Metropole News
Bulletin 03 16-17 | GEMS Metropole School, Motor City, Dubai
From the Principal's Desk
Mission Statement
Having joined the Metropole community in August last year, it has not taken me a long time to realise that this school is very unique. This uniqueness, I believe, is what sets GEMS Metropole School above other schools in Dubai. From the moment you enter the school grounds, to the Parent's Kiosk, to the classrooms and to the playground, the school is alive, caring and welcoming. Therefore, it was indeed a difficult task as the new Principal to review the school's mission statement. How does one capture this 'vibe' and put it into lifeless sentences and paragraphs? A real challenge!
Therefore, with the help of our student body, you - our parents, the Parent's Council and our teaching staff, we worked together to look at words that could represent who we are and what and where we want to be. With the help of our students from FS1 through to Year 10, I am thrilled to present to you all the school's new mission statement. The statement stems from a dynamic acrostic represented as a movie and ends with an overall sentence and a follow-up of six visionary sentences. The video is below this text for your viewing.
KHDA Visit
As part of the quality assessment of schools in the United Arab Emirates, all new schools are required to undergo a full school inspection in their third year of operation. We are please to announce that from February 20 to February 23, GEMS Metropole School will be visited by the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau for the first official school visit.
As part of the visit, the school will be reviewed under 6 main categories which include:
1. Students' Achievement;
2. Students' personal and social development and their innovative skills;
3. Teaching and Assessment;
4. Curriculum;
5. The protection, care, guidance and support of students; and
6. Leadership and management.
A survey will soon be sent out to all families for your valued comments.
Children's Safety
As all parents are aware, we continue to have difficulties with our drop-off and pick-up times at the front and side of school. The Senior Leadership Team and I recently met with Union Properties' representatives to discuss ways to alleviate the congestion of traffic flow. We are now in the process of making a submission to them to install a raised crossing at the front of school, speed bumps and to erect a fence on the medium strip in middle of the road. If this is accepted by UP, we will then proceed to the RTA for final approval.
Additionally, please ensure your children continue to be safe and secure in your vehicles. Seat belts are in cars for a reason. Please make sure your children have their seat belts fastened before leaving the school. Also, when dropping-off or collecting your child from school, please refrain from leaving other children in the car during this time. This can be potentially very dangerous for your child(ren).
School Cafeteria
We have had an number of enquiries from parents wanting to know if a microwave is available for our students to heat up their food. Unfortunately, for health and hygiene issues, this is not something we can accommodate. If students wish to bring in their own hot food, containers are readily available which are designed to keep food items warm for a long period of time. Access to a microwave to warm up food will not be permitted.
Parents' Kiosk
GEMS Metropole School's Local Advisory Board
- By understanding and upholding the school's and GEMS vision and values;
- By monitoring, advising and supporting the school on matters of strategy and policy;
- By helping monitor the school's standards and performance; and
- By supporting the school and the Principal and provide wise counsel.
I am very pleased to announce the members of the GEMS Metropole's Local Advisory Board to you. The Chairman of the LAB is Mr Gareth Mordey. Gareth is the Managing Director of E-Sports here in the UAE. He is joined by Mrs Sahar Cooper the Senior Vice President of School Operations for GEMS schools, Mrs Janet Foley, the Vice Principal and Head of Primary at GEMS Founders School and Mr Steven Lamb, the General Manager of Carillion Direct Sourcing. Finally, as the school Principal, I will also be a member of the Board.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their future assistance in their respective positions on the Board.
Parent Council
Since the Winter Fair, the members of our Parent Council have been engaged in numerous school activities. At the end of last term, they provided hot chocolate, coffee and doughnuts for the staff and distributed chocolates to students on their last day of term. More recently, they were heavily involved with our school Sports Days and Chinese New Year celebrations.
Additionally, with the recent purchase of thousands of Arabic books, they gave of their time to catalogue all the new books. A very time-consuming job!
Thank you for your time and assistance. It is much appreciated.