Blyth Academy Newsletter · 2018-09-20 · Qatar History. Their teacher for Social Studies has only been able to come in twice a week. In Science the Grade 7’s have been learning

BAQ Newsletter – September 20th, 2018 Page 1

Blyth Academy Newsletter

September 20th, 2018


FANTASTIC PAT RESULTS FOR BLYTH

Blyth has received Provincial Achievement Testing results for 2017-2018, overall our

school performed well above provincial standards.

Grade 6 ELA

Province Blyth Acceptable 83.5

96.8

Excellence 16.1 17.9

Grade 6 Science


100

Excellence 31.2

48.4

Grade 6 Math


100

Excellence 13.5

22.6

Grade 9 ELA


80

Excellence 14.7

20

Grade 9 Math

Province Blyth Acceptable 58

76

Excellence 14.5 16

Grade 6 Social Studies


96.8

Excellence 23.7

41.9


Grade 9 Science

Province Blyth Acceptable 75

76

Excellence 20

24.4

******************************************************************

MISC

School Advisory Council

A lively and interesting discussion was held during our first SAC meeting in spite of

meager attendance. Next meeting Oct. 8 @ 6:15 pm

Tuesday September 25

FULL Day, dismissal 2:10

School Fees

Due September 30.

International Service Trip

Parent information session Wed. Sept. 26 @ 7:00 pm

*************************************************************************

More below…


BAQ HONOUR SOCIETY 2017-2018


High School – UNIVERSITIES FAIR

Canadian and international universities will visit BAQ starting next month (TBD) to

provide our sr. high students with the needed information so that they can explore their

future options for their undergraduate studies.

There will be a University Night at BAQ next month (TBD) for Sr. high students and

parents to set the light on important information regarding university applications’

process and deadlines.

More than 50 universities’ representatives will attend University Expo Qatar on

November 28-29. Expo Timings are: 8:00am-1pm/5pm-8pm.

Please see/contact our Sr. Guidance Mr. Bouakir for any inquiries at

[email protected]


Pizza Day for k-6 on Tuesday and grades 7-12 on Wednesday

Dress Down Day for the whole school on Wednesday, The theme is: fall colours.

Grade 6 – Experience Electoral Process

Grade 6 students engaged in the one of the principles of democracy this week; representation.

They participated in an election for student representative of the student council. All Grade 6

students listened to speeches and watched the candidates campaign to earn their votes. Five

students ran for the position of student representative. Please extend your congratulations to

both Cassady and Sahl for a great campaign and we wish them well as they now work towards

making their campaign promises come through!

Sharmila Hegde

Elementary Teacher, Grade 6


NEW ACTIVITY FOR SK-5 ON MONDAYS

Please Review the new After School Activities Schedule:

Choice Grades Activity Activity Day

SK Story Time ( Mrs. Balsom’s Room) Wednesday

SK-1 Skipping Rope (Room 41) Monday

1-3 Origami (JK B Room) Wednesday

4-6 Origami (Room 26) Monday

SK-5 Zumba / Fun fitness ( Grade 2 Room) Monday

3-6 Art Club (SKA Room) Monday

2-6 Elementary Spring Musical (Mrs. Fillman’s Music Room) Monday and Wednesday

4-12 Knitting Please check the box if you have your own

needles and wool

Wednesday

6-12 Animation – Go Animate (Computer Lab) Monday and Wednesday

7-12 Concert Choir (Mrs. Bouakir’s Music Room) Wednesday

5-12 Table Tennis / Ping Pong / Badminton Wednesday

7-12 Student Council (Science Lab) Wednesday

7-12 Chess Club (High School Social Studies Room) Monday and Wednesday

7-12 Guitar Club Please check the box if you have your own guitar

Wednesday


GRADE 10/20/30 - BY SARA/CHARLES/AYA

In Social Studies, the Grade 10’s are doing a Transnational Corporation project. In this

project, they are making their own international company.

In Career and Life Management the Grade 10’s are discussing the theme of “self love.”

They have created posters that will be posted around the school and in their classroom.


ELA 10-1: Short Stories: Insights

Currently finishing their “All About Me!’ project

They are also studying “Media.” They get to play the role of a journalist where they

choose and event from class readings to create a news article and will present.

This Thursday, they will be writing a unit test

ELA 20-1: Essays: Persuasive

Read a short essay called “Importance of Being Earnest” written by Canadian author.

Students have to make a “Free Verse” Poem to convey their understanding of the story.

Watched an educational film called, “Spare Parts.” This film is connected to the theme

“Sense of Self” we’re studying this month. The film portrays a group of students who

through obstacles, were able to build - manually, an Underwater Robot and competed

against a well-known school, MIT students and went on to win. The film demonstrates

that ‘anything's’ possible, despite one’s background and socioeconomic status.

ELA 30-1: Personal Challenges

Students have finished reading a short story “The Rocking-Horse Winner” and currently

finishing a poem called “Found Poem.” A found poem is finding key words from the

story to create a poem and at the same time, interpreting and analyzing the theme of the

story. Below is an example of a “Found Poem.”

GRADE 9

In ELA the Grade 9’s are focusing on analyzing short stories. They have been reading a

variety of short stories, one of them being ‘Paris and the Golden Apple.’ They go back

and forth, reading short stories to expand their vocabulary to further analyze and describe

the stories. Students create a glossary to include the elements of literature: Words include

foreshadowing, tone, mood, and atmosphere.

In Math the Grade 9’s are learning about rational and irrational numbers. They usually

start off class with a warm up question then explain and discuss the lesson on the board.

The students had just finished a test.

In Social Studies the Grade 9’s have been learning about the Canadian Political System.

They have in-class discussions and watch videos.

The students have said their teacher is very efficient and doesn’t waste time.

In Science the Grade 9’s have been learning about genetic traits.

They receive lots of homework in this class and do a lot of in-class discussions.


GRADE 8

In ELA the Grade 8’s have been reading and analyzing short stories. The short stories

they have been reading this week were of the fiction genre. The Grade 8’s have expressed

their teacher is very kind but strict when she needs to be.

In Social Studies the Grade 8’s are currently learning about Japan. They have been

learning about Japan’s hierarchy and its leaders (ex. Daimyo, Shogun etc.) They take

Qatar History once a week.

In Math the Grade 8’s have been learning about ratios. They have also been receiving

frequent to which one student said “I’m actually super surprised we are receiving this

much homework this year.” They go through a warm up question and do in class

discussions.

In Science the Grade 8’s are learning about fluids.

They just received a test and got their tests back. This week they have just been revising

for the test, but some students expressed that because they were unable to use a

calculator, their marks dropped.

GRADE 7

In ELA the Grade 7’s have been reading certain stories and analyzing them. A prominent

story the students are reading is a story called ‘The Frog.’ They have been learning

certain vocabulary and how to answer certain questions. They have been doing this to

prepare for an upcoming test.

In Math the Grade 7’s have been learning about decimals. They have been learning how

to convert between decimals and fractions and how to multiply and divide them. They do

a warm up question and then do in class discussions.

In Social Studies the Grade 7’s have been learning about First Nations in Canada and

their past.

This week they haven’t been working on Social Studies and instead have been doing

Qatar History.

Their teacher for Social Studies has only been able to come in twice a week.

In Science the Grade 7’s have been learning about the ecosystem, going into detail on

food chains and animals.

They have also been learning about the water cycle. In class they take a lot of notes and

watch videos to explain certain concepts. The videos they watch are usually Bill Nye

videos.

GRADE 6:

The Grade 6’s have been learning about Canada’s voting system in Social Studies.


GRADE 5

In English the Grade 5’s have been reading books and doing comprehensions.

The class enjoys English, and they love group activities.

They have been doing descriptive writing and free writing.

In Math the students have been playing games such as rounding bingo and multiplying

checkers with Math integrated into it.

In Social Studies the students have been learning about weather and climates.

SENIOR KINDERGARTEN:

The Senior Kindergartens love learning about math and the alphabet.

They have been learning about communication skills.

They had just started learning about shadows and also about crafting arts.

The students have also been presented with the calendar and learning the various days

and months in the year. Skills they are now learning is coloring.

AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

Members of the after school knitting club have made wonderful pieces of work.


CAREER FAIR

After having hosted a successful Career Fair last year, we have decided to hold a second one to

help our students receive some guidance from our very diverse parent community. We are

looking for parents who would like to volunteer an hour or so of their time in order to come in

and speak to our students about their jobs.

We will be holding the career fair on Tuesday, October 30th 2018 at the school from 7:00 to 8:00

pm. We will have a couple of different rooms with 5-10 minute presentations for each one of you

to speak to students followed by a Q&A from students should they have any questions for you.

What is required of you:

• A 5-10 minute presentation (PowerPoint is optional)

• Some guiding questions for the presentation:

• What type of schooling did you go through

• What was your most important course that has helped you in the workplace?

• What lead you to your career?

• What is your job title?

• What is the most important advice you can give students that has helped you in your

career?

• What does your daily routine look like/what are your responsibilities?

• Was it worth it?

• Also, if your work allows it to maybe (at a later date) have a sign up for students to come

in to your workplace and shadow you for a day.

If you are interested please sign up using the following link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VwxRRxV9XoJumg43VJoYIkk6s8VrcgwbrXuQwe1J2A

Y/edit?usp=sharing

Should you have any questions please email: [email protected]

I hope we can work together to make this a successful event in order to help our students who are

currently making decisions that could impact their future.

Thank you in advance for all your help.

STUDENT COUNCIL

Are planning to assign 2 leaders (1 male/1female) for each house. The sign up sheet will be

available from Sunday-Tuesday (Sept. 23-25). Sign up at Ms. Aboud’s room.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VwxRRxV9XoJumg43VJoYIkk6s8VrcgwbrXuQwe1J2AY/edit?usp=sharing

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VwxRRxV9XoJumg43VJoYIkk6s8VrcgwbrXuQwe1J2AY/edit?usp=sharing

mailto:[email protected]


Dear Parents,

Blyth Academy Qatar - 2019 Tanzania Expedition

Your son/daughter has expressed an interest in the school trip to Tanzania which will take place

in April 2019 and will be organised by award-winning school expedition specialist, Camps

International. We would like to invite you to a brief presentation where you can find out more on;

Wednesday 26th September 2018 in school @ 7pm

This 8 day service based expedition includes working on a meaningful project in a rural

community. Traditional Tanzanian activities, a bush walk and picnic and a safari.

It offers students life-enhancing experiences by:

• Enhancing their CV through personal development, discovery and challenge

• Building their confidence, becoming more independent and improving their leadership skills

• Gaining experience in teamwork, time management, financial awareness and resourcefulness.

• Working on a meaningful community project

Camps International have provided fully supported expeditions for thousands of International

school students across the UAE, offering a wide range of award-winning projects with an

unrivalled, proven track record of quality and safety. They are one of only 7 providers to have been

awarded the Learning Outside the Classroom quality badge, a government accredited quality and

safety assurance.

Operating from offices on four continents, Camps International deliver premium overseas

expeditions to schools, corporate teams, gap year students and families.

As places are limited and usually fill quickly, please confirm your attendance. This can be done

by completing the reply slip below and returning it to main reception or emailing

[email protected]

For more information please come along next week and Jemima will be happy to answer any

questions. In the meantime, their website is www.campsinternational.ae

http://www.campsinternational.ae/


Trumpeter-Composer Jeilani Bauman visited our school to inspire our 6-12 students in

music. During the presentation he described his life, being brought up in a musical family, his

career as a composer, and the time and dedication required to learn an instrument.

He delighted us with a song, he played some of his own music that he composed, and even

jammed out some blues with our high school band students.

Mr. Bauman gives private lessons in trumpet/brass, and he is currently looking for a few more

students.

If your child is interested in taking private music lessons in brass instruments or beginner piano,

music theory and improvisation, you can contact him at:

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]




GR. 6 PHYSICAL EDUCATION – HAVING FUN!


SIX STEPS TO CHOOSING THE RIGHT UNIVERSITY

After reading the rankings, here’s how to narrow your university options Abby Young-Powell There are hundreds of universities to choose from, but there are steps you can take to narrow your options. Reading our university guide – which combines scores for the aspects of university life that matter most to students – is a good start. But what next?

1. Research online

The vast majority of UK courses are on Ucas, where you can filter them by location and course. Once you’ve narrowed it down, see what detailed information is available on university websites. Check out their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube or Snapchat pages. They may run web chats with academics or students where you can ask questions.

2. Consider the course structure

Find out how you will be taught and assessed, like whether a course has a lot of exams, essays, or group work, and also consider the course content. Thais Cardon, studying English literature at the the University of Exeter’s Penryn campus, says she regrets not looking into her reading lists before she got to university. “I got lucky because in the third year I get to study Harry Potter,” she says. “But definitely look at the course material.”

3. Go to open days

It’s always worth visiting the university. “We strongly advise that any final decision you make is based on how you feel on the open day,” says Tom Holland, pastoral lead at Blackpool Sixth Form College. He suggests students go at least twice (if you can afford the travel costs) and spend as much time there as possible. There will be lots going on, so plan in advance, so you don’t miss anything. When you’re there, talk to as many people as possible, visit the town or city as well as the university. If you can, bring someone along for a second opinion. Preferably “someone who won’t be as excited and starry-eyed as you”, Cardon adds.

4. Ask questions

“Ask staff and students for their opinions and ask what they think is good about the uni,” Holland says. “Ask about life beyond the university, like where the course will take you –


and ask for evidence. For example, you could ask what previous students have typically gone on to do.”

5. Think about location

Consider where the university is and the accommodation on offer. How expensive is the area? And would you prefer a busy city or a quieter rural campus?

6. Look beyond lectures You’ll likely be living at university for at least three years, so find out what’s on offer outside the curriculum. One university may have an active film society, and another might have a lively cocktail club, or winning football team. “If a university doesn’t offer a society you want, you can always start one, so it shouldn’t be a defining thing,” Baillie says.

Documents

Blyth Academy Newsletter · 2018-09-20 · Qatar History. Their teacher for Social Studies has only been able to come in twice a week. In Science the Grade 7’s have been learning