1. Al Yasmina School Primary Newsletter
10 January 2013
Issue 12
Dear Parents,
Dates for your Diary
Sunday 6 January - Start of Term
Sunday 13 January - Maths open house at 8am-9am
Monday 14 January - ECAs start
Tuesday 15 January - Next FOY meeting at 8am
Sunday 20 January - Year 6 parents coffee morning
Monday 21 January - Year 5 parents coffee morning
Tuesday 22 January - Year 4 parents coffee morning
Welcome – Head of School – Mr Gale
It is good to be back. In assembly on Sunday, I very much enjoyed welcoming the students to the
new term. We spoke about two key words; time and new.
There has been no time wasted this week with the school now
well underway. Lots of new and exciting events planned for
the students this term.
I have really enjoyed talking with the students this week and
hearing about how they spent their time in the holiday. I now
look forward to working with the Primary school to ensure
students make the most of their time with us and reach new
heights.
I will be formally writing to parents regarding leadership,
management and communication in the primary school in the
coming days. This week‟s priority has been settling the
children back to school.
Friend of Al Yasmina (FOY)
A HUGE thank you to all those involved in the Festive Fayre, it was a fantastic day had by all and a
huge success. A total amount of around 21,000Dhs was raised so well done!!!
We are still looking for a FOY Secretary if anyone is interested in taking on this easy position please
email janineloftus@hotmail.com or come along to the next FOY meeting.
The next FOY meeting is this Tuesday, 15 January at 8am in the Conference Room, the Agenda is as
follows:
* Treasurers Report
* Feedback Festive Fayre, Swim Gala, Christmas Concert, New Parents coffee
* Table top sale - new date
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2. * Ball Committee
* International Day
* Al Yasmina 5th Birthday celebrations
* AOB
VOYFEG
Don‟t forget to get your orders in by 9pm tonight (Thursday), please place orders at email
foyveg@hotmail.com.
Full details on the school website.
From the School Nurses
On Tuesday morning we were sad to say good-bye to Dr. Stiles,
who has been our primary school doctor for a couple of years.
Dr. Stiles has retired and is heading back to his home in South
Africa. He will be missed by the school nurses, as well as by many
families in Abu Dhabi. The school nurses presented him with a
card and a leaving gift.
We expect it to be a very busy day in the school clinic next
Thursday, 17 January – some of the Year 1 pupils will be getting their booster vaccinations of MMR
and varicella. A reminder e-mail with all information will be sent out to Year 1 parents next week.
Teaching Assistant Vacancy - Al Yasmina School – Aldar Academies
We are seeking a full time Teaching Assistant at Al Yasmina School. The successful candidate will be
required to demonstrate enthusiasm, initiative and a willingness to learn in a dynamic school
environment.
The successful candidate will require the following:
 All applicants must hold a valid Residents Visa.
 Minimum qualifications – A Levels or NVQ.
 Good literacy skills and an excellent command of English
 Good numeracy skills
 Flexibility, personal initiative and skills in prioritisation of tasks
 Enthusiastic, motivated, resilient and patient
 Ability to work flexibly as a member of a team
 IT skills would be desirable
The post outlined above is needed to support the school‟s current mission to become an
“outstanding” school.
Salary: 4,500/- per month
Hours: 07.30am – 2.30pm
Term time only
If you are interested in applying please contact the Office Manager for a job description/person
specification. If you feel you have the skills and attributes to support us, please email your CV to
DRoberts@alyasmina.sch.ae. We look forward to hearing from you.
Closing date for applications: Thursday 17th January 2013
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3. From the Music Department
The Music Department would like to wish you all a very warm welcome back and a
happy and prosperous new year! We have a very exciting and busy term ahead of
us, with concerts and performances by the choirs and instrumental groups, as well
as several year-group performances and our regular monthly recitals.
Well done to this week‟s Musicians of the Week: Shamma Al Khaili from Year 2 for
her amazing note-reading in this week‟s lesson, and Alyazeya Al Shamsi in Year 3
for her beautiful solo singing in class.
Primary Choirs
Choir rehearsals will commence on Sunday 20th January and will run as follows: Alyazeya
Sun 13th Jan No choir (Maths Open
House)
Sun 20th Jan Intermediate Choir
Sun 27th Jan Junior Choir
Sun 3rd Feb Intermediate Choir
Sun 10th Feb Junior Choir
Sun 17th Feb No choir (Half Term)
Sun 24th Feb Intermediate Choir
Sun 3rd Mar Junior Choir
Sun 10th Mar Intermediate Choir
Sun 17th Mar Junior Choir
Sun 24th Mar Intermediate Choir
If your child wishes to join either of the choirs, please encourage them to come along to the first
rehearsals, which take place in the music room opposite the primary library at 8am on Sundays. For
more information, please contact DMcLoughlin@alyasmina.sch.ae.
Instrumental Lessons
These will recommence next week, beginning Sunday 13th Jan. Mr Chris Loosemore is the new
Director of the Aldar Academies Music Service (AMS) since September. All enquiries regarding
instrumental tuition should be addressed to him at CLoosemore@albateen.sch.ae. For new families to
the school, we offer tuition in the following instruments: piano, violin, viola, cello, voice, flute, clarinet,
saxophone, trumpet, trombone, French horn and euphonium.
Primary Production – The Wiz!
For those who joined this ECA club in September, rehearsals recommence next Tuesday. Please look
out for information coming soon regarding costumes and pleas for props/help/etc!!
If you have any questions regarding Primary Music at Al Yasmina, please don‟t hesitate to contact
me at CKnapton@alyasmina.sch.ae. We look forward to working with your children in 2013!
Mrs. Knapton (Head of Primary Music).
From the Arabic Department
Year 1 non- native students learned about „break time‟ in Arabic this week. They drew fruits and then
cut and pasted on the walls of the classroom. They were really excited and happy.
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4. Useful website : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIU0CdKT-0s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33KmQRdcKvE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33KmQRdcKvE
From the Finance Office
Just a reminder that all Term 2 fees were due on Sunday, 6 January 2013. The Finance office working
hours are Sunday to Thursday from 8am – 3pm.
Maths Open House
The primary school is looking forward to welcoming parents and family members into their classrooms
and year groups on Sunday 13th January between 8 and 9am for our Open House. This time it will
have a maths based theme with each class or year group demonstrating the types of maths
activities that we use in Al Yasmina Primary to help develop the teaching, understanding and
application of Maths. There will be a variety of fun activities being demonstrated across the school
that may help you with ideas of how to support your child at home with their learning. The classes will
not be demonstrating a formal lesson to be observed, but activities that you are welcome to join in
with. Please come along if you have time and see how great the children are in each of the areas of
maths. Please read what each year group will be focusing on during open house in this week‟s
newsletter.
Thank you.
Outdoor Area of the Foundation Stage
Please can we remind all parents and guardians that children should not be playing in the outdoor
area of the Foundation Stage before and after school! There are currently many children being
allowed to play in this area and this is causing difficulties for other year groups when dismissing their
children from class. The large playground is available for children to play in but please make sure that
your child/ren is supervised! There have been many times where an accident has occurred and the
child was unsupervised.
Thank you for your understanding and co-operation
The FS Team
Foundation Stage 1 (FS1)
Welcome back children and we wish you and your families a Happy New Year!
This week we were finding out about all the animals that we might see on our
outing to Emirates Zoo. „Dear Zoo‟ was read by all and we have been busy
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5. making giraffes and zebras. We want to encourage the children to talk about what they have
discovered and share it with their friends and teachers. Maybe they can bring in a nice information
book or picture or even a sing a song. As we delve into learning about all the different types of
animals and their habitats maybe the children would like to do some discovering at home and share
this with their classmates.
We have been learning to listen carefully to the initial sounds of the alphabet and to help reinforce
this encourage your children to look at all the letters they can see in the world around them. The
children have also been using the Outdoor area to develop their knowledge of ring games and
trying out a little bit of yoga safari. This week we have practiced the sounds – s, a, t, i – please
continue to practice these sounds at home.
Next week is all about the Artic and the animals that live there and who we might find in a zoo. Next
week we need to bring in hats and scarves as FS1 are going to have a really cold day and pretend
they live in the Artic. Please remember to bring in the hats, scarves and gloves all named and keep
them in school all week.
The Maths Open Morning on Sunday will be a fantastic opportunity for all to see the marvellous
activities the children do in class. We will be looking at positional language, counting, comparing
groups of objects and looking at shapes in our environment.
Don‟t forget! Trip money needs to be handed in by January 17th along with a consent form. A letter
with the details about the trip has already been mailed out to parents.
See you Sunday have a great weekend!
Foundation Stage 2 (FS2)
Welcome back everyone; we hope you have had a wonderful break!
FS2 were raring to get back and we have certainly started this term with
a bang! The children have started their new topic of „At the zoo‟ and
have enjoyed learning about the Savannah this week.
They‟ve been on safari and written about what they saw and they
imagined that they were lions, trying to find lots of different smells
hidden around the classroom – we had a ROARING time!!
This term is an exciting one for FS2 as we will be going on a school trip to the Emirates Park Zoo. You
should have received a letter, by email, on Tuesday outlining when your child will be going and what
they will be doing there. This needs to be signed and handed in, to your class teacher, with 70AED by
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6. Thursday 17th January at the latest! Please speak to your class teacher if you did not receive the
email.
On Sunday, you are invited to our Maths Open House. All classrooms will be open from 8am-9am
where you will be able take part in various interactive Maths activities with your child. This will be a
great opportunity to see how Maths can be taught in school as well as having lots of fun with your
child, in their school environment. We look forward to seeing lots of Mums and Dad on Sunday!
Next week we will be visiting the polar enclosure and will learn all about the different animals we can
see in the North and South Pole.
In Maths the children will be introduced to the concept of sharing objects into equal groups (simple
division)
You could help at home by:
• Talking about the different types of animals one could find in the North and South Pole.
• Research information on polar animals on the internet
• Equally share groups of toys, books or even sweets between members of your family.
Phonics Focus:
This term we are revisiting all Phase 3 sounds in order to consolidate last terms learning. Therefore,
next week we will be practicing sh ch th ng ai sounds
Phase 3 tricky words: he, she, we, me, be, was, my, you, her, they, all, are, big, put, but, see
Helpful website:
Below is a „you tube‟ website that is a great resource we have recently found to help the children
secure their knowledge of sounds that we have learnt so far. You might find it helpful at home too:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mr+thorne+does+phonics&oq=mr+thorne&gs_l=yout
ube-reduced.3.0.0l4.8739993.8741332.0.8744741.9.7.0.1.1.1.574.1068.4-1j1.2.0...0.0...1ac.1.u5kKRPoeli0
Here are some other websites your children might like to look at:
National Geographic - http://kids.nationalgeographic.co.uk/kids/animals/creaturefeature/
Maths, Sharing - http://www.topmarks.co.uk/Flash.aspx?f=sharingv2
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7. Year 1
Welcome back Year 1! Everyone has made a great start to the new year and new term. Well done!
New topic
This week, Year 1 has started our exploration of the jungle.
Your children have been telling us what they would like to find out about
this topic, and have enjoyed using lots of materials to transform our
classrooms into jungles! We have compared life in the jungle to our own
lives in Abu Dhabi.
Learning „The Animal Boogie Woogie‟ song has been fun and you too
can learn with them using following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0wQ1HOSrVA
In our literacy learning we have been reading „Rumble in the Jungle‟
and acting out the animals movements to help our learning about verbs.
Next week we will read „Brown Bear, Brown Bear‟ by Bill Martin which can
also be found on this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdHCYgO9zh8
We will discover where jungles are using world maps and what they are
like to live in. During Art the children will explore animal patterns and use
oil pastels to create their own designs, as well as using some drawing programs in our ICT lessons. In
Design Technology they will be making some useful jungle door hangers!
Changes to homework
Your child will be bringing home a jungle project to be completed this half term. This entails all
literacy and numeracy homework until the half term holiday. This is to be completed in the separate
project book your child has brought home. Spellings will continue to come out weekly in the current
homework book. Please see your child‟s class teacher if you have any further questions.
Maths open house
We are looking forward to welcoming parents into school on Sunday 13 th to participate in some
practical numeracy activities with their child. Some of the learning covered across the classes will be
2D and 3D shapes, time and number skills. We hope to see you there!
Congratulations to last week‟s „Stars of the Week
Well done to the children who were Star of the Week at the end of last term. The lucky ones
below got to have an adventure with their class mascot for the whole holiday. Star of the
week will continue all year, so Year 1 children who have not yet taken the mascot home still have
plenty of time to earn it!
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8. Isabelle Worth - Cuckoos, Miguel Gomez - Sparrows, James Devlin – Larks, Chloe Carter - Robins
Holly Wong - Doves
Year 2
This half term our Topic is „Click‟! To kick off our Topic, the classes
visited Manarat Al Saadiyat this week to help answer the question,
„What is an Exhibition‟? We spent the day looking around the
different exhibits to enable the children to understand what an
exhibition is, how it works and it‟s purpose. Next week, we‟ll be
doing map work and finding places of interest in Abu Dhabi.
In Literacy, we had a first-time tourist to Abu Dhabi come into Year 2 and the children were able to
guide her through questions and comments advising her of places to visit in Abu Dhabi. Next week, in
Literacy we‟ll be formulating questionnaires to find out peoples‟ favourite places to visit in Abu Dhabi.
Next week in Maths we‟ll be looking at strategies for solving problems including addition word
problems.
Year 3
Happy New Year to all our Year 3 families.
We would like to welcome 4 new students to Year 3, Ahmed Al Saadi – Buntings, Karim
Okba – Terns
Tanuli Wickramarchchi – Cormorants and Shaikh Mohammed Abdullah Bin Zayed Al
Nahyan.
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9. This Term we start with the Topic Australia, this week the children have been introduced to the
continent and used maps and atlases to find out where it is and why it is special.
In Literacy the children have read the Dreamtime story about Tiddalik and have used adjectives and
similes to describe characters, compared play scripts to stories and also written
dialogue using speech marks.
In Numeracy the children have been learning about telling the time on an analogue
clock and finding out about the relationship between minutes, hours and seconds
through practical activities using timers.
This week the children have had a chance to tell us what they understand about
Rocks and Soils and to come up with questions about what they would like to find out
about.
Next Week‟s Learning focus will be:
Literacy- Writing a diary entry based on the story “Are We There Yet?” by Alison Lester and linking this
to our Topic work about the immigrants who left Europe and headed for Bottany Bay to make a new
life Down Under.
Numeracy- This week we will continue to learn about telling the time and solve Time problems using
timetables.
We would also like to welcome parents to Year 3 for the Open House between 8-9am on Sunday13th
January; to see and get involved with the children doing a range of practical maths activities.
Science- The children will be finding out about the 3 main rock types.
Aussie Sleepover
The Great Aussie Sleepover will take place on Thursday 7th February. Anyone who would like to get
involved to help out would be most welcome. I would like to have a meeting to discuss various „jobs‟
on Monday 14th January at 2.30 in the Curlews classroom. If anyone is interested in helping with
shopping, dancing, art activities, cooking, grilling (Sausages), and sleeping out!!! Please just come
along and bring any ideas for fun Aussie activities with you.
Year 4
What a fantastic first week of Term 2 we have had here in Year 4.
We have started our new topic, The Romans, and it looks like it is going to be a great one! The
children have enjoyed placing the main events of Ancient Rome on a timeline and making a map of
Ancient Rome, as well as watching some clips from BBC‟s Horrible Histories. The Romans really were
rotten! In Art we are looking at the Roman art of mosaics. We have looked at several different
examples of mosaics and had a go at creating our own Roman design using coloured paper
squares.
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10. We continued with our Roman theme in Literacy, and we have been learning all about the Legend
of Rome. We have taken this legend and transformed it into a comic strip. It has been really
interesting learning about Romulus and Remus, although we are in mixed opinion whether or not we
believe in the legend!
In Maths we have been looking at decimals and where we find them in real life. We have partitioned
decimals to 2 decimal places and have converted metres to centimetres and vice versa. In Science
we have started our new topic of Circuits and Conductors by creating a mind map about what we
already know about this topic and creating questions of the things we would like to find out. The
students are looking forward to getting hands on and making circuits.
Next Week we will be continuing our work on the Legend of Rome in Literacy. We will become both
playwrights and actors, writing a play script telling the story of Romulus and Remus and then
performing it. In Numeracy we will be focussing on multiplication, division and problem solving. We
are looking forward to welcoming parents at the Numeracy open morning on Sunday.
Congratulations to last week‟s „Stars of the Week
Congratulations to the Stars of the Week who had the class
mascots join them and their families for the holidays- Lauren
Kerr (Wheatears), Allison Card (Pipits), Armaan Syed Anwar
(Warblers), Hashem El Naidi (Wagtails) and Devon Den Hertog
(Sandgrouse).
Year 5
Happy New Year! 2013 has got off to an explosive start as the children have been looking at Gases,
liquids and solids and how they can change their state. Running parallel with this science topic, the
pupils have been introduced to coast lines. We are learning about the geographical features of the
coast and how they are formed.
Sunbirds demonstrate how the particles
of a solid stick close together and
whether air exists!
In Literacy we are studying the work of
Michael Morpurgo. Using the stories, The
Butterfly Lion and Kensuke‟s Kingdom,
we are learning how to create a
narrative. We have also started to
introduce the pupils to Alan Peat‟s
exciting sentences. This is a programme
which will help pupils to write more
varied sentences which will engage the
reader. This week the children have
been looking at „BOYS‟ sentences.
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11. In Numeracy we have been looking at place value and the effect of multiplying and dividing by
10,100 or 1000. In addition to this we have been rounding whole numbers and decimals.
During DT we were fortunate enough to have a demonstration lesson from Mr Wood, a secondary
teacher. Mr Wood demonstrated the concept of levers and mechanisms. With as practical demo, he
introduced the pupils to fulcrum, pivot, load and effort.
Next week we look forward to inviting all the parents to our Numeracy open morning. This will take
place on Sunday 13th January, 8:00am to 9:00am. This will be an opportunity to see your child work
with a variety of maths activities which will allow them to apply their maths knowledge and stretch
their puzzle solving skills.
In Literacy the children will continue with The Butterfly Lion and learn another of Alan Peat‟s exciting
sentences! During numeracy they will brush up on written calculations and apply them to word
problems. In science the pupils will look at how temperature can cause change and how these
changes can be reversible and irreversible. We continue with our topic of changing coastlines by
looking at the four stages of erosion. Whilst in DT we follow up our lesson on levers by constructing a
variety of mechanisms.
Year 6
The Year 6 children have hit the ground running this week! Many children seem to have had new
year resolutions around working hard and trying their best, so well
done to all the pupils in Year 6!
We welcome 2 new members to the sensational six team. Mrs. Wendy
Hyde has joined us replacing Miss Steele as Eagles teacher. I must
congratulate the Eagles class on how well they have been supporting
Mrs. Hyde in getting to know the school and the routines.. well done!
However Mrs. Hyde is not the only new member of that class, as I
would also like to warmly welcome Mohammed Abdulla Al Saadi.
This week the children have been really enjoying the start of our new topic “Freaks of Nature” which
has allowed them to delve into the world of natural disasters. In literacy the children have been
developing their journalist writing and interviewing each other and teachers to produce some
amazing newspaper reports. Catchy headlines and detailed interviews have ensured that readable
articles have been produced.
In numeracy the children have been developing their understanding of fractions, decimals, place
value and ordering. I would like to remind all parents that you are most welcome to attend the maths
morning next Sunday (13/01/2013) from 8-9am. You shall be able to see the variety of maths that
occurs in Year 6.
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12. Next week we shall be continuing our development of journalistic writing, and in numeracy we shall
be problem solving using fractions, decimals and place value.
Please could the children bring in an empty cereal box as this will be needed for an investigation in
Topic.
Al Yasmina School
Tel: 02 501 4888
email: jhupalo@alyasmina.sch.ae
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