PARENT UPDATES 14 February, 2021
FROM OUR DIRECTOR Dear Parents,
Native Languages Thanks to those who completed the native language survey. So far, we have over 150 responses but I will leave the survey open for a few more days. Facilitating the provision of native language (sometimes called 'mother tongue') classes for our students is something we feel very passionate about and the research surrounding the benefits of native language maintenance is very positive. However, this process is not straightforward, particularly during these times. We applied for permission to start up native language classes on campus but this was refused, so online is the only way at the moment.
Prior to the pandemic, we had four native language classes running - Danish, Dutch, German and Turkish. All of these were organised by parents and seemed to run really well. We would like to follow a similar model moving forward and of course, we will help wherever we can (e.g. sourcing teachers, providing rooms when this is permitted etc.). The Danish community kindly shared with us their blueprint for establishing their language classes. I have linked it here. We are trying to streamline this process by liaising with some language agencies, and of course our key member of staff who oversees this is our Business Manager and we will have a new BM soon. Our aim is to do the groundwork this year so some classes are ready to go, either online or face-to-face, for the start of the new school year. We are also employing an administrative assistant to support this process. However, there does need to be a critical number of students willing to take part in these classes to make it financially viable. For your information, so far the number of families interested in attending and paying for (depending on price) native language classes reads as follows:
Dutch (17 students); French (13); Urdu (10); Danish (6); German (12); Portuguese (11); Spanish (18, although there is a difference between European and South American Spanish); Russian (10); Arabic (9); Swedish (8); Turkish(7); Italian (5). Other languages have numbers less than 5. Normally a number of around 6 can make the class viable but of course the ages are important, as it would not be appropriate to have Grade 1 students alongside Grade 10 students. Certainly, there would appear to be enough interest to run most of these languages. Perhaps towards the end of March, when our new BM is in place and we have an assistant to support the programme, we can start to put into action some of the foundations to enable our classes to start in September. We are hoping that the classes that ran last year can restart earlier, if they have not already done so. And hopefully soon we will not need to have native language classes online!
Covid-19 Update For all students in KG2 and above who have been designated as a close contact (if they are in the same household as another who has tested positive), we strongly recommend a negative PCR test taken no longer than 48 hours prior to their return to school.
Reminder - No Mid-term Break As a reminder, we had informed our families a few months ago that KHDA had required all schools in Dubai to add an additional week of learning to our schedule. As such, Fairgreen administration elected to forgo mid-term break in order to end the school year on the originally scheduled date of July 1. Some other schools in Dubai opted to take the mid-term break, but as a result, those schools have had to extend their school year by one additional week. In compensation for losing this break time, next week our students will enjoy Covid-safe Sports Days throughout the week and two days when they will participate in specially planned fun activities throughout the day, on Wednesday 24 Feb and Thursday 25 Feb. Stay tuned for more information.
Best wishes,
Graeme
EARLY YEARS ADMISSIONS FOR NEW STUDENTS If you have a child that will be NEW to Fairgreen for the 2021-22 school year, entering Pre-KG, KG1 or KG2, please know that now is the time to begin this application process. Please fill out an application for your child that will be NEW to Fairgreen for our Early Years programme as space is limited in these grade levels. CLICK HERE to fill out the application.
Re-enrollment of current students will begin soon. We will notify you once that process begins.
If you have any questions, please email our Admissions Director at admissions@fairgreen.ae
IMPORTANT DATES Wednesday, 17 February, 9 A.M.: Zoom Parent Coffee
Topic: Positive Parenting & Managing Challenging Behaviour For Early Years Parents (Grades Pre-KG - KG2)
The Early Years and Inclusion Teams are delighted to present the upcoming Zoom Parent Coffee on Wednesday, 17 February at 9 A.M.
Parenting can be hard at the best of times, when raising young children. During the pandemic, parents have been increasingly challenged by the demands of distance learning, the needs of other children and family members, and their own health and work demands. In this webinar, we will be joined by Jolene Palmer from Insight Psychology (see bio below) who will share her expertise. Jolene Palmer will talk about Positive Parenting and Managing Challenging Behaviour and help us understand how young children develop their emotional skills and how we can support them.
Please CLICK HERE to join the Zoom Meeting ID: 745 9545 4512 Passcode: fxa1yJ
Thursday, 18 February: Deadline for Ordering Custom Hoodies
Please see flyer for ordering instructions and pricing:
Week of 21-25 February: SPORTS DAY
Please see flyer below denoting the day in which your child will have Sports Day!
Tuesday, 23 February, 11 A.M.: Virtual Open Day for Prospective Families
Topic: IBDP vs IBCP for High School: Choosing the Right Pathway
At our next Virtual Open Day, learn about Fairgreen's IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) and IB Career-related Programme (IBCP) and discover which pathway is best suited for their child entering Grade 11.
This online session will help parents discern the difference between these two pathways in order to help guide their child to the best option. Join us for this special Virtual Open Day via Zoom on Tuesday, 23 February, at 11a.m.
While our Virtual Open Days are geared toward prospective families, current Fairgreen families are welcome to join. This is a topic that is especially pertinent to our MYP families as their children grow closer to entering our post-16 courses.
Prospective familes, to join this Zoom event, please register via www.fairgreen.ae/virtual
Current Fairgreen families, CLICK HERE to join this Zoom event Meeting ID: 820 4406 4403
HOUSE UPDATE Fairgreen's Got Talent Our Grand Finalists have been announced! This morning during registration, our finalists were announced for Fairgreen's Got Talent. CLICK HERE for all the information about our finalists so please click the link:
A huge well done to everybody that auditioned for the show, it was a very difficult task for our house leaders to choose the finalists with so many talented acts. Everybody that submitted an audition has earned a house point for their team.
House Points Total This week there have been some big changes in the leaderboard. After adding our Fairgreen's Got Talent audition points, Aqua remain at the top of the leaderboard. Ignis have climbed from third to second; Caeli have climbed from fourth to third and Terra have dropped to fourth.
FROM OUR HEAD OF COUNSELLING Dear Parents,
Thank you to all the parents that attended last week's Zoom Parent Coffee on Internet Safety Day, which focused on the risks and realities children face while online. We covered some important and sensitive topics that can pose risks to children and their safety and wellbeing. We got very positive feedback from parents who attended this webinar so we will be offering this presentation again in the next couple of weeks for those parents that were not able to attend.
CLICK HERE to view the portion of the presentation that shares information on what parents can do to protect their children from some of the major online risks/dangers.
MYP Student Wellbeing Champions (SWC) As the supervisor of our Student Wellbeing Champions, I am pleased to announce that our MYP SWC have now launched their Instagram social media page, #fairgreen-wsc. The purpose of this endeavor is to spread positive vibes in our school community. They will post a teacher feature on Tuesdays celebrating our amazing team and they will also work together to offer tips and posts related to Stress-free Sundays, Mindful Mondays, Take On Tuesdays, Wellbeing Wednesdays, Thankful Thursdays, Fun Fridays, and Self-care Saturdays. We appreciate your positive messages on their Instagram page in support of their. student leadership and initiative.
Careers & College News In the past two weeks, Grade 10 students have been attending a series of university/college virtual visits to UK, Canadian, American and European universities. In the next week, they have the opportunity to sign up for online visits to some of the top Russell universities in the UK. This really helps our students to determine future pathways beyond Fairgreen. Stay tuned for information on how to join the Russell univeristies sessions. Furthermore, giving our students opportunities to engage in internships and career opportunities, InvestIN have provided two information evenings coming up that are free of charge. (See additional Flyer below) CLICK HERE to register for these opportunities.
HIGHLIGHTS Fairgreen's NEW IBCP Features in WhichSchoolAdvisor
CLICK HERE to read the WhichSchoolAdvisor feature with Director Graeme Scott discussing how Fairgreen's new IBCP will be an exciting and unique offering among post-16 courses here in Dubai.
Grade 10 Artistic Expressions of The Sustainable City
Mrs Clarke's Grade 10 have been working on their own visual representations and responses to our community here in The Sustainable City through the use of mixed media, including photography, printmaking, drawing, painting and collage. Beautiful!
Grade 7 Presents "Museum of Dramatic Speeches"
Ms Gilbert's Grade 7 English class recently set up a "Museum of Dramatic Speeches" and presented on different types of historical theater and film speeches. They worked in pairs to explore and research their topic area and made connections with dramatic speeches. Students explored one another's displays, discussed the theatrical elements of the speeches, and presented and shared examples of speeches. Next, the class will begin analysis and exploration of Shakespearean speeches alongside a mix of historical, motivational and fictional film speeches! CLICK HERE for a glimpse of their work.
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