Primary Newsletter
Lets look back at January 2020
MESSAGE FROM OUR PRIMARY PRINCIPAL - MS. SANDRA KELLEC
Dear Parents and AJAC Community,
We are already well into Term 2, and as always we have a number of milestones to share with you.
As a result of our Teaching and Learning audit, which was an intensive three-week observation of all teachers using a lesson rubric with set criteria, we have reviewed and revised all action plans to further address the quality of teaching and learning across the school.
Revised action plan goals include:
-Primary teachers to use an 8 point lesson structure ensuring interesting, consistent and purposeful lessons for better student understanding
-Introduction of a Primary School tracking application that documents student progress linked to subject evidence and U.K. National and MoE standards, to be used by both English and Arabic teachers respectively.
-The use of Showbie in Grades 3-5 for exploring innovative ways of providing feedback to students about their learning and assignments
-More effective moderation of student work by setting meetings in collaborative grade-level teams and across grade levels
-Academic vocabulary to be more visible in classrooms and taught in all lessons in English, Maths, and Science
-Improvement plans for Mathematics teaching as set by our Mathematics Coordinator to include standardised mental maths quizzes, and term exams to be introduced in Grades 4 and 5
-Innovative ways to ensure concentrated small group time to assist students in finding more pathways to success, particularly in reading and Mathematics.
-Proposals for better identification of giftedness and students talent
-Stronger links between Unit of Inquiries, international-mindedness and links to community service and action.
We are proud of all of our children and make every attempt to highlight those who have excelled or have given their best efforts. Whether this is in external contests/events in the U.A.E. or abroad, we aim to share students’ achievements in a variety of ways (e.g. academically/personal talents/effort). Achievements are most often highlighted in our daily assemblies through certificates, trophies, and community recognition. We also encourage our parents to follow the SeeSaw App to see their children’s activities on a daily basis.
We have been working very hard with you as parent partners to increase daily attendance and timeliness at the school. I am proud to say that last Thursday we had 93% attendance across the Primary School.
We have already offered the students several field trips this term. All of our field trips link closely with our P.Y.P. Units of Inquiry, making learning relevant with links to UAE culture, whenever possible. Please see an example of the recent Grade 1 trip in this newsletter. They visited our very own Ajman Museum and learned about a proud past and aspirations for a bright future.
Our aim is to raise standards towards excellence in all area of our children’s education, whilst staying true to our vision “ World-leading learning for all”.
Sandra Kellec
Primary Principal
Primary students were awarded the Zero Absence award for Term I, for the 2019/2020 academic year. This award honours students who have had perfect attendance so far this year. It provides recognition for being at school every day and the importance of consistency and commitment. Congratulations to all of our students who received this award.
Primary Attendance
In our last newsletter, we requested more parent support to make sure that children stay in
school until the end of the day on Thursdays.
Please see data comparison images below of last term’s Thursdays as compared to our last Thursday data (23 January, 2020) showing a tremendous increase in student attendance and retention on Thursdays.
Many thanks to our parents for their continuous support.
A message from our PYP Coordinator, Ms. Rachel
As we start Unit 3 our school focus is to really develop a greater vocabulary in English through the units of inquiry.
In Pre-KG, they have created play areas which engage the children and really help them acquire language through play.
Further up the school we have been exploring a range of key vocabulary and helping the children to remember and use the words in their work.
Pupils are interested in their new units and are asking some amazing and thought-provoking questions.
We always encourage children to see the ‘bigger picture’ and look at global issues through their units of inquiry.
Please do discuss news items such as the Australian bushfires and the volcano in the Philippines. Help them locate these countries on a map and find out about what is happening and how people are responding to the issues. Our world is so connected now, particularly as many people in our own school community are directly affected by these events.
A message from our Literacy Coordinator, Ms. Emma
In term 1, we saw lots of exciting things happening in Literacy. Children throughout the school from Pre-KG to Grade 5 were exposed to a variety of brilliant, inspiring stories that they used in class to inform their writing and improve their reading.
This term, teachers are continuing to choose books for their classes to help contextualise the teaching of grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, writing skills and reading strategies.
Ms Georgina Temple-Smith from our AEN Department has been working with some grades on using the iMindMap app to help facilitate the teaching of vocabulary to allow children to understand the central idea better.
Grade 4 has made a cracking start to their GL Assessment case study by implementing more guided and reciprocal reading lessons and including research skills in their projects. This should raise the profile of reading and will help to accelerate the progress of children in Grade 4 as they start to make their transition into Grade 5.
There are lots that you, as parents, can do to support and encourage reading at home. Please see the attached link for some great tips https://www.pearson.com/uk/learners/primary-parents/learn-at-home/help-your-child-to-enjoy-reading/top-10-tips-to-help-children-enjoy-reading.html
There are lots to look forward to in Term 2, including World Book Day (UK) that falls on Thursday 5th March. For more information, visit https://www.worldbookday.com/
A message from our Maths Coordinator, Mr. Zane
The teachers and I have met to discuss ways in which we can improve Mathematics across the Primary school.
Information about the changes was placed on the D6 on the 27th of January 2020.
Some key points from the letter were:
- The introduction of End of Term Assessments for Grades 4 and 5.
- Benchmark and Final Unit Assessments for most Grades in the Primary.
- Student work being sent home more regularly (e.g. Showbie, copybooks etc. ) to help parents stay up to date with the progress of their children.
Full details about each point can be found in the letter sent to parents on D6.
Here are some pictures of the students completing activities to help gain a better understanding of the mathematical concepts.
A message from our Pre-KG Grade Leader, Ms. Clare
"What an exciting couple of mornings, Pre-KG had last week. They joined the rest of the primary school for the outdoor morning line-up and flag raising.
Zachary from CEA received a certificate for moving up a level in his Taekwondo ECA and Shahad from SCO read the Quran with her brother and with the help of all students in Primary. Bravo!
We hope to see Pre-KG join us again soon for our Morning assembly.
A message from our Environmental Coordinator, Mr. Basil
This year we have prepared an Environmental Policy for the Primary School. Each grade has an ‘Environmental Action Plan’ which will focus on specific environmental target areas related to their Units of Inquiry.
Students and teachers received information broadening international environmental awareness linked to current events, particularly the destruction of trees, homes and displacement of animals due to bushfires in Australia and the aftermath of the earthquake and ash from the Taal volcano in the Philippines.
Recently, the Ministry of Education confirmed the importance of the Ghaf Tree Campaign under the slogan of “ Our Dry School”. The aim is to consolidate the culture of environmental awareness and the importance of preserving the Ghaf tree from undue cutting and unfair logging.
Ajman Academy aims to create a garden for Ghaf trees on campus entitled the “ AJAC Garden of Tolerance”.
A message from our Science Coordinator, Ms. Sam
We are excited to announce that following on from the success of the Grade 5 boy’s team in the ‘Emirates Young Scientists Competition', the following children have been selected to represent their grade level in 'The Junior Innovators Challenge.'
KG1 - Mansour Ibrahim Alsebeyi
KG2 - Mohammed Rashid Alshamsi
Grade 1 - Alya Faisal Almheiri
Grade 2 - Rawda Abdulazeez Alobaidki
Grade 3 - Omar Suhail Almeeri
Grade 4 - Mohammed Ghanim Alfalasi
The aim of this competition is to inspire Emirati children so that they become more encouraged to be creative and innovative. "The competition seeks to promote the spirit of excellence in science, technology and innovation among students by involving them in different challenges.”
Only 30 children will be selected to represent each grade level in the whole of the UAE so we will keep you updated with the representatives' journey.
A message from our Arabic Coordinator, Ms. Karima
السادة الأفاضل أولياء الأمور الكرام …
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
عاد الطلبة من عطلتهم الشتوية وهم عازمين على بدء عامهم الجديد بجد ونشاط.
كنا قد أعلنا قبل العطلة عن مسابقة تحدي القراءة باللغة العربية، وأبدى العديد من طلبتنا من مختلف الصفوف رغبتهم في المشاركة، وعليه، قمنا بتخصيص نشاط بعد المدرسة في يوم الأحد من كل أسبوع لإعداد الطلبة المشاركين للمسابقة ومساعدتهم في تلخيص القصص المقروءة وتصويب أخطائهم، علماً بأن البعض منهم قد أنهوا الجوازات الخمس. كما أننا سنعلن عن مسابقة القرآن في وقت قريب إن شاء الله.
خلال هذا الشهر، استمتع بعض الصفوف بالرحلات الميدانية التي تعكس ما تعلموه في المدرسة، بتساؤلاتهم العديدة من خلال حصص وحدة البحث وإبداعاتهم في الأنشطة الصفية.
نود تذكيركم بتطبيق“ كتبي“ المنصة القرائية، يرجى العمل على تفعيل هذا التطبيق مع أبنائكم/بناتكم في المنزل لكي يحسِّن الطلبة من مستواهم في مهارة القراءة وإثراء مفرداتهم اللغوية وتوظيفها في مهارة التعبير، ومازلنا مستمرين بإثراء مفكرة طلبتنا اللغوية من خلال ملف القراءة الإثرائية الذي يرسل معهم يوم الإثنين من كل أسبوع.
تم عرض التجمع المدرسي لطلبة الصف الأول وكان بعنوان ” العادات حول العالم“، وقد أبدع الطلبة في عرضهم للموضوع باللغتين العربية والإنجليزية وقدموا بعض الحقائق عن العادات والتقاليد في بلادهم.
Message from our Islamic Studies Teacher, Mr. Belal
السادة الأفاضل أولياء الأمور الكرام …
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
يقوم معلمو التربية الإسلامية يومياً بجمع الطلبة الراغبين بأداء صلاة الظهر في جماعة وكذلك تنفيذ العديد من الأنشطة التي تعزز من فهم الطلبة لما يتعلمونه في دروسهم حيث تم جمع طلبة الصف الخامس في مصلى المدرسة لشرح أحكام صلاة الجماعة وصلاة المسبوق لهم، ثم قاموا بأدائها مع معلم المادة، وتم التنويه على بعض الأخطاء التي يقع بها المصلون في المساجد أو أثناء أدائهم لصلاة الجماعة.
ولتعزيز قيمة التسامح في نفوس الطلبة تحدث المدرسون مع طلبتهم عن ضرورة التعامل بتسامح وخلق حسن مع بعضهم البعض، وتم إطلاق مسابقة كأس التسامح التي يقوم فيها الطلبة بكتابة بعض المواقف التي حصلت معهم وأبدوا فيها تسامحاً فيما بينهم، وقد تم تخصيص لوحة لعرض كتابات الطلبة عليها، على أن يتم تكريم الطلبة المتسامحين في وقت لاحق.
A message from our Grade 1 Teacher, Ms. Adele
On Wednesday 22nd January Grade One visited Ajman Museum as part of their Unit of Inquiry: Cultures around the World.
We walked around the Museum in our class groups and enjoyed looking at artefacts from the UAE’s past. We walked through a traditional market where we smelt spices, saw a baker, sweet maker, carpet maker, barber and an Arabic coffeehouse.
We learnt about the UAE’s fishing and pearling trades and visited the private room of His Highness Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid AlNuaimi. We were able to compare and contrast our lives now with those of the past.
A message from our Primary PE Coordinator, Ms. Maysoon
PE teachers nominate students from each class and celebrate their achievements during the morning flag assembly each Sunday. During the assembly students receive a certificate for their commitment to sport, respect towards others and sporting rules.
Students who receive this award have tried their best at all times, been risk-takers and have been responsible for wearing their PE/swimming kit during each class. The main goal of this award is to motivate students to work harder during their PE/swimming lessons and to raise their standard of performance to excellent.
A message from our Grade 3 Leader, Ms. Leanne
Grade 3 had the opportunity to learn about how to care for the environment in Term I; Change the World, Create!
They reflected about how their actions can result in less air, water and land pollution. One of the activities that we did was to make new paper from recycled paper, which we collected in the school.
We then gave the parents , staff and students the opportunity to buy our beautiful bookmarks.
An incredible 932AED was collected and will be given to the Red Crescent Society, towards the 'MatesHelpMates' campaign to assist with the victims of the Australia bushfires.
Upcoming Events
Professional Development Sessions
AEND whole school PD session for Teachers & Teaching Assistants
The AEND (Additional Educational Needs Department) organised a whole school PD session for teachers on ADHD presented by the Expert Centre. The presentation was just the start of creating a learning community on this subject. Later in the academic year, there will be a “Teachers Teach Teachers” session where staff members will have an opportunity to share their experiences and strategies with each other.