PARENT UPDATES 7 March, 2021
FROM OUR DIRECTOR Dear Parents,
Thank you for your patience this morning as we all navigated the road closure. Although not related to the school, it impacted on the morning school run. We fully expect the same scenario this afternoon, so please follow the same plan. As I write, we are not sure whether the police will keep the road closed for tomorrow or not. If you don't see us at the roundabout in our fashionable safety jackets, it's fair to assume the road has reopened. If not, we will follow the same routine as this morning. Thanks to Fairgreen staff Ali and Reddy for doing such a great job of marshalling the traffic - they would do a great job in the F1 pit lane!
A year ago, almost to the day, our lives were turned upside down. On 5th March, 2020 we closed our campus, not knowing how long for and what really lay ahead. I'm guessing not many of us expected what has developed over the past twelve months. Many of our families have gone through some real struggles and the impact of Covid-19 will not disappear once we are all vaccinated - it will continue for many years to come. Here at school, we also made our own sacrifices, as well as quickly upskilling ourselves in distance learning. Our first priority has always been to support our students and families in whatever ways we could, and make sure that we were ready to welcome our students back, whenever that decision was made. I'm pleased to say that our entire school community deserves enormous credit for the way that we have all embraced this new normal, and done so with energy, positivity and optimism. Let's hope that next school year, fewer restrictions are needed. It is important, not to look back at what has been lost, but to look forward at what lies ahead. Whatever happens and however things develop, I know that there are exciting times ahead for our school.
Speaking of next year, I will soon share with you the teachers we are bringing onboard for the 2021-2022 academic year. I can honestly say that I'm very confident we will have a superb teaching team. Our aim has always been to quickly gain such a reputation that we are able to attract the very best teachers. We have been fortunate to have retained top quality educators and these will now be complemented by a group of highly experienced and talented professionals that will ensure our school goes from strength to strength.
On 15th March, our new Director, Ed Pearce will be joining us for around ten days. We are all looking forward to meeting Ed and introducing him to our wonderful students and teachers. Ed will join us on gate duty in the mornings so you will have a chance to meet him. We do have some other events planned for Ed to engage with our community and I know he is really excited about joining in August.
We all know the value of reading and developing a love of reading in our children. On 22nd April, we will be celebrating the UN International World Book Day (the actual date is the 23rd). Look out for more information soon. Just to clear up any possible confusion, there is another 'World Book Day' which is celebrated in the UK and Ireland (4th March) but we chose to go for a more global event in the UN World Book Day.
Last week we participated in a webinar with KHDA and DHA which outlined some changes in the protocols regarding contact tracing and class closure in the case of a positive Covid-19 case. The main change is that schools are now more responsible for this process. We will keep you informed of any changes.
Have a wonderful week and best wishes to you all,
Graeme
IMPORTANT DATES Saturday, 13 March: Student Photo Orders Due
Parents, please place your student photo orders by 13 March directly with KlassAkt. Please see order instructions in the envelope sent home with your child last week.
Wednesday, 17 March, 11 a.m.: Virtual Open Day for Prospective Families
If you have friends or family considering Fairgreen, please ask them to join our next Virtual Open Day on Wednesday, 17 March, at 11 a.m.
Prospective families can register to join the Zoom via www.fairgreen.ae/virtual
Thursday, 25 March: Re-Enrollment for Next School Year is Due
36% of our families have responded to the Re-Enrollment email sent last week to parents from Fairgreen Admissions. If you have not yet submitted your response to this email, please kindly do so by 25 March.
Your response will hold your child's seat for the next grade level and help us with staffing for next school year. Please note: We have limited availability in many grades so your re-enrollment confirmation is very important. Thank you.
NOTICES Recording of Webinar | "Inclusion at Fairgreen: The Journey Thus Far" Thank you to all who were able to join us last week for the Zoom Parent Coffee on "Inclusion at Fairgreen: The Journey Thus Far." Members of our Inclusion Team lead by Head of Inclusion Alison Scott shared where we are on our path to creating a wholly supportive, nurturing and inclusive environment for all of our students.
For those of you who were not able to join the Zoom, CLICK HERE to watch the recorded session
Pre-Registration for Mother Tongue Language Classes We are looking into the possibility of working with a Dubai-based language academy to provide native language or additional foreign language instruction at school. At the moment only online learning is possible due to Covid restrictions, therefore we can only offer online classes from home beginning around 4 pm during weekdays. The classes could be arranged 1-2 times a week. Once Covid restrictions are eased, we will strive to move the classes to take place on campus during after school hours.
Please complete this form if you are interested in signing up your child for online Mother Tongue Language Programs beginning Term 3 for a one year period. The price of the course for the whole year is AED5400 payable to the language academy (this includes two 60-minute classes per week). it will be recalculated accordingly, depending on the starting date (the price of 1 session is around AED75).
Classes will only be able to commence if 2-3 students sign up for the language and their age and skill level matches up. The required schedule will also be considered.
HOUSE UPDATE Dear Parents,
House Points A lot of points were added last week, including all of our Sports Day points. After adding all the points, the standings are exactly the same as last week! Aqua leads the way, Ignis remains in second, Terra are in third, and Caeli comes in fourth. Sports Day
A Message from Our Student Wellbeing Champions Dear Parents,
One would agree that Fairgreen International School is abundant in many ways that equally help it live up to its reputation of being a sustainable school. Another vital part of Fairgreen is the Student Wellbeing Champions initiative that was first created in 2020 during lockdown. This team consists of students from the youngest of MYP to the oldest who share similar values surrounding student mental health and wellbeing in the work environment. For instance, our slogan is to spread positive vibes and to empower as well as support the unique individuals in our school community. Furthermore, all of us collectively agree that wellbeing should not only be prioritized for ourselves but for those around us too.
Everyday, we proudly wear our orange wristbands so that we can easily be identified and so that people can reach out to us. We are connected with our wristbands and feel like a strong team. When asked what makes us happy and why we wanted to be a Wellbeing Champion, in different ways everyone mainly mentioned their passion for helping others and spreading messages of wellbeing. We also had a common goal of transforming Fairgreen into an even better, open and friendly academic community.
Recently, we have created an exciting instagram account which is our first official project. This exemplary project has further developed our communication skills within a diverse team and helped us get one step closer to our goal. Our instagram account is full of content that is motivational and uplifting for all ages. We believe it is a great way to showcase what we are all about and to make a positive change. More specifically, each day of the week correlates to a distinct wellbeing goal. (Refer to the image attached) From videos, to tips, to reminders, to researched mindful techniques, we have a wide selection of optimistic posts. Give us a follow @fairgreen_wsc. We would love to hear your feedback and thoughts!
Another project we started this year is The Teacher Features. These are short interviews posted on Tuesdays with our wonderful teachers at our school. We created this project to shine the spotlight on our hardworking and empathic teachers at Fairgreen and to holistically appreciate and express our teacher's individuality.
To conclude, The Wellbeing Champions have many more future projects that are just in the making. Moreover, the team is working hard to plan and share projects with our ambitious academic community, in hopes of our efforts making positive change whether it be impactful and gracious or simple and affectionate. We especially want to thank Ms Jackie Greenwood and the rest of the team for supporting us from the start. We will continue to support our learners and do the best for Fairgreen!
Sincerely yours,
The Student Wellbeing Champions
From our Inclusion Department Dear Parents,
We are pleased to share this Free Parent Workshop from The Developing Child Centre on 'Strategies to develop and encourage speech and language'. Please contact The Developing Child Centre directly if you have any questions about this presentation.
To Join the Zoom Webinar: Meeting ID: 939 2319 3679 Passcode: 131009 Positive Parenting Programme (age 2-11) Please see the below information about an upcoming Positive Parenting Programme (Triple P) hosted by KidsFirst. This high-regarded 8-week programme will take place online. The programme costs AED 2,600 per couple or single parent.
"The Triple P, Positive Parenting Program, is one of the world's most effective parenting programs. It gives parents the skills they need to build strong family relationships, manage misbehavior and prevent problems happening in the first place."
Please contact KidsFirst to register for this workshop or if you have any questions.
HIGHLIGHTS MYP Designing Solar Trackers
MYP students have launched "Project: Sunflower" where they are designing and building a prototype solar tracker that will continuously orient solar panels towards the sun. These devices will be used in the school's upcoming annual solar boat and car race, the Million Solar Stars competition. Can't wait to see the finished projects! Exciting!
Grade 4 Science Exploration
Ms Lee's Grade 4 enjoyed exploring properties of matter in the PYP science lab. They learned about how to separate solutions, and looked at the chemical and physical changes of matter.
Student Council Create 'Sharing Boxes'
The Fairgreen Student Council have been hard at work making 'sharing boxes' that will be placed in classrooms for students to use if they have a happy moment, comment, observation or a worry they would like to share privately. This is a wonderful way for children to feel free to express themselves without fear. Very liberating!
Grade 3 Create Final Project in UOI on Electricity
For an end of unit project in science, Ms Wild's Grade 3 had to use the knowledge they gained about electricity and circuits to make a clown's bowtie spin and his nose light up.
KG1s Go on a Secret Phonic Search
Ms Wood's KG1s had fun searching for secret phonic messages. Using paint, they revealed words that were hiding on the paper and then they used their phonics skills to read the words.
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