January 30, 2020 | Issue 4 CES NEWSLETTER Director's Headlines We are already delighted to be able to share with you our news so far this year even though it seems a few short weeks since the start of this new term. The academic focus this year has begun with all students reviewing target grades in all of their subject areas after the assessments in the Autumn term and of course these were shared with you in the End of Term reports. These targets are very aspirational but if you feel you need further information or clarification please ensure that you contact your child's teacher to clarify. It is a very important step in ensuring that all students are reaching their full potential and being the best that they can be by ensuring that we have a challenging start to the new academic year. We will be measuring progress at various points throughout the year and of course will be keeping you up to date on the progress that your child is making. We have also had the privilege of a visit from Stephen Ritz an Urban farmer from the United States who inspired the children to live a more responsible life respecting our planet. The children were inspired by his vision and I am pleased to report that we will be working closely with him to set up an Urban Garden project in school as well as leading a healthy living project to educate our young learners in living a healthy life. Please see the photographs in this Newsletter to see just how he got on in school! Cairo English School were thrilled to welcome Stephen Ritz an renowned Urban Farmer who travels the globe inspiring young people to eat and live healthily. He will continue to work with CES developing an Urban Garden project. 'Did you know there are more than 200,000 edible plants, but people mostly eat only 150 of them.' 'Did you know the average strawberry has 200 seeds. Strawberries are the only fruit with seeds on the outside.' ' Did you know that a tree can remove 26 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in one year.' Just a reminder to all of our school community that our Guiding Statements (as shown below) have allowed us to create a half termly focus to ensure that we are all working together as a strong community and ensuring that no one gets left behind. This half term the key word has been reflection. We are also pleased to share with you that our motivational quotation that we share every morning is making a real difference to students and brings a light of hope to our mornings. Please do ensure that you are motivating your children to have 100% attendance because by being in school every day enables them to make the progress that they deserve to make. Of course the students have had a very positive start to the new year. I have been so impressed by their excellent behavior and commitment to their future I feel truly blessed to be here leading such an amazing school! Just a reminder that our new Learning Zone is now open and accommodating the needs of all of our students. This pastoral support unit is the first of its kind in Egypt and will ensure that everyone reaches their full potential. Heads of School Ms. Beth Meldrum Director
Lots of fun events happened in FS & KS1 during the month of December... Lots of learning had taken place as well as lots of preparation for our end of term one celebrations. Big thanks to all our teachers, teaching assistants, Arabic and Music teachers, Miss Tanya and everyone one else who has supported us in creating memorable moments through our Winter Celebrations. FS1 enjoyed their first trip out with their teachers last term. They had a thoroughly enjoyable time too! FS1 Sitara Trip Also, alongside all the learning that took place, the children, from FS1 to Year 2 had been very busy rehearsing for their Winter Shows. Below is a selection of photos for you to enjoy. These were taken during the rehearsals on a mobile device, so the quality isn't great, the official school pictures are bound to be much more exciting! Santa also visited the Early Years department spreading his festive cheer, Ho! Ho! Ho! Shoebox Appeal Thank you to all the families who gave generously to the Shoebox Appeal this year! A special thank you to one of our Early Years parents who, again, gave generously by donating gifts for up to one hundred needy children! Sporting Superstars: More superstars were celebrated last month. Well done Alei Osman, 2OC, awarded a gold medal in a recent gymnastics competition. Congratulations Laila Mohamed, Y2OS, for achieving a gold medal for first place in the Egyptian National Gymnastics competition for Girls under 8 years! Well done to our budding engineer, Yusuf Mostafa, FS2G, who recently participated in a Junior Lego Competition at the Library of Alexandria. Yusuf's team won the creative award in building a town which included gears for opening and shutting gates! Super effort from Malek Ragheed, 2MM, for winning a gold medal in gymnastics! If you would like to celebrate your child's achievements outside of school in this monthly newsletter, please email a brief outline of what they have achieved along with a clear photograph of them and their achievement... Reminder: Lots of classes have now sent out their parent log-ins for Bug Club. The more exposure to independent reading and shared stories, the greater impact on young children as learners... Best wishes from the FS & KS1 Team!
Primary Newsletter Dear Parents Happy New Year to you all. We are back into the swing of things in our new term and the children have all started upon their new learning themes with gusto. We have a bumper Newsletter this month with updates on December and the start of this term to share with you. Staff and pupils have worked incredibly hard over the last term and continue to do so. I have been very impressed by all the quality work I have seen and the clear progress being made in all areas of the school. We introduced a wide range of events over the Autumn term, in all Year Groups, to keep the children engaged in their learning and motivated in their studies. It is a key part of the curriculum in Primary to enable students to experience a full range of learning opportunities. We will continue to do this as we move through the Spring term, culminating in our 'Week Without Walls', plans for which are already well in hand. Obviously, the school does not run without the support and continued contribution of the parents. So lastly, I would like to thank you all for everything you have done since the start of the year to improve the life of the school and the educational outcomes of the children. Yours sincerely Richard Horn Head of Primary Notices o Year 3 – 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, 8x, 10x tables. o Year 4 to 6 – up to 12x12 Year 3 – Miss Heba Year 3 has had a happy, head start to the year. We started off the new term by writing our very own New Year's resolutions. We were very reflective and our resolutions ranged from academic to personal and sports related goals. 3F took their reflection to the next level and performed their assembly around their time (thus far) in Year 3. It was very refreshing to see how much they have learned and how far they have come. 'Reflective' also appeared in our science lessons. Our new topic for this half-term is LIGHT and the children in 3E were researching and comparing different materials according to their reflective properties. 3C had lots of fun experimenting with different reflective materials and designing their own 'reflective safety backpack'. They learned about the importance of reflective material in outer wear and its different uses in our daily lives. Year 4 – Miss Amanda Last term was extremely busy across Year 4, full of new challenges, teachers and friendships, Year 4s had the wonderful opportunity of visiting the Art Café in Maadi and also Sitara Theatre. The Year 4 students explored different art forms, from moulding with clay, making their own keyrings or necklaces, creating mosaic photo frames and baking their very own cupcakes, which they were able to enjoy afterwards. We also had the opportunity to watch a spin-off of the fairy tale Rapunzel. The students had a wonderful time. The storyline was both engaging and interactive – the students certainly enjoyed being part of the show. Finally, to wrap up a very exciting Science unit – the Year 4s conducted several investigations, learning more about the processes of filtering, sieving, dissolving and evaporation. We had a very enjoyable fun-packed term filled with learning. We have also had a busy and exciting start to a new theme this half term. Year 4 are reading the ancient story of Beowulf as told by Michael Morpurgo. The story of Beowulf is a retelling based on an Old English poem. The story is set in fifth century Denmark and is about a monster who stalks the night, and a Prince of the Geats who has the courage and strength to defeat him. This text is a wonderful opportunity for students to practice their reading fluency, build vocabulary and practice the writing process for a myth. In Science, students have shown great enthusiasm with our topic for the term – Electricity. Students have, so far, been learning about how to build circuits, use symbols to draw circuit diagrams and begin to understand the differences between conductors and insulators of electricity. In Music, students are learning about tone, pace and rhythm through song. Students are learning the recorder and the tambourine. We have also had our first Movie Night – organised by the CES IB students. It was a wonderful evening and it was lovely to see the Year Group getting on together so well. Year 5 – Miss Andrea In the countdown to Christmas and our winter break the Year 5 pupils participated in lots of exciting events. The children were busy decorating their classroom doors and made paper chains to decorate our lovely halls. Their work was very creative and looked amazing! Don't you agree? Another highlight for the end of last term was our trip to Sitara to see the modern version of Rapunzel. The children had an amazing time engaging with the modern twist, participating in the songs and activities prepared by the theatre. Year 5 have been just as busy in 2020 as they were in 2019! The children have been fascinated by our new theme, Earth and Space. They have had an exciting and enjoyable time learning about the first astronauts and animals in space, the race between the USA and the USSR and the Apollo missions. They have also been learning about the planets and have created some beautiful artwork together with fact files and reports about the different planets! We have also started our new values theme for this half term, being Reflective. The children have been learning about the importance of knowing themselves as a learner, knowing what works best for them and how they can be better learners. We've come up with our own goals and New Year's Resolutions as part of this unit. Year 6 – Miss Desi December was an exciting month in Year 6 as we finalised our units and prepared for the festive holidays. We all enjoyed a fun trip to Sitara, where we all watched a retelling of Rapunzel and delighted in the music, songs, dances and not to mention the much loved Osman and his jokes. We laughed, sang along and all enjoyed a very festive time. December also saw us write our very own Mystery Stories modelled on the very famous Sir Arthur Conan Doyle text, 'The Hound of the Baskervilles.' We wrote stories about diamond thieves, dynamic duo detectives, under-cover secret agents, secret museum lairs and many more thrilling and riveting tales of wonder and curiosity. We explored our skills of writing suspense and adding tension to ensure that we kept our readers captivated by keeping facts hidden and throwing in lots of red herrings along the way. We all took the 'Christmas Door' competition in Year 6 very, very seriously and produced amazing Winter Wonderlands of our very own. Hopefully you agree as much as we do that we truly got into the Festive Spirit! In Year 6, we have come back from Winter Break excited and eager to show off exactly what we can do. January has seen us jump straight into our theme of reflection by reflecting on the past year, looking to the year ahead with enthusiasm and fervor and really thinking about the goals we want to achieve and how we will get there. We have been busy making New Year's Resolutions, writing to our future selves and letting the people around us know why we value, care for them and are thankful for them daily. Our reflection displays show that we have thought carefully about the moments, people and goals we value. This month has seen us begin our brand new topic 'Egyptian Culture and Heritage' where we have started to explore human and physical aspects of geography and begin to make comparisons between the UK and Egypt as well as looking at biographical writing in English. We have been busy exploring and researching about the life of key Egyptian figures through time, both past and present and documenting their successes, career highlights and important messages that they leave us with. We have also been perfecting our poetic skills and celebrating the amazing Egyptian cuisine at the same time. Walk through the Year 6 corridor and see our lyrical poems to tickle your taste buds! Come and take a wander, Visit if you dare, Look by the Year 6 staircase and marvel in our flair! In Science, we have been busy learning all about the Particle Model and learning about the difference between mixtures and substances based on their particles. We have been investigating what makes a liquid a liquid as well as looking at the key differences between solids, liquids and gases, looking at how states affect properties and explaining melting and freezing points using key scientific vocabulary.
Secondary News The month of December has seen and end to the Assessment Weeks and a focus on identifying strengths and areas to improve. All students should now have their examination papers with them and can be using them to improve for future assessments. Since the assessments finished it has been great to see students getting back in to the routine of giving their best in lessons. Teachers have been working hard to have students engaged and enjoying their lessons as well as taking pride in the school community. It is almost impossible to list all the outstanding lessons I have seen over the last few weeks, but I will give you a taster! As January comes to an end it is great to see students taking on board the lessons they have learned from Term 1. The French department went culinary before Christmas with their french breakfast lessons, the Year 7 students really enjoyed providing the food they had learned about and our senior students were brilliant in offering support to Ms Craig and Ms Neary. Sadly, Ms Craig would not share with us the picture of her in a beret, but she has shared some lovely photos of the students enjoying the breakfast. Seeing students engaged in learning is what every teacher and parent wants to see, and this has been happening throughout the school this month. Ms Sobhy had her Year 8 group on task and eager to answer her questions on angles, Mr Piquer has been teaching the Year 7 how to 'Scratch' and build their own programmes using animals and games, Ms Hughes has quite literally had her students' hands on with painting as they used their own hand stencils to create designs. It isn't just the Key Stage 3 students that get to enjoy interactive learning, there has been so many opportunities for older students to take part too, including Year 11 Biology students investigating plant slides under the microscope. The Seniors are soon to be leaving us and whenever not in lessons they are focusing on revision and examination preparation, and it is great to see students using their own designated Senior Study Room to do just that. The Senior Study room is adjacent to the library, which is a hub for many students and our librarian Ms Judith March has always running fun and educational events for students. This month "The Amazing Race" has been one of the main activities but so far this year the students have been able to take part in The Banned Books Escape Room, Mystery Box and Mystery Blurbs. We are pleased to welcome Ms Sahar Youssef who will be now working more with the Secondary library during Term 2. The activities in the library are a reminder that school is not always just about getting top grades, it is about developing the whole student and their well-being. One of the themes from the library during Term 1 was lighter bags, a lot of students carry very heavy bags which is not great for their posture and the library has been educating students on how to manage resources so they carry less weight. Some students choose to carry books are all subjects rather than the books they need just for that day. The students at CES continue to excel outside of the classroom too, and at the start of December students took part in interschool basketball and football tournaments. The under 16 girls' basketball team deserve massive congratulations as they not only won the tournament on home soil, but dominated the league as well. Their motivation and thirst to test themselves against even better opposition is contagious and we hope to give them the opportunity to do so in the near future. Our Under 13 BSME teams are soon to return from Dubai and I look forward to sharing some stellar results with you in next months newsletter. To help staff and students get in to the holiday spirit before the holidays the secondary floor took on some extra colour and decoration in the final week, with form groups decorating their doors with a holiday theme. Some of the classes came up with some outstanding displays and it has been helping create a happy and positive atmosphere on the top floor and I hope that in the future students will have much more to offer in terms of making their environment, bright, colourful, informative and engaging. One of the best displays has been done by the Christian Studies teachers and students which looks fantastic, and the Sisters have been working very hard and organizing the annual Shoe Box Appeal to provide the Girls Home with well needed materials. I want to end the calendar year by saying a big thank you to all staff, students and parents for their continual work and support in making CES such a great school. I hope that everybody had a happy holiday season and it is great to see everybody refreshed and ready to continue in term 2. Happy Holidays, Andrew Lennie Head of Secondary
CAIRO ENGLISH SCHOOL PO Box 8020, Masaken Nasr City 11371, Cairo, Egypt • (+202) 2249 0200
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