ses newsletter - december

www.sharjahenglishschool.org

Sharjah English SchoolVolume 2 : Issue No. 3 - December 2010

http://www.sharjahenglishschool.org

http://www.sharjahenglishschool.org

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ContentsFrom The Principal’s Desk 3

Primary NewsPrimary NewsPrimary News 4

Sharjah Water Festival 4

Year 1 Visit to Ajman Museum 5

Foundation Christmas Performance 6 - 7

Key Stage 1 Nativity 8 - 9

Key Stage 2 Christmas Extravaganza 10 - 11

Year 1 3D Cityscape 12

Year 6 Taster Day 13

Santa Visits SES 14

Secondary NewsSecondary NewsSecondary Christmas Concert 15 - 17

Year 7 Camp 18

Year 8 Camp 19

Secondary Golf 20

Arabic Souq 21

Spotlight on History 22 - 26

Oakley Wakeboard Contest 27

Maths Problem Of The Month 27

Dubai Film Festival 28

Whole School NewsWhole School NewsNew Building Update 29

PSG Christmas Fayre 29 - 31

Dates For Your Diary 32

Primary News

Secondary News

Whole School News

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From the Principal’s Desk...

Dear Parents and Friends,As the first term and the calendar year draw to a close, can I congratulate the students on their successes this term? Everybody in primary and secondary will have achieved something they can be proud of. For some it will be excelling academically, for others contributing to the musical life of the school, or participating in our performances, helping raise money for charities, working for the Student Council, or trying out adventurous new activities on camp. Well done to every one of you.

A big thank you to parents who continue to support us unstintingly in everything we do – so much of what is celebrated in these pages simply wouldn’t happen without the level of engagement which we enjoy from our parents and friends.

I must not forget our staff, who always step forward whenever required to give an extra few hours to sports or camps, as well as ensuring that we maintain our high academic standards and preserve our unique ethos of caring and inclusion. Well done for a successful and event-packed term.

On behalf of the school I wish everyone a peaceful and restful holiday. We will see you all again, refreshed and eager to go, on the 2nd January 2011!

Regards,

John NolanPrincipal

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I thought things couldn't get any busier in November but how wrong I was! Productions from every Key Stage, reports, parties, Christmas Fayre to name but a few of the "happenings” of the past couple of weeks! I always think our productions can't get any better but again I was proved wrong by the fabulous KS1 Nativity, hugely entertaining KS2 Review and sparkling Foundation Concert where the ‘cute’ factor went off the scale! I hope you enjoyed them as much as I did. As 2010 draws to an end may I take this opportunity to thank you all for your wonderful support and hope you have Happy Holidays and all that you wish for in 2011. I look forward to welcoming the children back on the 2nd of January.

Miss Jenefer Race -‐ Primary Headteacher

News from the Primary School

Water Festival 2010.

Heather Harries from Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority recently visited the Primary Department with Mooj, their mascot. She spoke to the pupils about the effect of polluting the seas and oceans with rubbish. They looked at a timeline representing how long it took for various kinds of rubbish to degrade and also discussed how fish and other sea creatures try to defend themselves. Everyone agreed that in future, they would try to avoid leaving any rubbish at the beach.Before they left, Mooj gave the children free tickets to attend Sharjah Water Festival and other water related gifts, including puzzles, magazines, pens and balls.

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Year 1 Visit to Ajman MuseumOn Wednesday 10th November the children in Year 1 went on a trip to Ajman Museum. We have been learning about Arab life and the UAE this term and we were very excited to see how the UAE looked in the past. We found out lots of information about how people used to dress and about the medicine they used.

We saw the old souq and a bedouin camp. We enjoyed looking at the costumes and meeting an Arab man outside the old Sheikh’s house. It was lots of fun looking in all the different buildings.

We had a great day at the museum!

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Foundation News

Foundation Christmas PerformanceOn the 13th and 14th December the children in the Foundation Stage presented their yearly Christmas performance. It was a wonderful glittering affair with sparkling snowSlakes, angelic angels, jolly snowman, Santa's elves, Christmas parcels, Rudolph the red nose reindeer and Santa Claus. The children had been looking forward to the event for weeks and worked very hard on their songs, actions and Christmas crafts to turn their central area into a wonderful winterland. On the morning of the concerts the children were in high spirits and when it came to the performance they all performed brilliantly.A big thank you to everyone who helped make it such a special day for the children and also our ever supportive and enthusiastic audience.

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Foundation News

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Key Stage 1 NativityEveryone in the school has been reveling in the festive spirit since the beginning of December. It was "lights, camera, all singing and dancing action” on the stage as KS 1 brilliantly performed a Hutchison-adapted Nativity "Little Angel Gets Her Wings". As usual there were a plethora of characters, from glamorous doves, retinues of servants, Herod's mercenaries and naughty sheep to busy angels and calypsoing camels! A good time was had by all, and the children thoroughly enjoyed showcasing their many talents. The maturity of the acting and singing belied the astonishing fact of how young they are. An excellent start to a production packed end of term!

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Key Stage 2 Christmas ExtravaganzaThe Key Stage 2 Christmas Extravaganza on the 12th of December was a wonderful blend of music, drama and comedy. Each year group took a poem or song and added their own unique approach, successfully bringing their performance to life. There were Rocking Robins performing a lively, fun dance in Year 3 as well as some lovely dramatic poetry from Cats and Dogs. Year 4’s Alternative 12 Days of Christmas was beautifully performed and kept the audience laughing. Year 5 sang ‘I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas’ a lively, amusing song that got everyone clapping along, and finally Year 6 were delighted to see Santa Claus and all his presents in their wonderfully acted ‘The Night Before Christmas’.

Interspersed with these items was some beautiful singing from both the Year 3/4 and Year 5/6 choirs who put us all in the mood for the festive season. Musical talent within the school was displayed by the excellent recorder and instrumental ensembles.All the children performed commendably and it was easy to see by their smiling faces that they were enjoying themselves. Well done to the pupils and staff who worked so hard to make the evening such a success!

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Our 3D Cityscape We have been learning about buildings in the UAE. We looked at the different shapes and sizes of the buildings and then we had lots of fun using cardboard bricks to build our own building. There were lots of different ways to make a building and we had to make sure that ours wouldn’t fall over. Then we painted our buildings and decorated them with windows and trees. Some even had swimming pools! Now we have put our buildings together to make a 3D city.

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On Monday 29th November 2010 year 6 had a taster day, where we went into secondary for a day to see what we can expect next year. The first subject was history. We had to find some different clues to help us find out who a bag belonged to. It was fun.

Then we had I.C.T. We had to make a short video slideshow with a few sample pictures. We could add music, text and even turn the photos around. That was also very enjoyable, but sJll not my favourite.

ALer that we had break and then Geography with Mr. Rees. This was my favourite lesson because we played a game where we had to do certain designs and give them into a bank for money or we could trade them for beOer resources. The one with the most money won.

I had a really enjoyable day.

Ma#hew Bates 6KS

On Monday we went to secondary for our taster day. To begin with I felt nervous. I felt rather uncomfortable being so short compared to all the other students.

First, we had History. We went through a bag gathering clues to @ind out whose it was. When we worked it out, it was David Beckham’s. After that, we got a sheet with a bag drawn on it and drew things on it that we liked. We passed the sheets around and guessed whose was whose.

Afterwards we went to I.C.T. We used PhotoStory 3 and played around with it using pictures of Dubai. When we @inished we had break. After break we had Geography. During it we learned about world trade by playing a game. Each group was a different country -‐ every one having different resources that we could make. Once we @inished we had maths in which we learned about the Sierpinski Gasket and Pascals’ Triangle.

At the end we talked to the former year six about how they were coping in year seven. They said that they were enjoying it. I really enjoyed the experience and now I know what to expect next year!

By Cristina Contreras-Gutierrez

YEAR 6 TASTER DAY

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Santa Visits SESSanta took some time out of his busy

schedule to visit the Primary students at SES.

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News from the Secondary School

Secondary kicked off their Christmas events on Tuesday night with a musical concert featuring dance and drama. The singing students, accompanied by Maria Lis, provided a number of solos and duets, before Amani Sheth did a ballet piece from The Nutcracker and the Flute Group contributed their numbers.

There was also a contribution from Mrs. Sinclair and Mrs. O’Mahony’s Key Stage 3 Drama Group, who presented a playlet explaining the origins some of our Christmas traditions. Alan Page-Duffy, Year 12, was instrumental in preparing this piece for presentation.

The loudest applause of the evening was for the Senior Singing Group, who attempted some challenging pieces arranged by Mr. Powell. And the evening ended with some rousing time-honoured favourites from the full band and choir.

As well as thanking Mr. Powell and the other music teachers, Mr. Nolan paid tribute to the confidence and accomplishment of all of the students involved; their performances, he said, were a tribute to the quality of students that we have in the school.

On Wednesday over a hundred singers from both Primary and Secondary entertained parents and the public at the Coral Beach Resor. For many of the foreign tourists at the hotel it was an unexpected treat, and the audience was extremely complimentary about the talent our pupils displayed.

Secondary Christmas Concert

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Year 7 CampOn the 3rd to the 4th of November, I had the best experience of my life. The Yr7 camping trip took place in Dibba.

The activities that I did were rock climbing and sea kayaking and they were amazing. The sea kayaking was simply fantastic. Although it took a little while to get the hang of it, it was worth it. We played games and also got to splash the instructor with water. At the end, he called out to our numbers and we had to switch places in the kayaks, but it was a disaster. We all ended up in the water!!! After that, we had a sandcastle competition. Our group made a little village, but so had all of the other groups. Surprisingly, we had all tied, so the instructors said that whoever destroyed their castle the fastest wins. Sadly, one of the other teams won. It was an incredible experience.

At night, no one slept at all and we were all wide awake. My friend kept throwing rocks at our tent so we couldn’t sleep. Some people even got caught sneaking out by Mr Doyle and Mr Nolan!

The next activity that I did wads rock climbing. I found this one hard as I had never done it before but I finally got the hang of it. I started on the easy wall however and never got to the hard one. The first time I did it, I took me forever to get to the top. I almost felt like giving up but a good friend supported me and I eventually got there. However the second time, I was up there in half the time of the first one! But at the end of the day, we all had cuts and grazes.

Sadly, after rock climbing, it was time to go back home. I was really sad because I wanted to stay. I really hope I can go back!

Amaani Master

The year 7 camp was the most adventurous trip I have ever had! I would recommend it to the year sevens in the future. In this fun weekend we got to chose two activities.

The activities were mountain biking where you could ride on rocky tracks and learn how to do jumps. The second activity you could do was rock climbing - you would climb up two mountains; one was easier than the other, on safely attached ropes. And finally, sea kayaking where you made sand castles and rafts, as well as kayaking in the sea itself. Some people went mountain-biking in the wadis. We went quite deep into the mountains. Our instructor stopped us once in a while to tell us about the local people who lived there.

We also went hiking not far from the camp in the evening, to admire the stars as well as identifying them. When we got back we had a bonfire, but not a lot of people stayed around it and went off to play tag. Some people stayed and so we told each other scary stories. Someone brought a big marshmallow so everyone took a piece and roasted it.

Cassandre Sillere

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Year 8 CampWhen we went to camp, we did rock climbing and Russell and I went on the expert run. It was good because it made you think carefully about what you were doing and how you needed to advance upwards. The climbing got very competitive.

Back at camp the food was excellent – wonderful pasta!

We also managed to do mountain-biking. We taught Mr. Fenn some neat tricks and how to wheelie! The boys versus girls football was fun. Guess who won?

At night we caught a scorpion (called Scorpi) and then kept the teachers awake all night because we had swallowed so many energy drinks!

We even enjoyed the rain.

Laith and Tori

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Since the beginning of the school year a group 7 students from Years 7 to 13 have been learning golf at Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club. They have learnt the basics of driving, pitching and putting. They have also learnt that golf is a difficult and frustrating game to master! Their pro at the club, Tom Hartley, has been very impressed at how quickly the students picked up the different swings and techniques used for all the different clubs. The ten week course culminated on a short round of

golf on the course, putting what they had learnt into practice. Next term the students will be starting another ten week course to further develop their skills. This could be the start of a life long challenge (or frustration!) otherwise known as golf!

Mrs McNulty

Golf Lessons

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News from the Secondary SchoolThe Arabic Souk

On Wednesday the 8th of December, Year 8SR had an Arabic Souk-‐ it was so much fun! Some boys dressed in tradiJonal Arabic costumes and they sold Arabic food-‐ like falafels and shawarmas, which were both very tasty. There were other people in the class, who were selling things like sweets, chocolates and packets of crisps.

We had to talk in Arabic only as Ms. Maha said no English was allowed. Of course, someJmes we accidentally spoke in English but other than that we spoke in Arabic. In our previous lessons we had learned how to ask the price of things, the different types of food and what the numbers are.

I had a truly, amazing Jme on Wednesday. It was good fun and a good way to learn the ways of buying food in Arabic.I’m looking forward to the next one.

Safiya Amanulla 8SR

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Spotlight On History

Year 7 In History lessons, we learned about the Battle of Hastings. For example, why and how William the Conqueror conquered England. We also learned about historical figures with interesting names such as Tostig, Harald Hardraada and Edward the Confessor. My favourite part of the Battle of Hastings was the Bayeaux Tapestry, since it is about 250 feet long and you can still go and see it today!Saro 7SO

In the past few weeks, we have been studying about the Battle of Hastings and the period of history around it. We also learnt a lot about castles because of our assignment to build a model of one. The castle I built was Harlech Castle in Wales. It was very interesting and fun. We all enjoyed it a lot.Irzam 7SO

This year in history we have learned about the Battle of Hastings - why William invaded, how William won and what he did when he was crowned King of England. We also made our own homemade castles. I built Blarney Castle, a castle in Cork, Ireland. At the top of the Castle there is also a stone which they say if you kiss, you get the gift of the gab, and you will never be lost for words again.Arran 7SO

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Spotlight On HistoryThe castle competition was extremely hard to judge this year and there were many wonderful contributions. Thank you to all students for putting so much hard work and effort in and to the parents for helping to facilitate the 'building' of many structures.

There were 3 joint winners - Brandon, Izzy and Sakshi and Amani Caitlin and Chiara,and 4 runners up - James, Maria, Jessica and Jack

Well done everyone!

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Year 8 This term, in History, we have been learning about the Stuarts. We started with James 1 of England and learned about how he believed in The Divine Right of Kings. This belief was passed on to his son Charles and caused lots of problems between king and parliament. During the term, we re-enacted a seventeenth century parliamentary session between the two – it was extremely noisy because, just like at that time, no one was prepared to compromise!

We also made recruitment posters, asking for soldiers to join either the Roundhead or Cavalier forces. Our group decided to produce our recruitment drive by making a video presentation. It was great fun. We tried to create a more modern recruitment appeal and Lily played a very snooty Charles I! We had to do loads of takes because everyone was laughing so much.

Lily, Gaby, Leila, Alana - 8SM

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Spotlight On HistoryYear 9This term in History we have been learning about the causes of WWI like the alliance systems and the Schlieffen plan and assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. We pretended we were soldiers in the trenches and wrote a diary entry about our life. It links really well to English where we have been studying the war poets.

Mia

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Year 10This year we have been studying the rise of Nazi Germany. We learned about the depression after WWI and how Hitler helped Germany become strong again. We learned how the Nazis controlled the German people through propaganda and censorship. Overall History has been really interesting this year and we cannot wait to learn more!

Zoran, Vince, Laura H, Samia, Natalya

Year 11This term History has been full of excitement and never-ending murder due to our study of Victorian Policing. Involving in-depth studies of Jack the Ripper and his various female victims and comparisons with the twentieth century Yorkshire Ripper. We have been very involved in history this term as we have had three controlled assessments – a worthwhile challenge!

Sarah-Jayne, Jennifer, Amani & Jenna

Year 12We started off learning about China from 1900-49 and found out about many exciting periods of History like the collapse of the Qing dynasty and the warlord era. Currently, we are learning about Mao’s China from 1949-76. This is about the new revolutionary China and we have drawn many comparisons with the world today.

Aakanskhsa

Year 13 Studying American history this year has been fascinating, largely because of America’s prominence in world affairs; history has enabled us to draw parallels with events in the news today. Additionally, an awareness of a country’s historical background is intrinsic to a spectrum of subjects, such as English literature, politics, art and geography. Source work has enabled us to analyse language in more depth, and history in general has broadened our understandings of politics and society. An enjoyable and enriching subject with an inspiring teacher, A-Level history at Sharjah English School has prepared us for our chosen fields at university.

Jinan & Kasia

hIsTOrYFACTUAL ANCIENT PITIFUL BLOODTHIRSTY

INTRIGUING ANTIBORING INTERESTING

FUN DANGEROUS TRICKY RIDICULOUS GORY SINISTER MYSTERIOUS

What we think of History by 7SO

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Maths Problem Of The Month

The answer will appear in the next issue of the newsletter.

Breeding like rabbits

This month’s problem has a close connecJon to the golden raJo.

Suppose you start with two baby rabbits, which take a month to grow up and then start maJng.

Females give birth a month aLer maJng, there are two babies in each liOer, and no rabbits die.

How many pairs will there be aLer a year?

Wakeboarding Competition

Wakeboarding is an increasingly popular watersport in the UAE. The Oakley Riot Wakeboarding Championship was held on the 17th of November this Year. The Atlantis Hotel on the Palm Jumeria provided the perfect backdrop to this annual event.

10 international riders were brought in from the USA, Canada, Australia and the UK to complete in the professional event.

I competed in the amateur event, and have been wakeboarding since I was six. At the Oakley Riot, I performed several complicated tricks, including a heelside/frontside 180 and switch heelside/ frontside 180 with several large jumps across the wake. This display earned me second place in the highly contested junior section – I was particularly happy about beating last year’s winner!

Tom Cook 9CS

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Dubai International Film Festival

In the late afternoon and evening of Monday 13th December, Year 12 Film Studies students attended the second day of the Dubai International Film Festival. The first session was with the British actor Colin Firth, best known for his role as Mr Darcy in the BBC TV series, Pride and Prejudice and his film roles in Bridget Jones Diary and Mama Mia. The students heard him in conversation with Variety Magazine, and one student, Leah Dick, was the only member of the audience to have her photograph taken with him. The unexpected bonus was that British actress, Carey Mulligan, (An Education, Wall Street 2) appeared to introduce, and present Colin Firth with his award for Variety Magazine’s International Star of the Year award. In her speech she gave some valuable insights into the life of an actor.

The second session was to have been with the American actor and twice Oscar winner, Sean Penn (known for once being married to Madonna and his roles in I am Sam, Mystic River and Milk), but unfortunately, we were informed that evening that he was “stuck in Haiti” and could not attend the Festival.

The final segment of the evening was watching the film ‘The Company Men’ starring Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones and Kevin Costner – a topical drama examining the effects of the recent financial crisis.

Although it was a late night back to Sharjah, the trip was valuable in giving the students a rare chance to experience a film festival, and hear first hand accounts from those in the film industry, which enhanced their understanding of topics related to their Film Studies course.

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Whole School News and Information

New Building UpdateThe construction of the new building reaches a landmark in the next few weeks when the roof slabs will be put in place, making the final profile and appearance much easier to see. The building remains pretty much on target, with a few days having been lost to recent holidays.

The site meetings with the consultants and contractors have given an opportunity to address some worker safety issues which parents have drawn our attention to; these are a priority for all involved.

Christmas Fayre 2010As we get the newsletter to press this month, we can report that the Christmas Fayre, on the 10th December, appears to have been a tremendous success. It was a busy afternoon for all parent volunteers, staff and students, as well as for the many outside sponsors and supporters who contributed stalls and prizes. Feedback has been very positive from parents and visitors, and we will try to keep people informed of the amount raised to support the school drive to improve facilities and resources.Many thanks to the PSG for another huge effort of coordination and organisation.

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Christmas Fayre 2010

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Christmas Fayre 2010

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Dates For Your Diary

January 2011January 2011

Sunday 2nd Term Two Starts

Monday 10th -‐ Tuesday 1st GCSE & GCE Examinations

Monday 17th Year 7 Parent Teacher Meeting

Wednesday 26th -‐ Friday 29th Bronze & Silver International Award Camp

February 2011February 2011

Thursday 3rd Secondary Sports Day

Tuesday 8th Year 12 & Year 13 Parent Teacher Meeting

Thursday 10th International Picnic

Tuesday 15th Prophet’s Birthday* to be con(irmed

Friday 18th -‐ Sunday 20th Half Term Break

Wednesday 23rd Year 8 Parent Teacher Meeting

Saturday 26th Secondary Ski Trip Departs

March 2011Friday 4th -‐ Saturday 12th Year 6 Ski Trip

Prize winners in the Christmas Fayre Raffle for Qatar Airways tickets were Priya and Lana Nazhat. They collected their tickets from Mr. Nolan and the airline representatives during the week.

The school is very grateful to Qatar Airlines for their continuing support for the event.

ses newsletter - december

Documents

primary department

calendar year

primary schoolwater

christmas extravaganza

key stage

psg christmas fayre

principals desk

sharjah water festival