International Insight

News from GEMS International School- Al Khail

Thursday, 12 February 2015

Edition 20.

Weekly Bulletin
Important Dates

NO SCHOOL FROM 18-19 FEBRUARY: Kindly note that there will be no school and students should not attend next Wednesday 18th February and Thursday 19th February due to sta professional development.

GIS CLASS PHOTOGRAPHY ORDERS: Class photography proofs have now been distributed, so please pick
these up from homeroom teachers. The deadline for submitting orders is Sunday 22nd February, and
an order desk will be in school this day to assist you, or you can buy prints online.

Important Information

ACCURO SERVICES: Parents, kindly note that weekly payments for Accuro services must be submitted
by the Thursday before the week commences by 6pm. Parents who subscribe monthly must also pay
for the new month in the week before.

FRENCH COMES TO GIS NEXT YEAR: Our MYP program will be introducing French as another language at
GIS next academic year. See the MYP newsletter for more details!

International Insight
News from GEMS International School- Al Khail
Thursday, 12 February 2015

Letter from the Principal

Dear parents,
This week we have had an enriching and fulfilling week at GIS with our Parent Engagement Week, and many of you have witnessed first-hand the hard work and enthusiasm of our students
and teachers by visiting their lessons and other special events planned in school. As I am sure you are
aware, parents play a very important role in the learning process, and your support and participation
this week with our parent engagement activities has shown how vital that connection between the
classroom and home is.
Unfortunately, this week we have suered a few setbacks with regard to the surrounding area at
GIS. Many of you and noticed and commented upon the smell that has been in the air around the school
in the last few days. I have learned that this smell is due to some extensive landscaping occurring in the
local area.
Another topic that I need to address this week is the processes we have in place at GIS in order to
safeguard your children at pick-up time at the end of the day. Currently, you will be aware that we
have a system in place whereby if children are placed in the area adjacent to reception after school for
any reason, we require parents to sign the list in order to take their children home. I want to emphasise
that this process has been put in place for your childs safety. The safety of our students is of fundamental importance to GIS, and we make every eort in order to safeguard your children. As a result,
this process has been established in order to ensure we have written evidence of the handover of your
child to you, and in doing so, we can ultimately ensure the safety of your child while on school premises.
I thank you for your cooperation and support on this matter.

Christopher McDermott
Principal / CEO

International Insight
News from GEMS International School- Al Khail
Thursday, 12 February 2015

MYP Newsletter

Bonjour, GIS!

Je vous souhaite une bonne journe internationale GIS! Today was all about celebrating dierent cultures, countries, languages and customs. It was great to see all the students wearing costumes that
reflected their home country, and hearing some of the discussions about where home actually was and
what it meant to spend time at home. The term Third Culture Kid or TCK really does embody what
it means to be a student here at GIS.
While today was great fun, part of what we are striving to achieve goes beyond the festivals, food and
flags aspect of internationalism and toward the language and being able to access data and communicate ideas around the world as a global citizen.
As part of our growing academic program I am very pleased to announce that starting next academic
year we will be launching a French Language program to run alongside the Spanish language program
we currently oer. As well as this we are hoping to be able to oer a Spanish Language and Literature
program for our Native Spanish Speakers. We are working hard to develop our language course oerings and hope to see this program continue to grow as the school grows.

Carolyn Mason Parker

Assistant Principal / MYP Coordinator

International Insight
News from GEMS International School- Al Khail
Thursday, 12 February 2015

This week around our school...

GIS International Day!

Here are some teaser photos from our International Day! A great day was had
by all and GIS thanks all those who participated and worked so hard.