Primary 'Good News' letter
Final newsletter of 2016-2017 academic year
Message from Miss Kerry, Primary Principal
As the summer term draws to a close, it is amazing how much has been achieved by the children, staff, parents and governors in one year. It is difficult to identify the highlights because there are genuinely so many. Personally, I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know lots of students by name and particularly the youngest,who always greet us with smiles.
The achievements this year extend from the academic, to the sporting and the creative arts and to the numerous fun inquiries and activities. We achieve so much because we work together as a team and this is one of the greatest strengths of the school.
I would like to thank each and every parent for their ongoing support of school, for their commitment in helping us to thrive and for the strong partnerships that have been developed. Your well thought out suggestions throughout the year and positive support, when we achieved our landmark accreditation status (see below) has been invaluable.
We aim to have even more parents involved using their talents next year. If you play an instrument, can help with cooking, garden club or would like to offer to share one of your talents with us we would like to hear from you.
One of our strengths is being able to see the positives – your children and their development as eager learners who are caring, compassionate, happy and internationally minded. I look forward to continuing to serve the whole AJAC community next year.
A message from the Primary Student Council written by Miriam and Mansoor
We have really enjoyed being a part of the student council this year. It’s been a pleasure to help make the primary school better in many ways. Each week we met with Mr. Michael and fellow student council representatives from PY1 – PY6. In these meetings we talked about issues in the school which we wanted improve. Some of these things have been extra curricular activities, the food in the cafeteria, playground equipment, the school environment, student involvement in morning assemblies… It was very satisfying to see everybody open up with their talents and show the Ajman Academy community their abilities, as part of the Talent Show in December. So many parents came along and supported this wonderful event. We had to work closely with the parent support group to do this. It helped us appreciate how much work teachers put into when organising these fun events.
Sometimes we have had guests as well like the time Miss Maysoon came so we could discuss ECAs. Mr Basil came once to talk about the ECO club and the school environment. Miss Yasmeen and Miss Esme came along to listen to our ideas for this school year book. Being part of the council has helped us to become better communicators by listening to other students in different year groups as well as working closely with staff. It’s great to know that our ideas are valued and can really a make a difference.
We cannot wait to see how the next generation of student council representatives improves the school and builds on our work this year.
Alfie Redhead - PY1MGR
Dunia Ismail - PY3VWI
Mansoor Alhosani – PY4BFA
Abdallah Saddiqi – PY2MBO
Maher Aldalou– PY6LSW
Ahmed Eid – PY6YDW
Louie Whelan – PY5DCO
Miriam Sattar – PY6EWA
Fatma Al-Ali – PY6 LRE
British Schools Overseas recommendation for Accreditation
Ajman Academy has met all the BSO ( British Schools Overseas ) standards and that the visiting Inspectors will now officially make a recommendation to the DfE ( UK ) to grant Ajman Academy BSO accreditation.
Key points
- Proactive Governing Body supporting the school with the ownership easily meeting the standard
- Students are enthusiastic learners
- Quality of education meets the standards and in three years time when they revisit, they are confident that it will be well above
- The data shows that most students are making progress in line with, or better, than their expected progress
- External GL assessments enabled the inspection team to make an informed judgement on the progress and attainment standard.
- They have belief in the ability of the senior leadership to deliver the drive and ambition of the Directors vision
- The facilities provide an outstanding learning environment
- Communication and complaints standards were met with the expectation of excellence over the next three years
- They were pleased that safeguarding was a school priority
- They saw evidence of outstanding teaching across the school
- Spiritual, moral, social and cultural standards were met implicitly
- The welfare health and safety of pupils were also met implicitly
- The team recognized that there was a great deal of focused leadership and curriculum planning towards September
- The strategy of promoting and developing staff from within was seen as a real strength
- The school was praised for the wide variety of Extra Curricular Activities
Council of International Schools
CIS Membership success at Ajman Academy
Following the CIS membership evaluation carried out by Alan Scott, concluding on 07-05-2017, we are pleased to announce Ajman Academy has been granted membership of the Council of International Schools (CIS).
Our Director, Dr. Tassos offered his congratulations to the staff at Ajman Academy and our school community on this major achievement.
Some of the strengths identified were:
- Clear guiding statements including a commitment to internationalism and inter-culturalism
- Modern, purpose-built facilities
- Sound financial plans and practices ensuring the school’s viability in the short and longer term
- Good teaching and assessment practices based on a curriculum aligned with the school’s purpose and direction
We will continue to aim for everyone to succeed, every day
Inspire to Teach Programme with Incyte International Education
We are delighted to announce that 13 of our teaching staff have been recognised and certified as Leaders of Learning and have completed Phase 1 of the Inspire to Teach Programme from Incyte International Education. This means that Ajman Academy teachers have once again been recognised for their high quality teaching and learning.
During the week of consultation, the Incyte consultants have been inspiring us to look at learning in a different light. Malcolm Greenhalgh and Caroline McKee enabled us to look deeply at what matters most, students making progress, and believing in every child and every teacher.
We have all been challenged by discussions, inspired by their wisdom and expertise.
Our leaders are truly on a journey that will benefit the important aspect- your child, succeeding every day, every moment, in every classroom.
We passionately look forward to continuing this journey with the second phase beginning in November.
Our donation to Emirates Red Crescent from PY4
Representatives from the Emirates Red Crescent Society visited Ajman Academy and collected the money that PY4 raised during their Art Auction last month.
They raised 4,695 AED!!
ALL proceeds went to their Ramadan Campaign for the Red Crescent.
A message from Mr. Bob
It has been a big year for the Ajman libraries. The Primary library has been totally redesigned, expanding into the surrounding area to create a larger, more modern looking area. Our fiction collection is now housed in the ‘outside’ area where sofas and chairs make a relaxed area for both staff and students to enjoy. The inner area has become home to our non-fiction collection and is an area for serious study and library lessons.
We have opened up the loan policy so that Primary students can take three books at a time. The result has been that this year we have been sending home nearly two thousand books every week! .
Both libraries have benefitted from a generous budget and by the end of the year we will have placed around three thousand new titles into the library stock.
However libraries are as much about people as resources and here we need to acknowledge the wonderful work from Ms. Ghada, Ms. Al’aa and a whole team of volunteers who have helped the library run so smoothly.
Bob Pateman, Library
A final message from our Primary PE Team
The PYP pupils have had a very busy year with all the students enjoying a healthy and active school life. The pupils have been working hard in PE to learn new skills and to improve their fitness and wellbeing.
The PYP pupils have been able to enjoy a wide range of activities which they have been able to link to the classroom studies to aid their learning. The activities have played an important role in teaching all the pupils how to respect and communicate with each other. They have worked hard to have confidence in being risk takers and to have developed their team work.
The primary pupils have been busy representing Ajman Academy after school as well, participating in all the EISSA events including netball, football, swimming, athletics, Badminton, basketball and the BSME Games where there were schools from all around the Middle East region competing.
Well done to all the pupils on a very successful year and everyone is looking forward to your continued progress.
About us
Ajman Academy pursues excellence in all areas of our students' education.We combine the ethos held by the very best global independent schools in the world with the provision of a world-class International curriculum.
We are now offering discounts on our school fees for the new academic year applicable to students from Grade 4 and up. Contact us in the Admissions office for more details.
Email: school@ajmanacademy.com
Website: http://www.ajmanacademy.com/page.cfm?p=524
Location: Tallah 2, Ajman
Phone: 06 731 4444
Facebook: facebook.com/AjmanAcademy
Twitter: @AjmanAcademy