GRADE 9 AND 10 UMRAH TRIP

Between the 8th and the 11th of February, 11 students from grades 9 and 10 along with Mr. Shadeed, our Islamic teacher, visited Mekkah to perform the . The holy trip was a huge success. All the students had an amazing and spiritual experience, following the footsteps of prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and his companions. The students were energetic during the course of the trip. After performing the rituals of the Umrah students, they were encouraged to practice as many good deeds as possible that included reading the Quran, performing prayer near the Kaa’ba, performing Tawaf and Sa’ai whenever the opportunity arises. Many of the participants expressed their interest in repeating the trip again next year to relive the great sense of companionship and brotherhood on earth’s most holy land.

ية اإلسالمية عبد الغغغ غ ترببين الثامن والحادي عشر من شهر شباط/فبراير لهذا العام، قام أحد عشر طالبا من الصفين التاسع والعاشر رفقة أستاذ اللغة العربية وال شديد بأداء العمرة ف مكة البلد الحرام.

ابه رضغوان هللا أصحكا ت الرحلة اجحة للغاية، إذ عايش الطلبة أجواء روحا ية ف ظالل أطهر بقاع األرض متمثلين خطى ال ب المصطفى صلى هللا عليه وسلم و

تعالى عليهم.

لك سبيال؛ كتالوة القغرنن، لذ بعد أداء م اسك العمرة، ُشّجع الطلبة على ا تهاز فرصة وجودهم ف أطهر البقاع لالستكثار من العبادات المفروضة وال افلة ما استطاعوا والدعاء، وصالة الجماعة، والطواف والسع التطوع .

أخرى. ولعل ا جعلها س ة مرةبعد العودة إلى دب أبدى الطلبة المشاركون رغبتهم ف تكرار هذه الرحلة الروحا ية مرة أخرى ف العام القادم ليعايشوا أجواء اإلخوة

حميدة عيدها ف كل عام إن شاء هللا.

The Secondary Update February 28th, 2013

GRADE 8-10 MYP CAMP

We did three main activities during our stay in the camp. The Grade 9 group was split into two, where each group was assigned a counselor. We started with abseiling. It was a 10 minute walk from the camp to the rocks. There were 3 instructors for this activity; two waiting for us at the site and the other one leading us. We first had to strap ourselves with the ropes. We then climbed up the rock. Of course, we then had to walk down the rock. This was all done with safety as the priority, because we had the special harness attached to us. We also participated in kayaking. It took us about 20- 30minutes to reach a beach where we were able to do some snorkeling. The last activity was mountain biking. We then played the “capture the flag games”, followed by eating marshmallows around the camp fire. We rode over 2 big hills, covering over 20km in the trip. Overall it was a fun and interesting trip. By Rayan Chelli - Grade 9

GRADE 8-10 MYP CAMP

On February 17th, the Grade 8-10 students went to Dibba, Oman for the annually MYP Camp. We took part in kayaking, abseiling, night trekking, a game called capture the flag and mountain biking.

Abseiling involved descending the mountain with ropes attached to you. This was not an easy challenge for me because I am not a fan of heights. The mountain was pretty steep, and it was scary going down. The trick was to not look down, especially when you are at the top. However, camp is about taking risks, and I was glad that I overcame my fear.

By: Basim Asi - Grade 9

GRADE 8-10 MYP CAMP

During MYP camp, we participated in many activities that included mountain biking, trekking and swimming in the wadi. It was a challenge to swim in the cold water, but the constant movement and the sun kept us warm. We did trekking in the dark, which meant that we had to be extremely careful watching our steps, especially when we hit rocky land. The mountain biking was a good workout, since we hit a few uphill slopes and biked a long distance. Overall, it was a positive experience, and I enjoyed my first visit in Dibba, Oman. By Chandler Dague - Grade 10

The first activity for the G10 students was mountain biking. Although I could ride a bicycle, it was my first experience of riding the mountain bike. After going up the hill, a wind during the downhill ride was so cool and refreshing; I felt as if I was flying in the sky. I’ve never felt that feeling in a town or city. In the evening, we went to the sea and we tried night snorkelling. The night time snorkelling was also my first experience. It was amazing, and I was surprised at the depth of darkness of the night sea.

The last activity was canyoning, which included rock climbing, swimming and walking on many stones and in rivers. On the way to the canyon, we visited two monuments. My friends and I wore abayas at one of the monuments. The abaya was not as hot as I had imagined it would be. It was actually well suited for the harsh and hot environment. Around the house it was so dark as it was night time; so I could see many stars in the night sky. It was extremely beautiful.

The most amazing experience of the trip was to walk in the river without changing clothes and shoes. It was wild, but walking with wet shoes was my favourite memory. Also, the shower without hot water was something many of us would remember. I will no longer take hot water for granted.

All the activities were quite tough, but I enjoyed mountain biking, night snorkelling and canoyning. At first, I thought to bike 25km by mountain bike, and climb or descend the rock walls would be difficult for me, but after I tried to do it, my feelings about those activities changed fast. I believe that only the great outdoors can create this special feeling. This MYP camp was a great memorable experience for me! By Yuka Kurata - Grade 10

GRADE 8-10 MYP CAMP

My favourite activity of the camp was the evening challenges and games, especially the egg stream challenge and the cavity.

The egg stream challenge was to make something so that when a teacher drops the egg with a homemade parachute (made with balloons, plastic cup, plastic bag, duct tape), it is protected and does not break. The egg had to arrive safely when the teacher drops it and then, the students had to choose a teacher to egg and the teacher had to choose a student to egg if we lost and the egg broke.

The cavity was like a dodge ball game, but there was no ball and only one person had to go to the other side of the line that are preventing the two teams from crossing. You had to say “cavity” very fast to prove that you aren’t breathing because we are not allowed to breathe when we pass the line either. When you cross the line, you have to touch someone or take him over the line to eliminate him, but if the other team grabs you for 3 second without crossing the line, you are out. It’s a very funny game and sporty, everybody wanted to play this game, including me!

The camp was great and the food was not so bad (on most days!). I had a fantastic time with my friends and the instructors. The instructors were entertaining and were happy and making jokes. It was a great few days and ones I will remember, always!

By Tristan Larsen - Grade 8

MUSCAT INTERNATIONAL SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP

On the 18th of February, 2013, my family and I hit the road all the way to Muscat, Oman for the Muscat Swimming Championship. On our way, we got slightly lost, but we still made it in 5 hours. It was a long drive, but I managed to kill time by watching a movie, singing and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Once we reached the hotel I went straight to bed in anticipation of an early start in the morning. I woke up the next morning at 5:45 am and looked out of the window just to realize that it was still dark and the whole city seemed to be still fast asleep. 45minutes later, we were all enjoying a nice breakfast, but somehow I could not get myself to eat properly….must have been the anxiety of what lies ahead. Then in a blink of an eye we were on our way to Sultan Qaboos Sport Complex. This is where the championship was held. Once we reached there, I met the rest of the swimming squad. Did I mention that I swim for the Dubai Speedo Swim Squad? The outdoor swimming pool was 50 meter and despite having participated in similar competitions many times before, I started to feel butterflies in my tummy. This feeling soon disappeared when we started the warm up and then it was off to the races. Looking around I saw, teams from Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Germany as well as the hosts from Oman. The championship had a morning and afternoon session and races were spread over 2 days. I participated in 50 meter races for butterfly, freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke as well as 100 m freestyle and breaststroke. The team coach also selected me to participate in the 200m team medley relay which made me really feel the team spirit. While on the starting block, I could hear the cheers and screams around me which was motivational but once I saw the referee preparing for the start of the race I went into a complete focus mode and shut out everything and everyone around me. The first day came to an end at 6 o’clock in the evening. I went back to the hotel and had dinner out with my family. After eating, we headed back to the hotel to get a good night sleep. On the second day, our coaches wanted to energies us and break the morning ice. So when we had our dry land warm up, they made us dance on the poolside; it was really funny and a lot of people took photos. The beauty of this is that it really took away the stress. After I finished my races for the day, we said our goodbyes, congratulated each other for a job well done and were on our way back home sweet home. It was a great experience that I will always treasure. I improved all my times by two or three seconds which is really good. I met new people from different countries and different teams. I enjoyed cheering for my team and spending more time with them which gave me the chance to know them better. I demonstrated the IB learner profile by being a risk-taker and caring. By Amina Abdel Bary Grade 6J

Unit Question: What are the cultural values of the United Arab Emirates? AoI: Health and Social Education

Task: Cultural Poster

GRADE 7 CULTURAL STUDIES

Bianca Manneh Artem Varaksin

Alexander Frencham Anastasia De Suyrot

GRADE 7 CULTURAL STUDIES

Jung-Yoon Ahn Alfie Sephton

Benhaour Tesfagiorgish Matthew Brinkman Ralph Guerin

Marialuisa Kock-Petersen

We are pleased to announce that a new service in the form of the JBS Consignment / second hand Uniform Store is about to be launched following the initiative of a Grade 10 student, Chandler Scott Dague, as part of his community service project. The PFA is supporting this idea and are also hoping to offer JBS memorabilia as part of the store in the near future. The aim is that proceeds from this project will raise money for school approved charities and help support the PFA sponsored activities and events. In order to make this a success, however; we will need all of the JBS community to support the project as follows: Parents: We will need all families that have clean, gently used uniforms to drop them off between now and 24 February in the drop boxes in the front school main entrance. We will accept all school authorized uniforms except head gear (green sun hat or black baseball cap). Later in the month we will need parent volunteers to work the store during the authorized hours working alongside secondary student/s. Sign-up sheets will be posted at a later date near the store. Secondary students: We need your support to help run your school store. The great benefit to you is that any hours you work can count towards your community and service hours. There will be a separate sign-up sheet for you near the store. With the support of JBS secondary students, volunteer parents and the PFA, we will be opening our store once a month starting in March. The exact date and times of the store operations will be announced soon. As demand and supplies increases, the aim is to open the store twice a month.

JBS CONSIGNMENT / SECOND HAND UNIFORM STORE

PERSONAL PROJECT

At this stage, the Grade 10 Students have handed in the final copy of their Personal Project report along with the process journal. The Grade 10 Students are now working on preparing for the Personal Project Exhibition. If you have any questions regarding the Personal Project, please contact Ms. Muhtaseb at zmuhtaseb@jbschool.ae.

PP Deadline Item

March 19th (18.00 hr) Personal Project Exhibition

After a successful Model United Nations Conference in Qatar at the beginning of February, JBS has enthusiastically accepted the challenge of another conference. This time we will participate in the local DIAMUN held each year at Dubai International Academy in late March. The students are so enthusiastic that they have decided to forgo two days of their Spring vacation to attend! This time JBS will represent The Republic of Korea, Tuvali (a small country in the South Pacific) and UNESCO. Our students were given their assignments and have started their research. Students participating in DIAMUN are: Grade 8: Fadhel Al Mazrooei , Moaza Al Mazrooei , Ali Ibrahem Grade 9: Yann Roghi , Morgain Reynolds , Sarah Abdul Jalil , Tariq Abbasi , Zeyad Abbasi , Laith Fraijat Grade 10: Abhinav Das, Hassan Tamimi Grade 11: Kimberlee Brinkman , Hossama Dawood

THE MODEL UNITED NATIONS AT DIA - DIAMUN

In this month’s meeting, Mr. Homden would like to share with parents the details of the Theory of Knowledge /Study Skills course that he ran at the start of Grade 11. The meeting will be of interest to parents from Grades 9 – 11 as it will give an insight into the ways in which we prepare students for the challenges of the IB Diploma Programme. This will take place on March 5th from 8:15am to 9:00am. For further information about this session, please contact Mr. Cullen at wcullen@jbschool.ae.

DIPLOMA INFORMATION SESSION

Each student has been given a username and password for the website: www.worldmathsday.com. Students are required to visit this website regularly at home in order to improve their mental skills in mathematics with various levels of arithmetic. Each student can be monitored as to how regularly they are playing the games. For further questions about Maths Day, please contact Mr. McMahon at amcmahon@jbschool.ae.

WORLD MATHS DAY

Two representatives from the Professional Investment Consultant Group would like to give a two-hour workshop to the Grade 11 Students and Parents on the importance of money, earnings, savings, budgets and education after high school. This hands-on workshop will have students and parents participate in various activities that will explain financial independence and managing finances. This will take place on Wednesday March 6th from 13.00 to 15.15 hours in the "penthouse" of the S-building. Grade 11 parents are asked to email Ms. Muhtaseb (zmuhtaseb@jbschool.ae) to confirm their attendance. A similar workshop will be given to our G10 students and parents in April. If you have any questions about this workshop, please contact Ms. Muhtaseb.

WORKSHOP: GIVE ME INDEPENDENCE