What another wonderful year it has been, and a very busy one too!

We are quickly approaching the time of year when the Early Years Management Group meet and reflect on all that has taken place; from settling-in to transitions, from events to field trips, from creative activities, to the provision of learning and development. What can we do differently, what worked well, what didn't work, what needs improvement? Each year we evolve to ensure that what we provide continues to be meaningful, relevant and fun! Sometimes changes occur that you may not see. Changes such as teachers' roles and responsibilities, professional development, and leadership opportunities.

Some changes are only experienced by the few; such as inviting all our new 2017/18 FS1 parents into school for an orientation before the summer break. Encouraging our new parents' understanding of the expectations and purpose of an Early Years education both for them and for their child. Enabling parents to demystify what school will look like in September, taking away the apprehension!

Some changes benefit all our parents, such as the presentations offered by our Arabic team. These workshops had a great turn out of parents and demonstrated the importance of phonetics, providing strategies for supporting our youngest children to learn Arabic in a fun way.

Some changes help to inform our educational provision and where adjustments need to be made.
Every year there are changes. We hope that these changes are for the better.

We anticipate another busy, fun-filled year of learning and developing ahead of us in 2017/18. We are certainly looking forward to welcoming Year 2 into our department, which will see our name change from Early Years to FS & KS1.

So be ready for some more changes. Changes you may notice, changes you may not but changes none the less.
We wish all our families a wonderful vacation, safe travels, relaxation and quality family time. Remember to encourage your child to complete their Summer Packs and bring them back to school in September to share with their teachers and colleagues.

Happy holidays and a very
Happy Ramadan and Eid too!


Valerie Awad—Head of Early Years and the Early Years Team!

FS1 have been busy these last couple of weeks preparing wonderful art to display for mummies and daddies to view as they make their way to the Auditorium for the FS1 end of year celebration. They have loved being creative, using different medium to develop their masterpieces.

Their performance for parents was delightful. What a lovely way to celebrate their year of learning in FS1. Well done everyone!

FS2 have been focusing on the story, Room on a Broom. They have really explored many aspects of the story, from using story maps to puppets; rhymes to writing; creating 'wanted' posters and having visits from 'dragons'....it has been endless! It has also been a wonderful learning opportunity for them. They have 'interviewed' and used their writing in ways they never thought possible. Magnificent adjectives and wizardly good 'Wow' words whistled down the hallways! But the most fascinating of all was making magic potions....

Wow it seems like a long time ago now but what a fun week we had learning fascinating facts and information about different countries of the world and Egypt!

In FS1, they conducted a survey of all the different countries children had travelled to for holidays. Then they investigated their chosen country to find out as many interesting facts as possible. They looked at weather, language, food, buildings and animals too. They also had the opportunity to 'visit' these countries and had their 'passports' stamped as they went from class to class.

In FS2, the children discussed the continents, as well as the countries that can be found on those continents including their distance from the equator. They learned how to locate these countries on a map. The children also discussed the different climates; what school is like around the world; traditional clothing; famous world landmarks and flags; and where their chosen country's location is in relation to Egypt. Here are FS2 all dressed up on Egyptian Culture Day...

In Year 1, the children focussed on different places to visit in Egypt. They had to research simple facts about Egypt, use maps to locate landmarks and tourist locations in Egypt, and then create a holiday brochure about their chosen area of Egypt. In their holiday brochure, they had to include the many facts that they researched, using internet sites such as Tripadvisor, Google, and worldatlas etc., to find extra information about weather, sightseeing, foods, traditions, attractions and landmarks. They used their geographical knowledge in a variety of ways to communicate why Egypt is an exciting and irresistible place to visit. Their final product has been wonderful 'Welcome to Egypt' brochures!

At the end of a fun-filled week, we all had enormous fun celebrating Egypt. We started the day off with Y1 presenting a song and poems in Arabic to the whole school at morning line-up. Then we handed out the Ramadan food bags to our much loved support staff. Then it was time for some fun with a super Arabic puppet show given by our amazing Arabic team then on to party time! Lots of yummy Egyptian foods were shared as children danced and showed off their wonderful traditional costumes. Thank you parents for all your support. What a wonderful way to end the week!

Dear Parents,

How quickly time flies! I cannot quite believe that we have completed the year. It seems only yesterday that I was welcoming both new and old children back to school on the first day of the year.

I have dedicated this newsletter to reflections, teachers, children and mine.

There are so many highlights it is hard to name them all.

The children work so hard, they are dedicated to achieving their best. Sometimes, as we all do at times, they make mistakes, but what always amazes me about your children is that no matter has happened they always leave my office saying 'sorry' and 'thank you'.

What I enjoy the most is when the children pass by my office just to say hello! The children demonstrate respect, tolerance, acceptance all of which are needed to make the world a better place for us all to live in. I will be saying in my Year 6 Graduation speech 'Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.' I truly believe that your children have the ability and are on the journey to change the world they live in for the better.

I wish all of our leaving staff, children and parents good luck on their new adventures and all of returning staff and families a happy and safe holiday. I will look forward to

A MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD GIRL & BOY

Hello Everyone,
Our names are Sara Wanis and Ali Zeitoun

This year we have had the privilege of being the Primary Head Girl and Boy.

When I was preparing this letter, I thought about our time at CES. During the normal days, everybody is just rushing around, completing their homework and chores. It is very easy to forget to stop and reflect. That is exactly what I have done...

Being a student of CES is special. There are not many schools like this and I am very grateful that I was able to be a part of the CES community for a while. Being a student at CES is exceptional as well as demanding. Our teachers are determined to provide us with the best possible education there is. We all know this is highly beneficial for success in our lives and we are incredibly grateful.

However, CES experience is not only about academic achievement, it involves the entire person. In a nutshell, the experiences we have had at CES has helped us to develop our characters and to become who we are today - confident, resilient, independent, thoughtful and responsible. All of these characteristics will give us a head start for sure!

The Year 6 teachers as well as all our CES Teachers have helped us a lot in shaping our characters, motivating us, building our confidence, as well as teaching us what is right and wrong. We cannot thank them enough for their dedication, hard work and perseverance! Thank you!

Another part of the CES community that is crucially important is...US, the students. We might have not yet realised but the friendships we make during our Primary school lives might just be the strongest, the most significant. Life gets quite serious after this and we will surely be thinking fondly about our time at CES.

I would like to wish everybody the best of luck in future and hope that all of your dreams, as crazy as they might be, will become true!

Thank you everyone for making our time at CES great!

YEAR 2 – MEMORABLE MOMENTS FROM MRS QUIGLEY

Year 2 quickly settled into their new routines in Primary. The children brought with them a wonderful sense of confidence and eagerness to learn. It has been fantastic for all the Year 2 teachers to harness this energy and bring the Year 2 topics alive for them. Memorable moments from the children include a swimming gala where the children proved their teamwork and cheered each other on regardless, though the team house and class competitive spirit was on show for all to see too.

Of course, which child does not love dressing up? The students demonstrated this throughout the year, especially on Black and Orange Day and World Book Day. The range of homemade costumes was amazing and it highlighted how much the children are committed to the CES ethos of personal excellence and dedication.

In class the children have remembered lessons that used Talk 4 Writing which they took to their hearts and revelled in this new style of learning literacy, creating actions, learning actions and memorising new sentence structures to support their writing. Art has been another firm favourite with the students loving creating their own 'Starry Night' paintings.

Many of Year 2 memories centre on the active learning that has taken place but what also made Year 2 special for many of our students was the new friends they made together and the special times they have enjoyed together.

Finally, assessments are complete and the Holy Month of Ramadan ends, but Year 2 had one more experience and powered on into a Science workshop.

YEAR 3 – STUDENT MEMEORIES OF THE YEAR

My favourite memory is when we play our favourite games during playtime and when we go to the library. I love the library because I enjoy reading. I also enjoyed the swimming lessons in PE because you are in the water like a fish. Art is the best thing ever, it is also my favourite thing because I am good at it and I make nice things.
~ Sidra 3A

My favourite memory of 3B was starting flipped learning. We get to watch videos that Miss Ally has made, and it prepares us for the next day.

~ Omar A 3B

It has been nice for me to be in 3C. I really liked it when we had special occasions happening. I had fun in the class trip, dish party, sports day, Arabian Day and Spirit Week. My favourite lessons are Science, ICT and PE. I also enjoyed lunch times because I like playing football with my friends.
¬ Moosa 3C

My favourite memory was when we learnt about fossils and we have to use magnifying glasses to guess what type of fossil it is
¬ Omar Ahmed 3D

One of my best memories in Year 3 was preforming our class Assembly. It was Wednesday April 5th 2017. I was one of the main characters, the Oncler. We performed The Lorax. I pretended to chop down trees and build factories.
¬ Faris 3E

My favourite memory of Year 3 was the amazing Sports Day. I also enjoyed the field trip. It was so fun because we learned about recycling and spent time with our best friends.
¬ Layan 3F

This year I liked PE because we played games, which was fun. Playing games and being active is good for your body. Another thing that I have enjoyed this year is Art because it teaches us how to use our imagination and it is my favourite thing to do. I enjoyed this year very much.
~ Hana 3G

YEAR 4 – Highlights of the year

As the year ends, it is time to reflect on some of the events and achievements that have made this year such an enjoyable experience for all of us in Year 4.

'Black and Orange Day'
Year 4 Council members were involved in organising this charitable event back in October. It was fantastic to see how well received this was by both staff and students who dressed up and made it a very colourful experience.

'Christmas Concert'
Christmas concert was presented, just before the Winter Break, it was so much fun to prepare and perform it for the parents and school. It gave an excellent opportunity for all the children in Year 4 to show off their musical talents.

'Class Assemblies'
Over the year, we have seen brilliant class Assemblies with a variety of themes from working of the Digestive System to Rockbands, from Street Child to Macbeth. Class Assemblies are a celebration of learning and Year 4 certainly have a talent for Stage and Drama as each class assembly was interesting and unique.

Another highlight this year was our topic on 'Robots' where children designed and made Robots using recycle component parts and electrical circuits. All the children had so much fun and produced very creative models of Robots. Our classrooms became like planets from outer space. To sum up, we have had an interesting and enjoyable year. Here are some students' reflections.

'After Christmas, we created slogans and jingles for our rockbands, it was SUPER FUN! Spirit week was crazy and we wore crazy clothes.' – Andre Botros

'I enjoyed learning about circuits and Robots. In circuits, we learnt how to make a light bulb light up. In Robots, we learnt about the parts of the Robot and how does it work and we even made our own Robots with recycled stuff.' – Yassin Ramadan

'During Term 2, we learnt about chocolate and child labour. I felt so sad for those children who were being working as labour that I decided never to eat chocolate ever again. We also learnt about how chocolate gets made in Cocao farms.' – Hana Al Khozamy

YEAR 4 – STUDENTS REFLECTIONS

It has been my first year in Cairo English School and I really enjoyed it because when I came I was scared that no one would like me. I first met a very nice boy called Aly, he helped me change so much because when I came I was scared of being hit, however Aly taught me not to be shy and now I have many friends. Also, I really enjoyed doing our play "Street Child" additionally if you were in the auditorium you couldn't hear one pin drop.
Since the start of the year, I wasn't the best in English, but now thanks to Miss Moore I have made huge progress. Miss Moore came up with a great idea called "Morning Maths" where we have to solve 10 questions in 10 minutes. It is not important if you get it correct or wrong you only have to know how to explain your answer.This year has been the best.

By Karim Youssef Hegez 4D

So far this year has been my favourite year at CES and so I would like to share with you some highlights of this year.

During Term 1 we read the book Street child by Berlie Doherty. Then in term 2, we helped Miss Moore change the first 4 chapters of the book into a play, and in February we stunned the whole Auditorium! We were so focused on our performance that we can hear a pin drop! All of us memorised our lines. We even were told by many teachers, including Miss Moore that we were really loud and clear.

As the class progressed in every single subject and Maths was a challenging one at the beginning of the year, but thanks to morning maths, maths is now one of the easiest subject now according to the whole class. Now we can divide 3 digit numbers, we can find a fraction of a number, percentages etc.

A huge highlight of Year 4 is that we beat Year 5 in Around the World (maths game) as a whole class. The score was 84-29. We are also looking forward to challenging Year 6!

Finally, I would like to thank my classmates and my teacher for the joy they brought to me I will never forget. Thank you all for cheering me up.
By Alia 4D.

YEAR 5- OUR BEST MOMENTS OF THE YEAR

When we did our Assembly it was terrific!!

It was great because there were lots of characters and actions, songs and different scenes that required different types of costumes. All of us wanted to make the show cool and organised, so we helped ourselves to make our show nice, lovely and beautiful!

By Camilia Afify 5E

The School Carnival

One of the highlights for us was the CES School Carnival. Omar Sherif and me had an awesome time and the photo reminds us of our friendship.

The Amazing Show!!!!

Michael Gerges in the Year 5 Compose Yourself performance as Beethoven

"My personal favourite moment of the year was the spectacular play, Compose Yourself!Without a shadow of a doubt, Compose Yourself was the best time of my life!"

The Great Chocolate Day

Secondary School had their first International Lunch on Wednesday with countries from Greece, Russia, Sweden, Wales, Germany, China, Japan, Italy, Spain, Mexico, India, Greece.
As well as producing flags, getting name tags for themselves in traditional names, learning to say, 'Welcome, would you like some food?' in that language and finding out 5 important facts, students also brought a fantastic array of traditional foods from 'their' country. From sushi to stroganoff to tortilla and tzatziki, the food was delicious and plentiful. Thank you Years 7,8&9 for your enthusiasm and organisation. It was great fun and great food. Well done

Mrs Smith

Early Years put on a fine show as they welcomed our Graduates of 2017 on their walk through the school. They were buzzing with excitement and enthusiasm as the 'big people' came through, parading in their red gowns. They cheered, 'high fived', waved, sang, chanted, brandished banners, banged drums and made our graduates feel sooooo special. Hard to believe that one day that will be them striding down the corridors! But thank you so much from the Graduates – you helped make it and amazing day for them.

On Wednesday we celebrated our Graduates of 2017 leaving the school.

They had a busy day! Firstly they were on the steps of the school, looking fantastic in their suits and formal dress. Mr Smith presented them to the school on their special day to a huge round of applause.

They then 'walked through' the school in their robes to a rapturous welcome from the younger students.

And finally was the ceremony itself. There were flowers, parents, red robes, music and tears as we heard our Head Students and Valedictorian speak of their time at the school and their treasured memories. Parents attended to see their 'babies' all grown up and finishing High School. It was a lovely afternoon where we also treated to some excellent vocal renditions from Joumana in Year 8 and Deena and Zeina singing a duet; thank you girls for making it special. Mr.Walid Abushakra, Mrs Sharifi and Mr Smith also spoke of the Graduates 'duty' to themselves, their families and their country and the 'difference' they can make in the world. Always remember, "there is more in you than you think!"