Secondary School Newsletter - Deira International School

Secondary School Newsletter TERM 3 EDITION

Message from the Secondary School Principal

Dear Parents, This edition of the newsletter is overflowing with a range of articles, illustrating how vibrant and dynamic our Secondary School is. This is just a flavour of the content and I hope that you will enjoy reading these in more detail. The commencement of Ramadan was a focus for a recent highly successful assembly together with awards provided to celebrate the quality of recitals of the Holy Quran. The morning concluded with a presentation to the Ro’yati Family Society for the support they have given the school. The ‘Pat My Back’ Awards has been a recent initiative in the Secondary School and continues to be a big focus for us. This highly successful initiative to reward Students for their effort and commitment. The English Department continues to inspire us with poetry, creative writing, examination preparation and trips to the theatre. The Talent Show was a very exiting competition with an array of very different performers all vying for the top awards. Those of you who visited the VAX Art exhibition will have been hugely impressed by the quality and variety of the work on display and with the designers and artists on hand to explain their work to everyone. The IB artwork this year was simply stunning. There are a number of MFL trips taking place and reports on these include the Zoo Trip. Our Sports Teams have played with great distinction this year. The Sporting Awards Dinner for 2017 involved the presentation of team awards and awards to individual sports men and women and culminating in the Sports Personality of the Year. Secondary students took part in the Spring Adventure Programme with an exciting array of activities with the opportunity to learn new skills. Students in year 10 participated in a Study Skills Day aimed at highlighting a range of strategies students could use to support their examination preparation. An exciting new initiative for this year is the Extended Project which showcased a range of self-study projects. We also recognise the IB student mentors who supported the students. At the end of the evening the awards were made to various individual categories. We hope this will be a regular feature in the calendar of events. “Forever learning, forever achieving”

P.O. Box 79043, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Tel: +971 4 2325552 Fax: +971 4 2325151 www.disdubai.ae

Our students from the Commerce Department recently took part in the Dubai Festival Stock Market event where our students competed against mainly university students from around the region. We were delighted with the performance of our students with 4 of our students coming in the top 30 of 637 Schools. Our Design and Technology Department continue to showcase various projects. Students in IB1 were also able to visit the Emirates Engine Maintenance Centre. Our Eco Committee have been very active and recently achieved the Bronze Eco-School Award. The support the school provides to others less fortunate than themselves is an area of particular recognition with the school recently being the recipient of a ‘Recognition Award’ from ‘Dubai Cares’. Due to our fundraising efforts we also presented a substantial monetary donation to the Red Crescent Somalia Appeal. A more recent addition has been the development of Coding and this now a major area of interest amongst our students. The Secondary School Library continues to be a point of call for many students whether this is for quite reading, study or research. The Librarian also provides a vital compulsory course for all year 7-9 students on Digital Literacy. One aspect is being the understanding of the digital footprint everyone leaves behind and the important issues around the use of digital technology. The above is, however, only a short summary of the contents of this Newsletter. We thank all contributors and we hope you enjoy reading this edition of the Newsletter. Ramadan Kareem. Best regards and take care. Paul Starkie Secondary School Principal

“Forever learning, forever achieving”


Quran Award and Ramadan Assembly Just how ‘fast’ did the year go by?! Well, as fast as The Fast returns wouldn’t you say! Yes! The welcoming of the awaited guest; “Ramadan” was greatly rejoiced by the enthusiastic Students, Teachers and The Islamic Department of DIS during the Whole-School Ramadan Assembly this month. You were sure to find a little of something for everyone, from… -

Heart rendering recitals of The Holy Quran reviving the spirit

-

Virtues and facts on Ramadan for the uninformed

-

Our Secondary Principal, Mr Starkie spoke about his fasting experience beginning with his time spent in Indonesia and continuing to fast here with our community

-

Awards and medals (Gold/Silver/Bronze) for the consistent achievers

-

“Knock-out” plays for the fun loving and learning community

-

Award of Appreciation to Royati Family Society with the presence of Mrs. Hind Al-Naboodah - Royati Society Director - for their cooperation in School’s outdoor learning trips and activities from 2011 to present

-

Surprised gifts and goodies for the unexpected winners Yes, I guess that’s what you missed out on if you not there. But not to fret, the month of Ramadan comes with bounties of mutual compassion on all and restoring faith in humanity truly. We, from the Departments of Islamic and Culture take the opportunity of wishing one and all the best during these “holy-days” right through the quick approaching Holidays too.

Ramadan Kareem

HOD Islamic Education Department Fatima Al Bar Culture Co-coordinator Yaseen Hajee



Pat My Back Term 2 saw the launch of the student reward system “Pat My Back”. This system was put in place to allow students to collect ‘Pat Points’ based on 5 main categories: Attitude to Learning, Attainment, Innovation, Community Action Service (CAS) and the termly School Focus. Each department from Drama to Math have set criteria so students can win points. Criteria include; ‘Taking part in collaborative work using classical Arabic’ to ‘Being a positive role model to class mates’. When students receive enough points they can use them to claim a reward. The rewards range from City Centre vouchers to passes for Ski Dubai. An overall prize draw of a PlayStation 4 is on offer an any student who receives over 200 points this year will be entered to win. The points the students receive are not just for themselves. They contribute to the overall points for each of the house groups within the school. This term Green House were the overall winners for the most Pat Points gained. They won themselves a free hotdog and drink at the last BBQ of the year! Currently we have a number of companies that are sponsoring prizes for our DIS students. Plug Ins, Green Planet, Hub Zero, iFly, Ski Dubai and Roxy Cinemas are to name but a few. We are very grateful for the support they have given to us with this new system. Parents can get involved too! Parents can ‘Pledge’ rewards to their son/daughter to encourage them to engage more throughout the school day. Access can be gained through the students Pat My Back page and once registered, parents can log on to the system themselves and monitor how their child is doing. Just log on to www.dis.patmyback.net for more details!

English Department Rap Attack! Every Monday after school a group of students have been attending ‘Rap Attack’ led by Miss Flynn and Mrs Gwilt. They have been engaging with Spoken Word poetry and rap by various artists such as: Fugees, P Diddy, Eminem, Jay Z, and Lauryn Hill. This club enables students to experiment with words and explore language in a completely different way. The club will continue next year and it would be great to see other students sign up and find their inner rapper. Follow @MissFlynnDubai on Twitter for further details.

Descriptive Writing Year tens have been continuing their English Language coursework. The class have explored different war texts in order to develop their conflict descriptive piece of writing. The images show Year 10s creating freeze frames based on the poem The Manhunt by Simon Armitage. The poem deals with a wife’s emotions when her husband returns from war and the impact this has on their relationship. Students unpicked emotive language and structural features within the poem and partly used the piece as inspiration for their own writing.



Year 9 Writing Competition! Year 9 students were invited to take part in the second annual ‘New Fables and Fairy Tales from the UAE Writing Competition’. Students were set the challenge of incorporating Emirati characters, settings, cultural traditions and values within the framework of the fable, a text type dating back over two and a half thousand years to Ancient Greece. Students were also required to be creative, original and concise as they crafted their narratives into a modern moral lesson for us all. As usual, DIS students rose admirably to the challenge. Below, are the entries ranked in the top three by Mrs. Gwilt’s Year 7 students and some very impressed teachers. Well done to all who entered! We hope you enjoy reading the opening paragraphs. To read the rest of these fantastic fables, please visit the English Office for more adventure! The Man of Many Chains, composed by Naz Karadede, Year 9 Day. Night. Day again. Then night. That's how the weeks passed by for Abu AlSalasel. Everyday was a blur of brightness and darkness; morning and evening; sunlight and moonlight. And every hour merged into the next, becoming a tedious cycle that was his life. He was nothing. Merely a shadow lingering in the depths of his workplace. Merely a ghost that walked through the streets of the main souq. Merely a silhouette in the house that owned him. But Abu AlSalasel had gotten used to the feeling of emptiness that was his eternal companion. Until, one curious day, all of that changed… The day had started off in an ordinary way. He had walked his usual miles from his master’s villa in the oasis to the souq in the middle of the desert, near Umm al-Quwain. Gradually, dawn had stalked his steps. Even at such an early time in the morning, the heat had been unbearable, yet Abu AlSalasel had almost felt peaceful. Almost. … To be continued … Mahmoud and the Canon, composed by Sahir Dhalla, Year 9 "Let me control you," the voice whispered. "Follow what I say, or I will take much more than you can give." I will never give up, Mahmoud thought. The jinn will never get what he wants from me. "So... you will not give me what I want??" he cackled evilly. "I suppose I will have to take it then!" he shouted angrily as he whisked away and disappeared into the cloudy night, followed by a wind that rattled Mahmoud's kandoorah. The jinn flew indignantly over the city of Sharjah, over the plains and the dunes. Over the crumbling buildings and houses; over cacti and camels; over the palm trees and the oasis. Over... his soon to be war zone. Angered beyond reason, he zoomed towards Ajman, pondering on how he could spark a war between Sharjah and Ajman. And how to make sure Sharjah would never win. He would control the canons, he finally decided as he passed the Ajman border, and fire them, making the leaders of Sharjah believe they were at war. Of course the Ajman council would try to make peace, but they would already be at war… To be continued … The Ancient Ghaf Tree, composed by Zainab Nadeem, Year 9 I watch Ahmed rush out of the shabby, old tent, his bare feet slipping in the scorching sand. Painful coughs and loud wheezing echo through the tent; I give him a slight nudge into the tent and drown out his despondence. “What’s wrong?—what happened!” His eyes immediately land on the feeble, willowy form under the duvet. “I’m fine,” her croaky voice replies, words strayed amongst painful hacks. I persuade him to go fetch the tribe’s doctor despite knowing the diagnosis would kill him. As the doctor emerges from the tent, I hold Ahmed’s hand. “Her condition is fatal; she does not have much time left,” and with that said I watch his whole world collapse. No matter what, I try to hold up his sanity and hope; after all, that is my niche. However, his next words could change Ahmed’s life: “We don't have any cure, but a prehistoric legend claims that towards the end of the desert, submerged in a cave there is a Ghaf tree. It is said that its dates contain a cure for everything.” “Forever learning, forever achieving”


Ahmed immediately buys a camel, and we leave. Only when our small village is only a speck in the horizon does he grasp me tightly… To be continued … Year 8 Poetry Unit This term Year 8 have been reading a wide range of poems and exploring the purpose of a text. Students have been creating a structure using post it notes of what they think they need to be considering when reading a poem for the first time. The activity has been repeated overall several lessons in order for students to continue developing their idea of what it means to explore a poem.

Date for the diary On Monday 12th June, Year 8 will be showcasing their poetry and art work in the MPH periods 1 and 2. It would be fantastic if parents could join us celebrating students’ hard work and creativity.

English Literature HL Examination Preparation These IB1 Literature HL students are hard at work in preparation for the upcoming IB1 exams. As practice for the Paper 1 unseen prose commentary, students are seen here conducting collaborative annotations. They are considering writer's purpose, themes, setting, characterisation, language, tone and structure. In the exam they will have 2 hours at HL level to write a commentary on either an unseen poem and or unseen prose extract. The first 20-25 minutes of the exam will be spent reading and annotating the extract as seen here in Ms Murray's class.

IB1 English Literature students at the Theater IB1, Miss Barnett, Mr DeCourcey and Ms Gwilt went to the DUCTAC at the Mall of the Emirates to watch A Doll's House. We are studying the text for our written assignments in IB2 so hopefully watching a live performance will help our understanding.



Performing Arts Department Peripatetic Music Lessons This year we welcomed our new Instrumental Tutors - Paul O'Conor (guitar) and Samvel Gasparyan (piano). Paul and Samvel spent the year teaching students across both Primary and Secondary schools, and will continue teaching in to our next school year. Instrumental lessons for this term will finish on Thursday the 25th of May.

This week, the year 5, 6 and 7 students involved in the programme had a fantastic opportunity to perform during their assembly. Well done to Bethany Fenwick, Eric Rizescu, Elena Vanderwal, Taha Kassim and Lara Fakhri who performed beautifully. All of that hard work has paid off! Next week, the year 3 and 4 students involved in the programme will also have a chance to showcase their piano and guitar skills. We are very excited to see performances from Maria Wadie, Zac Starkie, Atticus Vanderwal, Maya Fakhri, Arya Atarod, Zahra Kassim, Patric Rizescu and our newest member of the Instrumental Programme, Nafiseh Nasiri.

Chairs & standing – Maria, Atticus, Eric, Bethany, Lara, Zahra, Taha, Zac. Front – Maya, Patric, Arya, Nafiseh)

If you are interested in registering your child for piano or guitar lessons for the next academic year, please get in touch with the Performing Arts Department in September.

On Wednesday 15th March both Primary and Secondary students participated in a whole school talent show. The evening opened with a fantastic group of IB volunteers serving refreshments and welcoming the DIS community to the wellattended show. The evening started with a piano solo by Hana Nayal in Year 10 and ended with Michael and Nebiyu in IB1. The judges, Jeff Smith, Ian Ward and Paul Starkie struggled to choose winners but after a few choral performances by the DIS Choir came to a decision. Michael and Nebiyu were chosen as this year’s DIS Talent Show musical extraordinaires closely followed by Dhyanna Giyanani and Luay El Amami. Well done to all that performed. We look forward to next year’s Performing Arts production/Talent Show.



VAX Exhibition The Visual Arts and Design Technology Departments held the VAX exhibition in April, featuring an impressive collection of work by primary and secondary students. The event was well attended by parents, students, staff and school leaders who came together to share a pleasant evening engaging with the diverse collection of student work on display. This important event in DIS’s annual calendar enables us to celebrate and share the creative achievements of students across the whole school from lower Primary right up to Year 13, showcasing the diversity of work that takes place here at DIS and the considerable talent of our students. This year the show featured exhibits from the Festival City Literature Festival on the theme of ‘Journeys’ which presented an insight to the development of drawing skills over time as well as work detailing the creative journeys of some of our most talented and industrious students. Classrooms were open to feature IGCSE Design Technology and Art projects by Year 11 students with Mr Spellman’s input and students were on hand to discuss the development of their ideas, including some exciting design projects on the theme of lighting. A highlight of the exhibition was the IB Diploma Visual Arts show in the MPH foyer, which featured paintings, sculpture, photography and installation work by our IB2 students. The quality and diversity of work on display is a credit to our staff and students and serves to inspire all the budding artists in our school. We are immensely proud of the high caliber of work presented by our students of all ages. As students progress through their education at DIS the development of visual perception, hand to eye co-ordination, critical thinking and the opportunity to innovate and express ideas creatively will equip them with a range of transferable skills. Students flourish on the encouragement and praise of staff, parents and peers and we thank all those that attended for making this a memorable event. Bethany Edwards HOD Visual Arts



MFL Department Year 7 & 8 Al Ain Zoo Trip On Wednesday 12th April, the Year 7 AFL students and the Year 8 Spanish were invited to spend an exciting day at Al Ain Zoo. As part of the Year 8 Spanish and the Year 7 AFL syllabus, students covered languages relevant to pets and wild animals, and this was an opportunity for them to use this language in a real-life situation. Students had a great time visiting the Zoo, meeting wild animals such as lions, tigers and rhinos. This was a very successful day for the Year 7 and Year 8 DIS students. All students then produced a poster related to wild animals. The posters were done in the Target Language (in either Spanish or Arabic) and included images and information about what they experienced at the Zoo. The best work is displayed on the board outside of U2 and students were awarded PatPoints. Well done for everyone that took part in the competition. Choosing the best posters was very difficult decision for your AFL and Spanish teachers. Year 9 Pomegranate Institute Trip On Wednesday 26th April, the Year 9 French students were invited to spend an exciting day at the Pomegranate Institute. As part of the Year 9 syllabus, students covered language relevant to the activities that were offered at the institute. These activities included yoga, drama and t-shirt designing. This enabled the students to apply their French knowledge to everyday situation. They also had the opportunity to learn how to introduce themselves in French using sign language. Furthermore, they practised the art of origami by following instructions in Tagalog. This was a very successful day for the Year 9 French DIS students. MFL Department Team



Physical Education and Sports Department U14 Basketball The U14 Basketball team have had a fantastic season thus far and have qualified for the latter stages of the competitive season. The team started off in excellent style with a convincing win against GEMS International School, with Steven Pipe leading the way and top scoring with 10 points. The second fixture was a much tougher game against a strong DESC A team, where DIS just came up short in a hard-fought battle against one of the highest ranked teams in the competition. This meant that the final game was of vital importance if the team were going to qualify for the final round of games. The final game was against another strong opposition in Repton School. In a very tight game, DIS managed to just about hold off Repton to win the game and qualify for the latter stages. There were excellent performances all round and it was a fantastic display of teamwork and commitment. U/12 Basketball DIS qualified for the semifinals having topped their regional group with two fantastic wins against WSO and DESC. Star man Ammar Badami was top points scorer and he was expertly assisted by the rebounding work of Noureldin Elmahi and Panayiotis Angelides. Unfortunately the semifinals were a step too far for the boys who lost out in a close encounter with Uptown School. An excellent season and lots to build on for the coming years. U/13 Cricket The U13 team were drawn in a competitive group, and managed to qualify for the quarter finals. We began with a comprehensive 90 run victory against Sharjah, in which the batters put on an impressive 170, with high scores from Jash Giyanani, Amaar and Maaz Dossa. We followed this up with a hard fought victory against Research Science, before coming up short against Repton, although we did have a number of players missing. Despite defeat, Ali Fadoo and Aarnav Goel put on an impressive 40 run partnership to take maximum batting bonus points. Needing to win the last two games to qualify, the team managed just that, defeating Cambridge at home by 20 runs and Uptown away by 30 runs. Ammar Badami put in a particularly excellent all round performance against Uptown, bowling accurately and scoring runs. We were drawn away at Wellington GEMS in the quarter finals, a tough proposition since they had won all their 5 group games. After putting on a competitive 131/8, including an unbeaten 50 runs on debut by Safwan Khan, the bowlers came up just short, with Wellington knocking off the runs with 6 balls to spare. The boys have worked hard all season and only just missed out on the chance to qualify for the semifinals. U15 Cricket Played 4. Won 2 Lost 2 DIS cricket team did not reach their full potential. They could easily have won all their games. Some poor catching and fielding cost the team in their first two matches against Repton and Cambridge. The second game against Cambridge was lost on the last ball by two runs! However the team came back well, winning their last two games convincingly against Uptown. and SES The team bowled well throughout all the games and just need to work on small fielding issues before they can achieve great things.



Sports Award Dinner 2017 On Wednesday 10th May the Annual Sports Award dinner took place. This is a prestigious event to honor the sporting achievements of all Deira International School’s sports teams. Pupils have been dedicated throughout the year, putting great time and effort into training and matches for DIS. The number of teams entered continues to grow in both girls and boys sport.

The success DIS have within the DASSA leagues also continues to develop with our standard rising endlessly. Each team were awarded with a Players Player, Managers Player and a Most Improved Player. The table below shows the award winners of 2017. Thank you to all those pupils for their great determination and team spirit.



Outdoor Education at DIS Spring Adventure Programmme Spring and summer camps can be an exciting time for students, and a relief for many parents! With options for outdoor play and activities becoming increasingly limited as temperatures rise, choosing a camp with the right kind of activities becomes essential for a good balance of fun, safety and value for money. During the last school holiday break at the end of March and start of April, there was a big shift in the weather. Rain had poured down only days before and threatened to ruin plans for some outdoor activities planned for the Deira International School Adventure Holiday Programme. Lucky for the students, there were also some excellent ‘Plan B’ activities to compliment what was already in place for visiting some of Dubai’s latest attractions and adventures as well as some more well-known ones. For one full week of the holidays, there were indoor and outdoor activities to keep students entertained and involved. One of the first stops was to the Dubai Mall where students had a fun session on the ice skating rink. Getting there early in the morning was an experience where getting to watch some local teams practice was almost as exciting as getting out there ourselves! After waiting for the teams to finish and strapping on the boots, it was time to go over some of the basics before letting the group loose on the ice. Many of the students had never tried ice skating before and some took to it quicker than others. Fortunately for those finding it tricky to stay upon both blades, there were the penguins which are like training wheels for ice skaters. But with a boldness that often comes with youth, everybody managed to get the hang of it and got involved with the obligatory line to line races and other competition games. After an immersive meal experience at the famous Rain Forest Café, the next stop on our visit to the mall was to the Aquarium’s new VR Zoo. An interactive attraction with some mind blowing virtual reality software designed to give users a fantastic insight into the natural world. Teams were deployed to all corners of the globe for gathering footage to bring learning about various animal species to the VR platform. The well drilled education specialists at the Aquarium then guided students through the entertaining exhibits at the Underwater Zoo. Behind the scenes, students watched handlers feed the huge fish that came splashing up to catch their mouthful of food. And of course, no visit to the Aquarium would be complete without coming to see the impressive bulk of King Croc. Even cooler for us was having Paul Hamilton, who brought King Croc from Australia to the UAE, tell us the stories himself! For some more energetic activities, we had sessions booked at one of Dubai’s trampoline parks. Fast becoming a favourite pastime for many people gaining in popularity across a range of age groups. With spaces to jump or flip into foam pits and areas for team games like dodge ball, trampoline parks are awesome places to spend a few hours. For teachers supervising the groups, it’s a great way to show students what they can or can’t do any more on a trampoline. The tight muscles and sore ribs the following day are sure signs that more practice (or stretching) is the way forward! “Forever learning, forever achieving”


After pumping this much adrenaline for so long, it’s easy to work up a hunger and having students make their own lunch at California Pizza Kitchen was just what we needed! With all kinds of toppings being thrown on to the pizza base, and some fantastical names being given to their creations, the result was happy students and full bellies. Also included on our holiday programme were visits to Sega Republic to get our fix of the gaming machines and thrill rides. This popular attraction for kids of all ages is a space that can be utilized for a full day of entertainment. With an unlimited pass for challenges and competitions, there were plenty of laughs at staff struggling to keep up with the proficient gamers of the group.

While all of this was going on at Sega Republic, a younger group was busy engaged in building block tasks, making soap and creating avatars at Cloud 7. A handy location for us in City Walk with plenty of other nearby attractions for student groups including the amazing Hub Zero. But what holiday programme for schools is complete without bouncy castles! We are quite fortunate to have the facilities to create a lineup of activities indoors where groups can rotate around bouncy castles, indoor archery, arts and crafts, swimming, and even a ninja course. But of course none of this can be possible without enlisting the proper help and supervision to make sure every activity is safely supervised by qualified staff. For this holiday programme at Deira International School, along with our own teachers and assistants, we recruited the support of some highly qualified staff from the Umm Al Quwain Marine Club for the week. These instructors have become familiar with many of our students from past school camps and trips to the club. Our final day was also spent at the UAQ Marine Club with loads of fun activities and a wonderful buffet lunch at the shoreline majlis. Activities included the ever popular zip-line experience, banana boat rides, maze competitions, human foosball and other games. Students left after a week filled with engaging activities and a lot of enjoyable experiences. Now, with summer just around the corner, parents will no doubt be looking for camps that have a few vital elements. These include safety, fun, affordability & variety. Hopefully wherever students go for their holidays, whether in the UAE or abroad, it is filled with fun, adventure and new experiences!



Year 10 Study Skills Day As the Y10 end of year exams approach teachers may well start setting revision tasks for homework. DIS would like to encourage students to follow the approach given to them on the Study Skills day. Here is an outline of what we covered with all students on the day: The Y10 study skills sessions on Monday were aimed at giving students a strategy to approaching study. The approach we gave then works in a cycle of 5 steps. First: UNDERSTANDING. By breaking work down into themes, main ideas and details students get a better understating of what they need to know. Then CONDENSING that understood work into a format to revise from (charts, notes, flash cards, diagrams, etc…). After that they need to commit their understood work to memory (MEMORISING) and follow that up with continual REVIEW.

Here is the rationale behind each session: Understanding Students may often come back to work that they do not understand anymore or that they never understood when they first did it. This session was to help students decipher what they need to learn, organize it and break it down so that they can better understand it. Condensing Research shows that only around 20% of any piece of information actually gives it meaning. Students therefore need to be able to recognize and extract this 20% and present it in a logical way that is easier to learn.

Memorising Students need to learn ways of moving information from their short-term memory into their medium/long-term memory. These sessions give them techniques to be able to do this. Students will often struggle with the applications of these techniques, so you should give them opportunity, where possible, to find their own information to memorize from the revision materials they have brought. Reviewing Students often only revise something once, thinking they have “finished their revision”. They need to understand that revisiting their revision notes is an important way of strengthening their long term memory and working out areas where they are still weak.

The day finished with a motivational assembly from ‘Action Jackson’ over Skype from the UK. It is paramount that students focus on their own goals and do their best. We cannot ask for more.



The Extended Project through the eyes of the 2017 winner by Yasmina Seifeddine Experiencing the Extended Project was something I thoroughly enjoyed. Basically the project was designed for students to get to show their talents and what they enjoy to learn more about. This experience was something I had never got the chance to do before, and having been picked for it was something I was immensely appreciative for. I was told students would get selected according to what the teachers saw in them. I was overjoyed when I was told I was picked because of my interest in art. And, because of this, I needed the theme to be based on art and what it meant to me. So I named my project “Colour is a spectrum of emotions”. Art. Some people don’t get it. Some do. For my project, my goal was to represent art and its importance through 9 different faces of strangers in hopes that their personalities would be shown through colour and that anyone with any mind could understand it, according to the different ways people think. I wanted to show how colour and emotions link and how these emotions are derived from the person in the picture. I prepared 9 portraits from students from a school I had never been to and painted them according to how I felt being around them and what they said to me. I used colour and physical objects in Paintings from the winning DIS Extended Project my paintings or parts of nature such as the ocean or blooming By Yasmina Seifeddine in Year 10 Palm flowers. In some cases, I used techniques and styles from some of my favourite artists. On the day of the project, I had presented with the 9 portraits on canvas and prepared 9 poster-like cards for each painting based on the meaning of my work. I had based it on a study called the Stroop effect. The Stroop effect is a famous test used to determine which side of your brain is put into action. This is where there is the name of a colour but the writing is in a different colour like the word blue but the font has the colour red. The right brain will name the colour of the font but the left brain will say the actual word on the screen. In this way, we know that left brained will see the word but the right will see the colour. And keeping this in mind, I wanted the person in the painting to be the word but their personality to be the colour. In this way, both parts of the brain need to be put into action to understand further, rather than just the person in the portrait or the colour of the acrylic paint. Being a part of the Extended Project was a great learning curve for me. I know that others would agree with me. Learning something and teaching ourselves is exciting, especially if we enjoy it. But winning the number one prize was the best part of the project. The pride and joy for even getting awarded in general is something really self-rewarding. I would really love to thank all the teachers involved in the project especially Miss. Murray and Mr Upsall for it would not have been possible to start the portraits or even be a part of the project without them. I want to thank the IB1 students involved in preparing and organising the project. I would also like to show my gratitude to Mr Starkie and Mr Smith, and my friends and family for being there for the project and for making me so happy to present. And lastly, but not least, to the students in English College and their principal, Miss. Yates, for making it all possible to paint all the students. To win a prize for something you are passionate about is the best part of all. I would hope in the future that many more students would get to join the project and excel in their talents and that I could be in the same position as the IB1 students in helping other students and mentoring them for future projects to come. Extended Project Evening by Ruth Yizengaw- IB1 On the evening of Sunday 30th May, an event was held for the students who were identified as being Gifted and Talented At the beginning of the second term, five IB1 students were given the responsibility to mentor the students who were listed as being Gifted and Talented. The students ranged from years seven to ten and were chosen by teachers for a collection of talents such as art, writing, academic ability and language. The IBs then told these students that they were chosen to participate in a new competition in DIS: The Extended Project. They were told to find a subject that interests them, whether it is psychopaths, paradox, dreams, etc. and submit a proposal form elaborating on their topic. After this stage, the students were designated to their IB mentors and began working on their projects. “Forever learning, forever achieving”


The participants would regularly meet with their mentors, email each other and practise presenting their projects until the final day. On the actual evening, students were given time to set up their projects before the parents, fellow students, teachers and Senior Management members were permitted in. The evening consisted of the students showcasing their projects, explaining it thoroughly, and speaking passionately about certain theories and ideas.

The five IB students judged every project individually and rated them in terms of creativity, research and presentation. After gathering scores, the judges discussed the winners from each group before presenting it to the audience. At the end of the evening, a winner from each year group was announced, an overall winner and a SMT chosen winner. Prizes were given, acknowledgments were made and the evening ended with a sense of accomplishment from all the participants.

IB1 Extended Project Team – (from left to right) Waleed Mahmood, Francisca Ducos, Ruth Yizengaw, Advika Ruia and Dheer Bhatia.

Congratulations to the winners! Year 7– Emma Mohammad Year 8– Carmel Khatib Year 9– Khushi Nagpal Year 10– Tarik Al Hazmi Overall– Yasmina Seifeddine Director’s choice– Carmel Khatib Thank you to Mr. Upsall and Ms. Murray for instigating this Project, to everyone who attended to support and all the talented students who participated. Nikki Upsall Assessment & Intervention



Commerce Department Dubai Financial Market Stock Market Game Every year, for the past five years, the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) has run a Stock Market Game for students at high schools and universities. Students are given a fictitious AED1m to trade with on the DFM’s stock exchange to try and generate as much profit through share trading over a period of two to three weeks. Deira International has been a keen participant in this event for the past five years and has experienced varying degrees of success, notably a 3rd place in 2013 and a 15th place 2 years ago. But this year was exceptional – four students managed to get into the Top 30, with one, Dheer Bhatia in IB1, coming 5th overall, making profit of AED62909. Dheer won a prize of AED1000 for this achievement. What is worth mentioning is that DIS was the only school in this competition of 637 students – all other participating teams were from universities in Dubai. A student from the American University of Sharjah came in first place. Ruth McHelm Commerce Teacher

Students at DIS trading in the DFM Stock Market Game during their lunch break

Design Technology Design & Technology – Year 7 – Focus on Plastics – The year 7 students are currently working on a design task to create a working Toothbrush Holder. They use the “Design Cycle” to guide them through to creating a successful product. The image shows a sample of some excellent student concept ideas and realisation through modeling. The modeling helps the students understand if their idea is achievable and overcome any problems before they produce the real product. Through these tasks the students get design experience similar to that of real world designers.

Design & Technology – Year 9 – Design Innovation– Students in year 9 were tasked to design and model a handheld product. The students develop an understanding of the “Design Cycle” and use it as a guide to concept ideas and create models of their concepts from Blue Foam material. The project gives real life experience of what designers do in the real world and develops a range of cognitive as well as practical skills and competencies. The Year 9’s produced some fantastic concept ideas and models.



Design & Technology – Year 10 – D&T Skills Test– The year 10 students were presented with the opportunity to build on their practical and problem solving skills over a period of a number of weeks. The objective was to create a wooden frame using 4 different and more challenging joints. The task tests and develops a range of skills from reading a technical drawing, marking out, accuracy, problem solving, assembly and hand tool competency. Further to the task the students had the opportunity to extend their skills by using different processes for instance the Vacuum Forming process and finishing techniques. The students showed a high level of skills and produced excellent finished projects.

Design & Technology – Year 11 – IGCSE– Congratulations to all the Year 11 D&T students for completing their Coursework. The Coursework included an approximately 50 A3 page portfolio of evidence of their design journey and make. The Coursework also consists of the students practical making of a designed idea into reality. A huge amount of work and long hours has gone into the Coursework and it is a credit to the students towards the excellent products they have created. We would like to wish all our D&T students the very best of luck in their IGCSE examinations.

Design & Technology – VAX – During April Art, Film and D&T hosted the Visual Arts Exhibition (VAX) for parents and students. A range of students work in both Art, Film & D&T were on display consisting of work from primary level all the way up to IB2 level. The evening was a great success and we would like again to thank all that supported and came out to attend the event.

Design & Technology – Year IB1 – Aviation– On Monday 15th May IB1 D&T students had the opportunity to visit Emirates Engine Maintenance Centre (EEMC) and Testing Cell. The world class aircraft engine facility refurbishes aircraft jet engines and tests them for continued service. Engines such as the ones of some of the largest commercial aircraft in the world are maintained and tested here, for instance the A380 aircraft engines. The students got to tour each part of the disassembly, assembly and testing of the engines. The tour gave a great real world insight into aviation design, engineering, material properties and types of testing. Thank you to Mr. Mark Robinson and the Team at Emirates for facilitating us on this very informative trip.

Garrett Spellman Head of Department- Design & Technology



Eco Committee Earth Day 2017 Deira International School has celebrated Earth day on April 22nd and has made students aware of their carbon footprint, thus raising awareness of the Earth. We have held a nonuniform day where everyone dressed in green to raise awareness and have also held Skills for Life lessons teaching fellow students about their carbon footprint and how they can reduce it in order to be more eco-friendly. The Eco-committee has placed orange and black collection bins into each classroom in the secondary building- black for plastic water bottles and orange for paper. We also held DIS Earth Hour on 20th March, where all rooms turned off their lights and, where possible, their whiteboards, to reduce electricity across the school. UAE Bronze Eco School Award Following all of the hard work from the eco-committee over the last 2 terms, we are proud to announce that DIS has been the recipient of the UAE Eco-Schools Bronze Award. The ecocommittee had to give a presentation to a representative from the UAE Eco-Schools Committee to prove that the school meets the criteria needed and that we are continuing to push forward with making DIS more sustainable for the future. Jade Hogan Eco Committee Leader, Head of Year 9

Dubai Cares Distinguished Philanthropic Award in Schools 2016/2017 On 4th May 2017 two of our Year 7 students, Yara Bushnaq and Harib Al Sawalehi, attended the Dubai Cares Recognition Ceremony at the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel. The students accepted a certificate on behalf of the school for our efforts in raising money for the Philanthropic School Award. Many of our students from the SRHC and Learning Pathways Department worked hard throughout the year on various fundraising events, and the money raised will be used to increase children’s access to education across the world. Hayley MacMillan SEN Teacher “Forever learning, forever achieving”


Community Action and Service (CAS) Help Somalia Once again the students at DIS have shown great compassion and caring for children less fortunate around the world. We were able to donate 12600dhs to help with the Somalia crisis with Red Crescent. This was much appreciated and Red Crescent holds our students in high regard for their ongoing support. Our IB students will also be carrying out our annual Blood Drive on June 6th in the evening and an Iftar on June 15th for our laborers and ancillary staff who work tirelessly for us during the year. Allan Hare CAS/IBCP Coordinator

Coding at DIS The English computing curriculum underwent its biggest ever shake-up in September 2014: ICT changed to Computing Science and coding became a core component. As a result of those changes, Deira International School has invested into some effective online coding platforms that help our students in programming which requires problem solving skills, critical and abstract thinking and can also be of creative benefit in literacy, numeracy, art and the Humanities. Both Primary and Secondary students are currently being taught how to create and debug simple programs and see how logical reasoning can predict their behaviour. They can pick which coding languages (e.g. SCRATCH, Python, JavaScript) to teach and decide how best to impart the set objectives. Discovery Education Coding is an excellent tool that can be used by all DIS students during their free time to achieve the following in coding: Over 100 step-by-step lessons with introductory videos. Online resources and comprehensive lesson plans for Block coding, Python and HTML.

Espresso Coding: Computing Made Simple Video

Free code lessons and open-ended challenges. Debugging lessons to help students problem solve. A personal school web page to showcase students' Block coding apps. iPad-friendly activities. If your child is interested in further development of their coding skills, please ask them to use our DIS student username and password as follows: Username: student44017 Password: studentsdis If you have any technical questions, please email Mr Deiry, The Educational Technology Coordinator, on [email protected]. Bassel Deiry Whole School Educational Technology Coordinator “Forever learning, forever achieving”


Welcome to the Library! The Secondary Library is proud to introduce you to our founding members of the Pupil Librarian programme. Pupils were asked to submit an application form, as well as stating why they would be the best person for the library. Every year they will obtain a new skill level. It is a busy month here in the Secondary Library – it is the exam term! And many students come here to look for study guides, last minute research or a quiet place before their exams start. The photo below shows all the foreign language books that we have – we have quite a few for French and Spanish. Please encourage your child to still read in their mother tongue. Let us know if a wider variety is needed. The library is a busy place that welcomes all students for a variety of reasons – please make sure your child always has a book to read. If they are unsure of which book to choose – send them our way. We are here to help.

Year 7 students recently discovered the real Encyclopædia Britannica books – a kind donation by our previous secretary Mrs. Mary Martins. The students were able to research the ‘old-fashioned’ way! It was evident that this paper exercise was very necessary and yet, they all had fun on their fact finding missions. Now, they all have more respect for search engines  The year 8 cohort learnt the importance of plagiarism and copyright. A global digital citizens, they were made aware of the Creative Commons licenses available to add to their own creative work! Please feel free to ask you child about the CC licenses as well as doing your own research – as parents, we need to know about all the ethical aspects of the digital communities in which we work and play.

An easy site to navigate Commons.org website:

is

the

Creative

www.creativecommons.org – YouTube has a wealth of information too if you are a visual learner!

The next pages have a Summer Reading Challenge for you to print out for your child. They are encouraged to use Twitter and/or Instagram to evidence and showcase their reading habits – please use the hashtag #DISreads as I can then see who has made the most progress and effort. More details are on the Summer Reading Calendar.



August 2017 My Summer Reading Mission Sunday

Tuesday

Wednesday

1 Write a bucket list of things you still want to achieve in life – be realistic. Do some research first

2 Sign-up to EBOOKBIKE and read free eBooks – plenty of genres to choose from!

7

8

20 Read about Gutenberg and his important invention

Read the scrabble websites – and challenge someone to a match! 14 Take your book on an adventure – climb a mountain…read outside! 21 Download an eBook on Destiny Discover – read 20%

Research about teenage entrepreneurs – who inspires you? 15 Read at least 5 movie reviews before deciding which one to watch 22 Research 10 weirdbut- true insect facts

27 Ask you Mom to read aloud for you from her book!

28 Read an old fashioned comic like Asterix or TinTin

29 Go to the New York Times website – read a few articles.

Tweet using #DISreads

6 Start reading a history book about a country that intrigues you. 13 Read any novel that has won the Booker prize.

Monday

Warning: Books can change your life….

Tag @ScheepsV This is the Library Twitter handle

Follow us on Instagram: dislibrary or Twitter: @ScheepsV

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

3

4 Find a book to read with the word ‘Friday’ in the title.

5 Record yourself reading aloud – play it back for your family.

9

10

12

Research/read about Norse mythology – which god/goddess is your favourite? 16 Visit your local museum – spend time in there. Read about the museum. 23 Check out the National Geographic kid’s club website – read 2 interesting articles 30 Read a Chinese fairy tale

Find a book to read that has been translated into English from Japanese. 17

11 The book you started on Sunday – find out more about its author. 18 Take your book to the zoo and read to some of the animals.

Read about personal manifestos – what would yours say?

Get a dictionary (not online) randomly open it and learn 5 new words 24 Find out if your town has a 2nd hand bookstore – find a really old book to read. 31 Read about your family history – research your genealogy.

25 Hold a reading marathon, how many hours can you spend reading in 1 day?

MAKE READING, FUN

Read a play script/drama. Think about producing the play….. 19 Read Coco Chanel’s biography – an amazing person. 26 What is a limerick? Write your own one.

July 2017 My Summer Reading Log Sunday

Monday

Tweet using #DISreads

Tag @ScheepsV This is the Library Twitter handle

2 Start reading a book from a different genre

3 Read the back of your cereal box!

9

10 Take your book on an adventure – read in the metro, train, subway… 17 Download an eBook on Destiny Discover – read 20%

Read any novel by Chris Ryan

16 Design a bookmark for me – check out Zentangle patterns, bring it to school. 23 Ask you Dad to read aloud for you from his book!

24 Read an old fashioned comic like Asterix or TinTin

30 Start a personal diary – write down all those great ideas!

31 Who is the most famous inventor in your country? What did they invent?

Warning: Books can change your life…. Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Instagram account: dislibrary Follow us and add your reading ‘selfies’ 4 Research about teenage leadership

11 Read at least 5 movie reviews before deciding which one to watch 18 Go to lockheedmartin.com/ generationbeyond and travel to Mars! 25 Read a UAE newspaper – is anything happening while you are in your home country?

5 Compare Roman and Greek mythology – which god/goddess is your favourite? 12 Visit your local library – spend time in there. Take a selfie.

6 Read the whole menu when you go out for dinner. 13 Learn/add 4 more new words to this list: 1. Unctuous

7 The book you started on Sunday – find out more about its author. 14 Take your book to the mall and find a cozy, corner to read

19 Check out the NASA kid’s club website – read 2 interesting articles 26 Look up ‘This day in history’ – what happened 100 years ago, today?

20

21

1 Read any magazine article. Check out ISSUU – online or App store 8 Read recipes – find one that has all your favourite ingredients 15 Read Cristiano Ronaldo’s biography – an amazing person. 22

Explore your local bookstore – find a classic to read.

Take you book to a friend’s house – a reading date!

What is a Haiku? Write your own one.

27 Research ‘cetaceans’ – make your own little fact file using Piccollage, Word or Prezi

28 Read 10 traditional stories that are true folk stories, about your country

29 Aesop’s fables – read a few. Which one is your favourite?

Mission: MAKE READING, FUN