Volume 4, Issue 30 Thursday 5 May 2016

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Dear Parents

And so we reach the Isra’a wal Mi’raj Holiday and take a deep breath to reflect on a fantastic start to the summer term at Kings’ Al Barsha. In this newsletter you will find an

update on our Rounders and Cricket progress as well as interesting updates on events within the Maths Curriculum and a great overview from our Islamic & Arabic Team in

relation to the cultural and religious significance of this holiday and Ramadan which follows.

As we look ahead, please give consideration to attending the next Secondary Meet the

Principal Event where I will be able to show interested parents first-hand the progress with the building works as we prepare to fully open the Kings’ Al Barsha Campus on 31st August 2016! In addition, if you are available to meet with Mr Graizevsky and I, we would

welcome the opportunity to discuss with you our plans for recording assessment and tracking student progress in the next academic year as well as proposed changes to the

school day and week. This event is advertised as a PIM (Parent Information Meeting) on Monday 23rd May starting at 6.30pm.

On exit from school on Wednesday I tried to catch as many of the Year 10 students as

possible to ensure they had their Science Revision Guides with them for the holiday. May is an important month as we support our first cohort of learners in their initial GCSE exams.

One or two of our learners are also sitting some of their exams in different subject areas early and I wish each & every student ‘all the best’ in their academic achievement. Thanks to the staff who have given up a huge amount of time to support our Year 10 and

individual students through this programme of study & revision.

I final plea to students and parents to support our gifted & talented musicians at the

summer recital and also a reminder that it is our Student-led Conferences for Years 7 to 9 on Monday 9th May.

I really enjoyed taking time to watch our young cricketers in a competitive fixture this

week. We have some really talented players and it is wonderful to see them developing as a team. As you know, we have huge ambition as a school to become the best sporting school in Dubai. Given the facilities that we will have available next

academic year it is really exciting to watch our students grow in confidence in relation to sport. I look forward to celebrating success

across the different school sports and recognising team & individual achievement at the Sports Assemblies and Awards events in June.

Alan Williamson Principal Kings' School Al Barsha

(Follow me on Twitter AlanDWilliamso1)

The best by every child

The Student Council and Year Book Committee are working hard to create Kings’ School Al Barsha's Secondary Yearbook 2016. We would love to know if any parents are linked with a printing company, who would be happy to support us. Please let us know by Wednesday 11th May. We also understand that many parents have been taking photos of events throughout the year, and would be grateful if these could be sent to ka3967@kingsalbarsha.com by Monday 16th May.

The KSAB Yearbook Committee

#DITTO is a free monthly magazine for schools and parents. The magazine is about keeping you up

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The best by every child

Monday 9 May SLC Year 7-9

Wednesday 11 May Secondary Music Recital 6-7pm

Tuesday 17 May Year 10 GCSE Science B1 Science Unit 1:

Influences On Life (1 hour)

Thursday 19 May Year 10 GCSE Science C1 Science Unit 1:

Chemistry In Our World (1 hour)

Thursday 19 May Outdoor ASAs end

Thursday 19 May Meet the Principal - Year 8 & 10 parents 8.15 - 9.15 am

Monday 23 May PIM: Assessment for Learning and changes to the

structure of the school day for academic year 2016-17 -

6.30-7.15pm, Mr Graizevsky & Mr Williamson

Wednesday 25 May Year 10 GCSE Science P1 Science Unit 1:

Universal Physics (1 hour)

Sunday 29 May Arts and Design & Technology Exhibition

29 May - 4 June Year 10 Mock Exam Week

Tuesday 31 May Year 6-7 Step-Up Day

Tuesday 31 May Year 6-7 Step-Up Day Parent Meeting 6-7 pm

Thursday 2 June ECAs finish

Monday 6 June First day of Ramadan (TBC)

Wednesday 8 June Sports Award Assembly (11.30-1pm)

Date to be confirmed Iftar

Thursday 23 June Sports Awards

Wednesday 29 June Q4 reports issued

Thursday 30 June Year 10 Student-Led Reflection Day (by appointment only)

Thursday 30 June Staff Inset day

There is an opportunity to view our film made by Year 9 and 10 pupils during Week

Without Walls. It is called 'The Flames' and was written by Rhali Attar a Year 10 student. It will be screened in VOX Cinemas, Mall of the Emirates on Friday, 6 May 2016 at 10:00

am. The show will be titled “CIFF2016 MOE 1” for those parents/pupils who wish to book

their tickets online.

‘The Flames’ by Rhali Attar

GL Assessment Progress Tests

We are writing to inform you that students in Secondary will be participating in GL Assessment

Progress Tests. The assessments are a requirement by KHDA to measure the level of progress, we as a

school are making each year, in relation to national & international standards in English, Maths and

Science. Each assessment is completed online and takes approximately one hour.

The GL Assessment results is not in any way an effort to evaluate the performance of individual

students and therefore students are not expected to prepare for them as the results will not be

published. Mr Graizevsky will explain more at a forthcoming PIM on Assessment. (See Calendar)

The schedule for the GL Assessment Progress Tests are shown below:

Date Year 7 Year 8 Year 9

Mon 16th May English English English

Tue 17th May Maths Maths Maths

Wed 18th May N/A Science Science

The best by every child

In recognition of the importance of Islam in our daily lives in the UAE, there are some

important upcoming events in the Islamic calendar that we would like to share with the

Kings’ community.

The 27th day of Rajab, which will correspond to the 5th May, is the event of Isra’a wal

Mir’aj. The month of Ramadan will commence during the first week of June, depending on

the sighting of the moon, as the Islamic calendar is based on a lunar system. Below there

is a brief explanation of the significance of each event.

Isra’a wal Mi’raj

Isra’a wal Mi’raj is considered to be one of the most significant events in the Islamic

calendar. The term Isra’a wal Mir’aj, literally means the Night journey and the Ascension.

According to Islamic tradition, on the 27th night of the Islamic month of Rajab in the year

621 A.D. Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) went on a journey from

Mecca to Jerusalem on al-Buraq (a winged like horse creature) sent by Allah. It is believed

that the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) travelled to Jerusalem, and subsequently to the

heavens on this blessed night. In the heavens, the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) met many of the

Prophets who preceded him, Adam, Jesus, Joseph, Idris, Aaron, Moses and finally

Abraham. After seeing some of the sights of heaven, the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) returned to

Mecca that same night. As this honour has never been bestowed on anyone before,

Muslims revere and celebrate this extraordinary event.

Ramadan

Ramadan is a special month of the year for Muslims. It is month of reflection, spiritual

renewal and sacrifice. Fasting, the third Pillar of Islam, has been prescribed for Muslims

during this month, not only to abstain from eating but anything that would take one away

from the remembrance of God.

We see the practice of fasting in many other faiths, during Lent, Yom Kippur, in the Hindu

and Buddhist faiths to name a few. The basic premise of fasting for Muslims, similar to

other faiths, is to sacrifice something for the sake of spiritual purification. Hence, Muslims

not only sacrifice food, but also are required to control their temper, abstain from negative

talk, and learn to empathise with those less fortunate.

During this month, the Holy Qur’an was also revealed to Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.),

on a night called Laytatul Qadr. This, the Night of Power, is the night in which Angel

Jibrael (Gabriel) came to Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) to give him the message of his

prophethood and reveal the first verses of the Qur’an. In the Holy Qur’an, God tells us

that this night is “better than a 1000 months”, and because of this, during this night

Muslims compete to do good deeds and perform prayer. The month ends with the

celebration of Eid ul-Fitr, the celebration of the breaking of the fast. This is a time for

Muslims to celebrate with friends and family and try to implement lessons learned this

month throughout the entire year.

Having read this information, we hope that we have answered any questions that you may

have had, but also that you will join with everyone in the Kings’ schools family in sharing

these events together with our Muslim students and their families.

View our fun activities and events at:

Kings' School Al Barsha -

https://www.facebook.com/KingsSchoolAlBarsha/

Kings' School Dubai -

https://www.facebook.com/KingsSchoolDubai/

Kings' School Nad Al Sheba -

https://www.facebook.com/KingsSchoolNadAlSheba/

The best by every child

Over the past two weeks, as part of the unit

of work on ‘3D shapes’, Year 7 have been involved in 3D structural tower challenges.

To begin, students had to identify iconic buildings from across the globe and estimate their height. The winning groups of this

round, all scoring 13 out of 18, consisted of:

Ala, Shaheer, Lachlan W, Charlotte Pedro, Carl, Hattie Sanad, Kashuf, Vali

Jack, Nirav Aisha, Aylar, Callum

The second challenge involved constructing the tallest free- standing structure possible in 30

minutes, using only 3 sheets of A4 card. The tower strictly had

to be composed of a cube, cuboid and triangular prism. Students had to consider the

strength and stability of the 3D shapes they were making. The

winning groups of this round are pictured either side of the text!

Other photos from the task:

Keep up the great construction work everybody! Miss Lucas and the Maths Department

Freddie, Claudia, Tejas, Ayesha (42cm) Vali, Sanad, Kashuf (36cm)

Please can you ensure all items of school uniform

and PE kit are labelled with the student’s name, so any lost property can be reunited with their owner.

The best by every child

This Wednesday saw our Kings’ Al Barsha U13 Cricket team win their first ever competitive cricket fixture. After an unlucky defeat to Dubai College in there first match the boys went into this fixture knowing only a win would keep the season alive.

Winning the toss and electing to bowl first Kings’ Al Barsha went about the task of restricting the opponents to a very respectable 74 all out. Al Barsha's fielding and bowling was outstanding, far better than a team that have only come together two months ago. Special mention to Lewis Logan with figures of 3 overs 3 wickets for 14 runs and to Yuvraj Sethi 2 overs 2 wickets for 6 runs.

Chasing this total vice-captain Lewis Logan (18) went to attack the bowling from ball one, hitting a huge six in the second over of the innings. Kings’ raced to 25 off the first 3 overs, Aditya Vyas hitting his first ball for 4 continued to put pressure on the EIS bowlers. All the batsman contributed to the total and took advantage of some erratic bowling from the EIS bowlers. Yuvraj Sethi hitting the winning runs with 6 overs to spare.

This has been a great start to the cricket season this year and Mr Stewart and Mr Morris are extremely excited about the future of cricket here at Kings' Al Barsha.

Well done to all the boys who played this week.

The U14 rounder’s squad for KSAB played

First Point School for a match. We were

fielding first. Our fielding was amazing, and

First Point only scored 2 and a half

rounders. We were all playing to our best

standards. When we were batting, we

scored 5 and a half, and Issy had some

amazing bats. We were all able to play to

the best of our ability. After the first inning

the score was five and a half and 2 and a

half to KINGs’. In the second inning, our

fielding wasn’t to our best standards, and

we let them score seven rounders. When

we came to bat we switched on, and

caught up immediately. The final score was

twelve to nine and a half.

Player of the match: Laila Ismail

Match report written by: Laila Ismail

and India Rees Jones

The U14 rounders team demonstrated exemplary emotional intelligence (one of our

KLBs) at their game earlier this week. The whole team continued to support each individual for their successes and their failures, responding and interacting

appropriately with each other. It was a pleasure to witness as their coach.