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OURPLANET International School Muscat

A NOBEL TALENT SCHOOL OF SUSTAINABILITY

Welcome to this latest edition of the OURPLANET International School newsletter. Firstly, let me join you in welcoming home his Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said to Oman. Like you, we are delighted that his Majesty has returned and our thoughts and prayers go out to him and the nation at this joyous time. Our children celebrated a special assembly on the day of his return singing patriotic songs and wishing his Majesty the best of health. They spent much of the day doing activities to celebrate the safe return of his Majesty to Omani soil. You will see from all the articles in the newsletter that your children have been very busy over the past few weeks. Our KG3 students have been learning about Endangered Species and man’s impact on the environment. In Grade 1 the wonderful world of the arts has been their focus with the classroom transformed in to a beautiful art gallery. In Grade 2, we had very informative presentations on alternative energy sources a very important topic for the future of Oman. In KG1, Inky the mouse has been on his travels learning about the different families and their traditions. And finally in KG2, we are learning about nature’s cycles such as night and day with the kids even learning to tell the time. We have also seen throughout the school many beautiful art projects all realized using recycled materials from our recycling centre of course. Can you remind you as always to make every effort to get your children to school on time. Time lost in the morning can never be recovered and has a detrimental effect on your child’s learning. Also, note that all students must be wearing school uniform everyday. This is not an option. I wish you all a very pleasant and relaxed spring break. Note that school will be closed for students for the week of April 12-19th. The school office will be closed on Sunday April 12th and Monday April 13th. From Tuesday April 14-Thursday April 16th the school office will be open from 7.30-12.00 pm Kindly note for all telephone communication with the school to either use the school landline (22 00 56 42) or the school mobile phone (964019920). I wish you all a very pleasant and relaxing holidays. Robert Jones Principal

The School Newsletter April 2015

Dear Parents,

Content

Letter from the Principal

News from the PYP

Coordinator

News from KG1

News from KG2

News from KG3

News from Grade 1

News from Grade 2

P.E.

Eco Summit

Sultan Qaboos

OURPLANET International School Muscat, Madinat As Sultan Qaboos, Al-Inshirah Street, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman,

Phone: +968 9765 4312,Web: www.ourplanet-muscat.com, Email: info@ourplanet-muscat.com

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PYP News from the PYP Coordinator, Martine Jones

International Baccalaureate Learner Profile

Open – minded

“You don’t find harmony when everybody sings the same note”

Doug Floyd

Primary Years Programme (PYP) 3 WAY CONFERENCES

It is an exciting time at our school as students and teachers are

preparing to take part in the 3 Way Conferences (student-parents-

teacher) that will take place the week after the spring break. Guided

by the teachers, the students will present the work that took place

during the units of inquiry using the portfolios that they have

worked on during the year. What a great opportunity for all our

school community to celebrate this learning.

By now, all the parents should have received an allocated slot for a

conference time with the class teacher. Parents will also have the

opportunity afterwards to speak with the Arabic and specialist

teachers. On Wednesday April 22 and Thursday April 23, the

school will close at 12pm.

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PYP Students of the Week During our weekly assemblies on Thursday, we continue to acknowledge and celebrate the students in each class for displaying the attributes of the PYP Profile. What a pleasure it is to see the OURPLANET students developing and demonstrating an understanding of the IB Learner Profile which is central to the teaching and learning at our school!

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“Water is a finite resource that needs to be shared and protected” is the powerful central idea of the unit of inquiry under the Sharing the Planet Transdisciplinary Theme that the Grade 2 have started to investigate. They are finding out about the inequality of water distribution and access around the world and explore strategies to promote water conservation at home and at school.

PYP Units of Inquiry

The difference between needs and wants and how they are met, understanding the difference between earning, saving and spending are the inquiry into that the students in Grade 1 are exploring under the ‘How We Organize Ourselves’ transdiciplinary theme. During this unit the students will have the opportunity to research and present information about the history of the

currency from the country they are from.

“There are many different systems of transportation around the world that suit the needs of different environments” is the central idea from the unit that the KG3 students have started. They have researched the various ways of transportation that their parents and grandparents used to go to school, they are exploring the relationships between the transportation systems and the environment and will investigate alternative sustainable ways of transportation in the future.

In KG2, the central idea from the “How the World Works” Transdisciplinary Theme is that the living things are impacted by the Earth’s natural cycle. During the unit, the students have learnt about the differences between nocturnal and diurnal animals. They have researched about the night jobs that take place in our communities. They are learning about the cycle of days and night and how it is linked with our planet turning around the sun and are exploring shows

and light.

In KG1, the unit of inquiry is under the ‘Where We Are in Time and Place’ Transdisciplinary Theme. The students are investigating their own personal histories and family trees. They are also finding out more about the countries and the cultures they came from. To end the unit, the students are going to participate in a “Celebration Picnic” where they will present and celebrate a diversity of food, music, dances and

costumes from their own culture.

GRADE

2

KG 3

GRADE

1

KG 2

KG 1

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News from KG1

Greetings Nizwa families! Unit 3, “Where we are in place and time: My History” is quickly coming to an end. We have learned about each other’s families and are recognizing similarities and differences between them. Inky the Mouse is giving us an up close look at what family life is like for the Nizwa students. By the end of the year each student will have spent one week with Inky and we will have a scrapbook full of ‘Inky’s Adventures’ with all of our families. We are beginning to learn about our nationalities and what countries we identify ourselves with. This will lead us to our world party on the last day of our unit. On this day we will wear clothing representative of our nationalities, taste foods from different parts of the world, share something special like a dance or artifact from our country, and celebrate the uniqueness of our cultures. In addition to our theme we have been working hard on learning our letters, the sounds they make, and identifying them in each other’s names as well as familiar words. Our fine motor skills are strengthening and our drawings are becoming more precise. Learning about 3D shapes, measuring, and sharpening our counting skills is helping us build a good foundation for our mathematics and reasoning skills. We are becoming more familiar with the profile and what each attribute means. Everyone has been doing an excellent job and the students continue to impress me in so many ways. Keep up the great work Nizwa class!

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In KG2 we have been learning about how natural cycles impact living things. We discovered that the earth rotates and this is why we have day and night. We were excited about exploring different nocturnal, diurnal, and crepuscular animals and their activity, and learnt interesting facts, such as nocturnal snakes have slit-pupils and diurnal snakes have round ones. Until now, we had not realized that so many people work at night, such as the emergency services.

We are working on telling the time, so if you see us ask us what the time is! We are waiting to see how long it will take for our seeds to grow. This has been our favourite activity so far…. planting seeds and observing their growth. We are comparing seeds that have been kept in the light and in the dark. Watch this space!

News from KG2

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News from KG3

KG 3 students have completed the "Endangered Species" Unit on March 12th. We discussed animals that were endangered as well as extinct across the world. Students were able to identify several factors that were responsible for our species being endangered. They created a book and they chose endangered animals from various countries, identified why they were endangered and how we can take responsibility to ensure that they are well taken care of for the future of our planet.

Highlights enjoyed by students were the Beach Cleanup at PDO and a visit from Mr. Bader, the first Omani to visit the Antarctic, to get a better understanding of the present endangerment of the polar bears.

During this unit our students learned that our species are endangered because of climate changes and also the impact we as humans have on our planet.

We have started our new unit that is all about “Transportation” on March 15th.

KG3

Ms. Maria&Dot

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News from Grade 1

Grade 1 just completed the unit “How we express ourselves” - Arts. The students absolutely enjoyed discovering their own artistic talents such as drawing, painting, singing, dancing, writing, etc. Not only have they realized what they are good at individually, but they also showed open-mindedness on a holistic level; everyone is good at something and that is okay and each artist uses a different way to communicate his/her feelings. Our classroom was (especially thanks to Ms Moniki) transformed into a live gallery full of colours, portraits, art works, songs, dances and illusions. Some of students’ favourite artists they got to know were: Frida Kahlo, John Lennon, Picasso, Van Gogh and Leonardo da Vinci.

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News from Grade 2

Grade 2 children really enjoyed embarking on a scientific adventure during their unit of inquiry about Energy. The children learned about many different types of energy including energy from food, renewable energy, non renewable energy and kinetic energy. They really enjoyed creating a circuit with a battery and light bulb and seeing which materials can and cannot conduct electricity. We even used a humble potato and a lemon to power a clock! We also experimented with solar energy and the suns effect on crayons over a period of time. The highlight of the unit was definitely the trip to the Children’s museum in Qurum where the children saw many exciting experiments and displays related to their unit of Inquiry and gave them great inspiration for their research projects. The children presented their research on renewable and non renewable energy in front of the whole school and displayed excellent communication and research skills. We have just begun our new unit on water. This unit has been extremely thought provoking so far, especially as the children have come to realize how lucky and privileged they are to have clean water readily available to them. I look forward to some exciting research and field trips in the next few weeks, as we delve deeper into this unit.

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Physical Education:

Active and Sustainable Living

School is a place where kids spend the majority of their time, and it is important to make school a place to experience and enjoy being active. To keep active time fun, the students participate in a range of different team and individual challenges every time they come to PE class (Physical Education). Individual challenges such as balancing, catching, throwing, jumping, running, and striking, help to build endurance, flexibility, strength, and self-confidence. Team challenges like relay races, basketball, volleyball, tennis, and football encourage the students to communicate, help one another, and work together as a team. TEAM = Together Everyone Achieves More.

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Eco-Summit 2015 On Monday March 16th, OURPLANET International School Muscat hosted Oman’s first Eco Summit for schools. Ten international schools joined us for this event aimed at upper Primary aged students. The aim of the summit was to give other schools an opportunity to share some of the green initiatives that we are currently doing at OURPLANET School. We were honored with the presence of our guest speaker, H.H.Sayyida Tania Al Said, the president of the Environmental Society Oman (ESO). H.H.Sayyida Tania reminded our students of the importance of preserving Oman’s precious resources such as water. The children were also inspired by the story of Mr Bader Al Lawati. Bader is the first Omani to visit Antarctica. Bader saw firsthand the effects of environmental damage during his journey and his message to our children is to look after our environment. Finally, from the HCT campus, Mrs. Mona Al Farsi, shared the wonderful project of Oman’s Green Nest Eco house. This house, designed and built by Omani students from the Higher College of Technology (HCT) actually produces power rather than consuming it, using solar power and other renewable technologies. The one hundred students then had a series of workshops where they helped build the school recycling centre walls using plastic bottles, created mosaics using bottle tops, debated the impact of pollution on Oman’s marine animals and made recyclable plant pots. The ultimate goal of the Eco summit is to create a network of green schools in Oman to raise the profile of sustainability in the Sultanate. The Eco summit was a first and very important step in this exciting journey. A big thanks go to Miss Moniki for her excellent organization of the events and all the

teachers and staff for making it such a memorable day for all.

Sustainability:

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Some photos from the special day, our very first

Eco-Summit!

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Huge thanks to Ms. Moniki, who single handedly arranged and planned the entire Eco-Summit. Her creativity and drive has helped our school achieve great things and gained us an excellent

reputation in Muscat as a sustainable, eco-friendly school.

More photos from OURPLANET Eco Summit

2015

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،«أبشري قابوس جاء فلتباركه السماء

نها الفرحة بعودة قائد إ!!! بشكل خاص ومؤثر تها اصوات التالميذ ردد قلوبنا ورسمت سعدتأ حظة المباركة الل تلك .العـظيم القائد ووطن الغالي ال

غارعلى وجوه الكبار رورمالمح الفرح والس مقدمه الميمون هز . والص من شهر مارس فاحتفل 42وهز أرض مدرسة كوكبنا يوم أرض الوطن

. الّتالميذ وعـّبروا عن فرحتهم باألناشيد والّرقـصات واألشـعـار للشعب العمانينحن إدارة مدرسة كوكبنا العالمية نرفع التهاني و نبارك

ـ حفظه هللا ورعاه ـ ان قابوس بعودة القائد الحكيم واالب الحنون السلط.وادامه ذخرا لهذا الوطن العزيز

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KG1 are proud to live in Oman!!

Acrostic Poetry created by Grade 2 to

celebrate the return of Sultan Qaboos.