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Al Yasmina School Primary Newsletter
18 October 2012
Issue 06
Dear Parents,
Dates for your Diary
Sunday 21 October – 28 October - Half Term
Monday 29 October - School re-open
Monday 29 October - FOY Meeting
Wednesday 31 October - Halloween Bake Sale
Thursday 1 November - Pink Day
Tuesday 20 November - International Day
Thursday 29 November - National Day Celebrations
Wednesday 5 December - Carols by Candlelight
Thursday 8 November - ‘Yanomamo’ Performance at Al Bateen School
Saturday 8 December - Festive Fayre
From The Music Department
A huge „well done‟ to Year 2‟s, who performed the songs “I‟m a Giraffe” and “Little
Camel” in assembly this morning with such enthusiasm. They sang beautifully and tunefully.
Well done to this week‟s Musicians of the week!
KS1 Lavinia Pollendine (left) and Rosie Wood (middle) Year 2
Spoonbills who composed a rap about how we can protect
the camels from harmful refuse. They performed the rap to
their class.
KS2 Zaynab Boustique (right) Year 4 Warblers who played “Ode
to Joy” on piano with great accuracy and musicality.
Dates for your diary
Thursday 8 November will see the culmination of 6
weeks‟ hard work, when 30 talented singers from Years
5 and 6 will perform „Yanomamo‟, a beautiful show
about the African Rainforest, at Al Bateen School. We
hope to see you there!
For any information about primary music activities,
please contact [email protected].
From the School Nurses
After the half-term break the school nurses will start organizing the Year 1 booster vaccinations, of
diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough) (DTP), oral polio (OPV) and measles, mumps, rubella
(MMR). The varicella (chicken pox) vaccine will also be offered. Only pupils in Year 1 will receive
vaccinations. Vaccinations are only given with parental consent. We will send out all of the required
forms to year 1 parents in the first week back to school, after the break. When we have received the
forms back from parents we will go ahead and arrange a date for School Health Services (SHS) to
come to Al Yasmina School to administer the vaccines.
If you have not sent in a copy of your child‟s vaccination (immunization) card to the school clinic
please could you do this, as the school nurses need to review all vaccination cards in order to
establish which year 1 pupils need to receive the boosters (some children may already have had the
boosters).
See the HAAD website for the UAE vaccination schedule:
http://schoolsforhealth.haad.ae/media/27581/childhood-immunization-schedule_sept-2012.pdf
PINK Day
Thursday, 1st November will be Pink Day. Students, staff and parents are encouraged
to wear pink on this day to raise awareness for breast cancer. All funds raised will be
donated to charity and therefore we suggest a small donation of Dhs10 per child.
The class teachers will collect the money handed in by the pupils. A donation box
will be put in reception.
From the Library
The Bookworm Bookshop is celebrating Roald Dahl‟s Birthday this
weekend by giving away copies of his books!
When: Saturday 20th October
Time: 10.00 am to 8.00 pm
Where: The Bookworm Bookshop
1st Floor
Khalidiya Mall, Abu Dhabi
Limited stocks so get there early to collect your free book!
Friend of Al Yasmina (FOY)
Halloween Bake Sale
We would like as many families as possible to support the Halloween bake sale which is being held
after school in the atrium on Thursday, 31 October. Proceeds from the sale will go towards the 2013
World Challenge trip to Uganda. To make this a success, and to give as much support as possible to
the Challenge students, we need parents to donate baking for sale on the day. Please bring in your
cakes, cookies and muffins in the morning of the 31st and place all items on the stage in the atrium.
Festive Fayre
This event will be held on Saturday, 8 December. To make it a HUGE success, we need your help to
run and organise stalls. Can you help? Please contact Justine Hughes ([email protected]).
Vacancy at Al Mushrif School
Key Stage 2 Teacher Required for January 2013
We currently have a vacancy for an experienced and well qualified Key Stage 2 Teacher to teach
British Curriculum.
*Subject to negotiation, this post may be offered with an additional leadership allowance.
To apply, please forward the following documents to [email protected]:
(1) A copy of your CV that includes the names and email addresses of two professional referees
(2) A letter of application outlining your teaching and leadership experience to date
(3) A copy of your academic certificates
Please note that we can only consider applicants with a degree and recognised teaching
qualification. Closing date: Sunday 28th October 2012.
Primary Supply Teacher Required for January 2013
We currently have a vacancy for an experienced and well qualified Supply Teacher to teach British
Curriculum and cover classes from FS1 – Y6.
To apply, please forward the following documents to [email protected]:
(1) A copy of your CV that includes the names and email addresses of two professional referees
(2) A letter of application outlining your teaching and leadership experience to date
(3) A copy of your academic certificates
Please note that we can only consider applicants with a degree and recognised teaching
qualification. Closing date: Sunday 28th October 2012.
Uniform Shop
The Uniform Shop will be closed during half term. They will re-open on Monday, 29 October from
12pm -4pm.
From the PE Department
U11 Girls Football:
The girls got their season off to a start with home games against the British School Al Khubairat. The
girls, looking fabulous in their new kit, stormed the field with great enthusiasm. The competition was
evenly matched and both teams battled hard. In the end the Al Yasmina B‟s secured a 3-3 draw,
whilst the A‟s lost 1-3. We look forward to our next opponents!
Foundation Stage 1 (FS1)
This week in FS1 we have been thinking about what we want to be when we grow up. Our dress up
day was full of doctors, astronauts and even princesses! We all had so much fun.
All of us have started to practice writing our name, following instructions and matching numbers to
sets. When we return after the Eid holiday we will begin our topic „Food around the World‟. The first
week we will be focusing on vegetables, we will be naming them, identifying and handling them.
Over the holidays the children should practice forming and recognising the letters in their name using
their name cards. They could identify different kinds of fruit and vegetables when out food shopping,
and see how many different ones they can name. Children could practice their counting skills by
counting out fruits and vegetables and sorting them by size, colour etc.
Some websites to visit in order to support their learning are:
http://www.literactive.com/Download/live.asp?swf=story_files/letter_formation_US.swf
http://www.ixl.com/math/kindergarten/count-to-10
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/games/fruits.html
Stars of the Week
Our Stars of the Week last week were Faris Darwish from Green
Class, Vanya Puri from Yellow Class, Mahra Al Mheiri from Gold
Class, Hussain Poonawala from Red Class, Isobel Marshall from
Blue Class and Khalid Al Khatib from White Class. WELL DONE
boys and girls!
The class mascots will be staying with their class teachers over the Eid break. They are excited to see
who will be their stars after the holidays! We wish you a very happy Eid holiday, and thank you for all
your support in making the first half of this term so successful.
From all of the FS1 Team!
Foundation Stage 2 (FS2)
We have had a lovely week in FS2 this week learning all about „When I grow up!‟
We brought in pictures of when we were babies and
really enjoyed discussing what we were like, the
things we did and thinking about the things we can
do now. We talked about growing up, and the
different types of jobs that people do. The children in
FS2 have also been thinking really carefully about
their phonics, and the sounds they can hear in
words, they used this to help them do some super
writing about what they would like to be when they
grow up.
Finally on Thursday we had our dress up day! We were very excited
to dress up as doctors, nurses, fire officers, dentists and we even had
some teachers! Everybody looked great and we all had a lovely day.
In our number work we have been learning about ordinal numbers.
We have been having races with each other and with cars and
deciding who was 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc. We have also been looking at how
to write and sequence ordinal numbers by matching, cutting,
sticking and playing number games on the Interactive Whiteboard.
We would like to wish everyone a safe and restful half-term holiday
Thank you for helping to make this term in FS2 so successful.
After half-term
After half term our topic will be „Food Around the World.‟ The first week back we will be focusing on
Mexico. We will be learning all about Mexican culture, traditions and different foods. We will be
looking at the different food festivals that happen in Mexico. Also we will be tasting various foods and
making our own Guacamole! Yum!
You could help at home by:
In our Food Around the World topic, the countries we will be learning about are Mexico, India,
Italy, Asia and UAE . If there are any parents who would like to come into class and show
pictures or talk about different foods, we would appreciate any contributions. Please speak to
your child/ren’s teacher.
Talking about different countries and the countries that you come from. Discuss traditional
foods from various countries. You could even try making and tasting some!
Please continue to read the children‟s reading books with them, practicing their sounds and
tricky words.
Phonics Focus:
Revision of Phase 2 sounds: s, a, t, p, I, n, m, d, g, o, k, ck, e, u, r, h, b, f, ff, l, ll.
Phase 2 tricky words: I, no, go, to, go, the, am, is, on, the, like, we, he, she, of.
Helpful websites: Phonics games –
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/alphablocks/games/alphablocks-games/
Number formation –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMJH1A8E6Bc
Topic: Food Around the world –
http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/international-foods/celebration-cuisine-photos/#/hakarl-
shark_39039_600x450.jpg
Congratulations to last week‟s „Stars of the Week
Salim Al Busaidi (Jade class) 2.Harrison Gallery (Orange class)
3.Eleanor Thorpe (Amber class) 4.Al Anood Al Hameli (Purple)
5.Farah Nafie (Ruby class)
Well done guys, we‟re so proud of you!!!
We would like to thank all of those parents who have offered to be „Helping Hands‟ in the Foundation
Stage. The team will be in contact with you shortly after the half term holiday to arrange convenient
weekly times for you to come in and assist them. For FS1 this will not begin until the start of Term 2. We
are looking forward to working with you throughout the rest of the year.
Year 1
And so our final week of „Ourselves‟ has come, and
the break beckons our hardworking Sparrows,
Doves, Robins, Cuckoos and Larks! Thank you to all
those who attended our Literacy Open Morning and
to those who were able to support us in House
Sports. Can you find them in the fog!!
This week we have enjoyed:
Making and painting our clay faces…
Investigating sound in Science
Learnt about Eid Ul Adha through stories,
making Eid cards and designing Henna
patterns.
Our upcoming topic is „Houses and Homes’.
We are going to find out about different homes and
even build some for our shared area. We will be drawing our houses in Art, so if you are able to send
a photograph of the outside of your home, this would be very useful.
We will be looking at some non-fiction, and writing some captions and labels to match photos and
diagrams.
Telling the time to the nearest hour and half hour will be our numeracy focus in the first week, so
reading the time with your child at home would support their learning.
‘Getting on and Falling out’ is our SEAL focus, and we will be discussing friendships and how we make
and keep our friends.
Request:
Could we please have any spare boxes for Robins and Sparrows to build our igloos and villas! Also if
any families have traditional Arabic clothes that their children have grown out of, then please could
you donate them to us to develop our role play areas. Any dressing up clothes would be much
appreciated.
Congratulations to the „Stars of the Week‟
Mahika Prajeet (Sparrows); Karim Malak (Doves); Samuel Harrison (Robins); Yoyo Rashed (Cuckoos)
and Isla McConnachie (Larks).
Have a lovely break and although it is homework free, please hear your children read their books
and practise their words!
Thank you and Happy Eid!
Year 2
What a fun week we have had in Year 2!
We started the week by
showing off our literacy skills to
our parents in our Open House
morning. We were developing
our creative writing skills and
„jumped‟ into a picture! We
showed our mums and dads
how to freeze frame – and
some of them even joined in!
We have been finishing off our Creatures of the Desert topic with a quiz! Do you know the answers?
What nickname is sometimes given to camels?
Which desert creature can crush or sting its prey?
And we had lots of fun on our Creatures of the Desert Day!
In maths we have been learning how to handle data, measuring feet (all clean-hooray!) and
completing block graphs.
After the half term break we are looking forward to starting our new topic of FIRE! We will be learning
all about the Great Fire of London, walking in the shoes of Samuel Pepys and producing some
amazing artwork…watch this space!
Congratulations to last week‟s „Stars of the Week
Wilma Sundt – Flamingos, Lavinia Pollendine – Spoonbills, Isabella Carmichael – Herons, Jayden Joury
– Storks, Yousef Aly - Sandpipers
Year 3
Year 3 have begun a new Narrative genre in Literacy and we have started reading Roald Dahl‟s
“The Twits” and had great fun comparing characters and generating adjectives and synonyms to
describe their appearance and behaviour. This will continue after half term, where we will be
analysing reasons, and re-writing events in our own words. We are looking forward to taking part in
role–play and hot-seating opportunities, where we can immerse ourselves in the role of the
character.
In Maths, we have been building on our multiplication skills and our ability to recall multiplication facts
quickly. We looked at arrays and number sequences as well as investigating multiplication rules. We
were able to identify and sort multiples and explain „how we know‟. We will continue working on
multiplication after half term and will be multiplying two digit and some three digit numbers.
In Science, we reviewed our topic on Teeth and Healthy Eating, and used our knowledge to design a
final poster for the dentist‟s surgery. Look out for some of them at your dentists! After half term, we will
be starting a new Science topic: Helping Plants Grow.
Thank you for bringing in shoe boxes. We had great fun designing and creating Egyptian tombs!
Please could you continue to bring in small 500ml water bottles for our canopic jars.
As it is the half term break next week, there will be no weekly homework, however, your child will be
bringing home a mini DT project that will be due in on the 20th November. Please read the project
sheet for more details.
Thank you to those parents who were able to come and discuss targets. As always, please ask any
questions or get in touch with your class teacher if you have any worries or concerns.
The children have really enjoyed our Egyptian topic this half term – we will continue with this after half
term.
Egyptian Day: Thursday 6th December, more details will follow.
We wish you a lovely, relaxing half term and look forward to coming back after a good rest.
Congratulations to the stars of the week!
Anya Jansen Van Vuuren – Curlews, Rasha Hassan-Beck – Buntings, Trinity Hirst – Cormorants, Saneyah
Khan – Ravens, Mohammed Al Shamsi – Terns
Year 4
Throughout the last half term, the children have enjoyed and have become thoroughly involved in
our „Healthy me‟ topic. They have been successful in learning about past medical marvels, the
movement and growth of our bodies and have created their own marvelous medicine stories and
poems. During art lessons, the children have been studying the work of „Carl Warner‟, looking
carefully at his food landscape work and considering perspective, colour, line and shading. The
children began by sketching still life drawings of fruit and this week, all have completed their final
design of their very own fruit landscape. Have a look at the pictures below of how these were
achieved and a big well done to the children who have achieved principle awards for their work!
Coming Up
In order to finish our „Healthy me‟ topic with a big of a bang; Year 4 are looking forward to our
„Healthy Eating Day‟ (please see below dates for each class.) We would like to thank the parents
who have been able to give up their time to support the children on the day. Each class now has a
class representative who will be in charge of shopping for the ingredients.
Next half term, we will begin our new topic, ‘Architecturally Sound.’ The children will begin by looking
at the 7 wonders of the world and how and why these are built the way they are. If there are any
parents who work within this industry and are available to come in and discuss their understanding of
the local architecture, we would be very happy to invite you into school at a time that is convenient
to you. Please let your class teacher knows and we look forward to hearing from you!
Key Dates
Healthy Eating days
Wagtails: Tuesday 30 October 2012
Sandgrouse: Wednesday 31 October 2012
Pipits: Sunday 4 November 2012
Wheatears: Monday 5 November 2012
Other key dates:
Please be reminded that Wheatears class with begin swimming lessons every Tuesday, week
beginning Tuesday 30th October. Please ensure your child has their swimming kit in school.
Pink Day: Thursday 1st November 2012
Congratulations to last week‟s „Stars of the Week
Noora Al Khaled (Pipits), Molly Barber (Wheatears), Charlie
Wood (Wagtails, Joshua Hudson (Warblers)
Absent: is Nor Alya Nor Azhar (Sandgrouse)
Year 5
Year 5 have had a successful week, taking on the roles of different actors. We had great fun
demonstrating some of these performances on open morning. Our Literacy focus of dramatic
conventions has given us the opportunity to analyse scripts – thinking carefully about body
movement, expression, camera angles and voice projection. We have linked this to radio comedy
and compared the differences between the two.
Numeracy this week has been all about handling data, analysing different ways to represent
collected information. We have generated our own numbers to add to frequency charts then used
this information to construct graphs.
In Science we developed investigations into reflection – understanding that reflections occur when a
light beam changes direction on hitting a surface. We have reflected beams of light to hit targets at
different angles; even investigating bouncing the beam off more than one mirror to hit the target!
Congratulations to last week‟s „Stars of the Week
Well done to Ruby Garrett (Parakeets), Ethan Fletcher
(Sunbirds), Aaisha Hassan (Nightjars), Swa Vanswijgenhoven
(Mynahs) & Zeina Fouod (Swallows)
After the holiday, we will be continuing our Oscar Day preparation – practicing our speeches and
adding the final touches to our costumes. In Literacy we will be script writing news reports – keep your
eyes peeled for news over the holiday. What events are occurring throughout the UAE? Grab a copy
of the Abu Dhabi Weekly and get researching!
Year 6
„Super Six‟ have had another super week!
This week has been especially exciting for Year 6 as we have been working hard to create our
Carnival themed hats! We‟ve been busy cutting and sticking, painting and gluing as well as paper
mache-ing all in preparation for the grand parade on our Caribbean
morning.
Our Literacy this week has been linked to our Caribbean topic; we‟ve watched, listened to and
analysed Caribbean poetry. We have been learning that places around the world use „colloquial
language‟ and identified the Caribbean colloquial language within poems. We then had a go at
using our own Caribbean colloquial language in a poem, like the example here.
This week in numeracy, we have explored data handling further by looking at probability
investigations, reading scales, and units of measurement. Here are some children from the
„Pentagons‟ class using different resources to measure length.
After the half term week in literacy we will be learning how to write persuasively. Over the half term,
take a close look at advertisements; what persuasive words and phrases can you find? In numeracy
we will be looking at number and shape, which will include investigating square and prime numbers,
using calculators, estimating and checking answers using the inverse operation and the properties of
shapes. We will also be starting our new topic, The Aztecs. Can you find out who the Aztecs were and
where they came from? What else can you find out about the Aztecs?
Well done to our stars of the week this week!
Senne De Rooy (Eagles), Anber Johnson (Ospreys),
Mette Den Haese (Owls), Aiden Earley (Falcons),
Louise Hate (Kestrels)
Al Yasmina School
Tel: 02 5014888
email: [email protected]
