FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S DESK

April 23, 2017

If you don’t have great teachers, you don’t have a

great school and nothing else is going to change

that.” – Todd Whitaker, What Great Teachers Do Differently.”

In Hollywood they say casting is everything. If you

pick the right actors to star in your movie, odds are

better it will be a box office blockbuster. The same

holds true for schools. If the staff and teachers are

great, odds are the school will be great.

At a recent staff meeting, we welcomed our new

teachers - all highly qualified specialists who have

been carefully chosen for their proven ability to

ignite the curiosity of learning in every student, help

them improve in areas of weakness, and shine in

areas of strength and interest.

Research is clear. The student-teacher rela-

tionship has the greatest impact on student

learning, even beyond curriculum. We pride

ourselves on being a school where every stu-

dent is known, where the connection amongst

students and faculty feels like family, where big

dreams and aspirations are fulfilled.

The world is changing, and GMS is responding.

We are researching innovative ways to prepare

our students for the future and implementing

revolutionary flexibility to make that possible.

Our STEM programmes are amongst the most

popular and our students have shown time and

again that if you can imagine it, you can create

it. We have already seen results but our sights

are set higher – much higher.

Our doors are always open and we welcome

your inputs. Please do not hesitate to discuss

your suggestions or share your thoughts and

ideas to help us make this an extraordinary

year for your child.

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Kids Creative Café

Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival (SCRF) has a specially

designed programme called The Creative Kids’ Café which is being

held daily from 19 April to 29 April, 2017 at the Sharjah Expo

Centre. Students from the globe and from within the U.A.E were

invited to be a part of this program which was devised to inspire

children to invest their time in writing, reading and other creative

activities. Thousands of children who visited the festival enjoyed

talking to them and were inspired by their amazing talent.

Pens help create words and

sentences and express

pictures and ideas.

They create stories and tales

and compose charming

poems.

Behind each unique and thoughtful literary

creation is the creativity.

Athmaja Kavia Bijo of Grade 9 G and Syed Zidane

of Grade 6 B have the proud distinction of having

been chosen as Guest Speakers at the Creative

Kids’ Café, sharing their journey to becoming

authors and publishing their books.

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Athmaja’s Experience at the Kids Creative Café

The Kids Creative Café at the Sharjah Children’s Reading Festival

was an experience that gave me a kind of freedom to express my

views of writing and creativity. It was a platform where my views

on things, though in their nascent stages, along with the various

facets of different matters as viewed by different people were

discussed and thus bolstered.

The entire festival was an attempt at liberating our ideas

of reading and writing through various programmes and

activities, making people realize that literature is some-

thing that can be construed in many different ways.

Speaking to my friends and others in the audience made

me feel like a part of this endeavor; I am grateful to my

school for having provided me with this opportunity.

We will be sharing with you Syed Zidane’s

experience in the next Newsletter...

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FIRST LEGO LEAGUE

First Lego League is based on Imaginative Thinking and Team

Work .It combines learning with fun while applying Science, Tech-

nology, Engineering, and Math concepts (STEM) in a practical way.

FIRST LEGO LEAGUE

Our school participated both in the Senior as well as

Junior Competition level at the First Lego League

held at GEMS Nations Academy on April 15, 2017 .Our

students presented their solutions to the judges with

a dash of creativity based on the programmme’s

Core Values. For the Senior team, the theme was

‘Animal Allies’ in which they had to design, build and

program a robot using LEGO MINDSTORMS technolo-

gy. Our team comprising of Rishabh Java of 10B1,

Ravindra Singh of 10B, Mohammed Haneen of 10B

and Bhavish Kumar of 9B won the ‘Innovative

Solution’ prize.

Our Junior innovators researched, developed and

programmed using LEGO Wedo1.0 and Wedo 2.0. The

theme in the Junior category was ‘Creature Craze’

and the members were Arfaz Mohammed of 4B4 ,

Gatik Sharma of 6B2, Shaurya Gupta of 6B2, Vedika

Yogesh of 5G2 and Reshi Adhikari of 6B.

They bagged the Excellent Core Values Honourees

Award.

CONGRATULATIONS!

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FIRST LEGO LEAGUE

FIRST LEGO League and FIRST LEGO League Junior both are based on

innovator’s imaginative thinking and team work which was held in

Gems Nations Academy on April 15, 2017. It adds up to tons of fun and

learning while children learn to apply science, technology, engineer-

ing, and math concepts (STEM).

FIRST LEGO LEAGUE

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FIRST LEGO LEAGUE

FIRST LEGO League and FIRST LEGO League Junior both are based on

innovator’s imaginative thinking and team work which was held in

Gems Nations Academy on April 15, 2017. It adds up to tons of fun and

learning while children learn to apply science, technology, engineer-

ing, and math concepts (STEM).

FIRST LEGO LEAGUE

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Invitation from Microsoft for Rishabh Java

Rishabh Java of Grade 10 B1 has been invited by the

Microsoft Team to visit the US to share his

experience in creating the Bionic Arm.

Well done Rishabh. We applaud you on your success.

We will keep you posted of further developments...

RISHABH JAVA

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ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

OUR GRADE 11 TEACHING FACULTY

MA. (English Literature, Madras

University); B.Ed. (English)

MS. ASHWINI RAO

Ms. Ashwini has over 13 years of experience in teaching

English to the Middle and Senior School. She has re-

ceived accolades for her competence in English Lan-

guage teaching during her B.Ed. Programme. After a

stint of 6 years as an English Teacher with J.S.S Inter-

national School in Dubai, she joined GEMS Millennium

School, Sharjah in April 2015 and has since then added

considerable value to the English Department.

M.A. (English Literature, University of

Kerala); B.Ed. (English); Diploma in

Journalism

MS. SANDHYA SANJEEV

Ms. Sandhya began her career as an English Teach-

er in the Republic of Maldives under the Ministry of

Education. She has over 18 years of experience, 6

of which have been with Our Own English High

School, Sharjah (Girls Branch). Ms. Sandhya is

known to be a passionate teacher committed to

students’ development.

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MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT

Mr. Johnson has rich experience of 20 years in teaching

Mathematics to Senior Secondary grades. He enjoys an

excellent reputation and is known to be a teacher who is

able to bring out the very best in his students through

his positive approach. He has worked as PGT Mathemat-

ics Teacher at Bhavan’s Vidhya Mandir, Kochi for 19

years. He taught at the Indian School, Salalah, Oman for

a year before joining us.

Mr. Manoj comes with over 14 years of experience in

teaching Mathematics to Senior Secondary grades. He

joins us from Birla Public School, Doha where he was

the Head of the Mathematics Department. His previous

experience includes The Indian Islahi Islamic School,

Abu Dhabi and the T.K.M. Centenary Public School,

Kerala. He has also coached students for IIT and Engi-

neering entrance exams at Tandem Institute, Kuwait.

M.Sc. (Mathematics, M.G. University);

B.Ed. (Mathematics); SET

MR. JOHNSON C.J

M.Sc. (Mathematics, M.G. University);

B.Ed. (Mathematics); SET

MR. MANOJ KRISHNAN

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SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

MS. LEELA SATHISH

With a career spanning over 20 years, Ms. Leela Sathish has taught

Biology to Grades 11 and 12 at Our Own English High School, Sharjah –

Main Campus for 9 years. She is very highly regarded for her ability

to ensure that all her students work to their fullest potential. In

2004, she received a letter of appreciation when 73.7% of her stu-

dents of Grade 12 and 64.9% of her students in Grade 10 secured A1

in the CBSE Board Examinations. In 2005, she was commended by

GEMS for getting the highest subject average (Biology) amongst all

GEMS Schools. 85% of Grade 10 students got A in their Board Exams

and the subject average for Grade 12 was 86.6%.

This rose to an incredible 91.8% in the academic year 2011 – 2012,

with a student getting a perfect score of 100. Ms. Leela’s most recent

appointment was as the Principal of Cochin Public School for a year.

She is returning to a career that she is most passionate about -

Teaching.

M.Sc. (Mathematics, M.G. University);

M.Sc. (Zoology, M.G. University); B.Ed.

(Science)

M.Sc. (Zoology, Agra University); B.Ed.

(Science)

MS. SONIA RODRICKS

Ms. Sonia began her teaching career in City Mon-

tessori School, Lucknow in 2003 and taught Biology

and Environmental Education to Grades 11 and 12 at

Christ Church College, Lucknow. She joined GEMS

Millennium School, Sharjah in 2012 and is known for

setting very high expectations for her students.

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SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

MS. SHERLY PETER

Ms. Sherly has an experience of 10 years in teaching at

the Middle and Senior School. She has previously worked

with Al Manahil Private School, Al Ain as the Coordinator,

Faculty of Science. An educator with excellent teaching

skills, Ms. Sherly has been working with GEMS Millennium

School, Sharjah since April 2012 and was recently award-

ed Teacher of the Month.

M.Sc. (Mathematics, M.G. University);

M.Sc. (Chemistry, Sagar University, M.P);

B.Ed. (Science)

M.Sc. and B.Sc. (Chemistry Hons. from

St. Stephen’s College, University of

Delhi); B.Ed. (Science); CET

MS. BINSU MARY JOHN

Ms. Binsu was most recently teaching Chemistry to Mid-

dle and Senior School at ARDEE World School. Her previ-

ous experience includes teaching Chemistry to B.Tech.

students at The World College of Technology and Manage-

ment, Gurgaon, the New Green Fields School (CBSE) and

the Kathuria Public School (CBSE) in Delhi.

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SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

MS. PRIYA VINOD

Ms. Priya Vinod is an exceptional teacher, well respected

for her subject competence. She taught Physics to the

Senior School at GEMS Our Own English High School,

Dubai before joining us last year. Previous to that, she

was PGT teacher at Jain International Residential

School, Bangalore and has a total of 14 years of teach-

ing experience.

M.Sc. (Mathematics, M.G. University);

M.Sc. (Physics, Annamalai University);

B.Ed. (Physical Science)

M.Com (Management, Accountancy and

Economics, Pt. Ravi Shankar Shukla

University, Raipur); B.Ed. (Commerce)

MS. REKHA GUPTA

Ms. Rekha has an experience of over 4 years in the Senior

School at DPS International, Ghana, West Africa. Previous

to that, she has taught at the Holy Cross Senior Secondary

School, Raipur. She has a proven record of ably offering

individualised support to students and her subject exper-

tise includes Business Studies and Book Keeping.

COMMERCE DEPARTMENT

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MS. MEENAKSHI SEMWAL

Ms. Meenakshi has over 6 years’ experience in teach-

ing Accountancy and Business Studies at the Senior

Secondary level. Ms. Meenakshi has previously

worked at Our Own English High School, Sharjah

(Boys Branch) for over 4 years and has been internal

and external examiner for Grade 12 Accountancy

practical examinations. She has trained students for

various inter-school events and led them to a win at

the Best Project Awards for Green Economy Model

and Expo 2020 model.

M.Sc. (Mathematics, M.G. University);

Pursuing PhD (Management, Banasthali

Vidyapith, Jaipur); M.Com (Finance,

Kurukshetra University); B.Ed. (Commerce)

M.A. (Economics, University of Kerala);

B.Ed. (Social Science)

MR. SHAJI PAUL

Mr. Shaji has over 5 years teaching experience at the Grade

11 and 12 level. He was Head of Department and Economics

Teacher at the Indian Excellent School, Ajman and is best

known for his ability to weave real life examples and case

studies to simplify even the most complex concepts. He has

been commended for significantly improving the Grade 12

CBSE Economics Board averages of his students through his

unique approach.

COMMERCE DEPARTMENT

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TEACHING FACULTY

MS. AMIRTHA KARUNANITHI

Ms. Amirtha has over 10 years of experience at the

Senior Secondary level in teaching Computer Science

and Informatics Practices. She has taught for 7 years

at GEMS Our Own English High School, Dubai and more

recently at GEMS Modern Academy, Dubai. She is

known to be a result-oriented and highly motivated

teacher.

M.Sc. (Mathematics, M.G. University);

B.Ed. (Mathematics); SET B.E. (Computer Science) M.Sc. (Psychology, Bangalore

University)

MS. VINITA MANE

Ms. Vinita has had an outstanding academic track record

and has worked under some of the most sought after names

in this field. She joins us from Indus International School,

Pune where she has been working as the IB DP Facilitator,

SL Examiner and IA Moderator in the Psychology Depart-

ment.

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TEACHING FACULTY

MR. VENU SIVAKUMAR

Mr. Venu has been working in GEMS Millennium

School, Sharjah as Physical education teacher since

May 2014. His previous experience includes the

Treamis World School as Sports and Arts Coordinator

and the Indian Institute of Space Science and Tech-

nology, Valiyamala, Trivandrum in a career spanning

10 years.

M.Sc. (Mathematics, M.G. University);

B.Ed. (Mathematics); SET

M.Phil. (Physical Education,

Pondicherry); UGC NET

M.Sc. (Psychology, Bangalore

University)

MS. VINITA MANE

Kindergarten New Appointees

MS. SALMA BANDAY

B.Sc/B.Ed/M.Ed

MS. SYEDA FATIMA

B.A. Economics / Montessori

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MR.

M.Sc. (Mathematics, M.G. University);

B.Ed. (Mathematics); SET

M.Phil. (Physical Education,

Pondicherry); UGC NET

M.Sc. (Psychology, Bangalore

MS. VINITA MANE

Primary & Middle School New Appointees

MS. SONIA GEORGE

B.A. History, M.A. History/B.Ed

MS. PRERNA ALMEIDA

B.A. History and Sociology/B.Ed

MS. SNEHA DAVID

B.A. History/B.Ed

MS. PRIYANKA DAS

B.A. English /B.Ed