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Volume 5, Issue 14 Dec 13th 2012

The Academy promotes inquiring, knowledgeable, reflective, and caring learners who develop personal skills to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. Reflected in a variety of defined outcomes and assessments, our divisional I.B. programs support students to become compassionate, lifelong, and actively involved learners who recognize the differences among people and will contribute to a better future global society.

A Note from the Elementary Vice- Principal


Our Most Valuable Resource If you ask our teachers what their most valuable resource is you might think they would say its our laptop carts or the thousands of books in our libraries or our talented support staffs or even our planetarium. Its true that we have phenomenal facilities and people at GWA, but none of those would be at the top of their lists. When it comes to teaching and learning, our most valuable resource is time. We, as a school, spend a lot of our time trying to decide how to use it best. That might seem strange, but when you consider your children are with us for between around 5 to 7.5 hours each day depending on their grade level, and we subtract time for breaks, and time for lunch, and the transition times between classes, then were left with a surprisingly short amount of direct interaction reserved for teaching and learning in the classroom. Add in assemblies, cultural celebrations, visits to the nurse and suddenly its even less but this is typical for most schools around the world. As a result, we see time as a very precious resource that is to be used wisely [just the other day, I was in a planning meeting where we argued over the best use of a few five minute gaps in the day!]. Therefore, we see every single minute as important to your childrens continued development and progress. There will always be the illnesses, appointments and emergencies that pop up; theyre the unavoidable parts of our everyday lives. Each day we hope and expect our students are there for us to teach, just as every student comes to school hoping and expecting to learn. So you can understand how we, as your childs educators, feel when we are deprived of the little time we have with them. When students regularly come to school late or are being picked up early, even if it is 10 minutes, this can have a large impact. Consider if this happened only once a week; throughout the year, that would equal an entire day of learning lost. If its 30 minutes or an hour each week, then by the end of the year your child might have missed a couple of weeks of learning! Being late when the bell rings at 8:15am or being picked up early in the afternoon does not only impact your childs learning, but also disrupts the learning of the other students in their class. Often, those first minutes in the morning are filled with attendance, an overview of the days learning, communication diaries are checked, students get settled, and a tone is set for the rest of the day. While at the days end, during those last 10 to 15 minutes were completing a lesson, reflecting on our learning, notes are handed out, communication diaries are filled, homework is reviewed, and we talk about whats coming up. Traffic, family, jobs and a hundred other things can slow us down each day, but we only ask that you try to make sure your child is at school on time and that someone is there to pick them up not before, not after, but at their dismissal time. However, when life happens, as a courtesy, please let your childs teacher know, whenever possible, if you have to get them early or if you will be late in getting to school. It really helps us so we can make adjustments and be prepared for those disruptions. Please give us the time needed to help make your kids the best possible students they can be. We really do appreciate your support and thank you for your time! Jeff Hart Elementary Vice-Principal

Quick Glimpse at the Week Ahead!


Sunday, Dec 16 Day 1 Monday, Dec 17 Day 2 Student Council
Meetings 3.45 pm

Tuesday, Dec 18 Day 3 GWA Winter Festival


9.00am2.00pm

Wednesday, Dec 19 Day 4 Pre-kGr 1 Winter Music


Celebration 8.45 am - 9.15 am

Thursday, Dec 20 Day 5 Gr2Gr5 Winter Music


Celebration 8.45 am9.15 am

Art Gallery 2AF, 2NW,


2DK 8.40 am Lobby Area

Art Gallery 2AW, 2CF, 2CM


8.40 am Lobby Area

Early Dismissal 12pm

To view the GWA cafeteria menu, please visit the GWA website at www.gemsworldacademy-dubai.com

CONGRATULATIONS! -- GWA-Dubai Awarded C.I. S. Accreditation


(click here)

Following our onsite week by a twelve member international visiting inspection team, GWA was notified it has been awarded accreditation, reflecting best standards for international schools. The visit verified a prior yearlong self-study and feedback for improvements and accolades from students, parents, faculty, and administration. Such accreditation is especially significant to our graduating Seniors applying for admission to universities and colleges around the world. Mr. Young, Head of School, will receive the CIS Accreditation Award in behalf of GWA -Dubai at an official ceremony in London in January.

Grade 2 Art Gallery


For the past six weeks Grade 2 have been inquiring into how emotions and ideas are expressed through different artistic media. We have explored the different elements of art, different artistic media, and how we can express ourselves through our art. Our summative task for this unit is to create an art piece using the elements of art and expressing our emotions. We will be showcasing these pieces of art and other creations in our Grade 2 Art Gallery! You will see art boards set up in reception and please also check out the Gallery Walk by the KG area. Gallery Exhibition time for Grade 2 Parents: 2AF, 2NW, 2DK Monday 17th December at 8.40am in reception. 2AW, 2CF, 2CM Wednesday 19th December at 8.40am in reception. This weeks 3-A-Day is inspired by the Grade 2 Art Exhibition which will be held next week outside the Auditorium. This world is but a canvas to our imagination. Henry David Thoreau Talk about the different pieces of artwork which are in and around your home. What mediums have been used? What do you think the artist was trying to express? Share some time with your child walking through the Grade 2 Art Exhibition next week. Which pieces of art appeal most to you? Why? Perhaps find a family art project you can enjoy together. Encourage your child to express him/herself through art. Find a place in your home to display special pieces of art created by your child.

The Eco-Schools committee are Reintroducing Bokashi! January 2013 A simple, inexpensive and environmentally friendly method of dealing with all the food waste generated in our cafeteria! Congratulations to Grade 4SM on winning the Green Dragon this week in the assembly!

A Note from our Primary Years Programme Coordinator


This week, I had the opportunity to go with the grade 4 classes on their overnight field trip to the mangrove forests and desert camp. I had fond memories of the same experience last year as one of the grade 4 teachers and I was excited to be invited again this year. While on the bus trip to our first destination, the rear section of the bus decided to make a movie trailer using my Ipad and the application Imovie. We assigned jobs such as casting manager, creativity director and production manager. Then we set to the task of taking shots and creating the trailer with the ideas and direction of the students. What was produced was quite awesome and after some reflection I realized this was only made possible by a foundation of skills developed in the PYP classroom and at home. The students discussed their role in the production responsibly and they auditioned for different characters in front of the casting director. If they were not chosen, they made adaptions and changes so that their acting improved and were chosen for other roles. These are some of the skills that we develop so our students can be successful in the 21st century. We are developing and enhancing these skills every day at GWA, even from the buckled seat of a bus!

Health Matters

Reading Competition!
Monday will be the final event for the reading competition! Students in grades 4 and 5 have been reading two eBooks in preparation for the competition. On Monday students will work in their teams together to answer questions about the two books. The top 2 teams will then have the choice to advance to the next round which is through the Emirates Literature Festival. Students will be asked to read 4 books and compete against schools all around Dubai! The library has seen a great turnout for the reading competition this year despite the occasional frustrations of using EBooks. We thank everyone at home who has been encouraging students to continue reading and helping them succeed at this event! If you wish to download the free app to view and read EBooks, the library finally got the app working with or Destiny program. Look for the Follett Digital Reader app, which is free. The information you need for the first line (web address) is: wbb26810. Happy Reading!

Checkout this months Time Out Kids magazine issue and on line Time Out Kids Dubai at http://www.timeoutdubai.com/ kids/features/37286-lakeland-healthinitiative-in-dubai to find out more about last months Grade 1 Lakeland Health Initiative at Gems World Academy.

Wow the time seems to have just flown by. Our Grade 4 & 5 Football teams have completed their seasons this week, and a huge congratulations to all of the players and the coaches. Our Swimming team has once again been in action, and had more fantastic results from the competition they attended last Thursday (see report below).

Grade 4 & 5 Football Teams. Both of our teams played in their finals this week. After both finishing in second place in the respective leagues, they both qualified for the second place finals. In the finals both teams were extremely competitive and played very well, losing their first games, but winning their second.

A huge congratulations to all the players and both coaches (Mr. Anderson and Mr. Coogan) for an amazing season Date
Mon 10th Dec Mon 10th Dec Wed 12th Dec Wed 12th Dec

Opposition
JESS Jumeriah Royal Dubai School Horizon Royal Dubai School

Team
Grade 4 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 5

Venue
Rashid School Rashid School Rashid School Rashid School

Result
8-0 JESS Win 5-4 GWA Win 0-1 Hor Win 4-1 GWA Win

GWA Elementary Swimming Team Last Thursday our elementary swimming team attended a swimming competition at Wellington Silicon Oasis. Again they had an extremely successful meet (see article below). Well done to all the swimmers and coaches involved. As always if you have any questions regarding the sporting program then please dont hesitate to contact me. Yours in sport. Ken Barker Athletic Director
Sport quote of the week

A " champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning." " Billie Jean King US Tennis Player

SECOND HAND UNIFORM SHOP


Please come to the Shop to collect money for items you may have sold. The deadline to collect your money is December 19th. After that date items in the shop will be considered as donated. Thanks!

AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITY STREET JAZZ GWA Sundays Grade KG2- Grade 5 3:45pm 4:45pm Located in the Squash Courts Term is for 11 weeks, Fee 660 AED Starts Week of Sunday 6th January 2013 TO REGISTER PLEASE CONTACT VICTORIA 0501146829 OR EMAIL victoria@diversechoreography.com www.diversechoreography.com All lost and found items will be displayed in the Cafeteria on the 18th and 19th December. Any uncollected items after the 19th will be donated to the Uniform Shop and Charity.

Important Upcoming Dates


December 18 December 19 December 20 December 20 December 23January 3 January 6 January 15 January 21 January 31 February 10 GWA Winter Festival 9 am 2 pm Pre-K to Gr 1 Winter Music Celebration 8.45 am 9.15 am Gr 2Gr 5 Winter Music Celebration 8.45 am -9.15 am Early dismissal 12pm Winter Break Classes Resume Gr2 Gr5 Sports Day Music Concert KG2Gr2 , 9am10am ECGr1 Sports Day Quarter 2 Reports Issued

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