International Insight

News from GEMS International School- Al Khail

Edition 1.

Weekly Bulletin
Important Dates
Date

Time

Event

Sunday 6th September

8:00am-10:00am

GIS Parent Coffee

Tuesday 8th September

8:30-9:30

Meet the Leadership Multi Purpose Hall

Wednesday 9th September

11:00-12:00

Parent Launch:
World Without

Conference Room

Wednesday and Thursday

3:00 pm to 3:30

Second-hand Uniform Sale

Cafeteria

8:30-9:00

Gems Music Acade- Multi Purpose Hall

9:15-9:45

Gems Music Acade- Multi Purpose Hall

Monday 14th September

10:00

Fire Drill

Monday September 14th

8:30-9:30

Introduction to PYP, Conference Room

9th & 10th September

Location

Whole School

International Insight
News from GEMS International School- Al Khail
Friday, 04 September 2015

Edition 1.

Weekly Bulletin
Important Dates, continued
Date

Time

Event

Location

Tuesday, 15th September

8:30-9:30

Introduction to MYP
(morning Session)

Conference Room

2:00-3:00

Introduction to MYP
(afternoon session)

Conference Room

6:15-9:30

Curriculum Evening

TBC

5:30-6:00

ASA sign-up (afternoon

Multi Purpose Hall

12:30

Student Early Dismissal

Whole School

8:00-9:00

ASA sign-up (morning ses- Cafeteria

Wednesday, 16th September

Thursday, 17th September

International Insight
News from GEMS International School- Al Khail
Friday, 04 September 2015

Community Notice Board

Dear Parents,

Here are GEMS International School we are working hard to ensure that we listen to you and your concerns. The main
issue that has been brought to my attention this week is that of the roads. I have met with personnel from GEMS Head
Office this week and as a result of that we shall have a MELT (Meet the Executive Leadership Team) meeting this coming
Tuesday between 8.30am and 9.30am in the Multi-Purpose Hall on the second floor. The purpose of the meeting will be
to discuss what GEMS and the school have been doing with regard to the road situation and to listen to your concerns.
Members of GEMS Corporate will be at the meeting.

Another issue that has been brought to my attention is that of catering. GEMS Corporate has changed its caterers to a
new company, PH7. Although we are still very early in the term, I thought it right to invite the Head of Operations for the
company into our school on Sunday. He will speak to parents at the Coffee Morning that we have for parents between
8.00am and 10.00am on Sunday in the canteen. The gentleman concerned, Mr. Kidess, will speak towards the start of
this meeting.

Because we are doing our very best to focus of the needs of our customers here at GEMS International School, we shall
be the first GEMS school to have invited the new catering company in to explain their ways of working and to listen to
your ideas.

My apologies for any issues or problems that you might have had, particularly in terms of the roads. I cannot promise
that we can solve everything all at once, but I can promise that we do listen and that we are doing our very best to get
things right.

Many thanks to all of you for the very many positive comments that I have received about the school and the teachers
this week. I know that the teachers work very hard to work with you to the benefit of your children and I want you to
know that all the kind words that you say do make a huge difference.

Best wishes,

Chris McDermott
Principal / CEO

International Insight
News from GEMS International School- Al Khail
Friday, 04 September 2015

After School Activities

As our school grows, so too does our After School Activity (ASA) program. This year, we are pleased to offer a very
wide variety of extra-curricular pursuits that will help develop our students physically, artistically and academically.
Drawing on feedback from you, the parents, as well as the passions and expertise of our new staff, we feel that this
years activities cater to the needs of the entire GIS community from kindergarten two to grade nine.
Term one ASAs will begin on Sunday, September 20th and they will be offered for a total of ten consecutive weeks.
Each activity will run once per week on either Sunday, Monday or Wednesday. Each student from KG2 up will be
eligible to register for one activity per day, making a maximum of three per week.
Registrations for ASAs will occur in school at 5:30pm on Wednesday, September 16th. This date coincides with the
parent curriculum evening for your convenience. There will be a thirty minute opportunity to register for the programs, followed by a short break before the curriculum presentations begin. If you are unable to attend, there will
be a secondary signup session the following morning, September 17th, beginning at 8:00am. Alternatively, you are
welcome to have a friend register your children or the children themselves can sign up if they are in grade four or
above. All registrations will work on a first come, first served basis.

Full details regarding the After School Activity program policy and procedures will be shared with you in the days to
come. In the meantime, you are invited to ask questions on our Q and A forum and we will endeavor to post a response as soon as possible. This is also an opportunity for you to help ease the registration process for parents and
staff at GIS. After unsuccessfully implementing two online signup options, we are continuing to look for a solution. If
you are aware of an online registration platform, please provide details on the forum. The forum can be accessed
through the following web link.
https://goo.gl/JxJXKm

We look forward to working with the students outside of the classroom for another year of activities.

Michael Paul Holton

International Insight
News from GEMS International School- Al Khail
Friday, 04 September 2015

Letter from the Principal

Welcome back to the school for the start of the new academic year. It has been wonderful to see the smiling
faces of so many students and parents, some of whom we are welcoming back, and others who are joining us
for the first time.
I have loved the sense of enthusiasm and energy that I have been greeted with each morning when you come
in!
Of course, people have been working hard in preparation for the week, with the new teaching staff having been with us for two
weeks of Professional Development and the returning staff for a week of Professional Development, prior to the start of term.
There has been an extremely happy atmosphere during this time, and it has been wonderful for me to note the number of positive comments that I have heard from teachers and other staff about your children.
Anyone who goes into teaching does so because they want to make a difference, to make the world a better place, and they do
that by working in harmony with you so that your children are the benefactors. At GEMS International School we are an International Baccalaureate school. This means that we prepare students, not just to be successful at school, but to have the right attitudes to be lifelong learners, building on their innate sense of curiosity and wonder. The world is a fascinating place, and it is
our role, as teachers, to give your children the opportunity to explore further, discover and make sense of how and why things
happen as they do.
We want them to build on this sense of wonder and enjoyment so that they become creators, whether in traditionally creative
subjects like drama, music and art, or other disciplines such as mathematics or science. When knowledge and understanding,
linked to creativity, can produce leaders, inventors and innovators for the future. We want your children to become these leaders, inventors and innovators, not just for the future, but now.
Thank you for entrusting your children to us. We shall do or level best not to disappoint you.
By the way, if you pass me walking about school, do say hello and chat. Our aim, in this the forthcoming term and year, will be
to work hard and listen properly, in attempt to make GEMS International School the place and a family that you are proud to be
a part of.

I look forward to speaking with you.

Best wishes,

Chris McDermott
Principal / CEO

International Insight
News from GEMS International School- Al Khail
Friday, 04 September 2015

MYP Newsletter
Dear Parents, Students and Families,
Welcome back to all our returning students for the start of another year at GIS, and a
warm welcome to all the new students and families who have joined our community for
the academic year 2015-16. We are looking forward to learning together over the coming
year.
It has been a positive start to the year with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement for greeting old friends,
making new ones and starting to settle into new classes. This year promises to be filled with engaging activities, learning enquiries and new experiences both in and outside of the classrooms and the school
buildings. I am going to take this opportunity to remind you all about the Week Without Walls that we run
in January. This year we will be offering trips to Tanzania, Borneo, skiing in Europe, diving in the UAE, Desert Adventure Camps in the UAE and Oman, and Space Camp in Turkey, alongside an in-school activity. All
of these courses have links to at least two curriculum areas and a service learning aspect to the project,
meaning all students can identify an area of personal interest and explore it in more detail and depth. We
do need minimum numbers to run these trips, so please come to the parent information session next
week, to find out as much as you can about the options your child has been presented with.
We look forward to meeting you all, and talking more in the coming days, as we help to lead your students
on a life-long learning journey.
Best wishes,
.

Carolyn Mason Parker

International Insight
News from GEMS International School- Al Khail
Friday, 04 September 2015
Dear GEMS International Parents,
I trust you all had a lovely summer and are looking forward to this upcoming academic year at
GIS. I would like to extend to you a warm welcome whether you are a returning family or new to
the community. My name is Cathy Hayes and I am the Vice Principal. I have relocated to the
ground floor near Mr. Chris office, so please do stop by and say hello.
I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all of you for making the first week at school a resounding success and memorable for the children. Your patience, commitment and understanding is
very much appreciated. Our shared journey has begun and at GIS and together we will achieve
greatness for our students.
Accordingly I have some updates for you:
School Communication: Towards the end of last year and over the Summer, we have been diligently working with
members of the IT department from corporate to streamline the communication between home and school and
to ensure that our messages are being received. As such, we will be rolling out a new platform in the coming
weeks called My Learning. Training. Guidance and support will be provided by the school for parents and students alike. Until that time, our communication with you will by and large, via email.
GIS Community Handbooks: These are great documents containing important information about the day-to-day running of GIS. The files are too big to email so they are published on the GIS website. These have been written for
your benefit, so please read them thoroughly and use them well. You will note the parent contract on the final
page of each document. I will speak to these in more detail in the coming weeks.
Faculty: I want to comment our teaching staff on the outstanding job they have done in the past weeks getting the
classrooms ready to welcome the students and really helping students settle into their new environments. Going
over and above for our students is the norm here at GIS and not the exception and this has been shown again
this last week.
Signing in: Student registration in their Homeroom classes is from 8:15 8:30 at which point attendance is submitted
electronically via OASIS. Student safety is of the utmost importance here at GIS and therefore any student arriving after this time must sign in at reception or at the temporary desk set up near the KG entrance. As one would
expect, we must know where our students are at all times. If your child will not be in attendance at school,
please notify the teachers accordingly so we can update our records. As traffic is an issue, until the situation improves no student will be marked late on the register before 9AM.
Class newsletters: Today you will also receive a class newsletter. These newsletters will contain more grade or department relevant information. If you do not receive these, please contact the HR teachers.
I wish you all a very successful year here at GIS.
Best wishes,
Cathy Hayes.

International Insight
News from GEMS International School- Al Khail
Friday, 04 September 2015

International Insight
News from GEMS International School- Al Khail
Friday, 04 September 2015

International Insight
News from GEMS International School- Al Khail
Friday, 04 September 2015

GIS World Scholars Cup

The GIS World Scholars Cup (WSC) team returned from a week-long trip to Malaysia in June. Our 15 children were part
of a group of 2,700 students from around the world who traveled to Kuala Lumpur to compete in the WSC Global Round.
Our students won five medals: Jana Hayaly, GR 6, won 2 medals (Top School Scorer, Top 100 Individual Debate), and three
other GIS students won one each, Raamiz Ali, GR 8 (DaVinci Award), Bernie Mohan, GR 8 (DaVinci Award), and Daniella
Nakad, GR 7 (Scholars Scavenge Team Winner). GR 8 student, Raamiz Ali, was also chosen to be the flag bearer for his
native country of Pakistan for the Closing Ceremonys Parade of Flags.

In addition to the competition, GIS students spent time seeing the sights of Kuala Lumpur including visits to the Butterfly
Park, Planetarium, Batu Caves, Kings Palace, the National Mosque, and the KL Tower for lunch. This trip was a valuable
experience for all in attendance and we will continue participating in this program next year.

Dan Allbery
MYP Individuals & Societies, Grades 6 - 8

International Insight
News from GEMS International School- Al Khail
Friday, 04 September 2015

International Insight
News from GEMS International School- Al Khail
Friday, 04 September 2015

International Insight
News from GEMS International School- Al Khail
Friday, 04 September 2015

International Insight
News from GEMS International School- Al Khail
Friday, 04 September 2015

International Insight
News from GEMS International School- Al Khail
Friday, 04 September 2015