Brighton

College Al Ain

Newsletter

Inside this issue

Scholarship Programme.............. 2

Art .............................................. 4

Trips ............................................ 5

National Day Celebrations .......... 6

Music .......................................... 8

Scholarship Programme Launched

We are very pleased to announce that, in keeping with our desire to promote and celebrate academic,

sporting and culture excellence Brighton College Al Ain will be offering Scholarships for both new and

existing pupils. Full details of the Scholarship programme can be found on pages 2 and 3 of this News-

letter.

Mr Alun Yorath, Head Master

November/December 2013, Edition 3

Why do we offer Scholar-ships?

1. Children who are recog-

nised for their excep-

tional gift or talent are

role models for the

whole school communi-

ty.

2. Scholarships carry a 25%

reduction on fees- this

may allow a child to be

schooled at Brighton

where previously the fee

structure did not allow

this to happen.

3. Scholarships are highly

aspirational and give

children something to

aim for. A child that is

currently at the College

will be just as eligible to

compete for a scholar-

ship in the future as a

new applicant.

4. We will regularly cele-

brate the work done by

our Scholars. Their sta-

tus as a Music, Sporting

or Academic Scholar will

be publicly recognised.

Approximately 80 Academic, Music and Sporting Scholarships are available for the academic

year 2014-15

What is a Scholarship?

How does my child qualify for a scholarship?

2

A scholarship is won by a child on merit alone. The child must

demonstrate exceptional academic, sporting or musical talent.

The scholarship will lead to a 25% fee reduction for the child and

public recognition that the child has been awarded this scholarship.

To be considered for a Scholarship your child must currently be study-ing at Brighton College or have been offered a place for next year. If your child is currently at the College and you wish for your child to be considered for a scholarship then you will need to complete the scholarship consideration form available from the Admissions Of-fice from Sunday 5th January 2014. Please note that your child will only be allowed to sit the scholarship academic paper or the Music/Sporting practical assessment if the Head of Junior or Senior School endorses the application. If your child has not yet applied for a place at the College then you will need to complete a standard application and your child will need

to sit the necessary entrance tests for entry to Years 2-10. Only if your child has been offered a place for September 2014 may you then com-plete the scholarship consideration form available from the Admissions Office from Sunday 5th January 2014. Please note that your child will only be allowed to sit the schol-arship academic paper if their per-formance on the entry tests places them in the top sector of children applying. We will inform you about this when you complete the scholar-ship consideration form. Any child may apply for a sporting or Music scholarship by completing the scholarship consideration form. On-ly shortlisted pupils will be called for a practical assessment. Shortlist-ing will be based on the information you complete on the scholarship consideration form.

The Scholarship consideration form will be available from 5th January 2014. Please contact the Admis-

sions Office in the New Year for further information.

2

The Admissions Office

The Admissions office is

located adjacent to the

reception desk in the Recep-

tion building at the College.

Contact the admissions

office

03 7133 999

admissions

@brightoncollegealain.ae

What are the Academic Scholarship tests?

For entry to Years 1-4 we

will assess the children over a

morning or full day in school.

They will take part in a wide

range of activities and mini-

assessments that will test all

aspects of a child’s capabili-

ties

For entry to Years 5-10

children will sit three exams

in Maths, English and Sci-

ence. These papers will be sat

in one morning with short

supervised breaks between

each paper. We do not pro-

vide samples of the testing

material used. All test papers

are retained by the College

after completion and remain

the property of the College.

Scholarship timeline

All new children being considered for Scholarships will need to have applied for entry to the College by Thursday 6th February 2014

Sunday 5th January 2014

Admissions office opens for applications for September 2014

entry

Sunday 12th January 2014

Individual tours for parents and children for entry to FS1-Year 1

begin- Please contact the Admissions Office to book a tour

Sunday 19th January 2014

Entrance tests for entry to Years 2-10 begin- Please contact the

Admissions Office for further information

Tours of the College for Parents and Children for entry to Years

2-10 begin- Please contact the Admissions Office to book a

tour

Tuesday 21st January 2014

Open Evening for prospective and current parents 6pm-8pm

Thursday 6th February 2014 3pm

Applications for entry to the College from children who intend

to apply for Scholarship consideration close- Please note

that after this date any further applications will not be eligi-

ble for consideration for scholarship

Sunday 23rd February 2014

Scholarship testing for all eligible pupils begins

3

Unsuccessful candidates may re-apply for considera-tion the following year. Please note that the number of NEW scholarships available in the future will be

considerably less than the first year’s offerings.

Preparing for National Day in the Art Depart-ment

It has been an amazing few weeks watching the pupils of Brighton College embrace the challenge of producing a series of artistic pieces for National Day. Inspiration came from several sources: national dress, buildings, animals, Islamic pat-terns and landscapes, henna designs, sand dunes and the ocean all contributed to ensur-ing that the compositions were representative of cultural, histor-ical and contemporary aspects of life in the UAE. The careful application of paint and oil pas-tel brought rich colours to the art and illustrated the creativity and sense of beauty that our pupils are able to express in their work.

The imaginatively-designed and beautifully-crafted pieces ranged from pictorial hangings to sculp-tures of buildings and clams with pearls. It was clear to see how much our pupils enjoyed working on the project, with ‘fabulous’, ‘fun’ and ‘exciting’ just some of the words used by pupils to describe their experi-ences. The pupils were a credit to the College, working tirelessly prior to the event during numer-ous lunch sessions in order to ensure that the finished pieces were of the highest standard possible.

Many pupils from Year 5 to Year 9 were involved with the wonderful creations and it was so pleasing to see the older members of the College mentor the younger pupils. I hope that next year is as eventful and pro-ductive as this one. I am sure that it will!

Mrs Claire Hackett,

Head of Art

Art @ Brighton

‘Fabulous’, ‘fun’ and ‘exciting’. Just some of the words used to describe art projects in the build up to National Day.

4

House Competitions

House competitions have been a great success this month with girls Netball being fiercely contested!

Next term we have a range of house competitions planned:

House Golf Competi-tion at AAESGC

House Adventure Rac-ing Competition at Wadi Adventure

College Sports Day

House table-tennis com-petition

House Pop-Idol compe-tition

Visits and Trips

“If learning is confined to the classroom then children are losing valuable opportunities to discover”

5

Brighton College places great

emphasis on trips and visits.

Learning outside the classroom

brings a subject to life. In the last

month we have been busy with

day trips visiting venues in Al

Ain, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Abu Dhabi Science Festival- Yas

Island

Senior School Computing Trip

Abu Dhabi Science Festival- Al

Ain Zoo

Senior School Science and Computing

Trip

Brighton College Abu Dhabi

performance of Blood Brothers

Senior School Drama Trip

Ski Dubai

Senior School Social Trip

Lulu supermarket and local

market

Junior School ‘Where our food comes

from” trip

Al Ain Music Festival- Al Qatara

Arts centre

Senior School Music Trip

Next term we already have

many more trips planned,

including:

Zakher Park

FS1-2 trip to discover more about the

environment and plants.

Al Ain Zoo

I. Joint Junior and Senior School Art

and Science Trip

II. Senior School ICT database trip

III. Junior School Africa Studies trip

Ski Dubai

Another Senior School Social trip!

Wadi Adventure

Senior School Physics trip

Al Ain Raceway

Senior School House trip

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque,

Abu Dhabi

Senior School Islamic Studies trip

Musandam Adventurous training

Year 9 adventurous training trip to the

Northern Emirates.

Al Ain Palace

Junior School cultural trip

Cement Factory

Senior School Art trip

Dino Live

Junior School Dinosaurs trip

Local Farm visit

Junior School Trip to a local farm to

learn more about food production

Dubai Creek and Daid

Junior School overnight trip for Y4

pupils only

And many more……..!

“The whole world is a classroom and it’s the most exciting classroom there is!”

House Totals

Over 1000 house points have been earned this term as a result of competitions and individual house points for work, acts of kindness etc..

In the Junior School the final totals are:

Fenwick 407 points

Chichester 389 points

Ryle 384 points

Hampden 357 points

In the Senior School the final totals are:

Chichester 226 points

Fenwick 204 points

Ryle 186 points

Hampden 156 points

An Interview with two pupils

What is National Day?

Karien – “National Day is when

people of the UAE celebrate the

development of the country”

Mouza - “It is a day for us to re-

member the union of the UAE”

What sorts of celebrations take

place?

Mouza - “Parades, shows, we

dress in traditional clothes, we eat

traditional food with our family

and guests. The men and chil-

dren of the family go to the pa-

rades and out on the street to

celebrate, whilst the ladies stay at

home and have a party.”

Karien – “They dance with sticks,

dress up, decorate their cars, houses

and the streets. The houses also

display large UAE flags.”

What about the College, are you

preparing anything special for

National Day?

Karien – “Yes, we have painted large

displays which will be hung along

the windows. We have also been

busy making small models of land-

marks in the UAE and decorating

the college in the colors of the flag,

red, black, green and white. There

are also many rehearsals taking place

in Drama & Music for performances

which will take place during our

National Day celebration. I am really

looking forward to National Day at

Brighton College.”

Mouza - “Yes, I am part of a show

and my parents are donated items

for the celebration, like, flags, tradi-

tional food, etc. I am also helping to

paint the large displays and have

donated many aluminum cans to the

Arabic Social Studies department as

they are creating a Buj Khalifa.”

When is the College celebrating

National Day?

Mouza & Karien – “On Thursday,

28th November”

National Day in the UAE is cele-

brated on the 2nd of December,

what will you be doing?

Karien – “I think we will go to Abu

Dhabi and join in the festivities. It is

great to see so many people joining

together and celebrating their coun-

try, it shows how proud they are of

their achievements.”

Mouza - “I will be enjoying the day

with my family and friend. I feel very

proud to be an Emirati citizen, it is a

country which has developed rapidly

thanks to its leaders and people.”

National Day

6

Pupils studying the Story of Our Land carefully prepared a variety of fascinating projects in preparation for National Day. They started by choos-ing topics based on aspects of the UAE which especially interested them, then set about planning their projects and allocating tasks between the group members. Pupils then embarked on a fact finding mission carrying out fo-cused ICT based research on their projects. There was plenty of creativi-ty and artistic flair on display as the students applied the finishing touches to their colourful and imaginative dis-play boards. Year 9 produced excel-lent displays exploring the rich culture of the Bedouin Arabs and how their traditions are treasured and practiced by contemporary city dwelling Emira-tis. They also included displays depict-

ing the life of the late Emir Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nayan and his significance in founding the Union. The Year 8 projects included infor-mation on the Royal Families of the U.A.E., and also the extremely rapid development the country has wit-nessed over the last few decades. Y7 produced displays exploring the coun-try’s diverse industrial landscape with particular focus on the growth of tour-ism, showing many of the fascinating historic and modern-day attractions. The projects, which were exhibited for National Day, proved very popular with visitors to the College, many of whom commented on their education-al value and how interesting they were.

Johnny Hunter – Head of Humani-

ties

National Day was celebrated at the College on Tuesday 3rd December

English Awards

Reader of the Month

Theodora Zavos Year 7

She has read The Miserable Mill, Jakes Tower, The Secret Garden and is currently read-ing The Austere Academy. She puts a lot of time and effort into her reading and the activities on the reading record which she is very close to completing. She loves to read because (in her words) "you can almost visu-alise what you are reading." Her favourite book that she has read so far is The Misera-ble Mill because of the mys-tery surrounding the story and the exciting and tense narrative. Theodora has now completed the bronze record! Serraillier Poetry Prize

Urhum Habib (8) and Martha Hunt (9) made Brighton Col-lege history twice in Novem-ber when they were an-nounced as the inaugural winners of the Serraillier Po-etry Prize, in the very first assembly to be held at the new College Theatre.

The talented Hampden duo took to the stage to receive their awards following mem-orable performances of the winning poems by an illustri-ous professional actor. Mr. Bridge, no less!

7

Arabic Sports Competition

The Physical Education department

took a break from their usual sporting

activities for a day to embrace tradi-

tional games and pass times as part of

the National Day celebrations at

Brighton College Al Ain on the 28

November. Staff, pupils and parents

played Al Ghomaid, Al Ma Okazi, Al

Qaraheif and Al Qabba. Director of

Sport, Chris Branch, said “We have

had a fantastic day experiencing the

games that have been passed down

through generations.” Al Qabba

proved to be a particular favourite.

Players must hit a 20cm stick that has

pointed ends causing it to jump up

from the floor. While in the air the

player must hit the stick as far they

can. It all sounds so easy! For several

of the staff this was the first experi-

ence of National Day and the atmos-

phere of celebration and national

pride.

Chris Branch – Director of Sport

“National Day sports were my favourite bit of the day- I learnt new sports I had never seen be-fore” An Emirati boy.

Mrs Salam Ali, Head of Islam-

ic Studies writes about the Na-

tional Day preparations

The BIG celebration is nearing, colors

of red, green, white and black are be-

ing distributed all across the school,

and we can almost smell the scent of

the Arabic coffee in the air, and the

delicious traditional Emirati food as

we are all ecstatic to celebrate UAE's

42 years of unity.

On this joyous event, a vast amount

of various festive activities such as

dances, singing, yollas and other types

of fun will take place all around the

college.

The college will present a holistic pic-

ture of the Old, and Modern UAE

involving all staff, pupils and the par-

ents in different activities. All will get

into the spirit of the union and enjoy

themselves remembering that this spir-

it is derived from the vision of Shaikh

Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who

bestowed on the community a passion

to continue to progress the nation. We

are celebrating the big achievements

made by the UAE leaders while wish-

ing all the UAE people more and

more success and prosperity.

Instrumental Lessons

We are able to offer instrumental

lessons to pupils during the school day.

Pupils attend these lessons on a rota

basis so that they do not miss the same

lesson each week. Please speak with a

member of the music department if

you would like your child to learn a

new instrument.

A Music-making week at Brighton College

Comments and Suggestions

We welcome any suggestions or feedback about the College Newsletter. Please send your comments to the Head Master’s PA, Mrs Jill Preston, (jpreston@brightoncollegealain.ae). Please include the following text in the title of the email “COLLEGE NEWSLETTER FEEDBACK”

Senior School Girls’ Choir performed at Al Qatara Arts centre as part of the Al Ain Music Festival

7 Brighton College pupils performed at the Young Musi-cians Evening host-ed at the College Theatre as part of the Al Ain Music Festival

Over 80 children and 10 staff performed on stage for the final end of term Winter ‘Music and Dance’ Production attended by over 200 guests

Musical events at Brighton