2016-17: October

KEY DATES Thursday 13th October Movie Night Thursday 20th October Parent’s Coffee Morning Monday 24th October Governor’s Meeting Wc Sunday 30th October Progress Evenings KG1 to G9 Wednesday 9th November PTT General Meeting ATTENDANCE/PUNCTUALITY Best attendance: 1st Place: G2I (Ms Lucy) 2nd Place: G1C (Mr Abdul) 3rd Place: G7A (Ms Ailish) Best punctuality: 1st Place: KG2C (Ms Alex) 2nd Place: G5B (Ms Laura H) 3rd Place: G7B (Ms Laura C) The PTT logo winner:

FROM THE PRINCIPAL Dear Parents and Guardians Thank you to all parents who attended the first PTT general meeting on 4th October. The Executive Committee members duly elected are:

Mrs Wilesse Williams - Chairperson - children in G3 and G1 Mrs Tamanna Attif - Vice Chairperson - children in G7 and KG2 Ms Sanobar Sabah - Secretary - children in G4 and KG1 Ms Mehvysh Mobin - Treasurer - children in G4 and G1

There were lots of good fundraising activities suggested including art and craft workshops for parents, bake sales and cake icing workshops for parents. There was also a discussion around the role of the PTT whatsapp groups. It was reiterated by the Executive committee that the groups are to share information from school and ensure it is shared with parents in a timely manner and answer general questions. The communication committee will be setting some rules of operation and membership for the Whatsapp groups at their first committee meeting. Please contact volunteers@albasmaschool.ae to receive further information about the PTT and the volunteer roles available to help to support the school. They are currently taking nominations for grade coordinators who will liaise between the parents of that grade and the grade leader and coordinate the grade parents' efforts when preparing for events such as National Day and International Day. As the weather is now getting cooler could you please ensure children are wearing a school uniform jacket, fleece or blazer. PTT Logo Contest Congratulations to the competition winner - Muhammed Ali Haider KG2AL. There were also 8 special prize winners; Eman Mohammed G5PO, Nathan Williams G3SA, Lamitta Al Saka Amini KG2EL, Aazhbeer Farhan G3PE, Ammar Shafiq Khateb G2CAL, Muhammed Umar Farooq G7LA, Allowaid Al Muhairy G6JO, Mohammed Ali G7AI. All prizes and participation certificates will be awarded in award assemblies this week. Thank you and well done to all children who took part. Elements of all of the 9 prize winning logos will be incorporated in the final logo which is currently being put together by a parent volunteer and will be used on all future PTT paperwork. The quality and creativity of the logos impressed the judging panel which comprised; Ms Ana Cristina PTT Representative, Ms. Jane Cooper Parent Volunteer, Ms Ruth VP, Ms Maie and Ms Amanda Al Basma Art teachers. The PTT facebook group can be joined by all parents by searching for Al Basma Parent Teacher Team and following the page. The Administrator will then ask you some parent verification questions before accepting you as a member after which you will receive notifications when they post. https://www.facebook.com/groups/291007417913081/ Please feel free to contact me on the following email ID:

Mrs Allison McDonald allison@albasmaschool.ae

Issue No. 2

World Teachers Day. Thank you to Dr Maria, whose son is in Grade 3 for donating the time of her salon technicians from Queen's Palace Salon in the Tourist Club area to the Al Basma staff on behalf of the PTT. The teachers, TAs all received one free treatment during the school day in our temporary salon in the Board Room from 8 am to 4.30 pm. Cleaners, helpers and admin enjoyed treatments for AED 10. Over 100 treatments were delivered throughout the day. Staff enjoyed head and shoulder massages, threading, salon consultations, waxing and nail painting. It was a very memorable way to celebrate the day and the staff felt truly appreciated and pampered. Thank you to the PTT for organising this reward for staff. Al Basma Governing Body. We are currently taking nominations for KS4 parent governor and additional teacher and admin Governors. The role of a governor is as critical friend to the school leadership team. They hold leadership to account against inspection recommendations and school improvement priorities. Governors also bring general parent concerns to the notice of the SLT. It is essential that the Governors do not bring individual or personal issues to the table. All Governors are requested to sign a confidentiality statement regarding matters discussed at the meetings and in sub committees. If you wish to nominate yourself or someone else please contact Ms Vikki vikki.k@albasmaschool.ae Appropriate communication with school staff. There have been a number of occasions recently where parents have spoken very disrespectfully and aggressively to school staff including administrators, leaders, teachers and teaching assistant. Abusive language and physical and verbal aggression towards staff will not be tolerated as it directly contradicts UAE social and cultural expectations. Social Police will be involved if necessary. When using the bus, children must not eat as this becomes a serious choking hazard. Equally, wearing seat belts tightly at all times is very important due to the injuries incurred in even a small collision. Please encourage your child to follow these rules by explaining the possible danger of these behaviours.

Punctuality and Attendance. Please be advised that school starts with the National anthem at 7.50 am. those arriving from 8 am will be marked late. Daily text messages will be sent to children who are recorded as absent and late. Those who are late on 3 or more occasions a week will receive a phone call from reception whilst children who are absent for three consecutive days will receive a phone call from a social worker. Absence and late arrival together with early pick up will directly impact on your children's rate of progress and achievement. Please support us in maximising your child's rate of progress by ensuring they arrive on time, do not leave early and avoid all unnecessary absences. We testing the text messages and emails so please let Mr Anubhash know if you receive one in error. We will inform you when testing is complete and we launch the system officially. Bric parent portal was launched at the parent's meetings in the week after Eid. The BRIC portal is used to share resources, communications and homework. All resources and homework can be downloaded and printed. If you do not have internet access or a printer please contact the teachers who will continue to send hard copies of homework. If you have not received an email with your username and password please email Ms Najuva and Mr Anubhash who will update your contact details and resend your username and password. A BRIC app will be made available in the future for parents to access BRIC from their phone. najuva@albasmaschool.ae anubhash@albasmaschool.ae

CORE COMPETENCIES

The coming focus is on

Respect

And 8 special logo prize winners to…

Mohammed Ali – G7A

Muhammad Umar Farooq – G7B

Nuwaid Aimhairi – G6B

Nathan Williams – G3B

Eman Mohammed – G5D

Lamitta Amini – KG2H

Aazhbeer Farhan – G3H

Ammar Khatib – G2A

Enquiry and activity based learning…

Healthy Eating Please remember we are a healthy school and send your children with healthy snacks and meals. We are also a nut free school as we have a number of staff and children with severe allergies to nuts and nut products. Unhealthy snacks and nuts will be confiscated. Please note the canteen menu only serves items on the ADEC approved food and drinks list. Please note no energy drinks are allowed in school and all children should bring a water bottle to school every day. All children have been issued with RFID badges and parent of bus children should have received an email with activation instructions. The system will go live in the coming week and parents will receive a text message when children board and leave the bus and will be able to track the bus's progress on the app which can be downloaded to a phone or tablet. PTT Movie Night Thursday 13th October will be the PTT's first event of the year. Movie night is a pre-registered event and is only open to children who attend with their parents. Unaccompanied children will be denied entry. Parents will be required to sign in, list their children's names and register their phone number so that we have a fire register in the case of emergency and can return children who are lost. There will be popcorn, cotton candy, drinks and cold snacks such as crisps on sale at the event. Parents can also bring their own snacks and drinks. Please note registration has closed for this event. Only those who have pre-registered will be allowed entry Parking Please ensure that you park with consideration for our neighbours at school pick up time. Do not park across driveways and please speak respectfully to them if they ask you to move. Traffic police are issuing tickets to those parking illegally. Kindly respect our children and parents with disabilities by not parking in the disabled parking spaces so that physically disabled visitors can park and gain easy access to the school building during school and at events held outside of school hours.