Newsletter
Al Jazeera Academy
AJA: An IB World School Term 1, Week 3, Issue 105 Date: 18/09/2008
Contents
Greetings Junior Primary Senior Primary Secondary 1 3 3 5
Greetings from the Principal
On behalf of all staff and management, I would like to welcome you back to the new school year at Al Jazeera Academy. A warm welcome also to the many new children who have joined us across the year groups as well as those in the Early Learning Centre. I hope that everyone enjoyed a well-deserved break and that our children are looking forward to the many challenges that this new school year will bring.
School Improvements
During the summer holidays, work was completed on the new senior primary and secondary English blocks. The classrooms are very light, spacious and highly conducive to learning. New furniture is due to arrive shortly from overseas for these rooms.
New members of the Teaching Staff
We have been very successful in our recruitment this year and we are very pleased to welcome the following teachers to the school: Agneta Abrahams, Amy Guy, Ana Martina Van Zyl, Andrea Lehman, Andrew Vincent, Annelien Van Wyk, Brian Murphy, Cecelia Payne, Charlotte Hamadache, Debbie Vincent, Elaine Lacey, Eman Lafta, Gaston Bouquette, Geoffrey Sharpe, Gerard Farrell, Harold Currie, Marlene Reed, Mohammed Abdulaziz, Mike Cousins, Nicola Garrett, Nisaa Hamilton, Pamela Goss, Pamela Murphy, Pauline Durham, Sarah Harrison, Sheila Hanley, Ursula Lamprecht, Frederick Reed , Nancy Bacsa, Veronica HolmanJones, Pilar Roca, Gary Herman.
Yearbook
Tel: (+974) 4693777 Fax: (+974) 4682555 Email: info@aja.edu.qa The 2007/8 year book was last week sent to all parents free of charge. It is packed full with information about Al Jazeera Academy and contains lots of photographs of our hard –working students. If you have not yet received your copy, please contact the school reception.
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Traffic
We have made a number of changes to our traffic procedures on the school campus following the much-welcomed advice from the traffic department. The most significant has been the change of rotation from an anti clockwise to a clockwise direction. The result has been significantly less congestion. We appreciate your cooperation and patience at the beginning and end of the school day.
David Guy Principal
Welcome back…
Firstly, I would like to welcome back all students, families and staff to this new academic year. I trust that the students are well rested and looking forward to the year ahead. Secondly, I would like to welcome all new comers to AJA. Beginning at a new school can be challenging, however I am confident all new students will be made to feel welcome. Another school year has commenced. New beginnings at school call for courage, stepping out in trust, believing in ourselves and the support of our families and friends, the making of new friends and the maturity to settle to the demands of study. New beginnings are our way of acknowledging a new year where we can grow in academic, physical, cultural and social areas of our life and where we accept the challenges of the year ahead. The past is behind us, the future is unknown, but the present is ours to enjoy fully and use wisely. I wish all students, staff and families a positive and productive year ahead.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Program Graduates 2008
A very successful year for our 2008 graduates of the diploma program. A total of 55% of the diploma program students achieved the diploma with the highest mark being 35 out of a possible 45. Students have chosen to study at the following institutes: Diego Sanchez Sundus Sardar Amna Hamad Suliman Fadlelbari Laala Al Jaber Florence University of the Arts, Italy Weill Cornell Medical College, Qatar Georgetown University of Foreign Services, Qatar Georgetown University of Foreign Services, Qatar Northwestern University, Qatar 2
Other graduates are busy applying for universities in the southern hemisphere and so will be starting in February 2009. I will keep you updated about our graduates’ successes.
Other news
An exciting start to the year for our new year 12s with a record number of students staying for the IBDP at Al Jazeera Academy and new subjects such as Computer Science now being offered in the Boys’ school. Hopefully with our continuing success we will be able to offer a wider breadth of subjects in the following academic year. Finally good luck to our year 13 students who are now in their final year of their IBDP and we wish them every success in their preparation for the final examinations in May 2009.
Fiona Littlewood IBDP Coordinator
News from the Junior Primary School (Preschool to Year 2)
We would like to welcome all the newcomers to our school. Our new teachers in the ELC are Miss Andrea and Mrs Elizabeth in Preschool and Ms Amanda who has joined Reception this year. All our new students have settled in well and are becoming accustomed to their new routines. Welcome back to all our returning students, it is good to see so many smiling faces. In Year 1 and 2 we welcome our new teachers Mrs Veronica, Mrs Annelien, Mrs Marlene, Mrs Ana, Mrs Sarah, Mrs Paulina and Mrs Barbara who has moved to Year 2. We wish all out new students and teachers a very happy stay at Al Jazeera Academy. In Preschool the students are learning all about colours and shapes, the Reception students are inquiring about healthy eating, hygiene and a healthy balanced lifestyle. Year One’s are finding out about families, responsibilities and roles and Year Two is inquiring into different means of transport and how goods get to and from Qatar. Please note that all children from Preschool to Year Two are expected to bring a healthy snack to school. No cakes, doughnuts, sweets, chocolates, chips/crisps or fizzy drinks should be sent to school. Teachers should be given two weeks notice of birthday celebrations. Please collect your child promptly after school unless special arrangements have been made.
Jennylyn Green Assistant Head: Junior Primary
Senior Primary School (Years 3 to 6)
I would like to extend a very warm welcome to all our families, old and new. The Senior Primary School classrooms are already alive with activity and there are some exciting displays appearing. Please take time to look through the Program of Inquiry included in this newsletter. It will give you information about the topics children will be studying in the different year groups.
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A competition is in progress at the moment to produce a good set of classroom rules. Hopefully we will give you the results in the next newsletter. On Sunday 14th. September we celebrated the mid-Ramadan festival of Garangao. It was a very colourful and enjoyable event in the Primary School. Thank you to all families who contributed gifts and dressed children in traditional costumes.
Janette Johnson Assistant Head (Senior Primary)
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Happy Garangao!
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Happy Garangao! Continued ...
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News from the Secondary School
Ramadan Kareem from the English Department,
The first weeks of school have been very exciting for the Year 7 students. They have been welcomed to the Secondary School and have been introduced to the MYP approach. Throughout Term One, the Year 7 students will be reading and completing activities based on the novel "Room 13" by Robert Swindells. They will focus on the elements of a novel, vocabulary development, and over-all writing mechanics. On behalf of the English Department, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome these new individuals to the "Big School" and wish them all the best throughout the 2008-2009 school year.' Mrs Marlis is the co-ordinator for Y7 English. The posters included are a class project for her 7G1, in which the students introduce themselves by making a collection of images that show what sort of people they are. It seems to be fun!
Marlis Eaton-Dalshaug English Department
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Mathematics
Another year, another equation! Everyone remembers the successes of World Maths Day and the ThetaQatar Competition last year. 2008/09 promises to deliver more of the same. This year the Mathematics department is very fortunate to have acquired the services of Ms Iman Lafta. She will be imparting knowledge on both boys and girls, from Year 8 all the way up to the IB Diploma students. Ms Iman will also be taking over many of Mrs Jacqui’s classes, who will be on maternity leave, from January. The new Year 7 students have made an extremely positive start to their secondary school maths careers. Mr Henk and Miss Lynnette have only had good things to say about their progress thus far and this certainly bodes well for the future of AJA. The streaming, which has taken place in the Boys’ School, will hopefully serve as a strong motivator for those students who realise that hard work will be rewarded. A big focus this year is on raising achievement at IGCSE. The recipe for success is certainly in place, including having smaller Core groups in the Boys’ School, and we look forward to a very determined effort from our Year 11 students. In this Age of the Internet, there is a constant stream of new and improved school-maths websites appearing almost daily, many of which are appropriate for and extremely useful for our students. It is strongly recommended that each of our students familiarise themselves with a few of these and accesses them at home on a regular basis. The most appealing attribute of many of these websites is their interactive nature, taking students stepby-step through problems, explaining things in very student-friendly language. As usual, it is of utmost importance that parents become actively engaged in their son or daughter’s mathematics education. Completion of homework to the best of their ability is the foundation of success for our students. As educators, we thank you very much for your valuable ongoing support and we look forward to meeting with many of you in the near future to discuss your child’s progress.
Vaughan Kitson Mathematics, Head of Group
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Group 4- Science News
On behalf of Group 4 Science I would like to welcome each and every student at AJA and I hope that this year will be a year filled with happiness and success. Especially the year 11 and 13 students who are busy working towards their final exam in May 2009. All the best and we hope that you will reach the goals you have set for yourself. As you know with each New Year, teachers leave and new teachers will take over the responsibility of teaching Sciences to all AJA students. I would like to introduce them to you. Let’s start with: Mr. Fred Read: He is teaching Y8B1, 8B2, 8G2 (MYP), 10B, 10G and 11B Chemistry (IGCSE) Mr. Brian Murphy: He is teaching Y11B Physics (IGCSE), Y12B, Y12G, Y13 and 13G Physics (IB) Mr. Harold Currie: He is teaching Y8B3, 8B4, 9B1, 9B2, 9G1 and 9G2 (MYP) Mrs. Charlotte Hamadache: She is teaching 10B, 10G, 11B and 11G Biology (IGCSE) I would like to wish the above mentioned teachers all the best for the year. If you would like to meet them or any other Science teacher, please make an appointment at reception On behalf of the Science Department I would like to wish you a Happy Eid holiday.
Martin Van der Walt, Science, Head of Group
Iftar Celebrations - 15th and 16th of September
During Ramadan the Secondary Boy’s School and Secondary Girl’s school enjoyed separate Iftar celebrations. Both events were a huge achievement and the quantity and quality of the food was excellent. Everyone was welcome including teachers, students and relatives and fun was had by all. The Ramadan Celebrity Quiz winners for the events were Faris Al Siddiqi from the boy’s school and Safa Babkir from the girl’s school. Here are some photographs of the students enjoying the Iftar celebrations.
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Students enjoying Iftar.
Teachers enjoying Iftar.
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