolf

Upon the bold, natural beauty

With intimidating shapes and colours

The greenest of forest, there is no modesty

And the sneaky and the shy hiding in the moors -

A wolf howling at the break of twilight.

When the wolf hunts at end of day,

When the food becomes scarce and the going gets tough,

When what was once light turns dark,

When hugs turn to hits and friendly play turns rough,

And when what was once home turns stark -

That my friend is when we fight the lean and the bold;

Or so they think as they have been told.

- by Cathal Byrne

Time Passing

At the knell of a bell

My world turns to grey -

The grey that lingers around,

Its fingers stretching and seeking

And, silently weeping,

I mourn the passing of time that aged him

Before I really knew him.

My Grandfather gone,

I wrap another layer around myself …


neWS FroM SeConDArYWhat is White?

White is snow falling from the cloudy snowy sky

White is a piece of a4 paper waiting to be used

White is frost on a tall detailed Christmas tree

White is a tissue hovering down in to a small bin full green and gooey snot

White is a blank and boring colour that very little people admire

White is a whole new mathematics book ready to have math sums written in it

White is the inside of a coconut rolling along the side of an absolutely beautiful sandy beach

White is fresh delicious milk in the supermarket ready to be bought

White is a pair of smelly socks hanging on the dryer waiting to be wore again

White is plain boring and an unusual shoe and bracelet colours

- by Andy Beltrami

What is Red?

Red is the colour of a burning hot chili.

Red is the colour of a lipstick you wear on a dark, beautiful night.

Red is the colour of an apple you take juicy bite from.

Red is the colour of the blood that circulates around you.

Red is the colour of your eyes after you’ve had a terrible night’s sleep.

Red is the colour of a poppy field, dancing in the wind.

- by Alya

I was born in the UAE in Al Ain in 2000 – a millennium baby! I live with my father who is a Dentist – and my mother, also a Dentist, along with two brothers and a sister. I would like to point out now that I do not intend being a Dentist or anything related to Medicine. Instead, my interests are architecture, engineering, art and cooking. In fact, at this moment in time, I think I would perhaps like to own a restaurant serving international cuisine. I just love food! As a family, we try to eat together as much as possible. This is important because it is through the act of sharing at table that we get to spend time together, eating and chatting. The family that eats together stays together.

My parents are both from India, specifically Kerala and every year we make sure we visit Kerala. It’s a very green place and you can hardly see the sky when you are there because of the trees. Additionally, my Grandparents live there and so we love spending time there. The best thing about Kerala though is the waterfalls – they are huge, pretty and made of the stuff of fantasy. You can even find monkeys there if you look carefully; be careful because they sneak upon you and steal food.

Meet Anamika Sajeev, Year 10 …

I take my studying carefully and especially enjoy Maths; it’s the logic associated with Maths that’s appealing to me – there’s one answer and that’s it. I also like being creative, whether in Art or writing since this gives me an opportunity for self- expression. Unlike Maths, with writing I get to choose how my story goes. At the moment I am studying for eleven GCSE examinations: English Language and Literature, Maths, French, History, ICT, Business, Biology, Chemistry and Physics, as well as Art & Design. This keeps me very busy …

What I like about Al Ain International School is that it’s international – the diversity of the student body is appealing. The lessons are interactive and you hardly ever get bored; this is very different to my experiences in some other schools. The choice of extra- curricular activities is something that I wasn’t expecting. I participate in Cooking Club and learned all sorts of new recipes for cooking meals and baking cakes. I have also attended Basketball Club and enjoy team activities; they are very different to solo sports like tennis which I play outside of school.

I am inspired by my parents because they work so hard to make sure that I have the best possible opportunities in life. They have taught me to make the best of what I have; they also tell me to make the most of today and not put off things until tomorrow. My advice to younger students would be: listen to your parents since they are usually always right; don’t be tempted to take too long a break from studying – you need to keep on top of things; life’s not just about studying – you need to have some fun too!

Anamika is far right - in pink.


Secondary Girls’ Fantastic Football Feat

neWS FroM SeConDArY

AAIS pupils in Year 9 who are opting for Art next year, along with the current Year 10 GCSE Art students, were fortunate to visit Art Dubai las week as part of their studies. Art Dubai is largest Art Exhibition in the UAE and the leading international Art Fair in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

Art Dubai presents a select yet diverse line-up of around 90 galleries from the UAE and around the world across three programmes: Contemporary, Modern and ‘Masters from the Middle East’ (devoted to masters from the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

AAIS students were able to observe first hand various works of art and critique a diverse range of pieces to help develop their knowledge and understanding of different artists. I am delighted to report that our students acted as excellent role models - discussing and questioning artwork with one another and speaking to gallery owners and even the artists themselves!

Well done to all for a successful study visit.

Thank you Mrs Morgan for arranging this.

Secondary Art Study Visit to Art Dubai

We are delighted to share with you that, earlier this month, our Senior Girls’ Football Team earned a much fought for Runners Up award at the Abu Dhabi wide Al Etihad Tournament. After winning all their matches with ease on their way to the final, they lost out (just) to Cambridge National School, Abu Dhabi in the final and the score was 2 - 1.

Given that we are a small secondary provision, and that other schools have many more girls to choose from, this achievement is even more amazing. Al Ain International girls’ football is well and truly on the map here in the UAE now as a result of the superb work of our students working with their coach, Ms Withers, who joined our Physical Education Department at the beginning of this academic year. What a difference a year makes!

Congratulations to all concerned.


It has been a busy month for the Science Department......Year 7 classes have continued on with their hard work in Science. Those with Mr Abiodun have looked at Sounds and are now working on Acids and Alkalis. Mr Harwood has also looked at Acids and Alkalis with his students and has recently been working with them to understand Sounds. Mr Williams has continued on with his work investigating The Particle Model and the Periodic Table. When we return after the Spring break, Mr Harwood and Mr Abiodun will look to start teaching their classes The Particle Model and the Periodic Table, whilst Mr Williams should commence Sounds.

Year 8 Aloe have continued their work with Light and will be tested upon their return in April before starting to look at Uses of Metals. Mr Abiodun has worked hard with Cinnamon who have experimented on and investigated the Uses of Metals and who will shortly be moving onto Energy Transfers.

Year 9 Orchid students have again swapped topics – they have worked hard on Energy and Electricity. Year 9 Jasmine have investigated Inheritance. Both classes have shown tremendous insight into their respective topics and will be moving onto Metals and Compounds and Space and Gravity before the end of May.

Year 10 Biologists have been assessed on their topic Investigating Plant Physiology. Students have moved onto looking at ecosystems and the environment.

Year 10 Chemists have recently been assessed on the topic investigating aspects of Organic Chemistry and rates of reactions. Students will next study a topic looking at the fractional distillation of crude oil.

Year 10 Physicists have now completed section B and are moving onto Waves. We have started to look at the electromagnetic spectrum before moving onto the wave speed equation.

neWS FroM SeConDArY neWS FroM the MuSIC DePArtMent

Secondary Student Skates to Success …Elizabeth (Liz) Golding of Year 7 at Al Ain International School has won her first ever Advanced Novice Ladies title in the 2016 Irish National Figure Skating Championships.

Congratulations!

The competition took place on the 13th and 14th March this year at the Lee Valley Ice Centre, London, England and, as you would expect, the standard was extremely high.

Liz can often be seen training at the Al Ain Mall skating rink. Watching her has been described as ‘poetry in motion’. Well done therefore – all the hard work involved is paying off.


neWS FroM the MuSIC DePArtMent

This month, Year 7 have been studying Djembe drumming. They explored several traditional rhythms and then out them together with their own rhythms into group compositions. On International Day two of the groups were chosen to perform their pieces at the start of the dances in the courtyard. Both groups performed accurately and all the students managed to maintain their individual rhythms – well done!

In primary, some classes have been learning about different parts of the drum kit and Year 4 have all had a go at playing a basic rock rhythm on the drum kit. Most students were surprised how difficult it was to coordinate both hands and feet at the same time!

Higher up the school, some Year 10 girls did a great job in performing music with students from the Centre of Rehabilitation. After several practises with the other school, they performed 2 songs to a select audience in the Auditorium last week. Well done to Chloe, Anamika and Karthy! The special needs students really enjoyed the experience and can’t wait to come to AAIS again!

BeDtIMe StorIeS


neWS FroM the eAL DePArtMent

This month has been a really busy one with assessments and various theme days at school. In the EAL department we have been helping with assessments and encouraging our learners to be the best they can be. Sometimes confidence levels are low when one is learning everything in their second language, but spirits have remained high as our children know that they can do it! We have been identifying areas within the children’s language which need more support next term and have started extra reading support with some children who are reaching for higher levels in their guided reading.

On that note, it really is very important that all of our children are reading at home, so I ask parents over the holiday to sit down for some time each day and read with your children. Through reading with them, their vocabulary will improve and their confidence will soar. A little reading every day will help your child reach new goals in school quickly and effectively. We see their enjoyment of reading at school and would love for this to be shared at home too.

The FS 1 children have shown some great improvement over the past few weeks in their listening and speaking skills and once again we encourage you to speak English with your children for some of the time they are at home too. We are an English medium school and making friends and learning is easier when more proficient in the common language of the school. Wishing you a safe and happy spring break punctuated with lots of pleasurable reading together! Mrs Cooper, Miss Mary and Mrs Maystrenko.

neWS FroM the CounSeLLorAs we near the end to this second term, many successes have been celebrated. Our students have had success in academics, athletics, arts and many other facets of life. One area of success that I do not want to overlook is that of kindness. I am proud of our students for their kindness.

While kindness is not always as glamourous as a first place award, it is no less valuable. Kindness has been linked to happiness and self-esteem. When we treat people kindly, we tend to feel better about ourselves. When we treat people kindly, we may help them feel better about themselves. Kindness brings about more kindness. Kindness is a choice.

Kindness at times requires effort and courage. It requires us to think of others feelings. Kindness asks us how we would like to be treated and challenges us to treat others that way. Kindness cannot be graded, it cannot be scored. But it can be felt. We know how our day can be lifted by a warm greeting or a welcoming smile. We know how we feel when someone helps us, listens to us, encourages us.

My hope is that you celebrate this success with me. Often I will ask students what they have done today that was kind. And I will ask who has been kind to them today. I am proud of the kindness that I have heard about. I am proud of the kindness I have witnessed. I am proud of this area of success.

“There are three ways to ultimate success: The first way is to be kind. The second way is to be kind. The third way is to be kind.” -Mister Rogers

If you have any questions about the counselling program, please contact me at [email protected] or 03 715 1026.


Hannah Kelly – 10 Saffron , worked hard on the translation of this children’s story. Using only a dictionary she

researched every word and came up with a good quality piece of work.

MoDern ForeIgn LAnguAgeS

اشترك عدد كبير من طالبنا في مسابقة القرآن الكريم ، وكانت الّنتائج متمّيزة

neWS FroM the ArABIC DePArtMent

ذلك استمتع الطالب بسماع قصص منتّقاه باللّغة العربية من الحكواتي األستاذ مصطفى ، وتعزيًزا وتشجيًعا لمهارات القراءة والفهم واالستيعاب بطريقة محّببة للطالب

MoDern ForeIgn LAnguAge


neWS FroM the ArABIC DePArtMent WorLD Book DAY


InternAtIonAL DAY


Author Visit : Nick Arnold Dear Parents/Guardians, on SUNDAY 10th April we will be welcoming leading children’s author Nick Arnold to our school to give some presentations to children in years 1 – 8 on his work and his books. Three of Nick’s books will be available to pre-purchase and he will sign them on the day. If you are interested in purchasing these books, please complete this order form and return to school by Thursday 24th March. A limited number of books will also be available for purchase on the day – once sold, no further orders will be taken.

Nick is a lover of books and crazy for science and history in equal measure. When he’s not writing books, he gets up to all sort so tricks to show everyone that books are really the most wonderful inventions since inventions were invented!! He is the author of over 50 books, but is best known for his award-winning Horrible Science books. These have been published in over 40 countries and sold over 15 million copies. He is possibly the world’s best-selling science writer for children.

SCIENCE HAS NEVER BEEN SO HORRIBLE!!

Space, Stars and Slimy Aliens HORRIBLE SCIENCE: SPACE, STARS AND SLIMY ALIENS is a bursting, space-hopping book of stunning science. Zoom to the stars with Oddblob the alien, and take part in a spacewalk that's out of this world and learn what the moon smells like. Find out all the horrible facts about space like which astronomers killed people and why space makes your guts explode! Zoom around the planets, learn which galaxies eat each other, and see if you can spot a little green man while you're there! Painful Poison Get ready for a deadly dose of excitement with HORRIBLE SCIENCE: Painful Poison. It's bubbling with killer substances and will have all kinds of evil effects on you. Discover how you can turn your brother into a zombie slave and why you are breathing poison right now! Really Rotten Experiments HORRIBLE SCIENCE: REALLY ROTTEN EXPERIMENTS is packed with loud, noisy, wet and soggy experiments that are guaranteed to give kids an appetite for scientific discovery. Along the way they will find out who invented pong-free underpants, which strange scientists ate tadpoles for tea, and discover a revolting recipe for green slime. With crazy cartoons, queasy quizzes and a terrible term at Rotten Road School, Really Rotten Experiments is simply oozing with info

IT’S SCIENCE WITH ALL THE SQUISHY BITS LEFT IN!!!

Name

Class

School

QTY Space, Stars and Slimy Aliens 40 AED

Painful Poison 40 AED

Really Rotten Experiments 40 AED

Total

Please pay when placing an order.

Nick will sign your book on the day.

Once sold, no further book orders will be

taken.

other neWS.....


This homework should be handed in on …………………………

Use books and/or the internet to find out some information about the artist MATISSE

Matisse is famous for his COLLAGES - find an example of a collage by Matisse and make a copy of it

Collect coloured papers, fabrics, sweet wrappers etc Use the materials you have collected to make a collage based on the work of

Matisse

COLLAGE - A work of art created by gluing bits of paper, fabric, scraps, photographs or other materials to a flat surface.

When Patrick Heron first started painting he was influenced by seeing Matisse’s painting ‘The Red Studio’

Use books and/or the internet to find out some information about the artist PATRICK HERON

Find an example of a painting by Patrick Heron and make a copy of it.

other neWS.....


Author VISIt FS2 WAter/CreAtIVe DAY

SunDAY MonDAY tueSDAY thurSDAY FrIDAY SAturDAYWeDneSDAY

6 94 5

2

8

13 14 1611 12 15

20 21 2318 19 22

1

APrIL 2016

3

17

10

7

1st Day of Term 3

H a l f T e r m B r e a k

Visit by AuthorNick Arnold

FS2 Zakher Parentsto Play

28 3025 26 2924

Year 3’s GotTalent Show

Class /FormPhotos

Class /FormPhotos

Class /FormPhotos

Y7 Respect Day

Spring Fair/GreatBritish Tea Party

42 | Al Ain International School Issue 21 | March 2016

1

1st day of school for the 2014/15 year is

sunday 31 augustsee you then....

Year 3’s GotTalent Show

alain international school monthly newsletter · 16 | al ain international school al ain...

Documents