LEARNING WELL, ENJOYING LIFE, EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
Al Rayyan Record
27th November, 2014
Dear Parents,
Welcome to the newsletter. I recently met with the class Parents and Campus Parent Representative to
discuss progress made and any concerns. It was a very positive meeting and some very useful
suggestions were made to continue to improve our campus. You will hear details about different
projects once we are in a position to start work on them.
Drop in for Coffee!
I would like to invite parents to drop in to the Staff Room for coffee on the first
Thursday of every month. It will be a chance to have a parent coffee shop at Rayyan
and for those of you who are free, to meet and have a chat. I hope you will be able to
use this opportunity to meet other parents informally and make new friends.
Parking
I realise that parking is now becoming more and more congested in the morning and afternoons. To
alleviate the problem, from Sunday, Staff will be using a new parking area and gate to enter school.
This will free all of the space at the front of the school for parents and children. However, there are
two things I must insist on:-
Parents or drivers, who park on the opposite side of the road, must bring their children into
school. Security Guards are there to control traffic and make sure it is running smoothly. They
have strict instructions not to take children across the road-it is not their responsibility.
Parents and drivers must make sure they leave at least one metre between the wall and their
parking place to allow parents and children to walk safely into school.
Thank you for your cooperation with this. I will continue to monitor the flow of traffic to see if further
improvements can be made.
30th December– Year 6 Fujairah Trip
2nd December—EY2 Beach Trip/Y5 Art and Craft
Workshop/Y1 and Y2 French Assembly
4th December—Drop in Coffee Morning
8th December— Y4 Zubara Trip
9th December—Music Assembly
11th December—ECAs End/ Reports out to Parents Year 5 creating a key note
presentation in Qatar History
LEARNING WELL, ENJOYING LIFE, EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
Al Rayyan Record
Please do not hesitate to contact the School Secretary, Mrs Sally Horton ray-
[email protected] for any administrative matters or myself if you have any concerns or
issues.
Kind regards
Ann Djedid Head of Campus
Arabic Department
Thank you to those parents who have raised a few concerns with the Arabic Programme. Ms Enaam, our
Arabic Coordinator is already taking steps to improve provision and as part of this, has introduced a new
communication system. A form is available at Reception for you to write your concerns and leave your
contact details. She will then contact you directly to discuss any concerns you have. I am sure this will be
a positive step to improve communication between parents and the lArabic department.
Fujairah Trip
We are now on the countdown to the annual Year 6 Fujairah Residential Camp which is the highlight of
the year for our Year 6 children. It is a fantastic opportunity for them to team build, make new friends and
test their own strength of character as they participate in some outdoor pursuits and develop resilience
and independence. I am sure they will have a fantastic time!
I will be sending an email update to parents every night of the stay and you can follow the events on
Twitter. Our username is @FujairahCISD
Learning is Fun!
Last week Early Years 1 had a lovely day at our Gharaffa Campus as the exit point to their IPC unit. They
had great fun splashing water and making new friends. Year 6 also visited the Roza Hassad Farm- Qatar’s
state-of-the-art flower production facility and brought back some beautiful blooms! Early Years 2 are
going to watch a production of “The Ugly Duckling ‘at the Rayyan Theatre in Souq Waqif. The following
week they will also visit the Intercontinental Beach as the exit point for their IPC unit and participate in
learning focused activities. Year 4 will be visiting Zubara Fort next week to see the excavation and heritage
site. This week Year 5 have a trip planned to watch some ‘Horrible History’ which reinacts scenes from the
past in an amusing way and next week they will also be attending an Art and Craft workshop. So there are
lots of fun learning opportunities going on and I look forward to reporting on some of them in the next
newsletter.
LEARNING WELL, ENJOYING LIFE, EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
Al Rayyan Record
Dear Parents and Carers
Welcome to the latest newsletter.
I hope that your children continue to enjoy the learning and activities provided for them at Rayyan and
Gharaffa. This weekend sees the start of the Year 6 visit to Fujairah and I know that both children and
staff are looking forward to their adventure. So far this term the children have had the opportunity to
take part in many different enrichment activities including visits to the theatre, to a football match, to art
galleries and concerts. Before the end of term we will also have the opportunity to watch an
international basketball match. We will try wherever possible to include these activities within the
curriculum offer covered by the school fees. However, occasionally it may be necessary for us to ask you
for a contribution towards an activity. I appreciate your understanding.
I have been delighted to meet many new and prospective parents over the past few weeks as the
school’s popularity continues to grow. We are building a really strong reputation not only for our
academic program but also for the way in which we nurture our children, ensuring that they learn in a
safe and supportive atmosphere which encourages every child to succeed. On several occasions recently
prospective parents have commented on just how happy the children seem at school and about the
wonderfully warm welcome they receive at both Rayyan and Gharaffa. This is just the type of school we
want to develop, one where happy children come into school eager to learn and one where parents feel
confident that their children will be safe, cared for and supported to succeed.
This week we have enjoyed some staff training on the uses of digital media in marketing the school and
sharing our story. In January we will be developing this further with regular activity on Twitter and
Facebook. Whilst our website will continue to be an important communication tool we want to move
into much more responsive and immediate forms of communication. This will be piloted with
communication about our Fujairah tri and will develop further next term.
LEARNING WELL, ENJOYING LIFE, EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
Al Rayyan Record
Our ECA program for next term is now almost complete and you will all receive information about
the offer next week. If we could have some idea of your preferences before the end of term that
would be fantastic. We are hoping to develop a space at both schools where parents can wait with
younger siblings whilst older ones are involved in ECAs. I was horrified to hear that some of you had
to just sit in your cars whilst ECAs were on and we must be able to provide a better solution than
that. We also have plans to develop an after school club to ease the end of the schools day and
provide some after school care. More information to follow.
Look out for more facilities developments on both campuses over the next couple of months as we
continue to improve our sports facilities. Our new ipads have also arrived and now our IT upgrade
has been completed the children and staff will be able to develop the use of the latest technology to
support their teaching and learning. Exciting times ahead!
Please keep in touch with us and let us know how we can further improve our offer for your
children.
Best wishes
Graham
Y3 IPADs in Guided
Reading
Y3 Using a
dictionary
Y2 Circuits in
science Y1A Pirate
activity
Y1A Improving
drawing skills EY2A Role Play EY2C Collage
Y2 Buildings
Entry Point
LEARNING WELL, ENJOYING LIFE, EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
Al Rayyan Record
Learning in EY1a
Learning is so much fun in EY1a! We would like to take you on a journey of our daily
experiences.
To develop and strengthen our fine motor skills, we have a variety of activities in our
classroom available to choose from.
Drawing, colouring and pasting
Beading PlayDough
Building with Popoids Puzzels
LEARNING WELL, ENJOYING LIFE, EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
Al Rayyan Record Building with Magnetic blocks Building with Lego blocks
Painting
We are developing our social skills and communication and language when we dress up
and pretend in our Role Play area.
In Maths we are learning to count, and to recognise numbers and shapes. We love to
do sorting and matching activities.
LEARNING WELL, ENJOYING LIFE, EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
Al Rayyan Record
Last week we started our “Sand and Water” IPC unit. As an entry point in IPC, we visited
our Gharaffa Campus where we had a lot of fun interacting with the Early Years 1
children at Gharaffa while playing in the paddling pools and sandpit.
We are also learning about the properties of sand which, when dry can flow like a liquid
and is difficult to hold. Prints and solid shapes can be made from wet sand. It is so much
fun to experiment and discover which objects can sink and which ones can float.
We enjoyed listening to stories like “Commotion in the Ocean” and “The Rainbow Fish”.
We are looking forward to the coming weeks as we will be learning a lot more about the
different sea creatures, listening to more stories and doing some awesome art and craft
of the different sea animals.
LEARNING WELL, ENJOYING LIFE, EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
Al Rayyan Record
If you were in Villagio on the 13th of November, you might have seen a lot of Dutch speaking people on the
skating rink! More than 60 students and their parents from the program for Dutch speakers in CIS/The
Globetrotter were gathered to do one of the sports The Netherlands is famous for: skating! But, this wasn’t
just for fun! The event is organized in the Netherlands by Plan Holland (part of the INGO Plan International) to
raise awareness about water and the lack of it in the world. Therefore it is called “Skating for water”.
It wasn’t a coincidence that it was this week. All over the Netherlands many children were participating in the
same event on many ice rinks all over the country. But it was special in another way, because Compass/The
Globetrotter was the first school abroad ever who was participating in this event!
During the past month, all Dutch speaking children from year 2 till year 7 have had lessons about water in
their extra hour of Dutch on Sunday. We learnt about for example about water in the world and in our part of
Europe, salt and sweet water, why we need to be careful with water and how water from the sewer is being
cleaned again through an interesting process. We also learn about the year 1953, the year in which a big flood
hit the South part of the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK. In Dutch we have many expressions with “water”
in it, which are difficult to understand if you don’t use them often, like here in Qatar. Therefore we also teach
the children these expressions.
To prepare for the event, we also arranged a special lesson with help of Plan Holland. Through a Skype
connection, students were taught by a teacher in The Netherlands about the project and why Plan Holland is
helping this year in Zambia. Plan offers water wells, toilets and gardens in schools around the country, to
promote that all children (and especially girls) can go to school.
All participants were really enthusiastic about the event, it had a great atmosphere. Some students from year
4 commented: “I am really proud what we did and that I skated 17 rounds!” and “I think we learnt that water
is something to be careful with. Girls in Zambia sometimes need to walk two hours to get fresh water!”
S k a t i n g f o r w a t e r e v e n t
D u t c h D e p a r t m e n t / T h e G l o b e t r o t t e r
LEARNING WELL, ENJOYING LIFE, EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS
Al Rayyan Record
CHILDRENS NUTRITION COURSE; WHAT SHOULD I FEED MY CHILDREN?
At CIS Doha we value the importance of our students’ well being
In our effort to promote awareness of healthy eating habits, we will be offering a seminar to parents that will
focus on optimizing children’s diet and providing practical tips on healthy eating.
This seminar is part of the Additional Learning Needs Department’s initiative to create community links which are
beneficial for children’s well-being and to continue to support parents in their role.
The seminar will take place at:
Compass International School, Rayyan Campus December Thursday 4th
9:00 – 11:00am
Parents will have the opportunity to:
Learn about how to optimize their child’s diet
Improve their child’s immune system
Improve their child’s concentration
Manage their child’s weight
Gain practical tips to deal with fussy eaters
Obtain more ideas for the nut free lunch box
A qualified Nutritional Consultant with a BSc in Nutritional Medicine (UK trained) will take you through the course
presentation and equip you with the knowledge you need to make changes to your child’s diet.
The course content will include:
The importance of good nutrition in maximizing your children’s health and avoiding chronic illnesses.
The basic criteria for an optimal eating plan for your child, including the perfect plate.
Meal, snack and treat suggestions, including nut free options for the school lunch box
Practical tips for fussy eaters.
Practical information on where foods can be purchased in Doha.
Course presentation:
1 hour interactive talk given
Opportunity to ask questions to a qualified Nutritional Consultant
Presentation slides given to take away at the end of the session
Links to recipes online
What will be gained:
An understanding of why good nutrition is important and how it can be linked to optimal health such as optimal
functioning of the immune system, improved concentration at school and weight management.
Knowledge of the basic food groups, including proteins, complex carbohydrates, essential fats and super foods.
Foods to avoid will also be discussed including, Trans fats, refined sugar and additives.
Knowledge and practical skills to help you make better food choices for your child, including recipe suggestions.
This seminar is sponsored by our school so is free of charge - we are hoping that you will take advantage of this unique opportunity. We are looking forward to seeing you all there .
With warmest regards,
Additional Learning Needs Department