Secondary School Spring Newsletter 2018

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Message from Head of Secondary

It is surprising how Term two has already come to an end. Like Term one, it has been busy

and packed with a lot of activities on and off site. I would like to say a very big thank you

to all students, parents and staff who have contributed to the successes this term.

As always we had a term packed with challenging, fun and exciting activities in and out of

lessons. Among some of the activities we had were a very successful trip to Germany and

Poland where our pupils were able to visit some of the places they have been studying in

History. As always the Science Fair was a huge success. The sports hall was buzzing with

budding scientist displaying their experiments and research. We continued to dominate

in sporting activities. Our under 12 team won the Sheikh Faisal Cup. Boys and girls also

won the inter-newton football competition. Year 10 Geography and Year 11 Global Citi-

zenship students all had an opportunity to complete fieldwork in preparation for their ex-

ams and coursework. The term ended with a number of rewards trips for pupils who

achieved positive behaviour points.

Term three will also be a busy one with AS Level, IGCSE and internal exams. I would like

to wish all pupils the best in their exams and in Term three. Remember you become

what you believe, not what you wish for.

If you are travelling, my hope is that you will have a safe and enjoyable journey. I also

wish everyone a peaceful and restful holiday, and I look forward to welcoming everyone

to a new term on Sunday 8th April 2018.

Please note in your diaries the following crucial events in the school calendar:

Tuesday 24th April 2018: Years 9 & 10 Parent Teacher Consultation Afternoon

Monday 30th April 2018 : Year 7 Parent Teacher Consultation Afternoon

Tuesday 1st May 2018 : Year 8 Parent Teacher Consultation Afternoon

Dr. Dwight Weir

Head of Secondary

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Three NBA students showcased their prodigious English talents against Doha’s best at the fifth annual

Pakistan Education Centre literary competition.

Competing across three categories, the students, from Years seven and eleven, performed exceptional-

ly well against a very high standard of opposition from nineteen schools across Doha.

Huda Shaban became Macbeth and performed the famous ‘dagger’ scene from the play which capti-

vated the audience, while Wish Ramirez and Amra Naeem took part in the prestigious writing competi-

tion.

In between the competition, students from PEC performed songs and dances showcasing Pakistan’s

cultural heritage, thus making the experience educational for all competitors.

KS3 Poetry Competition

NBA students have been

showcasing their poetry

skills. Students from years

seven, eight and nine com-

peted against each other to

create their own poems and

impress the English depart-

ment with their skills. Win-

ners received gift vouchers

and winning entries were

performed at assemblies.

Year 12 Qatar Library Trip

In December some Year 12 stu-

dents were treated to a trip to

Qatar National Library. They were

stunned by the unique, futuristic

design of the building. The trip

enabled them to experience the

wealth of resources and cutting

edge technology the library has

to offer.

Upcoming UK trip

NBA students are eagerly

awaiting the English Depart-

ment trip to the UK in April.

Eighteen students will spend

six days visiting London and

Stratford-Upon-Avon, the

birthplace of William Shake-

speare. Activities include a

tour of the Globe Theatre

and a visit to Tower of Lon-

don.

The English Department

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Manga High News

The mathematics department want to congratulate Ikram Chebbak 10GB and Khaled Matar

9BG for keeping their top 3 positions on mangahigh. Mangahigh is a subscription based

mathematical program which makes mathematics fun for our learners. The learners from

Year 7 to 11 compete against the middle eastern schools-its also a good revision resource.

Please encourage your child to login and use this very useful resource

Year 9 Options

This Term we encouraged our Year 9 students to

make subject choices for next year, even though

mathematics is compulsory we had an opportuni-

ty to speak to the group about why Maths is im-

portant to them-not only financially, educational-

ly and globally but personally. The mathematics

department acknowledges all the learners that

put a lot of effort into their course. “Our greatest

weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way

to succeed is always to try just one more time.”

―Thomas Edison

The Maths Department

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Science Fair at NBA

It was that time of the year when our students rolled up their

sleeves, asked pertinent questions and explored the world

around them by submitting amazing science projects at the

3rd Annual NBA Science Fair. We had about 150 teams

displaying their projects in the Sports Hall. It was loads of fun

for all teachers, students and judges. There were many

different, high quality projects and it was extremely hard to

decide on the winners. Well done to all students who

participated and a special congratulations to all the winners.

Inter-Newton Competition

Once again, our students represented NBA at the Inter-

Newton Science competition. This academic year the

competition was hosted by our neighbor, Newton

International Academy on the 18th January 2018. Having

finished all their tasks (Spelling Bee, Kahoot, Experiments,

and Problem Solving) without undefeated, our teams were

awarded first prize for all activities. Well done!

Guest Speaker at the Science Week

Aeronautical Engineer Edi Andrade shared his experience and knowledge with our Year 10

and 11 students during the Science Week. Mr. Andrade

explained all about flight mechanisms, control systems and

aerodynamics.

Science Week - Teachers for one Day For Science week, myself and my friend, Thea Sequeira, had the honor and privilege

to demonstrate heart and lung dissections to the Year 6 classes. This was a very

interesting experience for both of us. The lesson included a presentation on the

circulatory system. We then continued the lesson by dissecting lamb hearts where all

4 chambers were explained. Next, we blew into the lungs to inflate them. Showing

how lungs fill up with air and then deflate.

The Year 6 students were extremely overwhelmed with excitement and loved the

demonstrations. We hope they learnt a lot in the lesson and had as much as fun as

we did teaching them.

Maheen Rizwan, 10GB

Winners at the Inter-Newton Science Competition. Congratulations to Mera Alardah (7GB), Noureldin Elshenawy (7BG),

Muhammad Rumman (8BG), Jodi Sequeira (8GR), Fathima Khadijah (9GB), Hamza Thaib (9BR), Anindya Pandey (10BR)

and Ikram Chebbak (10GB) .

The Science Department

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The Art, Design and Technology Department has once again

had an amazing Term producing excellent work from all age

groups. The students have pushed themselves to create some

incredible pieces of work within school and at home.

Key Stage 3 specifically have developed some incredible pieces

with their studies of Graphic Typography, Isometric Building

Structures and alternative DVD Cover Projects. You can see the

examples of these within the pictures that are on this page.

The department has benefited from its new ICT lab that was

installed last year. The department has now been equipped

with an A3 Laser cutter which is promising to be an amazing

addition to the department.

The images within this newsletter clearly demonstrates the

high level of creative ability that is within the school. Well

done and keep up the good work.

Key Stage 4:

Key Stage 4 have been setting a high standard for others

to follow within both Art and Design Technology. The

students have been working extremely hard to push

their coursework as far as they can in order to help to

ensure that maximum time is spent on their exam prep-

arations.

I have also been very impressed with the year 10 cohort

of students who have been making their way through

the course at an impressive rate. I would like to take this

opportunity to thank the students for setting a very

good example for the others within the school. Many

students have been inspired by their work to study both

Art and Design in the future. So thank you.

The Year 11 students have had a testing 18 months,

some finding it too hard to bare. However, through de-

termination and a few extended deadlines, the students

have made a valiant effort to hand in their coursework

on time. It is now important to focus on the challenges

ahead and prepare for the Exam within Term 3.

The Art and Design Technology Department

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Quran competition:

We were very pleased that on the 20th February 73 male students participated in the Arabic Competition this

term. It was a great experience for staff and students. It went well.

On Sunday 25th February 47 female students competed in the Quran competition. Our pupils achieved good

results in the competition, we will celebrate these students on 29th April in the sports hall.

Arabic competition

The Arabic Department at Newton British Academy announced the "Ibda'a" creativity competition in the Arabic language activities (theatre - casting - singing) among all the branches of Newton schools.

The Competition Objectives are: - Developing talents and preparing talented students.

- Building the character of the students and developing their abilities. - Activation of Arabic language skills.

- Finding alternative elegant art. - Improving student’s talents in speech, theatre and poetry.

- Develop a sense of literary and artistic beauty. - Encourage public speaking.

The Arabic Department

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Learn a language, share a culture, change the world

The French Department

In Term 2, The Newton British Academy

Barwa, organised many cultural events: The

International Day and Languages Day con-

tribute to a very dynamic and eclectic pro-

gram that will appeal to anyone who likes

diversity and languages. Students from

different cultures celebrated diversity

through songs, poems, food and various

activities. It was an unforgettable day!

In Term 2, Year 7 learned about animals,

they learned adjectives to describe an ani-

mal. In Year 8, we worked on the Topic

"What do we eat?" Students learned how

to name fruits, vegetables and meals, they

learned how to buy and how to order in the

restaurant in French.

They had the opportunity to visit the school

canteen to buy food before break time and

they used French. In year 9, we learned

about parts of the body, how to express

discomfort, and how to lead a healthy life.

Why Learn French?

Learning French allow children

to optimise their learning potential, help-

ing shape the brain and their creativity.

Fifty percent of current English vocab-

ulary is derived from French, making it

easier to learn both languages.

French is the only language, alongside

English, that is taught in every country in

the world.

French is also the second most widely

learned language after English.

France is the world’s top tourist desti-

nation

A language for travel, for the job market,

for culture, for international relations...

and that is fun to learn!

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Humanities revolves around a lot of important subjects, such as , History, Citizenship and Qa-

tar History. Topics that have been discussed this term include, Governments, Environmental

Management, Social responsibility, World War 2, British Colonization and Medieval life,

where students have done an outstanding job of re creating motte and bailey and concentric

castles.

Many different events have been held this term through the Humanities department, one of

which is our continued involvement with QAWS. As part of this programme we are trying to

teach students that every action has an effect and that we must consider what the conse-

quence of our choices are. As part of this QAWS have attended a Year 7 assembly to talk to

them about what happens to pets when they are no longer wanted by their families. We

have very successfully collected food donations for the center and have volunteered time to

help walk and look after the dogs and cats at the center.

The Humanities Department

A display of pupils’ work

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In January our History trip to Berlin

and Poland went ahead with 26

students from Years 9-11. This was

an amazing opportunity for the

students to see the consequences

of the events they had been study-

ing in class and also gave students

previously disenchanted an oppor-

tunity to reengage with the history

curriculum. Many new friends

were made and new memories

were created.

Overall Term 2 has been a reward-

ing and engaging experience which

we hope to continue into Term 3

and on into the future.

The Humanities Department

Pupils on the trip to Germany/Poland

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The ICT, Business Studies and Travel and Tourism Department

ICT

Year 7

This term students have been learning how to use Scratch. Scratch is a visual programming language that uses

blocks that come together to create a series of instructions. As we as learning a visual programming language stu-

dents were able to build on their computational thinking skills and the ability to think outside the box to create en-

tertaining and engaging games.

Year 8

This term Year 8 students used software called Sketchup, Sketchup is 3D modeling software which allows students

to plan, design and create 3D drawings. Sketchup can be used in a number of different careers including architec-

ture, interior design, civil and mechanical engineering as well as film and video game design. Students have worked

exceptionally hard and have thoroughly enjoyed this unit of work.

Year 9

It has been a very exciting term of Website Designing and Database work. Pupils managed to create their own pro-

fessional websites using Dreamweaver. It was pleasing to see them integrate concepts of Desktop Publishing such

as rollover buttons and animated gifs, aspects covered during the first term into their web pages.

Year 10

The Year 10 students have now covered half of the content for the IGCSE ICT course this year. The students com-

pleted the paper 2 practical paper in the first term which included databases and mail merge. During the second

term the focus switched to the theoretical element of the course. Students learnt about computer hardware com-

ponents and their purpose. In addition students learnt about Networks and the roles of the different devices in a

network. In Term 3 the focus will go back to the practical element of the course.

Year 11

The Year 11 students are making good progress this year as they come towards the end of their two year course.

Students have now completed the course and they are revising complete papers. The focus this term has been on

the theoretical elements of the course.

Year 12

The Year 12 students are working hard this year and are adjusting to the requirements of the new Information

Technology AS course. Students have now almost completed both the theoretical and practical elements of the

course. Students are now focusing on past exam papers.

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The ICT, Business Studies and Travel and Tourism Department

Business Studies

The Year 10 Business Studies students have been studying the Human Resources topic. They have covered the re-

cruitment and selection process, motivation, training, communication, financial and non-financial rewards. There

have been some heated discussions about how employees are motivated in the workplace, and we have discussed

the theories of Maslow and Herzberg. The students have also analysed the various communication methods used

in business organisations, and how communication can have a significant impact on the performance of an organi-

sation.

The Year 11 students have finished their final topic; Operations. In this topic they learnt about the very important

topic of Economies of Scale, and how a growing business can take advantage of lower unit costs. They also ana-

lysed how a business can also experience higher unit costs when it grows too big. The different methods of produc-

tion have also been assessed and the students have analysed the advantages and disadvantages of each method.

The Year 12 students have continued to work well in their second unit. The students were introduced to new top-

ics, including; Price Elasticity of Demand. Here the students discussed what happens to demand when a price is

changed, and therefore, how revenue is affected. Various theories have been studied, including; Mayo, McGregor,

and FW Taylor, and each student had their own opinion on which Leadership theory they believed was the best.

Travel and Tourism

The Year 10 students have covered two units of the course this term. They have looked at ‘features of worldwide destinations’

and ‘customer care and working procedures. In features of worldwide destinations the students covered topics that included

knowledge of the main global features, awareness of different time zones and climates, investigated travel and tourism desti-

nations and what attracts visitors to destinations. In customer care and working procedures the students looked at how to deal

with both customers and colleagues, identifying the essential personal skills needed to work in the industry.

The Year 11 students have continued with their revision, re-visiting different aspects of the course, as well as continued exam

practice. All students have been issued with exam question booklets which they are busy working their way through.

The Year 12 students have been very busy this term. They have completed the course content and have been looking at the

‘principles of customer service in travel and tourism’. In this they looked at customers and their needs, impacts of quality cus-

tomer service and assessing the quality of customer service in travel and tourism.

As well as looking at the theory, the students have been working hard on completing their coursework. The students have had

to work in teams to organise some travel and tourism events. The events have been varied with one organising a trip to Sheikh

Faisal’s museum, one held a successful food event at the Spring Fayre and the last team organised a careers talk for the Year

10 travel and tourism students. This has been testing, but a great learning experience for all of the students

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In the second term of the year, the boys have been studying football, athletics and cricket. Our girls have

been participating in raquet sports, athletics and ball games.

Outside of school, the boys have competed in many different competitions. The under 12 and under 14

boys football teams entered the Sheikh Faisal cup. The under 14 team lost only one game and finished

third overall. The under 12 team won three games and drew one and ended up winning the tournament

on goal difference!

The under 16 basketball team have been competing in the QUESS (Qatar United English Speaking

Schools league). They have beaten Mesaieed International school and Compass to reach the semi-finals

and will play their semi-final match against Dukhan in Term Three.

In February we had a sports day for both boys and girls. The students competed in track and field

events at Qatar Sports Club and then in team games back at school. The students displayed great deter-

mination and team work throughout the day.

Also in February we hosted an inter-Newton schools football tournament. The boys played first and

NBA were the winners! The girls played later that day and got through to the final. The game went to

penalties and again NBA won the competition; a double celebration for our students!

The PE Department

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We live in a changing world and it is of the utmost importance that we as people change

with it, in order to ensure a meaningful and productive future. In social studies we do

just this, we learn about processes that change Earth, and how we can minimize the

harmful effects of humans on the environment.

Social Studies ECA

Throughout the year extra classes

are taking place for all students

who need more help. There has

been a positive improvement in

learner grades. The Environmental

Management class went on a com-

munity project where they cleaned

the beach.

Year 10 students went on a visit to the beach

in the last week of term 2, to complete

course work. Wave cut platforms, long shore

drift and ocean pebbles were studied. A long

profile of the beach was compiled.

Year 9 students are exited for their new aca-

demic year and the new subjects that are

offered, like Environmental Management.

The increase in the number of learners tak-

ing Geography and Environmental shows

that the learners are very interested in the

subject field.

GEOGRAPHY

ENVIRONMENTAL

MANAGEMENT

The Social Studies Department