DHA News & Updates
Friday 13th May 2022
Week 4
Another busy week has ensued at DHA this week after returning from the eid break. The students in Year 4 to Year 8 have been exploring artificial intelligence through the MIT Day of AI. They discovered through a series of activities not only what AI is but also about machine learning is and how it works as well as how AI will shape their lives and the world around them. Did you know that according to Ray Kurzweil, one of the most known futurists, computers will have the same level of intelligence as humans by 2029? However, you'll be happy to know schools will always need human teachers!
With 8 weeks of term left we still have lots to do with completing curriculum topics, internal and external assessments, rehearsing and performing summer concerts, transition activities, graduations and much more as we end one academic year and prepare for the next. Talking of next year...KHDA have approved our academic calendar for next year which is shared with you in this newsletter so you can add the term dates to your diaries.
Please enjoy the weekend and we look forward to seeing you back at school on Monday.
Dates for your diary
May
Monday 18th - Asthma and Allergy Awareness Coffee Morning run by Kings College Hospital
May 20th - Crazy Hair Day/Naomi's PTA morning/assembly
May 27th - This is Me Day
July
Thursday 7th - End of Term 3
Don't forget you can keep up to date and access our calendar online via our website or by using the following link and adding it to your own calendar:
Day of AI
At DHA we have a fantastic and unique opportunity with MIT, being the only school in the UAE who is collaborating with them on a project based Artificial Intelligence curriculum.
This week, MIT invited us, along with all schools in Dubai, to take part in a ‘Day of AI’. During this week, the students in Year 4 to Year 8 have had a great time working with Miss Burrows and Mr Alphonse to learn all about Artificial Intelligence. They found out about what it is, how it works, how it is used in their own lives and how it has impacted all aspects of life. They had a lot of fun taking part in activities.
On Tuesday, Year 5 and Year 6 learned all about how AI can be creative, and used AI to create some very interesting pictures where AI could merge different images to create a fictional character or object. We were shocked when we found out that some images, songs and videos were all ‘fake’ and how they had all been generated by computers. A quote from Ekin in Year 6 “I learned that reality is fake!”.
The Year 4 students experienced some brilliant activities where they learned how algorithms work. They used an image recognition program called ‘Teachable Machine’ where they used video sensing to create datasets and train a model to play the game ‘rock, paper, scissors’. They then created a magnificent fashion show on Scratch.
In Year 7 and Year 8, the students were very thoughtful about the effects of AI on society. It was fascinating to learn all about the ethics of AI and how GANs (Generative Adversarial Networks) can be used to create ‘deepfakes’ which are fake images or videos. There were some creative discussions about how these and different forms of misinformation can impact the world.
Everyone really enjoyed experiencing all this in action by using an online tool, ‘Google Quick, Draw,’ where a computer used AI to predict what each of the students were sketching even before they had finished drawing their image. Below is the link to Quick, Draw so that you can have a go at home!
We all had a spectacular time learning all about AI. Don't forget to check out more photos later in the newsletter.
International Nurses Day
Parent Student Teacher Meetings
Our Term 3 Parent Student Teacher Meetings will be held on Monday 16th May to Thursday 19th May. Bookings for these meetings are now open on the SchoolCloud online booking system. Bookings on the SchoolCloud will close at 7pm on Sunday 17th May.
Please use the same login details that were provided to you to book your child's ECA's on the school cloud.
Each meeting will be a maximum of ten minutes. The focus of these meetings will be to discuss students' academic progress and personalised goals for the remainder of the term. All teaching staff and subject specialists will be available.
Meetings will take place on Zoom. Please find below the zoom details of our teaching staff.
Our teaching staff look forward to seeing you online next week!
Drawings by me
We are delighted to be taking part in Drawings by me again this year at DHA. Drawings by me are a company who provide products with your child's artwork printed onto it. They have lots of lovely items available such as mugs, cards and water bottles. Drawings by me artwork will be sent home with children today. To make an order simply follow the instructions on the back of the artwork.
Orders will be delivered to school in the middle of June.
Asthma and Allergy Awareness Coffee Morning
As May is Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month, we would like to invite you to an informative coffee morning and session on these topics on Wednesday May 18th, after drop off in the purple lounge.
In association with King's College Hospital London, Dr. Nitin Verma, KCH Consultant Paediatrician, Specialised in Allergy and Respiratory Disorder is delighted to be meeting our DHA community to raise awareness and lead the session.
Kindly register by scanning the QR code below or email Miss Naomi directly at communications@dubaiheightsacademy.com
EYFS School Trip - Dubai Mall Aquarium and Underwater Zoo
We are delighted to announce as part of our 'World of Water' topic we will be taking Foundation Stage to The Dubai Mall Aquarium on Tuesday 17th May 2022. The children will have the opportunity to enhance their knowledge of real sea creatures, experience real marine life and find out further facts about a variety of sea animals.
As part of Dubai Heights Academy’s ethos, we support a well-rounded education and encourage all children to be involved in different activities and events. We would love to see all the children attend.
Please complete the Google form below to confirm your child’s place and payments can be made in cash to your child’s class teacher by Monday 16th May at 9am.
Primary Arabic Competition
We are happy to announce that Year 5 and Year 6 Arabic B students will participate in an exciting competition.
A fun celebration of Arabic language learning, this 3-day competition is exclusive to BSME (British Schools in the Middle East) schools.The competition is a fun opportunity for students to engage, revise, and learn Arabic content on the Education Perfect platform.
Education Perfect will award student prizes to the top-scoring students:
1st Place: $100 Amazon Voucher
2nd Place: $75 Amazon Voucher
3rd Place: $50 Amazon Voucher
Students will have access for the competition next week. Good Luck!
Careers Fair
Our Careers Fair kicked off on Thursday morning with a visit from special guest and motivational speaker Paul Tosio. He talked to our Year 6, Year 7 and Year 8 students about study skills, exam success and making decisions on their education.
On Friday, careers coach Audrey Hametner led a session focusing on career exploration, with specific action points for students to begin exploring ideas and sharing thoughts about possible careers.
We hope that these and future sessions will help inform and guide our students when they make their subject choices at GCSE and beyond to support their future career paths.
Arabic and Islamic Studies
End of year Arabic and Islamic Assessments:
As we are approaching the end of Term 3 we will be assessing the children in Arabic and Islamic. Internal assessments will begin on 30th of May for a week. We will send information via Seesaw about the assessments so you can support your children.
ABT Arabic and Islamic Assessment
Our external Arabic and Islamic assessments start on 13th of June.
We wish all the best for our students.
Inclusion & Wellbeing at DHA
This week we celebrated AI day and our wonderful Unified Champions Mia and Eva got involved by teaching the whole school how to sign laptop using Makaton. Give it a try!
A huge thank you to our guest speaker Paul Tosio that delivered a wonderfully inspiring workshop on study skills for Years 6, 7 and 8 this week. We thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to welcoming Mr Tosio back to DHA next academic year.
PE & Sport at DHA
This week we focussed on the basketball lay up shot in PE and the front crawl in swimming. We also began training for the swim and basketball squads.
This year, our swim program was disrupted due to due covid restrictions. However, we are pleased to announce that our Year 3 to Year 6 students will be taking part in their first competitive swim gala in over 2 years. This will take place at GEMS International School (Al Khail) on Tuesday 24th May. We are currently finalising the squad list, so make sure you keep an eye out for further announcements.
There will also be U11 and U13 basketball games in June. More information to follow.
In regards to in-curriculum swimming, please can all parents ensure that their child has the appropriate kit with them on swim days. This includes a swim costume, swim cap, a towel, flip flops/crocs, and goggles.
Rugby Star
During the Eid Break, Laith Nolan and the U11 Dubai Tigers travelled to Somerset in the UK for a rugby tour.
The Tigers played against 10 other teams and Laith, alongside his teammates showed heart, skill and determination throughout the tournament.
Laith was an integral member of the team who had to play in a number of difficult games and he helped drag his team to ultimately win the championship!
Well done to Laith and the U11 Dubai Tigers!
I'm Still Looking.....
If you are ready to spend some quality time with me then please let the school know and then I can finish my packing.