SummaRISe 48 - Raffles International School

Thursday, 18 April 2013 Issue 48
GENERAL NURSERY KG JUNIOR
SECONDARY SCHOOL CLINIC

FORTHCOMING EVENTS
APRIL 2013
DATE/TIME
EVENTS
Sunday, 21 - Thursday, 25 April Art Exhibition
Monday, 22 April
Earth Day - Green T-shirts , Nursery, KG1 and KG2
Wednesday, 24 April
Parent/Teacher Conferences, 1:00 - 4:00 pm Students finish at 12:00 pm
Thursday, 25 April
Parent/Teacher Conferences, 1:00 - 3:30 pm Students finish at 12:00 pm
Sunday, 28 April - Thursday, 2 May Science Week - Nursery
Tuesday, 30 April
Open Day (KG1 - Grade 6), 2:30 - 4:00 pm
MAY 2013
Wednesday, 1 May
May Day KG1 and KG2
Sunday, 5 May Grade 3 Presentation - Lecture Theatre 2
Sunday, 5 May
Parents Presentation - 1:00 - 2:00 pm
Sunday, 5 - Thursday, 9 May
PARIS: Teacher Appreciation Week
Monday, 6 May
Grade 3 Field Trip - Ski Dubai
Thursday, 9 May Creative Writing for Grades 5 and 6
Thursday, 9 May
KG1 - Grade 6 Pyjama Day
Tuesday, 14 - Thursday, 16 May Grade 3 and 4 Science Fair
Thursday, 16 May
KG1/KG2 - Brown Day and Nursery - Black and White Day
Thursday, 16 May
Parent/Teacher Volunteer Appreciation Day
Sunday, 19 May
RIS Holiday
Monday, 20 - Tuesday, 21 May KG2 Concert Rehearsal, 8:30 - 11:30 am in Large Sports Hall
Wednesday, 22 - Thursday, 23 May KG2 Concert, 9:00 - 10:30 am and 12:00 - 1:30 pm in Large Sports Hall
Monday, 20 - Thursday, 23 May Revision Week
Wednesday, 22 May
Open Day (KG1 - Grade 6), 2:30 - 4:00 pm
Sunday, 26 - Thursday, 30 May End of Year Exams - Grades 4 - 6
Sunday, 26 - Thursday, 30 May KG1 Field Trip
Monday, 27 May
Progress Test - KG2
Monday, 27 - Tuesday, 28 May Nursery Concert Rehearsal, 9:00 - 10:00 am in Large Sports Hall
Wednesday, 29 - Thursday, 30 May Nursery Concert, 9:00 - 11:30 am in Large Sports Hall
Thursday, 30 May
Grade 1 and 2 Annual Production Rehearsal, 12:15 - 2:00 pm

Message from the Principal
Dear Parents,
Announcement regarding RIS longer-term academic plan: the IGCSE and Cambridge 'A'- Levels
The Raffles International School community has a well-established culture of continuous reflection,
review and planning for improvement.
The annual KHDA/DSIB Inspections are often a focal point of Action Plans, communication and measures
of progress, but the broader picture is also of great importance, and it is time to share our longer-term
academic plan for the next 5 years plus.
In September 2013 Grade 7 (UK Year/Stage 8) will open. We have extended into the Cambridge
Secondary 1 (CS 1) programme gradually in a deliberate manner, in order to lay very strong foundations
for the years to come. We will be looking to grow the Secondary School, but quality comes first.
In September 2014 students will be nearing the end of the CS I programme, and developing the skills and
attitudes required to succeed in the two-year, externally examined Cambridge International General
Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE). They will sit the diagnostic Cambridge Checkpoint Tests in
English, Maths and Science at the end of Grade 8, then commence the IGCSE courses in Grades 9 and 10
at the start of the academic year 2016 - 2017.
By September 2017, our first cohort of students will commence two-year, pre-university, Cambridge 'A'
Levels courses.
The intention is that announcing this formally will build an even greater sense of purpose and direction
to all that we do, and help us to build on the partnership between the school, students and parents in
our quest for consistently outstanding learning.
Sincere appreciation for your continued support and contributions.
Best wishes,
David Impey, Principal
Message from the Head of Junior School
Dear Parents,
I would like to thank dads who found and made the time to come and read to their child’s class. As
always, it was an exciting experience not only for the children but for the dads as well. You created
memories, provided good role models especially for the boys, and made reading look like a `cool’ thing to
do. 111 dads were involved!
At this time in a school year, the admissions office is busy with re-enrolment and new student
registrations for the next academic year. Parents who have not gone through the re-registration process
are requested to do so at the earliest. As admissions are in full swing with new student intake every day,
it would be wise not to delay the visit to the admissions office any further.

Parent/Teacher conferences are to be held on April 24 th and 25 th 2013. Parents who have not booked
their conference times as yet are advised to do so at the earliest. For concerned parents, we are also
asking you to book conference times with the ELS (English Language Support) and LS (Learning Support)
teachers to make sure you are updated on the progress made and also support the learning where
required.
Parents are strongly advised to keep children home only when essential; learning gaps appear when
children do not attend school regularly. On the other hand, please inform the homeroom teacher of
absences. It saves the teacher and the reception desk very valuable time which is taken to contact you
for school absences.
Once again, the Communicator is an essential tool to keep up with school events, homework and
learning resources. More and more parents have come on board and I urge all those who still have to
download the Communicator to do so without further delay!
Zeba Khan, Head of Junior School
News from the Arabic Department
“Let’s Read and Write!”
The programme “Let’s Read” has been such a huge success in the Arabic Department, as students’
reading has improved to higher levels by reading from story books, magazines, newspapers, etc. What’s
really great about this programme is that it has differentiation so each student reads according to his/her
level. This leads to the weak students being good and the good students being great. This resulted in an
enormous change in the students’ vocabulary, which got us to adding another programme, “Let’s Write”.
Since the students are able to read properly, they are now able to form sentences and even paragraphs!
Of course we apply differentiation in this as well. Those programmes have been a big step up in the
Arabic department as the students improved greatly. We feel that the students have more self
-confidence in Arabic and are starting to like it more, since they feel they’re capable of the language. We
are going to continue those programmes till the end of the year with the great help of our amazing team
and hopefully the students will reach much higher levels of Arabic by then.
We’d like to greatly thank all the parents who helped their children in reading at home, the parents who
sent story books and articles, the parents who supported their children and followed up with them at
home and the parents who sent us newspapers and articles for reading. You’ve all been a great help, we
couldn’t have done it without you!
Salwa Abdelrahman, Arabic Coordinator

GENERAL NURSERY
KG JUNIOR
NURSERY NEWS
Dear Parents, Grandparents and Extended Family,
Welcome back after the Spring Break…indeed it is a ‘warm’ welcome as the weather is changing upon us.
With the heat coming in, we will be altering our routine in the classes. The children will be brought out to
play in the morning, after which we return back to class for our Montessori cycle.
While Dubai is known to be a ‘hot’ place, I have put together a little reminder on how you can keep our
little ones safe in the summer sun. Children with blond or red hair and light-coloured skin are more prone
to sunburn than those with dark eyes and skin. However children with darker skin still burn, it may just
take longer.
1. Always wear sunscreen, apply all over the face and body and re-apply it every
2-3 hours, especially if sweating or swimming, even if the sunscreen is
waterproof. Please apply sunscreen in the morning when you send your child
to school. You may send a bottle of sunscreen in your child’s bag after
labeling it.
2. Take particular care if swimming or boating as the reflection from the water
intensifies the sun’s rays
3. Let your child wear tightly-woven clothes that you can’t see the light through
them, or with sun factor
4. Make sure your child has a hat in school, ideally with a wide brim and ear cover.
We have lots of work planned this term, as the academic year inches it’s way to a close. However, we
have some additional ‘fun’ planned as well. We will be starting our Zumbatomic ® sessions, which the
children are guaranteed to enjoy. We are also now practicing for our End of Year concert, which will be
held at the end of May.
It is good to have our children back. Please read the notes from Casa G and H.
Regards,
Garima Kapoor, Nursery Coordinator
News from Casa G
Dear Parents,
The last two weeks before spring break were fun and exciting. They were filled with lots of activities that
the children thoroughly enjoyed.
We celebrated Mother’s day on 21 st March. The children got busy that week preparing a craft and a
Mother’s Day card, which they enthusiastically presented to their mothers. They prepared hard the
whole week to put up a small show for Mother’s Day. We sang songs for the Casa G mothers and gifted
them with the card and craftwork children had made for them.

The last day of the term, 28 March was again filled with lots of fun activities for the children. We had our
end of term class party, when the children brought food and they all shared with each other. ‘Crazy Hair’
day too was celebrated on this day. The children arrived looking cute and colourful in their innovative
hairdos. ‘Posh Paws’ came visiting as well. The children were thrilled to watch, pet and feed the pet
animals they saw like ducks, hamsters, turtles and many others. An eventful last day of spring term was
enjoyed by all.
The Spring Break has flown by and our summer term has begun. Among other things like the concert
coming up in May, we will be preparing the children who move onto KG1.
Jyotsna Jadeja, CASA G Teacher and Meriam Palmes, Classroom Assistant
News from Casa H
Welcome back to School!!!
Hope everyone had a great relaxing break. The Nursery
children had a great Party Day on 28 February, petting and
feeding the rabbits, parrot, goat, cat, chicken, hamster, etc.
The children were also excited to watch and receive balloons
of all shapes and patterns.
It hard to believe most of the school year has past by and we
have reached Term 3!!! As we enter this new exciting term,
just a few reminders to encourage parents to bring your child
to school on time at 7:45 am. Since this is our last term, we
will be focusing on toilet training the children. Being toilet
trained is a challenging task, so I encourage parents to please
follow up at home. I will also be working on getting the
children ready for the next academic year and their new Casa
class.
Good Luck in our new term!!!
Joanne Sebastian, CASA H Teacher
and Brigida Vilamour, Classroom Assistant

GENERAL NURSERY
KG JUNIOR
Dear Parents,
The children in KG2 have been working hard this year to reach the bench marks of
the stage 1 Cambridge Primary programme. They have begun their journey on the
Cambridge Primary road in KG2 and from here the path will take them to stage 2 in
our Junior School. So when your child joins Grade 1 next academic year, they will
be continuing the journey and will complete Stage 2. Your child will complete their 6
stages of the Cambridge Primary programme when they reach Grade 5 at Raffles.
After that the programme continues with the Cambridge Secondary 1.
The Grade 1 teachers gave an in-depth presentation on Wednesday, 17 th April. Thank you to all the
parents who came, I hope it gave you more of an insight into how we help our children’s transition into
the Junior School.
The Bake Sale was a huge success this year, as was `Reading with Dad’. Thank you all for taking part, it
was great to see the dads in the class rooms for a change. Well done, Dad’s. The children had a great
time. Thank you PARIS for putting on such an organized event.
The children who have registered for the Peter Pan ASA will start the rehearsals this week for the End of
Year Performance. If your child has not registered to be part of the acting, they will be taking part by
singing the songs in the play. If you would like your child to have an acting part, please visit our web site
and register today.
Thank you.
Kind regards,
Susie Mcshane, KG Coordinator
Message from KG1
KG NEWS
“Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of
their innocence and of the greater possibilities of their future” - Maria Montessori
Welcome back to school after the restful Spring Break. Hope
the children enjoyed their time off. They are exited and have
settled back into their busy classroom routines. They
children in KG1 are enjoying their swimming classes and look
forward to it each week. They all looked beautiful in their
Black and White outfits on the colour day this month. They
are excited and amazed by the extinct reptiles, “Dinosaurs”,
which they are studying and they have really enjoyed
exploring and learning, specifically about T – Rex.

In Language they have been introduced to Sight Words, which will
further develop reading skills. It is very hard to believe that we have
approached the last leg of the school year. It has been wonderful to
experience and observe their progress and holistic development.
We would like to thank all the parents for their continuous support
and cooperation.
KG1 Montessori Team
Message from KG2
“We worry what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is
someone today”. Stacia Tauscher
“There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children.
One is roots; the other, wings.” Hodding Carter
Welcome back from the Spring Break. The children seemed to have had a good rested week at home and
are full of stories of the break. We had an eventful time in school before the break. The KG2 Children had
Math Fun Day, where we discovered Math can be good fun, with all the different math games we played.
Orange Day had the whole KG dressed in orange and was so colourful. The last day of school before the
break was Crazy Hair Day and it really was crazy and fun. We saw some very creative and fun ideas with
the hair.
Some of the children have opted for `Peter Pan’ as their ASA for this term and will be practicing very
hard for the show. We will certainly see a lot of acting and singing talent shining!
The children are very busy with their curriculum. Some are heading to become fluent readers and are
enjoying the readers. Please do supervise their reading at home and encourage their reading skills. A big
thank you to all the parent volunteers who are coming in every week with such enthusiasm to help the
children with the reading programme. The children have also been doing a lot of creative writing every
week. Please do not forget to reinforce the sight words and spelling list of the week. This is of great help
in their creative writing.
A big thank you for all the cooperation extended in this learning process. The last months of the year will
be full of activities.
Kind regards,
KG 2 Montessori Team

GENERAL NURSERY
KG JUNIOR
JUNIOR SCHOOL
News from Grade 1
In Grade 1 we are having a fantastic time learning about Sound and Sound words, which are called
‘Onomatopoeia’. We have been round the school on a ‘Listening Walk’, when we had to listen carefully
for indoor and outdoor sounds and make a list. We learned new words like ‘Volume’ ‘Vibration’
‘Eardrum’ ‘Position’ ‘Distance’. In English we will begin to use speech bubbles and speech marks in our
writing. We also learned how to make simple helicopters and write a procedural report on what we did!
We are able to count in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s and are doing many activities using studyladder.com. We use
laptops and have our own passwords too!! So grown up!!
Deirdre Menezes, Grade 1 Coordinator and Homeroom Teacher
Eye eye captain!
Look at our wonderful eye! Some friends of Grade 1G had signed up to see the Al
Jaber Optical Group, and it was no surprise they had perfect eye sight. I “see” a
bright future ahead for these students.
Did you know?
Like humans, some animals have eyes placed close together that allow for
improved depth perception, others have eyes spread further apart (often on
opposite sides of their head, as in horses) to allow for a greater field of view and
an early warning against potential predators.
We are Listening
During our Science lessons 1G has been exploring sound and
the ear. The class experimented with sound and sound vibrations.
Sound vibrations travel through the air and into our ears,
which are cup shaped.
Did you know ?
Ear infections are more common in children because of their
developing immune systems and differences between their
Eustachian tubes and those of adults.

Computer fun!
Not only does Grade 1G go to ICT on Tuesdays and
Thursdays but now we have started to use the
laptops in the classroom. Each student has been
given their own user name and password and are
being encouraged to use Study Ladder and Brain Pop
Junior, both at school and at home.
Did you know?
Early electronic computers, developed around the
1940’s, were the size of a large room and consumed
huge amounts of electricity. They were vastly
different to the modern computers we use today,
especially when compared to small and portable
laptop computers.
Michelle Jenkins, Grade 1G Homeroom Teacher
News from Grade 2
The Grade 2 students are busy learning about
biographies and profiles of people who have
shaped our world. We have already learned about
Christopher Columbus, and Pocahontas. Grade 2
are also learning about multiplication and are
enjoying learning about times tables through
games and songs.
Crazy Hair Day was fun! Children came with funky
hair dos! Sally had pink, Maya had red and
Kareem had multicolored hair! Parents really put
in a lot of effort!
Congratulations to Ms. Rachael, Class 2D Homeroom
Teacher. for completing the Everest Base Camp Trek.
Miss Rachael issued the following words;
“I would like to say a big thank you for all the support
and kind words from the parents and staff at Raffles
International School. I completed a lifelong dream of
climbing Everest Base Camp 1 in my sisters memory, a
total amount of AED 8000 was raised for a charity
dear to my family’s heart“.
Grade 2 Team

News from Grade 3
We have been enjoying our in-depth study of `Fantastic
Mr. Fox’ in English lessons. We learnt how to present
information by throwing light on the main characters of
the story and composed fact files. Later, we focused on
summarizing information in the form of short sentences
and paragraphs. In Mathematics, we started a brand
new unit based on the measurement of Length and
Weight. We strengthened our estimating and measuring
skills by attempting a variety of hands-on activities in the
class. In Science, the journey of exploratory learning
continued as we built electrical circuits and studied
Making Science Posters
Roman Party
characteristics of electricity. We also
investigated the usage of switches and
motors when using electrical circuits.
In Social Studies, the unit on Ancient Rome
Civilization came to an end. We had a great
Roman Party last month when we dressed up
in togas and tunics and attended Roman
Jeopardy. We will always remember The
Treasure Hunt on that day. We were assigned
a map of the school with different countries
marked in different areas of the school along
with a questionnaire. Our task was to locate
the country and answer the questions in
order to conquer that country. Most of us were able to explore and triumph over the whole school! We
also received goody packs after we completed the hunt.
One of the students described the day beautifully by saying, “Things kept getting better and better in
Grade 3 this year”
We truly value the spirit and enthusiasm of our students and look forward to facilitate them fully on their
learning journey.
Mahwish Rehman, Grade 3 Coordinator
News from Grade 4
In Science, Grade 4 students have been learning about Light and Shadow
and in particularly have spent the previous weeks looking at light and rays
of beams. Students enthusiastically showed their interest when learning
about light sources and reflective surfaces, observing materials and
placing them into reflective and non-reflective groups. As part of the class
activity, students worked in pairs and larger groups to carry out shadow
tricks.

Students were able to analyse how shadows can change at
different times of the day. This involved carrying out an
outdoor shadow activity to investigate how shadows are
formed. Students were also able to have fun by using their
own shadows to give one another antlers, sticks or a prop.
Students thoroughly enjoyed this activity.
In Grade 4B, Nadya and Angela did really well in completing
all of their shadow trick instructions and at the end they
were able to draw an outline of their shadows where they
had to stay ever so still!
Grade 4 Team
News from Grade 5
Welcome back after the Spring Break. We hope it was a restful and an enjoyable one.
The last week before the spring holidays were quite eventful with mid-term exams, overnight camping
trip and Crazy hair day.
After the mid-term exams were over, students went off to the overnight camping trip in the desert.
Besides team-building and problem-solving skills, students were fruitfully occupied in a variety of
activities like archery, canoeing, raft-building, map-reading, sand-boarding, etc. These aspects will go a
long way in making our students confident and independent individuals in the future.
Crazy Hair day was organized by the Student Council at RIS to raise funds for the special needs school
“Senses”. Some of our students had very creative hairdos and embellishments to support the event and
also donated AED 5/- to 10/- towards the cause. We are sure these aspects of school life will sensitize our
students to various issues around them and encourage them to be proactive whenever possible.
Grade 5 have also sat their first Cambridge Primary Checkpoint exams in the past week. They practiced
the past papers and were well prepared to face these exams, the results of which are due in June. We are
very proud of the students who have grown up in all ways…. academically as well as socially and
personally over the past few months.
Grade 5 Team