SummaRISe 37 - Raffles International School

Thursday, 18 October, 2012 Issue 37 

GENERAL NURSERY 

KG JUNIOR SECONDARY 

GENERAL 

FORTHCOMING DATES 

OCTOBER 2012 

DATE/TIME 

EVENTS 

Sunday, 21 October 

Emirati Parents Coffee Morning, 10:30 - 11:30 am 

Monday, 22 October 

Grade 2 C Assembly, 8:00 - 8:30 am 


Grade 3 C Assembly, 1:30 - 2:00 pm 

Tuesday, 23 October 

KG1 and KG2 Red Day 

Tuesday, 23 October 

Red Day - KG1/KG2 

Wednesday, 24 October 

KG Eid Festivities 

Wednesday, 24 October Parent Information Sessions, Grades 1-6 

* 8:00 - 9:00 am, Lecture Theatre 1, - How to get most out of the Reading Sessions with your child, Grades 1-3 

* 9:00 - 10:20 am, Lecture Theatre 1, - Building Emotional Health for Academic Success, Grades 1 - 6 

* 10:30 - 11:30, Lecture Theatre 1, - Cambridge Primary/Cambridge Secondary 1, Grades 1 - 6 


Professional Development - Early dismissal at 12:00 noon 

Thursday, 25 October 

Arafat Day - Holiday 

Friday, 26 - Sunday, 28 October Eid Al Adha 


Grades 1 - 2 Specialist Assembly, 8:00 - 8:30 am 


Grade 3 D Assembly, 1:30 - 2:00 pm 

Wednesday, 31 October Dress-up as your favourite book character Day, Nursery - Grades 6 


PARIS Bake Sale 

NOVEMBER 2012 

Thursday, 1 November 

Open Day - Nursery, 9:30 am - 11:00 am 

Sunday, 4 - Thursday, 8 November Writing Week - Junior School 

Monday, 5 November 

Grade 1 E Assembly, 8:00 - 8:30 am 


Grades 3 - 6 French Assembly, 1:30 - 2:00 pm 

Thursday, 8 November Pink Day, Nursery - Grades 6 


Open Day - (KG - Grades 6), 2:30 - 4:00 pm 

Friday, 9 November 

Breast Cancer “Safe and Sound Pink Walkathon”, 8:30 am

NOVEMBER 2012 

Sunday, 11 - Monday, 12 November Grade 3 Field Trip 


Visit to Science Museum - Grade 5, 8:30 am - 1:00 pm 


Grade 1 A Assembly, 8:00 - 8:30 am 


Grade 4 B Assembly, 1:30 - 2:00 pm 

Tuesday, 13 - Wednesday, 14 November PE Field Trip Grades 4 - 6 

Wednesday, 14 November 

Community Helpers Dress up Day - KG1 


Hijri New Year - Holiday 


Grade 1 F Assembly, 8:00 - 8:30 am 



Monday, 19 - Tuesday, 20 November Science Fair Grades 5 and 6 

Tuesday, 20 November 

Universal Children’s Day 

Wednesday, 21 November Parent/Teacher Conference, 1:00 - 4:00 pm, Early dismissal at 12:00 

Thursday, 22 November Parent/Teacher Conference, 1:00 - 3:30 pm, Early dismissal at 12:00 


Blue Day Nursery 



Sunday, 25 November 


Tuesday, 27 November 

Wednesday, 28 November 

Wednesday, 28-Thursday, 6 December 


Thanksgiving Day - KG1 and KG2 

“Clean up the World” campaign 

Talent Show Auditions - Grade 1, 2:00 - 3:00 pm 

Talent Show Auditions - Grades 2 and 3, 2:00 - 3:00 pm 

Talent Show Auditions - Grades 4 - 6, 2:00 - 3:00 pm 

Professional Development Day - Early dismissal at 12:00 noon 

Art Exhibition 

National Day Celebrations 

DECEMBER 2012 

Sunday, 2 - Monday, 3 December UAE National Day - Holiday 

Tuesday, 4 - Thursday, 6 December Art Exhibition 

Thursday, 6 December Green Day Fun Run, KG - Grade 6 

Thursday, 6 December 

Nursery Green Day (But not fun run) 

Sunday, 9 - Wednesday, 12 December Field Trip - Nursery 

Monday, 10 December 

Grades 1 - 2 Islamic Assembly, 8:00 - 8:30 am 



Sunday, 9 - Thursday, 13 December Revision Week, Grades 4 - 6 


Blue Day, KG1 and KG2 

Sunday, 16 December 

ASA Activities list emailed to parents 

Sunday, 16 - Thursday, 20 December Mid-Year Exams, Grades 4 - 6 


Winter Concert - KG1 


Grades 1 - 2 Specialist Assembly, 8:00 - 8:30 am 


Grades 3 - 6 Specialist Assembly, 1:30 - 2:00 pm 

Tuesday, 18 December 

Open Day - (KG - Grades 6), 2:30 - 4:00 pm 


Class Party - Nursery, KG1 and KG2 


Winter Break starts - Early dismissal 

at 12:00 noon

Message from the Head of Junior School 

Dear Parents, 

Welcome to another edition of SummaRISe. I hope you feel connected with the happenings in school 

and informed about the highlights, the forthcoming events and the learning taking place in the 

classrooms. 

I would like to remind all parents that children should be in classrooms at 7:50 am as our lessons 

start promptly and late arrivals are disruptive to the lessons in progress. Grades 3 to 6 students are 

required to make their way to the classrooms on their own, however KG to Grade 2 students can be 

dropped and picked-up from the homerooms. Of course, our nursery children have to be brought to 

the classrooms by parents or caretakers. 

Drop-In Days are now in operation and teachers and parents have started to use the opportunity to 

foster greater partnership between school and home. Please share with the teachers circumstances 

or any significant changes which may impact your child’s behavior or learning at school. 

Thank you to parents who have supplied us with information regarding persons authorised to 

pick-up your child/children in cases of emergency. This will help our teachers greatly, as well as 

further enhance the security around dismissal times. Please refrain from making last-minute changes 

to the pick-up arrangements in place - besides it being a safety concern it also takes a lot of precious 

time of a number of people. 

The school has a well-defined Student Behavior Management plan in place. It is based on principles 

of mutual respect, understanding and tolerance, and with the aim to positively reinforce socially 

desired and accepted behaviors. We look forward to your support and understanding on the steps 

we take to make the school a safe and secure place for all its students. 

In the end, please do spend some time every day reading to or listening to your child’s reading. This 

is the single most important aspect of your child’s academic success. Engross children in the world of 

books and you will see the positive impact it has on all other areas of their learning. 

Best regards, 

Zeba Khan, Head of Junior School 

News from the Library 

School assemblies are held to bring all the students together to share information and to provide a venue 

for important announcements.

The students of Grade 2 presented the Library Assembly on 8 October to both Grade 1 and 2 as well as 

parents of both the grades. The presentation was supported by the students explaining about the 

different features of our school library. Parents and students both absorbed the information quite 

readily and were able to answer when the questions were put to them. The assembly ended with the 

students telling them to be readers and to visit the library often. The announcement of the upcoming 

‘Book Fair’ was also done in this assembly. 

Susan Joseph, Librarian 

News from the Arabic Department 

The Arabic Department would like to wish the parents, the 

administration and the teachers a Happy Eid! We’re very pleased with 

the improvement of our students and how they like the Arabic 

classes. Moreover, some students in Arabic B started speaking a bit of 

Arabic. We’d love it if the parents would encourage their children to 

read short Arabic stories at home in order to help them improve. They 

could also bring their stories to the reading classes with them. This 

improvement would increase their self-confidence and make them a lot 

better in the subject. Enjoy your Eid Holidays! 

Salwa Abdelrahman, Arabic Coordinator 

The Creation of God 

The students in Grade 1 were given 2 sheets and a lot of pictures, to place what is made by humans on 

the orange one, and what was created by God on the green one. 

Dalia Mohammed, Arabic and Islamic Studies Teacher

Grade 6 Arabic B 

After studying the new vocabulary with the teacher, the students try to find them by collecting the letters 

to make a word. 

Khali's group working so hard 

Gaya's group tries to finish before 

the other group 

Both the groups did very good work. 

Dalia Mohammed, Arabic and Islamic Studies Teacher 

Speedo Novice Swim Gala 

On Friday, 5 October, nine of our 

students attended our first swim 

gala of the academic year. For 

some it was their first time to race, 

but this was not apparent in the 

way they all conducted themselves. 

Everybody did extremely well; all 

resulting in receiving a prize from 

Speedo, and some participants 

were awarded medals. Students and 

parents were very supportive of all 

participants and cheered loudly whilst 

team mates were swimming, 

providing great motivation. 

Well done to The Raffles Swim Squad! 

Lisa Butcher, ASA and PE Coordinator

After School Activities 

Please make sure students bring a P.E. kit or shorts, 

t-shirt and trainers to wear for all sporting ASA’s. 

Students can learn to dive as part of an ASA. 

Please contact Mohammed if interested: 

Call - +971 507454765 or 

email at - Elking_man1@yahoo.com 

Course prices vary - AED 1500/1700 per course. 

Lisa Butcher, PE and ASA Coordinator 

Environment News 

Tasneem Himid in Grade 5 will be taking on more 

responsibility as she has been announced as the 

Environmental Representative for this academic year. She has 

been a dedicated member of the environment after-school 

club for the past three years. This year she will be working 

hard to help our school receive green flag status. 

Congratulations Tasneem! 

Jeans and Greens Day was a success! It was a pleasant 

sight to see so much green at Raffles! The purpose of this 

Jeans and Greens Day was to inform students of our 

Eco-Code and make them aware of the many green 

options around our school. Thank you to all the parents, 

staff, and students for participating in this event. 

Can collection is back! 

A once in a millennium environmental celebration will 

happen this year as the Environmental Emirates Group (EEG) commemorates the momentous date, 

December 12, 2012 (12.12.12). With the EEG’s commitment and goal of diverting valuable materials 

from the landfill and making the U.A.E a greener place, they have decided to have another Can 

Collection Campaign. EEG has launched the “Your Can for a Tree Initiative” as part of its 12.12.12 

celebration. Our school has been given the challenge of collecting 200 kg of aluminum cans by the 4 

November. If we can accomplish this goal, on the 12 December a tree will be planted in a public 

place under our schools’ name. So please bring in your cans and drop them off in the can 

collection bins located in the atrium. 

Robert Brown, Environment Coordinator



NURSERY NEWS 

Dear Parents, 

The children in the nursery are all settling in very well, we are seeing close 

friendship being formed. The Montessori Cycle is now in ‘motion’ and the 

children are all adapting to their new atmosphere and learning to follow the 

order and routine of the classrooms. 

I am excited about this school year and working with the children. I am a parent 

and I understand how anxiety-filled this first (or second!) time experience can 

be for you and your child, but together we will make this year a positive, 

productive and fun one for ‘our’ children! A big thank you to all the parents who 

stop by to have a chat or discuss any concerns. Your feedback and comments 

are essential to making ‘our’ Nursery a happy learning environment. 

While last month the children enjoyed mostly transitional exercises like building blocks and play dough, 

now they are beginning to explore Early Practical Life Material, namely transferring, sponging, opening 

assorted boxes/bottles, etc. The phonetic sounds s, a and t have been introduced and the children are 

having immense fun playing “I spy” games during circle time. 

Attendance 

Consistent attendance is very important for proper progress throughout the nursery school year. It 

contributes to a sense of well-being in the children and they settle into a routine quickly when they 

attend the nursery on a regular basis. Habitual attendance also helps the children develop friendships 

within their environment. Parents are urged to ensure that their children attend the nursery regularly. 

In order to reduce and minimize the spread of illnesses in the nursery, please refer to our Infection 

Control Policy which was included in the Welcome Pack you have all received - your support with the 

implementation of this policy is greatly appreciated. 

If your child is going to be absent, please call me on 04 4271228 and let me know. If you anticipate a 

period of extended absence, please notify me in writing on (southnursery@rafflesis.com). 

The beginnings of concentration! 

Medical Check up 

The children have been visiting our school clinic for the routine height and weight check. We have Dr. 

Savita with us in the Clinic, along with Nurse Fatina and Nurse Divya. If there is any medical issue relating 

to your child that we should be aware of, please let me know. 

Nursery Information Morning 

Thank you to all the parents who made time to attend the Nursery Information Morning on 11 

October. If you have any specific questions about your child, please feel free to arrange a meeting with 

your child’s teacher on the specific Drop-In Day (DID)…..and as always my door is open. 

Garima Kapoor, Nursery Coordinator

More news from Casa F and Casa E…. 

A Note from CASA F 

Dear Parents, 

A warm welcome to all the Casa F families! It is 

a joy to see the children settled into the 

classroom, and this is already quite visible in the 

environment. The social aspect is evident, as 

they begin to choose their friends during play, 

both indoors and outdoors. 

Our Montessori hours are now clearly defined. 

We have already visited the other various 

activity rooms, Arabic, Music and Library. The 

Practical Life area is a beehive and the children are slowly but surely getting there. 

We have already had a fun-filled Red Day, when all the children were happy to dress up in this colour, 

and we look forward to exploring other colours as we move on. 

Parents please take note of the Drop-In days for a chat when required, because it is busy during pick-up 

and drop-off times and I am unable to give you my undivided attention. 

Joanne Okera, Nursery Teacher and Judee Carbonel, Classroom Assistant 

A Note from CASA E 

Dear Parents, 

I would like to thank all of you for your support during the first weeks 

of settling in. I am glad to report that all of the children of Casa E 

have nicely settled into the class and tears of separation are now a 

thing of the past. 

As of 1 October, we have moved from the temporary timetable to a 

permanent one. We start with Circle Time at 8:15 am and the 

Montessori Cycle is from 8:45 until 10:45 am. After that, the children 

group together for Story Time at 10:45 am and Outside Play starts at 

Practical life-pouring 11:00 am for 30 minutes. Before lunch at 12:15 pm we still have time 

for a visit to one of our fun activity rooms such as the Indoor Play 

Area (Sunday), the Library (Monday), Arabic (Tuesday), Music Room 

(Wednesday) and the Activity Room (Thursday). Lunch is for 45 minutes, following which the children 

rest for 30 minutes before sitting on the “bus” at 1:30 pm. (We call it a ‘bus’ because at pick-up time, the 

children sit on chairs by the door)! During this time, we role-play and sing songs and nursery rhymes. 

If you had an opportunity to attend our Nursery Information Morning, you will probably be familiar with 

what goes on in the classroom during the day. In case you missed the presentation or have any questions 

about your child, please feel free to make an appointment on my DID day (Tuesday). 

Susanna Allegra, Nursery Teacher and Jasmine Manalili, Classroom Assistant



Dear Parents, 

As we are reaching the end of October, we would like to wish you all a Happy Eid and Happy Halloween. 

We have some great activities to celebrate this October. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for coming to the Curriculum sessions in KG. I hope 

these sessions gave you more of an insight into the Montessori philosophy and our approach. As you 

know we have Drop-In days throughout the week, if there is any more information you would like, please 

feel free to use this time. 

November 

Pink Day, Beast Cancer Awareness Day - 8 November 

Diwali - 13 November 

Community Helper Dress-Up Day (KG1) - 14 November 

Parent/Teacher Conferences - 21 and 22 November 

Professional Develop Day (teachers) - 28 November 

UAE National Day - 29 November 

Please read on to see what KG1 and KG2 have been doing during the month of October. 

Susie Mcshane, KG Coordinator 

News from KG 1 

Dear Parents, 

KG NEWS 

It’s hard to believe we are already more than a month into our new school year and we are happy to 

inform you that the children have settled in and started working with the Montessori materials. They are 

getting used to the routine and are showing interest in all the activities. The best is the circle time 

sessions where they discuss and talk about home and weekend happenings. They are becoming 

confident and familiar with their surroundings and peers. 

Our focus for the beginning of the year has been on the exercises of 

Practical Life and Grace and Courtesy. These exercises of Practical 

Life are the cornerstone upon which everything else in the 

curriculum depends. They help the child in 

whole development; physical, mental 

and moral because it aids the child’s 

self-knowledge, coordination of movement, 

concentration, order, social awareness, 

self-esteem and helpfulness.

Between the ages of 2 1/2 - 6, the child is indeed in a 

sensitive period for the learning of good manners. 

Montessori comments that, "a master of ceremonies 

at a big court or an ecclesiastical function could not be 

more exact or exacting about the right way of doing 

things.” She points out also that if we leave this 

learning to a later age, the special and spontaneous 

interest will not be there. At the beginning of 

establishing a class, there is the need to concentrate 

on grace and courtesy exercises, along with the 

exercises of practical life, in order to establish what 

Montessori calls the "right rapport" between the 

children and their environment. The essential thing 

here is that the child should never be coerced to these courtesies or reprimanded when he forgets, but 

that he should know how to perform these actions when his heart prompts him to do so. 

We have just completed the Themes “All about me” and “ The 5 senses”. The children loved doing the 

hands-on activities; hand prints, self-portraits and the craft activities on 5 senses. We have also 

thoroughly enjoyed Book Week with our book, ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’, especially with our real bear 

hunt at the end of the week. 

We look forward to all the exciting stuff we have planned for this year and thank you for your continual 

support! 

The KG1 team. 

News from KG 2 

Dear Parents, 

The first essential for the child’s development is 

concentration. The child who concentrates is immensely 

happy.” 

Maria Montessori

The children of KG2 have begun to settle down into their new environments. It’s a proud moment for 

them to be in KG2, they are excited about their extra added responsibilities; they are now able to swipe 

their own ID cards and are beginning to receive homework every week along with spelling words. They 

have begun their full-fledged work with the Montessori Materials. The new children are getting 

acquainted with the different areas of the curriculum and how to use the materials. We began the month 

of October with the book week, in which we focused on the story ‘ The Gruffallo.’ We carried out many 

fun activities to familiarize the children with the characters and the story-line. We also had the 

opportunity to go and watch the show at The First Group Madinat Jumeirah. It was a wonderful 

experience and the children were buzzing with joy and happiness. It was delightful to watch them enjoy 

the show and interact with the characters. 

The topic we are going to cover this month is ‘Healthy Living.’ We are going to be talking about the 

difference between healthy and un-healthy food. Our aim is to get the children to understand how to 

make a healthier choice in the food they eat. We would urge you to continue to send healthy food to 

school; we are a nut, chocolate and junk food free environment. Along with healthy eating, we will be 

discussing exercise and leading a healthy lifestyle. 

The children have got into the routine and love going for the Specialist classes, be it music or P.E. They 

have been learning two sight words weekly and reviewing two letter sound and names weekly. Please 

re-enforce this at home. We urge you to encourage the children to swipe their ID cards every morning. 

We look forward to a wonderful learning year ahead. 

The KG 2 Montessori Team



JUNIOR SCHOOL 

News from Grade 1 

In Grade 1 we are working towards a common goal of `Walking Nicely in a Line.’ Class certificates are 

awarded each week to the classes who are doing well at this goal. In English we are finding out about 

different kinds of writing; making lists, writing labels and writing our news for Exciting Writing. In 

Mathematics we are learning to use >,< and = symbols to write Math sentences. We are continuing to 

learn how different words mean different things in Maths, like difference and how many left both mean 

‘Take Away’, or altogether and in all both mean ‘Add’. We were also visited by a lady called Nanette 

who read us some stories. It was a lovely way to start Book Week. 

Deirdre Menezes, Grade 1 Coordinator 


Grade 2 have been very busy over the last 2 weeks. In English we have been researching different types 

of animals and writing reports on them. We have learnt a lot about kangaroos, elephants, lions and many 

more animals. We are also continuing to learn about verbs, with the focus on the past tense. 

In Science we have been learning about vertebrates and invertebrates and the children viewed the inside 

of a worm and a mouse in the Science Lab. 

In Mathematics we are finishing our unit on Numbers to 1000 with an assessment on what we have 

learnt. 

We are also coming to the end of our unit on ‘People of the World’. We really enjoyed researching our 

home country and finding out about flags, food and traditions. Our ‘Home Country Presentations’ were 

so much fun and we especially loved trying all the different foods. 

During Healthy Eating Week all the students in Grade 2 made a special effort to bring healthy lunches. 

Well done and keep it up! 

The Grade 2 Team


Last week, Grade 3 enjoyed a healthy eating week and students were encouraged to eat from different 

food groups. They analyzed the health effects of various food items and improved their eating 

habits remarkably. In academics, the young learners studied from all four strands of the language and 

focused on the usage of High Frequency Words in writing. In Mathematics, students continue to grasp 

different concepts related to Numbers and took their first Formal Assessment. In Science, Grade 3 carried 

out an in-depth study of the Human skeleton and skeletons of other vertebrates. They displayed a great 

deal of interest in identifying various scientific names of the bones. In Social Studies, the effects and the 

causes of Deforestation were exposed before the students, who comprehended its negative outcomes 

meticulously and suggested alternatives to prevent the phenomenon. 

In Junior school, we celebrated Jeans and Greens Day on 4 October. The entire school seemed to have 

been painted green by the students and the teachers who appeared in different shades of green colour. 

The Green day boosted the students’ and the teachers’ morale towards their positive role in improving 

the environment. 

Mahwish Rehman, Grade 3 Coordinator 


Grade 4 students have been learning about our bodies, especially the Heart in Science lessons. Once a 

week we get the opportunity to go to the Science Lab to learn more about our topic during a variety of 

lessons, demonstrations and experiments. We also carried out an experiment where we measured our 

pulse rate before exercise and compared it straight after, and again after 5 minutes. What a fun 

experiment … and interesting results!!! We are looking forward to all the new and exciting things we will 

get to learn in Science this year. 

The Grade 4 Team 

Our Pulse rate 

You can feel it but you can’t hear it


Exciting things are happening here! After the announcement of the Head Boy and the Head Girl, the 

House captains were announced. Four of the Grade 5 students have been chosen to head the four 

Houses in the school. 

They are: 

Leema Sedan 

Innaya Fazail 

Mustafa 

Shahd Babatin 

Captain Red House 

Captain Yellow House 

Captain Blue House 

Captain Green House 

Congratulations and all the best! We look forward to 

interesting house activities on the school campus. 

Some of our students were also honoured with cups for having read more than 1000 minutes in the 

Scholastic Reading Challenge that ran during the summer holidays; well done Hafsah and Leema!!! A few 

students were given medals and ribbons for reading 250 minutes during the summers. All in all, a 

wonderful achievement!! 

Work has started in right earnest. Students are busy studying globes and maps and human body. Lab 

Activities saw our students study the digestion of food, in an interactive way: they simulated the process 

in hands-on activities and are also busy making a lung machine to explore how our lungs work. 

For one of the English language activities, Grade 5 is participating in a Cambridge ESOL Penfriends 

Programme. We are partnered with another school in Russia and currently the students are busy making 

cards for them, which will be posted once completed - a great way to hone their art and language skills 

and make friends globally. 

The dates of mid-term assessments have been sent out. We hope the students have started to review 

and revise the work covered so far. 

Also wishing you all Eid Mubarak and enjoy the holidays!!! 

The Grade 5 Team



SECONDARY SCHOOL 


Research, Projects and loads of Fun 

Grade 6 students started Science in a fun way with project work. In pairs, students produced parts of a 

flowering plant, using a variety of colors, paper and WASTE materials brought in from home. During the 

first couple of Science lessons, the focus was on good science practices, the presentation of their work 

and correctly labeling diagrams. Students were very excited when we visited the Science laboratory to 

learn more about ‘parts of a microscope’. They observed slides of micro-organisms with the microscope 

and were able to draw, colour and present their observations/findings. Activity and project-based 

learning continued during the following weeks, when students worked in pairs to research and present 

their findings on the different roles of micro-organisms. It was an absolute delight to see the students 

so enthusiastic when presenting their fantastic projects. Well done Grade 6! 

Ann Whitworth, Grade 6 Coordinator 

Micro-organisms Project

SummaRISe 37 - Raffles International School

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