NEWSLETTER

Last week the Secondary School was lucky to have a visit from His Highness

Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi, also known as ” The Green Sheikh” to talk about global issues to our students. Without doubt this was one of the best presentations our students have had in recent years and the inspirational , or “transformational “ talk as the Sheikh termed it, opened many in the audience to a new perspective on global understanding, diversity , charity and care for the environment.

One of the key messages the Sheikh alluded to was the importance of giving and sharing with ones neighbors. This message resonates particularly strong in our school where service to others is a key value and something that is encouraged from our students at all levels.

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Volume 8 Issue 6 20 November 2014

attempting to understand others, others will do the same with you. And by treating all people with respect, people cannot help but treat you with respect.

Finally, our preparations for our UAE day celebrations are well underway with teams of students, staff and parents across the school preparing the many different activities, presentations and tributes to this wonderful country we are all presently calling home. More details of the day and how each sub –school will be celebrating are available later in this Newsletter.

The Sheikh's speech gave us cause to reflect on the nature of service to others in our school community, in our region and even globally and prompted us to reflect on how lucky we all are and in turn the duty we have to assist and support others. In this Term alone, VISS students have been involved in many and varied acts of service illustrating that as a community we are indeed living the values we talk of. What this suggests is that our students are passionate about the lives and troubles of others and that they seek to contribute to alleviate the suffering of others at a school, local and global level.

Recently our students across the school have raised tens of thousands of dirhams to:● donate to refugee schools ● cancer research. ● collected donations and prepared care boxes for local laborers. ● Being involved in charity walks Many have given a great deal of their own time to raise awareness and funds to help those less privileged. This is just a small snap shot of the types of service our students are regularly involving themselves in and it something we should continue to be proud of as a community.

VISS is a diverse community and therefore it is important that we all seek to understand each other and celebrate our differences but also recognise the intrinsic qualities we all share as humans. I am constantly reminding our students that through giving they actually get much more in return. By

Mr Dean Pyrah Principal

Mr Dean PyrahPrincipal

VISS NEWSLETTER 2FROM THE SECONDARY SCHOOL

We were honoured to have a visit from the ‘Green Sheikh’, His Highness

Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Nuaimi, who came and spoke to our Secondary School assembly last week. He covered a range of topics such as leadership, the environment and charity in an inspiring and thoroughly enjoyable talk. We received excellent feedback from the students who gave our visitor a very warm VISS welcome. Thank you to Mr Ahmed for arranging this visit; it was a fantastic event.

Preparations are in hand for our UAE National Day celebration on Monday 1 December, just before the holiday. The various Grade Levels are organising a range of workshops and activities to follow on from our special assembly in the morning. As a recent expat myself, I am looking forward to learning more about local traditions and customs and seeing the wide range of fun and informative activities we have taking place. We will finish the day with our customary football match which kicks off at 2pm. I do hope that many of you will join us for the game if you can.

Mr Jim Stearns Deputy PrincipalHead of Secondary School

Mr Jim StearnsDeputy Principal/Head of Secondary School

UAE DAY IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOL

VISS NEWSLETTER 3VISS RUGBY SQUAD RECEIVE THEIR NEW UNIFORMS

CELEBRATING STUDENT SPORTING SUCCESS

Thanks to the generosity of Mr Ibrahim Moulki, CEO and owner of Gammaline International, VISS rugby team received their new uniforms on Wednesday 12 November during their scheduled training session. Mr Dean and Rugby squad captain Hurmatullah,

showed their appreciation to Gammaline International and our kit supplier BLK representative, Mr Steve Thompson MBE ex England Rugby international.

During the training session, the VISS rugby squad were honoured to welcome Steve Thompson MBE to pass on his knowledge and experience of the game to our young rugby enthusiasts. Steve represented England as ‘hooker’ from 2002 – 2011 and is the most capped player for his country in this position. He was also an integral part of England’s 2003 World Cup winning team.

Rugby at VISS is developing well and it’s good to see the students taking on new sports with such enthusiasm. Our successes and sports development at VISS is only possible through the dedication of our teachers and staff who give their time to the benefit of our students.

Here at VISS we always look to celebrate our students sporting successes.

On Friday 31 October, two of our Year 10 students Ahmed Abdulle and Amogh Shanbhag took part in the Asics Super Sports Run series event at the Meydan racecourse, Dubai. This 4 km race was open to all ages in the UAE, with prizes awarded in various age categories.

Ahmed finished the race in 1st place in his 14-19 age category and in the top 10 of all age group runners which included adults. Not to be outdone, Amogh finished just behind

Ahmed in 2nd place in the same age category. This young duo will continue to compete in road races throughout the year both in school and in their own time and we wish them well as they strive to achieve their goals for the season.

Mr Russell McKieHead of HPE & Sport

VISS NEWSLETTER 4A SWEET REWARD FOR A GOOD START

SHARJAH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR

Throughout the term Grade 9 students have taken part in various challenges as part of their wellbeing program organised by Grade Level Leader Ms Carlee. As a reward to the overall winner, breakfast was prepared by and for the whole group.

Alaa Yehia, 9B said “Winning the wellbeing challenge was great and we had a lot of fun but the thing I enjoyed the most was the team spirit present in every challenge that made us win”.

Ali Raza Rizvi Syed, 9B Said “We started at 7:30am and preparing pancakes was really difficult at the beginning. But as time progressed more people started to arrive and work together and we made a lot more pancakes in much less time. It was a great atmosphere in the kitchen as well as a great smell!!!”

Many thanks to Ms Carlee for providing the ingredients.

Ms Carolina GonzalezGrade 9B Homegroup Teacher

Mr Tayseer AL-QudahHead of Arabic / IB Arabic Teacher and Islamic Studies

On Thursday the GC1 and IB1 Arabic students accompanied by Mr Tyseer and Ms Hanadi, went to the Sharjah International Book Fair in the Expo Centre . The group spread out and the students went to different halls to look for different types of books. We

got to meet some authors and chefs, like Dan Brown, Manuela Kjeilen, Assia Othman, and the comedy actor Adel Imam. All of the students purchased many different kinds of books in Arabic and English. Overall the students had fun in this educational trip and they enjoyed meeting authors and getting their autographs.

VISS NEWSLETTER 5

Grade 7 travelled to Eco Venture at Al Jeer Port on a 3 day, 2 night camp which everyone was very excited about. I was a little worried about the camp site but when I first saw the building I knew I would have a nice trip. The best part was that we got to

choose our cabin mates. The instructors were really nice at the start and continued that way. We were divided into 3 groups and did 2 activities which went around for 2-4 hours. The activities were canoeing and raft building. In the end I learnt how to canoe and faced my fear of the sea. My team had to build a raft but unfortunately it broke and we all fell into the water. The food on camp was really good, it felt like I was in a fancy restaurant.

Next day we had more frightening activities like ‘Jacob’s ladder’ and ‘all aboard’. Those sessions had one goal: to reach the top, but in ‘all aboard’ 4 people had to reach the top with a smaller ladder on a small platform. We did other activities based on teamwork and balance on ropes and using ropes in team building, low ropes shelter building etc. and we had the usual, lunch and dinner. We had a campfire where we ate marshmallows and sang songs.

We all had great fun and on behalf of the people who came to camp I would like to thank the instructors who taught us well and everything we needed to know and thanks for a lovely campfire. I also want to thank Mr Dean, Mr Gabriele and Mrs Emily for coming on the trip and for Mr Iain for organising a great camp.

Zain Sadruddin Grade 7

GRADE 7 CAMP REPORT

Our “Meet the Musos” Morning Melodies concert series went off with a big bang this week in the VISS Music department.

Starting with Secondary music treats on Monday, a small but enthusiastic audience joined Grade 7B to hear them strum their guitars to "In the Mood”. This was followed by Grade 6B working as a team on the xylophones to play their version of “Down the River”. The Grade 9 elective class then entertained listeners with a minimalist piece by Mike Oldfield, “Tubular Bells”. Two students, one from Grade 6 (Siya) and the other from Grade 9 elective class (Haya), also shared their own composition work with the appreciative audience. To end this smashing

smorgasbord of musical treats, the Grade 10 elective music class came close to knocking the audience out with a resounding version of the 2014 FIFA Anthem “Samba De Janeiro”.

Congratulations to all the student performers for their commitment to ensuring the pieces were performed well ‘on the day’ – great team work all round! Thanks also to the parents and staff who came along to support our young musicians.

Wednesday saw another morning of music making. This time the concert featured our very own talented Music Academy teaching staff. To begin with Mr Andrey performed a violin solo and Ms Viktoriya played the piano. To end the concert, Mr Jon and Mr Phil played an instrumental duo using percussion and guitar.

The culminating event for this week of morning melodies was organised by Primary Music, where Mr Jon featured his rhythmic percussion ensemble “Rhythmical Madness” and the Grade 2 choir.

In all, it has been lovely to hear our young musicians at play! We hope you will come along to hear more performances in the future.

MUSIC NOTES

Ms Nevann HardwickDirector of Music

FROM THE PRIMARY SCHOOL & EARLY LEARNING CENTRE

①Art activities in the wavy room

② Music (drumming) in the amphitheatre

③ Dance (hair dance, yola) and fashion parade in the Primary School gym

④ Traditional games in the diamond playground

⑤ Rest and relaxation in the Bedouin tent where a traditional snack will be supplied

There will also be dumpling ladies, water, snacks, henna ladies, and a stall selling UAE souvenirs.

⑥ A range of interactive activities In the Arabic area

Lunch : Picnic lunch under the trees on the field.

This will be followed by the annual staff vs student soccer match.

Parents are welcome to attend and to bring a picnic lunch to share with their children for lunch.

Otherwise a packed lunch should be provided.

We are looking forward to sharing this day with you, and enjoying and celebrating the UAE.

UAE Day this year will be celebrated in sub schools. The Primary School will be using this day as an opportunity for all students to learn and understand more about

the culture in which they live. The focus for the children will be on learning, education and community, in an enjoyable, positive and engaging way.

Students from the Primary School will be divided into six groups and there will be 6 forty minute rotations as outlined below.

All students are expected to be with their home group to take part in all the activities scheduled.

Students may wear UAE dress or clothes reflecting the colour of the UAE flag. No other national dress will be worn on this day, as this will be done for our International Day in March.

Date : Monday 1 December Time : Classrooms at 8.10am as usual (rotations to start at 8.30am) Dress : UAE dress, or clothes reflecting the colours of the UAE flag

VISS NEWSLETTER

Ms Bernade e O’SullivanAc ng Head of Primary School & ELC

6

Ms Bernade e O’SullivanAc ng Head of Primary School and ELC

UAE DAY IN THE PRIMARY SCHOOL

THE ACTIVITIES ON THE DAY WILL INCLUDE:

VISS NEWSLETTER 7rimary Music would like to borrow Middle Eastern drums for the upcoming UAE day.

These drums would be played throughout the UAE day in the Primary School in order to provide a unique cultural drumming experience for the Primary School students.

Primary Music would like to kindly request the following Middle Eastern drums: -DarbukaDoumbekDumbekArabic tablaDerbekiOther traditional handrums from the Middle East region

If you have any Middle Eastern drums that could be utilised for UAE day, please contact Mr Jonathan at hughes.jonathan@viss.ae g j @Please note that these items would be labeled and kept in a safe and secure place until they were returned to you.

REQUEST FOR UAE DAY

TIFFANY BISCUIT FACTORY

Teacher - Grade 2FMs Nicole ScholtzTeacher - Grade 2FMs Nicole Scholtz

s part of the Grade 2 focus on writing and following procedures, last week we were lucky enough to visit the Tiffany Biscuit Factory in Sharjah. During the visit, students were able to observe the steps in making various types of biscuits. Students

were shown the mixing of ingredients to make dough, the moulding of the dough into small biscuits and then baking through large industrial ovens which were very hot. The last part of the tour showed us how the biscuits were cooled and packed ready forshipment.

Some students thoughts from the day:

“I like how they made the dough in the machine and they made so much dough so quickly.” Rahet, Grade 2A

“We saw Flash but it was only in our imagination” Noora, Grade 2B

“I liked the drying machine (conveyer belt) that went up, up high to dry the cookies” Mohammed Al., Grade 2C

“I learned that they sort the biscuits out and that some are rejected!” Ishaan Virani 2D

“I loved the big machines and the smell.” Fares and Yussuf, Grade 2G

“We are learning about procedures and we saw how they make biscuits” Najeeb Safar, Grade 2F

“My most favourite part was the mixing because you can see it come down” Jordan Sahawneh, Grade 2G

VISS NEWSLETTER 8VISS VALUES AWARD WINNERS

Mayar Al Hammadi

Grade 2D Grade 5A

Grade 5D

Grade 3E

WEEK 11

Anahita Jaberi ZadehHaissam Al Ali

Ahmed ZaedKhalid AbdelhaqLouai Al QreiniParmis NezamRaed Bazyan

Tareq AlharthyAli Sajwani

Mr George Ibrahim - Ac ng Deputy Head of Primary School and ELC

Finn IbrahimHossein Alali

Grade 1C

WEEK 10

Grade 5D

Grade 2A Marwan MohammedHanpei Wu

Jumana SalahAyhem HakmiGrade 3F

Grade 5A

Thomas StevensonAbdeljawad Zaed

Ahmed ObaidAlsajad AlsaadHaya Ramadan

VISS NEWSLETTER 9ver the past weeks, Grades 4 and 5 have visited the Sharjah International Book Fair. There was a great buzz around the event, with schools

coming from all around the UAE. Lots of students were there enjoying the fair, which made the whole event a great adventure. Students purchased books and enjoyed looking through the different stalls to find a favourite book. They practiced Maths skills by getting correct change for their books from the stall holders. There were many new and exciting books the children found, in both English and Arabic. It was fantastic to see the students’ love for books and being really excited about reading.

“At the book fair there were so many nice books about all kinds of topics. I got a book called ‘Three Wishes’ and its really good” Huda 4E

“The book fair had lots of good books. I got ‘Ninja Meerkats’ and ‘Captain Underpants’. I had a lot of fun there, because we wereall talking about our different books.” Ahmed A 4F

“There were lots of books. We had a picture for National Geographic. People were nice and friendly.” Hamad 5A

“I was looking for Dan Brown the famous author. I saw him towards the end. There were all kinds of books and we could see different shows.” Hamad 5D

As you can see, the children had a great time, and this event really promotes the love of books and reading for our children.

s part of the Grade 3 inquiry unit into ‘What Makes a Healthy Lifestyle?’ we had a healthy lifestyle day at school on

Thursday 6 November.

The children participated in lots of healthy activities including making banana smoothies, playing energetic games like: octopus, football, bean bag toss and relays. We also enjoyed a healthy picnic lunch having prepared lunches using all the five food groups.

We had such a fantastic day, and everyone would have slept soundly that night after all their exercise and fresh air.

HEALTHY LIFESTYLE DAY

SHARJAH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR

Mr George Ibrahim Mr George IbrahimGrade 5 Team LeaderAc ng Deputy Head of Primary School and ELC

Teacher - Grade 4/Year Level LeaderMr Caleb Gough

Teacher - Grade 3E/Y3 Team LeaderMs Leah Mather

VISS NEWSLETTER

INTER HOUSE SPELLING BEE

10VISS is delighted to announce that the first annual Spelling Bee, organised and run by the

House Vice Captains was a huge success. Each grade was represented by a large number of eager participants and the standard was very high.

The students who won their respective grade level spelling bee earned 10 points for their House. Students who placed second, earned 5 points. Finally, students placed in third earned

three points for their house. Students in Grade 2 were so competitive, that it was very hard to find an individual winner. Therefore, it was decided to give each of the remaining students 2 points each for their House.

I would like to thank the Vice House Captains and all the teachers who participated and helped with this annual Spelling Bee. Without their help and assistance, this competition would not have been such a success. The next House competition will be “The Amazing Mental Math Challenge”!

Gazelles Leopards Scorpions Falcons

GRADE 5

1st PlaceAbdullah Holy (5E)

2nd PlaceHamad Almehari (5A)

3rd Place Mahmoud Elshafey (5D) -

GRADE 41st Place

Mohammed Almatari (4E)3rd Place

Tariam Alsuwaidi (4C) - 2nd Place Shaharyar Ahmed (4E)

GRADE 32nd Place

Leen Da’as (3D) 3rd Place

Saif Alkhamiri (3F) 1st Place

Wissam Smmour (3D) -

GRADE 2

Nurrah Yasmin Malik (2D) Fares Dajam (2E) - Monnah Espai (2C)

Yousef Talib (2F) Mohamed Sayed (2E)

Rayan Nazir Ahmed (2F)

GRADE 1

- - -

1st Place » Nour Elsadek (1A)

2nd Place»Aidan Karakousis (1G)

3rd Place»Abhinau Vilis (1B)

Gazelles Leopards Scorpions Falcons29 11 17 27

Mr Padraig Keane Teacher - Grade 5A

VISS NEWSLETTER 11FROM EARLY LEARNING CENTRE

inging is one of the first experienceschildren have as creative and self-

expressive beings.Singing develops a child's sense of accomplishment and self-confidence.The first assembly by the KG1 children was a positive and enjoyable experience when all the children performed very confidently on stage to a large audience.

ovement is at the very core of how children develop intellectually, emotionally, socially, and of course, physically. The Perceptual Motor Program develops the whole child. Language is the key factor in providing the experience which also improves problem

solving skills and general readiness. Readiness in the areas of: fitness, balance, locomotion, eye tracking and eye/hand, eye/foot coordination are just some of the benefits of this program.

Ms Dhuha AlfeelKG1 Teacher

Ms Ode e Grant-LapreKG2 Teacher

FIRST ASSEMBLY FOR KG1

PERCEPTUAL MOTOR PROGRAM – KG2

VISS NEWSLETTER 12

he ELC are excited about the upcoming celebration of UAE National Day which we will be celebrating on Monday 1 December2014. Our festivities will be held in the Early Learning Centre accessed from gate 4.

We have an exciting program in place and are looking forward to spending a wonderful day with all our friends and families. There will be a variety of cultural experiences taking place during the day to educate the students about the UAE. Some of these activities include:

● traditional wedding ceremony● traditional performance by our local Emirati students● singing and dancing ● traditional Emirati games ● camel and pony rides● tasting of Emirati food● classroom displays and activities

If parents wish to contribute towards the celebration, please speak to your child’s class teacher.Our day will begin at our normal school time of 8am and finish around 1pm. Buses will operate as per usual.

All students in the ELC are encouraged to come dressed on the day in the national colours (red, black, white and green), or in UAE national dress.

UAE DAY IN THE ELC

VISS NEWSLETTER

Dates for your Diary:

13

VISS Business Enterprise Day• Friday 28 November

VISS UAE Day Celebrations• Monday 1 December

UAE National Day• Tuesday 2 December

UAE National Day Holiday• Tuesday 2 December to Thursday 4 December

Incursion The Gingerbread Man Show 8.00am-1.00pm• Monday 8 December

PreKG A and B excursion• Tuesday 9 December

KG1 A,B&C Excursion• Wednesday 10 December

Primary School Cross Country• Thursday 11 December

Grade 3 Sleepover• Thursday 11 December

KG1 D&E Excursion• Thursday 11 December

Secondary School Cross Country• Thursday 18 December

Primary School Assembly All Grades• Thursday 18 December

he VISS Parents Association is open to all parents, guardians and caretakers of students attending Victoria International School of Sharjah. We proudly serve the students,

parents and faculty of VISS.

Our role as a group of parent volunteers is to provide an information-communication link between parents and school and generate and maintain a community spirit through social and school activities with the emphasis on having fun and enjoying your years at VISS.We coordinate and assist in a range of student events, organize fundraisers and friend-raising socials which will help build our school community.

You can contact us by email, parents.association@viss.aep @ if you are interested in our efforts and would like to participate in any of the following activities:

Monthly Meeting scheduled for November 24, 2014 at 9:00 amWHERE: Parents Meeting Room, across from Uniform Store (Enter Gate 1)

Ms Donna Alkasey & Ms Rana SaiedVISS PARENTS ASSOCIATION

VISSPARENTS ASSOCIATION

UAE DAY

VOLUNTEERS AND DECORATIONS NEEDED

● ZUMBA, WEEKLY SESSIONS – Morning● WALKING CLUB – Join our Walking Club. Fitness while students are in after- school clubs.● NETBALL – Training sessions on Sunday evenings, (5:00 - 7:00) p.m.● AEROBICS – Ladies Fitness – Monday evenings● LUNCH AT QASBAH – to be announced● PRIMARY SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY – Thursday 11 December. Volunteer marshalls needed.