Pearling Season International School

NURTURING EXCELLENCE

THE

WEEKLYnewsletter

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Dear parentsIt was a great pleasure this week to welcome so many parents to our first parents/ meeting of the academic year where we had the opportunity to introduce the teachers and give you further information about the academic programmes we are following across the school. The response from parents I have spoken with is very positive with a sense that the information we are providing is clearer, more detailed and enables you to support your child better at home. Next week we are focusing on phonics and all parents of pupils in ALN, Early Years and KS! Are warmly invited to attend a parent workshop on Monday 24th October in the morning between 8 am and 10am. This workshop is being led by an international trainer of phonics, Mrs Coral George, who we are lucky to be having at the school for 4 full days next week. In addition to meeting and training parents she will be working with our teachers to ensure the phonics programme and the teaching of phonics is as excellent as it can be. Another step on our journey of nurturing excellence and one we are all looking forward to immensely. Elsewhere in the newsletter you will read about our other school sections so please take some time to have a good read, and remember that you are always welcome to contact our school leadership team at any point to discuss any matters you would like further advice or guidance with. Have a great week.

With best regards,Mr Geoff VaughanHead of School

23rd September, 2018 2nd Edition

OUR MISSION:To develop our abilities as a learning community to nurture excellence through:Provision,Expectations,Attainment,Relationships,Learning,Inspiration,Nurture,Global Citizenship

OUR VISION:To nurture excellence in all we do 1

STARS OF THE WEEK

Keystage1 Winners

Keystage 2 Winners

Pearling Season International School

NURTURING EXCELLENCE

FROM THE HEAD OF PRIMARY (lorraine.dolan@psisd.com.qa)

A huge thank you to all of the Parents who attended our, ‘Meet the Teacher’ event on Tuesday. It was fantastic to see so many of you there and we hope you found it both informative and enjoyable. A really important point highlighted to us on the night was that some parents are confused about how we group our classes into Key Stages. To clarify on this point, please find below a clear breakdown of the groupings;

On Monday 24th September we are hosting a Phonics Workshop for parents at our school. The workshop will be led by a Jolly Phonics specialist called Coral George and is recommended for parents who have children in Pre-school, Reception, Year 1, Year 2 and our ALN classes. The workshop will start at 7:30am and will finish at approximately 9:30am. The focus will be; To understand what phonics is To know how we teach phonics at school To know how to support you child with phonics at home

We have noticed an increase in children being dropped off late to school in the mornings and not being picked up on time after school. Please be reminded that our starting time for all students is 7:00am and our finishing time is 12:30pm for Pre-school and Reception and 1:30pm for KS1 and KS2.

Reception P:Wow! Reception P has had a fantastic start to the year. We have spent time learning our school rules and getting to know each other. Our topic was, ‘Magical Me’ and we learned about ourselves and our family. We drew a self-portrait and labelled parts of our body. We also shared photos of our family and drew pictures. We are looking forward to our new topic, ‘Dinosaurs!’.

OUR MISSION:To develop our abilities as a learning community to nurture excellence through:Provision,Expectations,Attainment,Relationships,Learning,Inspiration,Nurture,Global Citizenship

OUR VISION:To nurture excellence in all we do 2

Key Stage: Abbrevia�on: Year Groups: Early Years Founda�on Stage EYFS Pre-school & Recep�on

Key Stage 1 KS1 Year 1 & Year 2 Key Stage 2 KS2 Years 3, 4, 5 & 6

FROM THE HEAD OF SECONDARY (martin.hare@psisd.com.qa)

Dear parents,

Many thanks to those parents that attended the, "Meet the teacher" event. If any parent was unable to attend and would like to have some feedback, please feel free to email the subject teachers directly with any concerns you have.

Now that the students have started to settle into term one, it is important that you are monitoring their progress at home, as well as in the class room. There is a tendancy for secondary pupils to not share their homework and revision with their parents the way they did when they were in primary. It is not cool in their mind!

80% of knowledge can be lost on average from one school day to the next unless it is revisited at home and reinforced. I have spoke to all pupils about the importance of revision. The pupils have been given tracking sheets for all subjects to assist in revision. They will also be given revision exercise books next week.

In order for your child to reach their full potential I encourage you to sign their homework; ask to see their class books; ask to see what revision they have done to support knowledge retention. Encourage them to read ahead in their textbooks, use online resources such as Khan academy & the Read theory program. Complete a previous homework again without looking at the answers to see if they can remember how to do it.

Like most things in life repetition is key. Have a great week

Year 11:On Wednesday 19th September, Mr. Leonard, Ms.Ward, and our year 11 students went to Souq Waqif as part of their GCSE Geography course. The students had to investigate whether tourism has a positive or negative affect on the Souq.All students are required to complete the Coursework which is worth 27.5% of their final IGCSE grade.

OUR MISSION:To develop our abilities as a learning community to nurture excellence through:Provision,Expectations,Attainment,Relationships,Learning,Inspiration,Nurture,Global Citizenship

OUR VISION:To nurture excellence in all we do 3

FROM THE ASSISTANT HEAD OF SCHOOL(Community and Parental Partnerships)

Dear All,

PTAUnfortunately, we are experiencing some difficulties with our PTA google form online. I have now printed copies of the form and have place them at reception for any parents/guardians that would like to join the PTA. This will last until the end of the week so please do sign up asap.

Childhood Cancer awarenessI hope you have all seen the beautiful pieces of work that our student’s created for the doctors, nurses and children at Sidra hospital. It was a fantastic effort by all and we shall now look forward to our non-uniform day this coming Thursday.

QPPSSA - Primary sports leagueNext week begins the QPPSSA league for our primary cohort. The PE Instagram page and our ClassDojo will be regularly updated to keep you all informed. Prior to our school participating in any QPPSSA sporting event, Mr.Geoff and I had to sign and confirm that we agreed to the QPPSSA Code of conduct. One of the QPPSSA rules clearly state the age groups of students which is taken very seriously. No child can participate in an event if they are deemed to old by the categories below.

If you have any questions, please do get in touchNatasha.ward@psisd.com.qaI hope you all have a lovely weekMs.Ward

STOP PRESS

Phonics Workshop for parents (Time to be confirmed)

Monday 24th September

Block 1 of Extra-Curricular Activities (ECA) to commence

Sunday 30th October

Year 2I class assembly 12:00pm-12:30pm

Year 3P class assembly 12:45pm until 1:15pm.

Parents from both classes are invited to attend

Tuesday 2nd October

Year 6P class assembly 12:45pm until 1:15pm.

Parents from this class are invited to attend

Tuesday 16th October

Mid term assessment

Sunday 14th October

Half Term Break (school holiday)

Sunday 21st Oct– Thursday 25th Oct

Secondary Dates

Non uniform day in aid of Childhood cancer

Thursday 27th September

Whole School dates Primary Dates

OUR MISSION:To develop our abilities as a learning community to nurture excellence through:Provision,Expectations,Attainment,Relationships,Learning,Inspiration,Nurture,Global Citizenship

OUR VISION:To nurture excellence in all we do 4