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Newsletter
As-Salamo Alaikom!

Greetings!

Welcome to the newsletter of

Term 1/2015.

Curriculum:

The theme for

Term 1 this year was ScienceMaking sense of our world.

its first anniversary. The teachers
The planned programme was rich
invited parents for a shared lunch and with several activities related to
all staff, parents and children enjoyed the theme such as volcano in the
quality and joyous time reflecting on sand pit, experimenting with
the achievements of An-Nur for the
colours, puffy painting, bringing
past year.
nature to the class room, etc. in
addition to some other general
New enrollments: Special welcome to
activities following the children
Mohammad Eiffad Efri and his fami- interest. The staff extended on
ly who joined An-Nur recently.
the interest of children about
birds during their exploration trip
Staff News: We welcomed T. Marwa in AKA grounds by studying and
as new relief staff .
elaborating on the life cycle of
birds and offering more hands
Teachers are actively working on their on activities to help them make
planned self -review as part of their
sense of the world around them
Highly effective self -review PD.
and promote active exploration,
The review is focusing on behavior
thinking and reasoning as well as
management. Staff are preparing a
strengthening belief in the creaquestionnaire to get parents input totor. The children were also inwards reviewing this area so we urge
volved in studying the water
our parents to actively participate.
cycle and linking that to the creaTeachers are also still involved in the
tions and bounties of Allah. Lots
Math PD and applying what they learn of hands on and visual displays
on the curriculum.
were used in studying this unit.
Also, Teacher Marwa supported
Management issues: We are planning
by other staff have been working
to start a parent/teacher committee so
on teeth hygiene and oral health
we kindly ask our parents who are
with the children using lots of her
interested in joining this committee to
special resources from dental
school as well as the center's
contact management.
special resources and kit for
The centre is scheduled for an Educabrushing teeth. The Montessori
tion Review visit on 8-9 April 2015.
daily routines continued as usual
Management, BOT and staff have been with teacher Rowshan extending
preparing for the visit and all requested on such activities and introducing
reports and essential paperwork have
new ones. Several activities
been sent to ERO officials. We look
linked to the health education to
forward to the visit and a good outmeet the requirements of renewcome.
ing the hearty heart award and
scaffolding on children
knowledge and interest in this
area have been offered.
T.Maysoon shared with the children a special apple peeler/corer
machine introducing technology
awareness, encouraging healthy
eating and discussing math con-

General News: An-Nur celebrated

April 2015
Tena Koutou!

cepts of counting, adding and

shapes while using the circular and
spiral apple pieces for cooking
special dessert.
The dress up area is becoming more
popular and the children are enjoying fantasy play and dressing up in
different cultural clothing (Islamic,
Maori, general and fantasy costumes).

Islamic & Arabic Education: Teachers Isra and Raja have

prepared a special educational plan
for this term. The focus was teaching the children about the pillars of
Islam in a practical and visual way,
teaching them about the prophetic
sayings and actions. This includes
what is Hadith, examples of few
simple Hadiths, supplications
(before sleeping and when waking
up, entering and leaving toilet), etc.
Alqadr and Al-Kawthar short suras
were also the Quranic focus. The
children were also working on the
Arabic letters long vowels, writing
their names in Arabic and reading
short Arabic stories. The children
are showing great progress in their
Qur'an and Nasheed( rhymes)
memorization, recognition of Arabic letters and words & understanding Islamic concepts .

School readiness: . Improving

Special events:

The

staff and BOT have organized an open day to promote

the centre for the wider community. The open day was
publicized to the Muslim
community through Dunedin
mosque and to the community at large with signs and
invitations displayed at
MacAndrew road school
entrance. The open day included showcasing of the
different curriculum areas,
handing out enrollment packages/parent handbooks and
offering a healthy meal. The
children enjoyed several
educational activities as well
jumping on the bouncy castle. The turnout was good and
all participants enjoyed the
day. Also, Parent /teacher
meeting has ben organized
where teachers were available to brief parents with their
children progress as well as
to discuss any parents concerns regarding the education
of their children. The meetings also aimed at making
sure parents are aware and
have full access to An-Nur
website and their child/
children electronic portfolios.
http://

pencil grip and fine motor skills for dunedinannurchildc.wix.com/

the children is not limited to writing dunedin
but supported by other activities
such as puzzles, threading, painting,
cutting and other additional Montessori skills. Children are also
introduced to a wide range of books
and read to as well as encouraged to
read. Transitioning to school is a
focus for our older children.

Outings :

An-Nur teachers are

making the best out of the nice

weather while it lasts. They have
been setting lunches outside and
taking the children in a picnic type

Best wishes from staff

and management.
May Allah accept our
good deeds, Ameen.

lunch and small outings to the

AKA spacious playgrounds

Maysoon Salama