1. Al Yasmina School Primary Newsletter
14 November 2012
Issue 09
Dear Parents,
Dates for your Diary
Sunday 18 November - Year 6 House Swimming gala from 8.15am – 10.15am
Sunday 25 – Tuesday 27 November Bookworm Fair
Monday 26 November - Next FOY Meeting
Monday 26 November - Individual photos
Tuesday 27 November - Individual photos
Thursday 29 November - National Day Celebrations
Thursday 6 December - Year 3 Ancient Egyptian Day
Saturday 8 December - Festive Fayre
Monday 10 December - Al Yasmina Festive Concert
From The Music Department
YANOMAMO – A HUGE SUCCESS!!!
Last Thursday saw the final rehearsal and evening
performance of Yanomamo at Al Bateen School.
Our 30 children met with 120 other children from Al
Mushrif, Al Muna, The Pearl and BSAK primary
schools, and we spent the afternoon putting
together all the songs and narration they had
been learning over this term. It was hugely
exciting, and the children worked so hard that by
performance time they were sounding fabulous.
The songs were technically demanding, with many sung in two parts, and the children tackled them
brilliantly.
We had solo performances from each school – well done to
Sophia Bustamente who sang beautifully for Al Yasmina. The
parents, friends and teachers who attended were all in
agreement that the performance was stunning. The singing
was fantastic and the children were a real credit to
themselves, their parents and the school. We are very proud
of them!
Mr Hudson has made an audio CD of the Yanomamo
concert. If you wish to purchase a copy, please send 10dhs in
an envelope marked with your child‟s class and name to Mr
Hudson in the Brass Department.

2. We have 2 dates for your diary:
Saturday, December 8th is the FOY Festive Fayre, which is to be held at school. The following primary
groups will be performing at the following times:
11.20 Junior Choir
11.40 Intermediate Choir
12.00 Flute Choir
12.40 Brass Ensemble
Monday December 10th is the Al Yasmina Festive Concert. This promises to be a spectacular
celebration of all the musical activities that take place in our school, and will included performances
by all choirs and ensembles. Further details to follow.
For any information about primary music activities, please contact cknapton@alyasmina.sch.ae
Well done to this week‟s Musicians of the Week
From the School Nurse
The school nurse has contacted School Health Services (SHS) to arrange a date for them to come to
Al Yasmina School to administer the Year 1 booster vaccinations. SHS are fully booked up to
December, so the vaccinations will not be taking place in November, as originally planned. An e-
mail will be sent out to year 1 parents with the new scheduled date in due course.
From the PE Department
Sports stars of the Month
Each squad members has been nominated for their hard work, dedication and progress made for
their school team.
Isobel Hughes James Alley Essam Ghosheh Garance Queromain William Tweddle
U11A Girls Football U11A Boys Football U12 Rugby U11B Girls Football U9 Boys Football
Syed Mustafa Omar Zeidan Hayden Woodrow Tanami Loftus
U9 Boys Football U11B Boys Football Swim Squad Swim Squad

3. Friend of Al Yasmina (FOY)
FOY Hamper Request
The Festive Fayre on 8 December is getting closer each week. If you are able to lend a hand, please
email janineloftus@hotmail.com. Each Year group has been given a different theme for donations for
our Hamper Raffle stall. Boxes will be provided in each shared area for donations. FOY needs all
items brought in by 22 November 22 so volunteers have plenty of time to wrap them.
FS1 and FS2 - Spa products - body wash, scrub, lotion, shower gel, hand cream, cuticle cream, nail
polish, nail file, aromatherapy candles or oils
Year 1 and Year 2 - Gourmet food - (nothing that needs to be refrigerated) - coffee, specialty teas,
fancy biscuits or crackers, nice jars, oils
Year 3 and Year 4 - Toys/items for children - board games, cards, small books, crayons, colouring
pencils, stickers, yo-yos, small puzzles, bubbles, balloons
Year 5 and Year 6 - Outdoor/garden - vases, candles, lanterns, small garden tools, seeds, hand scrub
and cream, gardening gloves
Tickets for a Cinderella „topsy-turvey doll‟ raffle are being sold between 7.30am-7.45am in the primary
playground on Tuesday and Thursday next week or are available from Mrs Brundan in the PE office.
Tickets are 10dhs each and the raffle will be drawn at 2pm at the Festive Fayre. All money raised will
support World Challenge Uganda 2013.
Festive Jar Competition
Take an empty jar, fill it with wrapped sweets and decorate it as festive as you can. There are prizes
for the best decorated jars (one for boys and one for girls). Please see attached flyer for more details.
Administration Support Vacancies Al Yasmina School
Due to promotion and the continued growth and success of the school, we seek to fill the following
vacancies. The posts outlined below are much needed to support the school‟s current mission to
achieve “outstanding”. Applicants must be confident and have an excellent command of English.
Role Start Date Application Min Qualifications Salary AED
Deadline Contract
Primary 25-11-12 18-11-12 “A” Levels or 6,400/-
Receptionist equivalent 7.30am – 3.30pm
30 days holiday per
annum
Local Contract
Arabic 25-11-12 18-11-12 Must be fluent in 6,400/-
Administration Arabic/English 7.30am – 3.30pm
Assistant “A” Levels or 30 days holiday per
equivalent annum
Local Contract
If you are interested in applying for a post please contact Mrs. Roberts for a job description/person
specification. If you feel you have the skills and attributes to support us, please e-mail your
application to Mrs. Roberts at DRoberts@alyasmina.sch.ae. We look forward to hearing from you.

4. From the Arabic Department
،،‫أولياء األمور الكرام‬
. ‫يسرنا الترحيب بكم في زاوية اللغة العربية المرفقة مع النشرة األسبوعية المدرسية‬
، ‫في الروضة الثانية كان يَوماً مـُميزاً ، غمرت فيه الفرحة قلوب أطفال المستوى التّأسيسي الثّاني أثناء تـمثيل أداء مناسك الـحج ( الطّواف‬
َ
)......‫شرب ماء زمزم - تَناول التّمر‬
‫-كم كان رائعا أن يَكتب األطفال أسـماءهم في الـمستوى التّأسيسي الثّاني. في‬
َ ً َ
.) ‫في الـروضة األولى األول كتب األطفال الـحروف باأللوان واستخدموا عناصر البيئة (الرمل) ،في عمل صورة الـجمل ( أثناء تعلمهم حرف ج‬
National Day Project
We want to hear what it means to you and your family to call the UAE your home. Share your ideas
in a poem, a photo, a recipe, a story…….any way that you choose! Get creative – let your
imagination run wild! Submit your piece by Tuesday 27th November by handing in all entries at
reception – and don‟t forget to include your name!
All work will be displayed during our National Day celebrations on Thursday 29th November. (Please
see attached flyer for more detail.) Please take note that there will be a meeting for all National Day
Volunteers at 10.30am on Monday 26th November in Storks Classroom.
Finance Office new location
The Finance office has relocated to the offices behind the main reception. Registration offices can
now be located at the main entrance of the school where Finance use to be.
Finance office welcomes parents to pay their children fees from Sunday to Wednesday 8am until
3 pm.
Maths Challenge for all Year groups
We would like to apologise to all of the parents who tried to log into the Maths Challenge last week.
We were led to believe the site would stay open for all the children to use after the challenge was
completed, but this was not the case. Many thanks to all the parents who took the time and tried to
log on.
Here are a few Maths sites to try at home.
http://www.ictgames.com/resources.html
http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/

5. Foundation Stage 1 (FS1)
“Bonjour, ca va?” This week FS1 have taken a tour all around
Europe looking at some famous monuments like the Eiffel
Tower, the Coliseum and the leaning Towner of Pizza. We
used bricks; Lego and construction card to build replicas and
talked all about the different countries, their flags, traditions
and most importantly their foods!
We looked at some of the tasty
breads and cheeses from countries
like France, Italy, Ireland and the UK and had a tempting tasting session
where we sampled many different types. Thanks to all the parents who
brought in European foods for us to sample- we really enjoyed it!
We pretended to become bakers in our own Class Patisseries using play
dough to create some scrumptious Baguettes, Ciabattas and Bread rolls!
This week we coloured and painted flags from around Europe too, talking
about the colours and designs of each one.
We learned some French phrases and
discovered a lot about European art!
Next week we will be learning all about Italy looking at their food and
culture. We will be trying some Italian food so if you have any ideas or
want to bring in some samples of your favorite Italian foods please
contact your child‟s class teacher; we look forward to hearing from
you!
Congratulations to last week‟s „Stars of the Week
From the left, Jasmeet Notay from Gold Class,
Hayley Clements White Class, Maria Luna Arce
Zepeda from Blue class, Rabab Saraj from Yellow
Class, Erin Beaman from Red class and Christian
Lambeth from Green Class.
Foundation Stage 2 (FS2)
FS2 have been on a culinary adventure to India this week! We learned all
about the cultures, traditions and festivals in India including Diwali and
Holi. For Holi, the festival of colour, we used paints to explore what
happens when we mix colours together. For Diwali we talked about the
story of Rama and Sita and made some candle holders. We listened to
the story of Viku and The Elephant. After this we made our own Elephant
masks too.

6. We were lucky enough to have Miss Alifiya and Mrs. Shabine
(Jade class) visit our classrooms and give us a demonstration of
how to make Chapattis and Indian sweets! We were able to see
how they are made and help out with making our own. When
they were cooked we tasted them! Yummy! We would like to
say a big thank you to Miss Alifiya and Mrs. Shabine for their
hard work.
In our number work we have been learning
how to add two groups of numbers together.
We used practical activities to work out the
totals and discuss number sentences, and then
we used ladybird addition to add ladybird
spots.
Next week
We will be learning all about Italy. We are going to be making some books to do our writing in. We
will be learning about Italian culture, traditions and food and tasting some examples! Yum! We will be
using pasta to help us count and making some flags. We have also started practicing our songs for
the FS2 show along with The National Anthem ready for National Day.
You could help at home by:
 In our Food Around the World topic, the countries we will be learning about are Mexico, India,
Italy, Asia and UAE. If there are any parents who would like to come into class and show
pictures or talk about different foods, we would appreciate any contributions. Please speak to
your child/ren‟s teacher.
 Can you find out some facts about Italy? You could use the internet or non-fiction books to
find out some interesting information to tell your class.
Reminder –
Our FS2 show will be held in the FS Shared Area at 8.30am on December 5 th. Please do not forget to
sign in at Reception - we look forward to seeing you there!
Phonics Focus:
Phase 3 sounds- j, v, w, x, y, z, ch, sh, th/th.
Phase 2 tricky words- you, like, when, here.
Helpful websites:
Phase 3 Phonics songs – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjKq8s8154s
Ladybird addition -
http://www.kenttrustweb.org.uk/kentict/content/games/ladyBirdSpots/index.html

7. Congratulations to last week‟s „Stars of the Week
AlAnood AlMansoori from Jade class, Hamzah Yaghnam from Orange class, Jack Boyle from Ruby
class, Mahad Malik from Purple class and Gabriel Vadakedath from Amber class.
Year 1
It‟s the end of another busy week in Year 1, they are just whizzing by
as we have so much fun with our learning. This week in Numeracy we
have been learning all about odd and even numbers. We have
been trying to remember what an odd number looks like and what
an even number looks like.
In Literacy Zog has been helping us to write an exciting piece of
independent writing about our homes. We have also enjoyed
reading Handa‟s Surprise and this will help us write our own Handa‟s
stories next week. Our shared area is NEARLY ready all will be
revealed soon! We are very excited!
Next week we will be subtracting 1 and 10 on a number line and solving
words problems. Using magnets in science, looking at Victorian homes in
History and making Bedouin tents in Social Studies. We are very excited about
having a Camel Beauty contest in Design and Technology. What a fabulous
week we are going to have!
Congratulations to last week‟s „Stars of the Week‟
Well done Charlotte Barnett in Cuckoos, Heidi Robson in Doves, Herbie Wells in Sparrows, Maryam Al
Nowais in Larks and Tiana Kamel in Robins.

8. Year 2
We are covering the Great Fire of London for the next 2 weeks
as part of our Fire topic. The children have found it very
interesting as we go back in time to find out the history behind
it. We will be using all this information to record it in our class
newspapers!
We also visited the Khalifa A Fire Station ,which was greeted
with much enthusiasm ! The children learnt about preventing
fires and loved using the fire-hoses and especially liked trying-
on the firefighter‟s uniform!
In Maths, we‟ve been learning about 2D shapes and their characteristics. Next week, we‟ll be looking
at written methods for multiplication and division.
In Science we have seen how materials change when heated and have enjoyed making chocolate
rice crispie cakes to support this.
Star Writers – Motumi Mapetla – Sandpipers, Yasmin Harris - Flamingoes, Yasmina Rushaidat - Herons,
Leenah Bassiouni – Spoonbill, Oliver Fidler – Storks
Congratulations to last week‟s „Stars of the Week
Ned Garrett - Sandpipers, Adam Bibars – Flamingoes, Kara Sellar – Spoonbills, Sarana Kadado-Herons,
Fares Al Hashmi - Storks

9. Year 3
This week in Literacy the children finished reading The Twits, much to their disappointment! They
completed a book review to recommend the book to other readers of the same age. We have also
been reviewing Regular and Irregular verbs and changing these into past tense. Please continue to
practice these at home.
In Math we have been learning the various coins in the UAE
currency and British currency and using our knowledge to solve
word problems. Science this week has taught us how important
the stem is for a plant. We used celery and food colouring to
investigate how the water travels up the stem.
In Art we have been using Mod Rock to make some amazing
canopic jars to store our organs in when we‟re mummified… or
if you prefer you can use it as a money box!
Next week in Literacy we are learning to use speech marks. In maths we are studying measuring in
km, m, cm and mm. In Science we will be potting our plants in order to investigate what plants need
to survive. If you have not done so already please send in a plant pot measuring approx. 15cm in
diameter.
Congratulations to last week‟s „Stars of the Week
Chloe Miller – Buntings, Dexter Power – Curlews, Angelina De Liefde – Cormorants, Mohammad Al
Balooshi – Terns and Isa-Ahmed Yousaf – Ravens
Year 4
Lights, Camera, Action!
This week our journalistic skills have come into the 21st century as we learn
about what‟s involved in a TV news report. We‟ve watched lots of examples
and thought about the features as we begin planning our own version all about
famous buildings that are disappearing into thin air – watch this space for some
fab reports! And now back to the studio…
In maths we‟ve been thinking about measuring – we‟ve measured things around the classroom,
seeing how accurately we can record our answers. We‟ve converted units, and even started thinking
about shapes and their perimeters. We got super sticky in science this week whilst seeing if we could
change the state of different materials – namely, chocolate! We read a fab Michael Rosen poem
and melted chocolate in our hands… Yum!

10. We found out about reversible and irreversible changes
using ice, chocolate, eggs and wax as illustrations. Guess
which material was the most popular?!
We were very lucky to be visited by Mrs Rahman last week.
Her and her husband have both been involved with
designing lots of buildings, bridges and dams. She got us
thinking about all kinds of interesting things! Our heads
were buzzing with thoughts of how UAE landscapes have
changed, what purposes buildings have and she even
talked us through how to build a dam!
Next week we will be learning how to skim read information texts for key facts and make notes in
literacy. This will help us in our main activity of researching and producing an eye-catching and
informative, A3 information display about five famous buildings. In numeracy we‟re moving onto the
tricky subject of fractions – slice of pizza anyone?!
Congratulations to last week‟s „Stars of the Week
Wagtails- Molly Forbes, Pipits- Sebastian Rossiter, Warblers-
Ella Vosgimorukian, Wheatears- Mark Girgues, Sand grouse-
Shanaya Fernando.
Year 5
Our culmination of our topic „Lights, Camera, Action‟ was Year 5‟s theme day last Thursday, where
we dressed up as movie characters. All the children looked fantastic, and they all worked really hard
on choosing the correct costumes, rehearsing their speeches and taking on the role of their
characters. They were also fantastic at parading on the red carpet and the Oscar winners spoke
elegantly and gracefully, very realistic! The children also enjoyed all the activities on the day,
including the exciting treasure hunt and the delicious buffet for lunch! Here are a few snap shots!
Going on to this week, we have started our new topic, F1! The children are really excited by this topic
and can‟t wait to begin their F1 intensive week! The children have started to learn about the history
of F1, they have created a fact file on what they have found out! We have also started thinking of
the design and logo‟s of our own personalised F1 cars.
In Literacy we have been looking at news broadcasts and creating our own news scripts, there could
be some future directors and presenters in the making! In Numeracy we have covered lots of
different aspects such as: coordinates, timetables, converting and measuring lengths.

11. In Science we have also had great fun learning about the Earth, Sun and Moon! We were working
out the relative distances between the Earth, Sun and Moon. Do you know the distance between
them? We also looked at the shapes of each of them.
Next week in Math‟s we will be. In Literacy we will be starting our new block of „Instructions‟ which
coincides with our topic of „F1‟. We will be exploring how instructions should be set out, following a
variety of different instructions and also making our own fruit kebabs! In Science we will be looking at
the Earth‟s tilt and how that affects the seasons. In Topic we will be learning about the different
countries that host F1 and also continuing with the design of our personalised F1 cars. In ICT we will be
looking at the basic functions of Spreadsheets.
Congratulations to last week‟s „Stars of the Week
Well done to Umar Bashir (Parakeets), Karim Moulayess
(Sunbirds), Joshua Young (Nightjars), Leila Al Qaimi (Mynahs) &
Alex Miller (Swallows)!

12. Year 6
What an exciting week Year 6‟s has had this week. It has been ramed full of fun and interesting
learning. This week in Literacy the students have been looking at writing their own personal guide to
“Life as a student at Al Yasmina school”. They have explored and investigated various types of
guides, worked together collectively to share ideas and ended the week by producing their very
own guide book.
Numeracy was a whirlwind of numbers! The students have been learning a vast variety of
mathematical strategies. They have been studying shapes, their properties, square and cubed
numbers and applying various strategies learnt to solve mathematical investigations. Although
challenging, the students rose to occasion and tackled their investigations head on.
Science was “forceful” as the students took to the football pitch to test air resistance. Working in
groups, the students conducted an investigation to see how much force was against them as they
ran holding an A4 sheet of paper, a piece of card and then running without. Students then took on
the role of the teacher and explained what they experienced and whether or not their hypothesis
regarding air resistance was true. Have your child become the teacher at home and have a go at
investigating air resistance.
Testing air resistence with A4 sheet of paper and black card.
Next week the classrooms will heat up as the students take to the floor to learn about debates in
literacy. Numeracy will cover securing number facts, calculating and identifying relationships with
numbers. We will still be covering our topic on Forces in Science as well as the Aztecs in our Topic
sessions.
Well done to our stars of the week this week!
Roan Greene (Ospreys), Amir Fahmy (Owls), Layla
Jawhari (Eagles), Alyazya Al Bloushi (Kestrals), Iman Feroz
(Falcons)