Cairo English School Newsletter

December 15, 2016 | Issue 6

CES NEWSLETTER

Headmaster News
Welcome from our Headmaster

Where does time fly? I can clearly recall meeting new staff on arrival on August 8th and here we are on the last day of term! The answer I believe is time flies when you are busy. As Headmaster of Cairo English School, I oversee a truly busy institution that offers so much to your children. The last three weeks since the last Newsletter is a snapshot of the academic year so far. There have been Parent Teacher Conferences looking at our core responsibility of the academic work of your children highlighted also by Art Exhibitions for Years 4, 5 and 6. Academic success has also been recognised with the Cambridge Achievers Awards where four of our students were identified by CIE as being some of the top academic students in Egypt and the world. A truly fantastic academic achievement!


The final 9 days of term has been a whirl of rehearsals, dress rehearsals and concerts, shows and productions. I hope you have been as impressed as I have been with the confidence shown by children on stage. This comes from staff nurturing your children, allowing them to develop and express themselves and ultimately challenging them to perform in front of their parents, adults and their peers. I hope you are as proud of them as we are!


Coffee Morning in December also highlighted the efforts being made to extend our children to excel, I highlighted to parents that there was Drama and Music in the FS1 Show with our youngest children showing independence and trust in their teachers as well as observing the confidence and knowledge of Year 8 Scientists. The culmination was then in watching Cyprien MacCamley's IB Geography presentation, which was, as thought provoking as it was technically proficient.


Meanwhile, during these last few days of term the cooperation, collaboration and community spirit of the school has been demonstrated with singing at the front of the school, the collection of shoeboxes for orphanages as well as the PTSA donating a washing machine to an orphanage.


At times, we sometimes forget what we do, what we achieve and the spirit we have at Cairo English School. Take pride in the fact we are a very good school educating happy and secure children. Please enjoy your Winter Break with your children. Many are very tired and like their teachers need to recharge their batteries for the new term ahead which starts promptly at 8.00am on Sunday 8th January.

My very best wishes for this festive season!
Martyn Smith,
Headmaster,


Upcoming Events
Thursday - December 15, 2016
 
Sunday - December 18, 2016
 
Saturday - January 7, 2017
 
Sunday - January 8, 2017
 
Monday - January 9, 2017
 
Tuesday - January 10, 2017
 
Wednesday - January 11, 2017
 
Thursday - January 12, 2017
 
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Year One Winter Performance The Nutcracker

What a delightful performance from Y1!

The children danced and sang their way through the CES version of 'The Nutcracker' with such flair and enthusiasm.
Some lovely performances from fairies, mice, oriental dancers, soldiers and party guests.


Different children from each Year 1 class presented the lead roles of Clara, the Prince, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the Mouse King. They were adorable!


Miss Tanya did a wonderful job with the dancers and some lovely singing rang out in the auditorium courtesy of Miss Nieven.
The finale brought together a blend of Arabic and English songs to wish our parents a peaceful and joyful New Year!


FS2 Winter Performance Around the World with Santa

FS2 took their audience on a magical journey around the world with Santa for their Winter Show. In each country that they visited, the individual FS2 classes, dressed in fabulous traditional costumes, treated us to a traditional dance and then a Christmas song. For their grand finale, the whole of FS2 came together to sing a wonderful rendition of an Arabic celebratory song, 'Fi Kol Eid Milad' and then 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town'. They wrapped up the show beautifully with 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas'.
We would like to thank the children for such an enjoyable show and wish you all a very
Happy New Year!


FS1 Winter Performance Santa's Good List

Once again, the season of Winter Performance is upon us.
The festivities commenced with the children of Foundation Stage 1 who excelled themselves with their production of "Santa's Good List". It involved lots of singing and even some acting by each of the FS1 classes.


It started with FS2 children proudly singing the Egyptian National Anthem.


The performance had five scenes: the first of which was, 'Waking up', when the cute FS1 children, dressed in their pyjamas, sleepily sang 'Snowflake, Snowflake'.


Next came 'Opening the Presents' with the children joyfully singing about the 'Snowdrop'


This was quickly followed by the 'Christmas Dinner' and the children merrily singing, 'Mister Wind'.
Scene 4, was a chilly scene, 'Playing in the snow'. The children were snuggly wrapped in their winter clothes as they shivered and sang about 'Jack Frost'.


Finally, with all the children on the stage giving a rousing performance of an Arabic song, 'Fi Kol Eid Milad', quickly followed by 'When Santa comes down my Chimney'. They then ended the show with a hearty rendition of 'We wish you a Merry Christmas'!


The children had lots of fun and did an amazing job supported by all the FS1 team, Ms Sue Craig as Mrs Claus and masterminded by Ms Nieven Kadry the music teacher...


Well done FS1!




Santa Visits Early Years

What an exciting time for our children and what wonderful supportive staff we have!
The children were very excited by the visit from Santa...


Jana Amin Y1KA – Gymnast

Jana has been, and continues to be, a model student throughout her time in Foundation Stage and now in Year 1. She is also a dedicated gymnast.

Jana has been working very hard over the past few months in preparation for a recent tournament, training 6 times a week and learning new moves to wow the judges! At the same time, she continued to show a positive attitude towards her schoolwork and never stopped smiling. Keep it up Jana; you make us all very proud!

Daniel Halaka Y1JM – Gymnast

Daniel has also competed in regional championships and attained a gold medal for his superb efforts! He is a very dedicated gymnast but also a well-rounded student. A genuine polite and friendly student to everyone he meets and we are all very proud of him!

Two wonderful students who have achieved the balance between school and training and we wish them well in the Republic Championships in February.



Mathletics at CES!


Year 1 pupils took part in their first Mathletics competition! It was a great opportunity for children to use the site in class and at home. Mathletics is a great resource for practising Maths and children thoroughly enjoy using it. It was wonderful to see such excitement and enthusiasm for Maths! Well done to all our 'MathsMagicians'. Keep up the good work!

Special mention goes to prizewinners in Year 1:
1st place Mayan Osman 1LM, 2nd place Jana Amin 1KA, 3rd place Jenny Barsoum 1LE.


Intrigue and Mystery in FS2!

It all started one Sunday morning, two weeks ago, with the sudden disappearance of specific FS2 class toys. Luckily that very weekend, Ms Angie and Ms Michelle had found messages in bottles addressed to all the different FS2 classes, which they brought to us. These letters were telling us that they had been taken by pirates! Therefore, in an effort to find our toys, the children have written letters to them, they also made missing posters, questioned witnesses from the teaching staff and made wanted posters using lots of their wonderful adjectives.
Thankfully, the case was cracked when the toys sent us emails earlier this week that contained maps of where they could be found. We then made our own maps and went on a rescue mission, only to be tricked at the last minute by those sneaky pirates!
We followed clues found all around the school and eventually found our toys in the FS garden. Luckily, one class even caught one of the pirates, who was none other than our head boy Anas, red-handed. He was handed over to Ms. Val, and we expect him to have detention or at least be forced to walk the plank!


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Welcome from Our Head of Primary


Dear Parents, children and staff,
Thank you for attending our recent events and supporting the school this term.
I hope you feel you have had the opportunity to get to know me and the Primary team (teachers and teaching assistants) over the past months and can see my vision and plans for our thriving school. I have learnt so much about CES over the past 2 years and am proud of what we have achieved together with your continued support. We continue to embed our initiatives and work in collaboration with all stakeholders to further improve outcomes for all our children.
We truly believe that the education of our children is a shared responsibility between home and school. We actively encourage parental involvement in our school as this helps to create an environment where the children feel happy, confident and secure. Thank you to all parents who have attended shows and assemblies over the course of this term. The children value your presence at these events.
Over the past two weeks, we have had numerous shows and exhibitions celebrating our creative curriculum.


Winter Concert - Years 2, 3 & 4 - 6th & 7th December
Thank you for your attendance and continued support.

Winter Concert - Tuesday 13th December 4-5pm – Years 5 & 6
This was an absolute extravaganza!

Thank you to Matthew Steele and Stephen James for their organisation of these events and the beautiful singing by the children.

Prophet Mohamed Birthday
Thank you to the Arabic department for their folk tale enacted by the children. Very entertaining. The children totally enjoyed performing to parents and peers.

Teaching and learning
The winter homework packs will be with you this week. They will consist of a variety of tasks, please work through them over the holidays. Please note homework must be handed in on 8th January 2017 to enable it to be marked by CT.
I have added some websites for you to access with your child during the holidays.
www.mathsisfun.com
www.nrich.maths.org
www.mathplayground.com
www.ncetm.org.uk
www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/primary/
www.espresso.co.uk/online/
Please continue to use Reading Eggs and Mathletics. Should you have any technical problems. Please Contact our technical team at CES. Please note – Google chrome is recommended for use with all the above websites or applications.

Attendance & Punctuality
In readiness for the New Year, it is worth remembering that timekeeping is important. When a child arrives late at school, he/she misses the teacher's instructions and the start to the lesson. Your child may also feel embarrassed at having to enter the classroom late. Please ensure your child is on time.

Minutes late per day during the school year Equals days' worth of teaching lost in a year
5 Minutes 3.4 Days
10 Minutes 6.9 Days
15 Minutes 10.3 Days
20 Minutes 13.8 Days
30 Minutes 20.7 Days

Frequent lateness can add up to a considerable amount of learning lost, and can seriously disadvantage your child. School begins at 8.00am. Please help your child to be punctual.
Your continued support is required to help us achieve our Primary goals.

Our Children are AMAZING!
In Primary, we encourage them to be...
Curious
We ask why and always want to know more
Creative
We use our imagination and express ourselves with confidence
Ambitious
We think big, without limits and have the passion, strength and courage to face challenges together. Our expectations are high.
Respectful
We welcome, listen to and care for the thoughts, feelings, and beliefs of each other
Happy
We care for our health, enjoy learning and celebrate our achievements

We aim to Inspire, develop and nurture every child to have the confidence to learn.
On behalf of all the staff at CES : we would like to thank you for all your support and wish you and your families a ' Joyous Festive Season and a Wonderful 2017!'


Kind regards,
Maureen Jarrett
Head of Primary


Year 2

Year 2 have been engaged in lots of fun and productive learning this term, getting to know all about Talk for Writing in our literacy classes. In our instructions topic, they enjoyed practical activities such as making their own sandwiches. In science they have been investigating the life cycle of humans, animals and plants. Look carefully and you might see one of classes showing how plants start small and grow up to the light. Some classes went outside to practise their sketching skills, drawing the front of the school as part of their work on reports. In Maths, children used a range of items found in the garden to demonstrate reflective symmetry using butterfly templates.

All the classes thoroughly enjoyed the swimming competition and loved the various activities set by the PE department. In October they also got to dress up for Black and Orange Day, a firm favourite.



Winter Concert Year 5 & 6


Year 5

Year 5 have had an exciting and successful time this term with our learning.

We have been learning to use our devices to help us with lots of different subject areas. We have used Art programs to create some fantastic art by mixing colours and learning how to draw with perspective.

Recently we have been doing writing all about Superheroes. We designed our own Superheroes and then planned and wrote stories about them. We learned how to make our writing more exciting and how to include flashbacks and cliff-hangers as well.


In Science, we learned about Climate Change and how it affects the planet. As part of this, we also looked at plants as well as what it takes to make them grow and be healthy. We also had the chance to grow our own plants.

In Maths, we looked at 2D and 3D shapes. We learned how to make 3D shapes from flat nets. We used what we had learned to build many different models including whole cities!

Finally, in ICT, we have started to look at using Scratch to help create our own computer games as well as helping us to practice our Maths.


Year 3

Term 1 has been a busy term for the Year 3 students. Our journey of learning started with reviewing sentence structure and quickly moved onto using adjectives and speech marks in a story, to the use of dialogue in a play script. We changed up the pace by learning about Non-Fiction texts by reading and writing a Non-Chronological report. In Numeracy, we took our time to revise our number bonds and strategies for addition and subtraction, to then apply those skills in different areas such as multiplication and division, learning mathematical vocabulary to identify 2D and 3D shapes, telling time, and measuring various lengths and capacities.
In IPC, we learned where we lived in the relation of the world, the importance of our culture and how culture shapes society. We then looked at explorers and the reason why people explore this great world of ours.
In Science, we learned about plants and living things, nutrition and healthy eating. Students have a better understanding of what is healthy and unhealthy, and the ways to improve their life style.




Prophet Mohamed's Birthday Assembly


Mathletics Competition

Dear CES Parents,

It was very exciting to see your children excitedly participating in our first ever Mathletics competition at CES. As I went from classroom to classroom, there was a great learning hum in the classrooms as students engaged in Maths learning with intensity and focus. We would like to celebrate the winners from each year group by mentioning them here:

Year 1:
First: Mayan O (1LM)
Second: Jana A (1KA)
Third: Jenny B (1LE)

Year 2:
First: Maya W (2F)
Second: Abdelrahman H (2D)
Third: Selim A (2A)

Year 3:
First: Moaz A (3G)
Second: Hana A (3G)
Third: Michael F (3D)

Year 4:
First: Maya A (4B)
Second: Jude S (4D)
Third: Adam A (4C)

Year 5:
First: Seif A (5F)
Second: Adam W (5C)
Third: Youssef G (5C)
Year 6:
First: Yara T (6E)
Second: Mariam H (6F)
Third: Sherif R (6E)

We encourage all students to continue to work hard at their Maths (both in Mathletics and in the classroom) so they will be ready for future competitions. More importantly, this is a great example of a fun competition that is building skills in your children that they will take with them their whole lives.

Thank you for participating!

Mr. Nathan Still
Technology Integration Specialist



Highlights


Year 2, 3, & 4 Concert


Receive Weekly Mathletics Reports

As an Early Years or Primary parent, you can receive weekly progress updates from Mathletics on how your child is progressing in their Maths learning in Mathletics by enrolling for these progress updates here: www.mathletics.com/parent/

Here is a sample of what the report will look like:




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Welcome from Our Head of Secondary

As we arrive at the end of Term One, I would firstly like to wish you all a wonderful holiday and a Happy Christmas to all in our Christian Community.

It has been a very busy final few weeks. We had the wonderful performance of 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'. A massive thanks to Ms Gammond for all her time and effort into creating this performance. Of course of equal thanks to the very talented cast members who sang, danced and entertained us so well. It was really great.

A big thank you to all who contributed to the Shoe Box Appeal. I am sure that the children in the orphanages will be delighted to receive their gifts.

Today we also showcased some of CES's musical talents in a small show to mark the end of term. Thank you to all of the artists who took part to make this final day a little bit different. Wow what talent we have at CES!

You will be receiving your child's full school report today. Please take the time to read over the comments teachers have made so that both parent and student can assess their current achievements and plan for how to progress further.

I look forward to beginning Term Two will full determination to drive forward both the academics and the development of the whole child. For our older students, the term will begin with their Mock Examinations, so I hope that they use the Winter break to prepare properly for these.


Cambridge Top Achievers



Shoebox Delivery

A great big CES Thank You to all of you who supported the Annual Shoebox Appeal. Your generosity , means that a lot of people who have very little, now have a little bit more.


Also to the tireless efforts of Zeina Omar and her team for working with the Sisters, packing, sorting and transporting shoeboxes.
On the 14th December 20 students took the boxes to the new orphanage and spent some time chatting and playing with the girls, who once again were delighted to see us.


Thanks you to all who helped out and for making a difference in somebody's life.





CES UniPrep Term One Events News Bulletin 2016

CES-UniPrep Term One Events News Bulletin December 2016

This term has been a very busy and fruitful one for the CES UniPrep service.
Several Wednesday after-school sessions have been held in Room T36 with individuals and small groups of Year 12 students. Topics covered have been university application processes, personal statement writing technique and where to find information for particular tertiary institutions, both in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, overseas. Two medical school entries were also successfully prepared for the October 15 deadline in the UK.

Christine Zaher from Elmira College NY answering student questions 2nd November


Accompanying this has been a weekly career information session for TUTAL2 Tutor Group during morning registration periods, exploring certain preferred career options in greater depth with the intention of heightening awareness and broadening career vision. We have focussed on and extended horizons on different types of engineering, business domains and robotics. More to come in Term Two.

University Fair 9th November CES Auditorium area


A change to previous practice has been to include Year 10 students in the UniPrep career counselling process. This will be developed more extensively in Term Two. Also, selected Year 9 students were invited to participate in one of the three University Fairs with which CES students were involved. Future career counselling plans are to bring all IGCSE, A level and IB students from Years 9 to 12 into the preparations for career and university choices.


University Fair 21st November counselling

University Fair 21st November – 10th Year students ask for advice


On 13th October, Year 11 and 12 students went to Fairmont Heliopolis Hotel to attend a University Fair of forty-five UK University institutions with their advisors. This proved to be a very well received event with students taking advantage of the wealth of sound advice available to them about preferred universities and course-paths.
This was followed by two University Fairs held at CES by the Auditorium on 9th and 21st of November giving 10th to 12th Year students access to over 18 visiting universities from UK, USA, Greece and Turkey. Some 9th Year students joined us for the second of these two.

Hult Business University advisor November 17th in T36.

Reach Study Abroad in T36 on 7th December


While these highly functional visits have taken place, running in parallel through October, November and December, there have been a series of smaller scale lunchtime events in T36 featuring a variety of service providers from among others, The British Council, Global Study UK and Reach Study Abroad to the International Education Advisors, INTO, Elmira College NY and Hult Business University. These organisations have been able to reach individual students with particular course and career needs as well as giving general advice on university choices, career planning and, very importantly in these times, information about scholarships.
This vital and supportive student service will continue throughout next year with further developmental plans currently being put in place for next term and for the academic year to come 2017-2018. We would like to see all our students at CES Secondary being coached and followed with sound subject, career and university counselling throughout their time with us.
Hugh L S MacCamley
CES-UniPrep
_____________________________________________

Scholarships – advice from those who know
In time of rapid change, when education costs can increase considerably almost overnight, it is important to keep an eye open for financial help. This may come in different forms and even be acquired during a course of tertiary studies. However, it is better to plan ahead if we really need this form of support in addition to parental contributions.
During this term at CES, we have staged a number of advisory sessions with outside counsellors who have provided information with regard to possible scholarship support for overseas students. While it would have been encouraging to see more students take advantage of this during the lunch time sessions when they are being offered, it is always possible to go online and find advice.
The following websites could be useful in this respect –

http://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/schola...
The site gives advice to students in different geographical regions and also contains links to specific Universities in UK that offer scholarships.
http://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/schola...
http://www.studentscholarshipsearch.com/tips/

Graduates 'need to be intuitive and adaptable'


New research by the University of Hertfordshire reveals British businesses now consider resourcefulness and adaptability to be of the utmost importance when considering graduate hires.
The findings show close to three quarters (72%) of senior decision-makers consider a creative approach to problem-solving the most beneficial skill for university leavers.

To know more why we need to be increasingly flexible in how we build our tertiary education qualifications and employment profile go to –

http://www.behindthespin.com/news/graduates-intuit...



The Nightmare Before Christmas


"Twas a long time ago, longer now than it seems...in a place that, perhaps, you've seen in your dreams".

The Secondary production of 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' was luckily not a nightmare before Christmas! The cast and crew worked tirelessly from September in order to be as prepared as possible and to give their audience their best, and boy did they!
"It was hard work but it was all worth it in the end!" Mona Hosny (cast member)

"What a fantastic show. The characters, costumes and performance showcased the students talent. I especially liked the songs and music. The show was definitely enjoyable." Youmna Srour (audience member)

"I wish I had auditioned, for a nightmare it was wonderful!" Daniel Kamal (audience member)
"It was spooktastic!" Amy Legg (audience member)
Thank you to everyone for coming to watch and a big thank you to Ms Sharifi and Ms Sarkees.

Ms Gammond- Performance Director and Head of English


CAIRO ENGLISH SCHOOL

PO Box 8020, Masaken Nasr City 11371, Cairo, Egypt • (+202) 2249 0200

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