May 30, 2019 | Issue 8 CES NEWSLETTER News from Our Headmaster Dear parents, May has been an exceptionally busy month for us. Students and teachers have been working hard to be as prepared as they can be for a range of examinations, from the ministry exams to A levels, and INCAS in Year 2 to IGCSE in Year 10. In addition we have our own end of year examinations for students. There is no 'magic wand' for exam success. It depends on having a certain flair for a subject of course, but more than that it depends on hard work and application, not just in the days before a test, but in the preceding years in school. The early curriculum is a foundation for what comes later, and just like a building, a weak foundation will inevitably compromise what comes later. Likewise, a positive and supported attitude to learning at all times will pay dividends in the future, providing the conditions for understanding and developing a depth and breadth of knowledge. There are no quick fixes, it is a simple truth that in order to be our best we must consistently work to our utmost. Good support from teachers and parents is a significant help, but personal dedication, commitment and sheer will on the part of the individual are indispensable. In any field of endeavour some are inevitably more talented than others, but also remember that hard work will overcome natural talent whenever natural talent doesn't work hard enough. Ultimately the message for exam success is simply this – do your best, not just sometimes, but always, and then you can really achieve the results you deserve. Steve Lewis Headmaster
News from Foundation Stage & Key Stage1; What has been happening since April in FS & KS1; We had a busy April, especially during our 'Week Without Walls'. We looked at the importance of this week as a time to focus on our community spirit. It enabled the children the opportunity to look beyond the school walls and bring our CES spirit out into the wider world! It became a week of experiences beyond the classroom which brought alive our mission for students to be both world aware and global citizens. Our focus on Egyptian Culture was also a fundraising event for our CES community. The FS and KS1 School presented each of our valued school workers with a large food hamper just prior to the beginning of Ramadan. Our children and their families showed their usual generosity, making us all proud of this great part of Egyptian Culture. This year we managed to buy Ramadan food hampers for nearly 200 of our local staff and workers. We also spent the week celebrating our Egyptian Culture with a variety of activities, which lead up to our big celebration of Egyptian Cultural Day on Thursday 18th April. KA Art Centre came into school to support the children in making local and culturally relevant arts and crafts. In FS1, children created their own Ramadan decoration to take home. FS2 children created a leather pouch, whilst in Year 1, the children decorated an 'kola' (Egyptian clay water jug) and in Year 2, they designed and decorated a Fanous. The Foundation Stage children participated in, and raised money for, our annual Animal Walk Fundraiser as part of their community spirit goal. Each year we link our learning about animals to a meaningful cause. One of the regular animal charities we support is ESAF (Egyptian Society of Animal Friends). ESAF is a registered non-profit animal welfare organization under the Egyptian law and is also an animal shelter for dogs and cats. We started the fundraising with the help of our Year 4 class friends and teacher, Ms. Liz Jones. The Year 4 children had an absolutely amazing school bake sale where they were able to raise almost 9000LE!! The FS children then had their sponsored 'animal walk' around the track, dressed up in their favourite animal costumes or carrying their favourite stuffed animal. When ESAF came to visit we had the opportunity to see a cat and dog they bought in with them. Later, we presented them with a big cheque that totaled 17,288 LE, which broke last year's record! The children all enjoyed the visit and learned how to help and treat animals. What a wonderful, caring community we live in! Year 1 classes visited the Children's Civilisation and Cultural Centre in Heliopolis. They explored two pavilions - one for Ancient Egypt and one for The Seasons and Egyptian Agriculture. Year 2 classes travelled to Abdeen Palace Museum in downtown Cairo in preparation for their study of Cairo and London, in Term 3. The week ended with a variety of fun activities: Firstly, all of the Foundation Stage children were treated to an amusing Arabic Puppet Show performed by our wonderful Arabic Team! It was also a dress down day, with children beautifully dressed in their Arabic costumes. We shared Arabic food and were enthralled and entertained by the Tanoura dancers! What a fabulous way to end Term 2!! Term 3 is also a busy time for us as we come to the end of the year. We have assessments, and performance rehearsals and meeting new year groups. All our parents should have received their invites to their child's end of year performance. Although our children are busy, they never cease to amaze us with their wonderful talents outside of school. In this edition of the school newsletter, we not only have Superstars of Sport but also of learning and performing..... We are very proud of Youssef Nassif, Y2AW. Despite having a very sore knee from the onset of the tournament, he was able to collect enough power to secure a third gold medal at the Egyptian National Gymnastics Tournament! Super congratulations to Tamara Hassan Abdel Rahman, Karma Sherif Kamal, Tia Fawzy Shaker and Lara Mohab El Hossieny, all in FS1S, for achieving gold medals in the national gymnastics competition for Girls under 6. Amazing! Bravo! Layla Serry FS2M, for achieving a gold medal in the national gymnastics competition for girls under 6 years. Congratulations to Liana William, FS2H, who achieved a gold medal for first place in the Egyptian National Gymnastics Championship! Hamza Yehia, Y1JR, has done it again...winning first place whilst participating in the Egyptian tennis association tournament for under 8's. what a super tennis ace! Well done Mariam Magdy, FS2M, for winning a gold medal for gymnastics. Great effort Youssef Morshidy, FS1S, who achieved a gold medal in his swim training! Congratulations to Lily Ibrahim, 1OC, who gained a medal in a recent Ballet competition! Well done to Kareem Tarek Bahgat FS1G and Zeina Mohamed Gamal FS1H, who both participated in the New Giza 5k Colour Marathon and also ran for 2k in the Cairo Marathon. What amazing athletes! Congratulations to Irena Farag, FS2M, who was awarded a 'Best Ballerina' medal in her final term evaluation! Congratulations to Youssef Abdelalim, FS2S, who gained his medal as a member of the Champions Football Academy, which recently won a tournament among a number of other football academies. Team player!! Congratulations Habiba Hassan, Y1OC, for second place achievement at the 'Intelligent Mental Arithmetic' (IMA) Centre, for children 5 to 12 years of age. What a wonderful accomplishment! Congratulations to Tia Hazzem, FS2J, who received a medal for her performance in a Pirate's show in her drama, acting, and theatre classes! Well done, Asya Yehia, FS2R, who achieved a gold medal in swimming and took the third place in the front crawl stroke at the Ain shams University pool! Congratulations to Sofyan Aoun, FS2C, who received a medal for his performance in a Pirate's Show in his drama, acting, and theatre classes. Great job! CES has some amazingly talented, young Sporting, Learning, and Performing Superstars!!
Primary News Dear Parents, Phew!! I hear you all say as we near the end of the final assessment for 2018-19. The children have worked extremely hard over the past few weeks preparing for all of the assessments and completing them, but this doesn't mean school is over. We still expect continued attendance and exemplary behaviour. I know the children seem to think the school year is over and have started thinking about next year, however, the teachers continue to work hard delivering essential lessons. The teachers will be planning lessons ensuring any misconceptions highlighted in the assessments are clarified until the end of the school year. The final class assemblies have now been completed. I can honestly say that the standard of assemblies has been truly amazing this year. It takes a lot of time, energy and dedication from the children and teachers to produce a 15-20-minute presentation of their learning. SOCIAL MEDIA Social Media such as Facebook, What's App Instagram and Snapchat continue to cause problems between children in school. Recently we have noticed group accounts being made where the children have 1 login name and password which they all share and post anonymously. The children believe this is private to them and while going well is successful. But when somebody posts something inappropriate there is no name stamp so the person cannot be held accountable. This is a rising trend and something that we all need to be aware of. Please ensure if your child does have one of these accounts their password and account is unique to them and not a shared account. Although the children are not using these applications during the school day, the things that are said end up causing problems in the classroom and playground. Social Media when used responsibly is enjoyable and a very useful tool for family and friends around the world to stay in touch. However, children should not be using these sites unsupervised. Please help us by monitoring your child's use of these applications and viewing their posts. By following your child's Instagram account or being a friend on Facebook as well as keeping your parental controls and restrictions updated will ensure that what your child writes, receives and views is age appropriate and culturally sensitive. The Internet is a powerful tool, which can have limitless benefits, but it must be used sensibly and safely. STILL TO COME THIS TERM ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬-__________________________________________________________ Claire Rowland Head of Key Stage Two
CAIRO ENGLISH SCHOOL PO Box 8020, Masaken Nasr City 11371, Cairo, Egypt • (+202) 2249 0200
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