Dear Parents / Guardians
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T 974 4437 9600 E [email protected] www.cisalkhor.com Nord Anglia International School Al Khor PO Box 60256 Al Khor, Qatar 7 September 2015 Dear Parents / Guardians It is with great pleasure that I write to you today to welcome you and your children to the beginning of the new academic year in NAISAK. Keeping our governing rules in mind and our ambition for outstanding learning, I would like to remind you of a few points concerning Secondary School: Secondary school students are expected to be in their respective tutor rooms for registration at 7.20am, hence need to ensure they reach school with plenty of time to get their learning materials organised for their first learning sessions. The correlation between punctuality and attendance, and progress and attainment is solid. In order to maximise their learning time with their teachers, students are expected to come every day equipped with the relevant learning materials. Students are given a timetable that shows their daily subjects and teachers will make clear which learning materials are expected to be brought to the learning sessions. As much as the team of teachers encourages students to take great care of and value their learning materials, it is paramount that you, as parents, reiterate such habit at home and check with your child that their school bag is equipped for the next day. Similarly, home learning tasks will be set by subject teachers to consolidate or extend the work completed during the learning sessions. The home learning tasks may be as straightforward as re-reading the notes of that lesson to assimilate the new concepts, learning some new vocabulary items, completing a worksheet or a set of exercises, or as consequential as a research project, an analysis of an excerpt or a dissertation. According to the task set, teachers will give relevant time and the deadline will be recorded in the Communication Book at the date the home learning is due. Again, it is crucial that you, as parents, discuss the home learning tasks with your child and offer support if need be. The amount of home learning given may vary from one day to another, but overall, we expect your child to complete at least 2 hours of home learning per school day and to organise his or her home time to meet the different deadlines set. The Communication Book is a booklet that your child will carry from one lesson to another to record his or her home learning tasks. As well, the Communication Book, as its name states it, is used to facilitate communication between school and home. Letters given to your child for your attention will be placed in it. There is a space for teachers to write a note for your attention, and for you to write one for your child’s teachers or tutor. Every morning, your
Transcript of Dear Parents / Guardians
T 974 4437 9600 E [email protected] www.cisalkhor.com
Nord Anglia International School Al Khor PO Box 60256 Al Khor, Qatar
7 September 2015 Dear Parents / Guardians It is with great pleasure that I write to you today to welcome you and your children to the beginning of the new academic year in NAISAK. Keeping our governing rules in mind and our ambition for outstanding learning, I would like to remind you of a few points concerning Secondary School: Secondary school students are expected to be in their respective tutor rooms for registration at 7.20am, hence need to ensure they reach school with plenty of time to get their learning materials organised for their first learning sessions. The correlation between punctuality and attendance, and progress and attainment is solid. In order to maximise their learning time with their teachers, students are expected to come every day equipped with the relevant learning materials. Students are given a timetable that shows their daily subjects and teachers will make clear which learning materials are expected to be brought to the learning sessions. As much as the team of teachers encourages students to take great care of and value their learning materials, it is paramount that you, as parents, reiterate such habit at home and check with your child that their school bag is equipped for the next day. Similarly, home learning tasks will be set by subject teachers to consolidate or extend the work completed during the learning sessions. The home learning tasks may be as straightforward as re-reading the notes of that lesson to assimilate the new concepts, learning some new vocabulary items, completing a worksheet or a set of exercises, or as consequential as a research project, an analysis of an excerpt or a dissertation. According to the task set, teachers will give relevant time and the deadline will be recorded in the Communication Book at the date the home learning is due. Again, it is crucial that you, as parents, discuss the home learning tasks with your child and offer support if need be. The amount of home learning given may vary from one day to another, but overall, we expect your child to complete at least 2 hours of home learning per school day and to organise his or her home time to meet the different deadlines set. The Communication Book is a booklet that your child will carry from one lesson to another to record his or her home learning tasks. As well, the Communication Book, as its name states it, is used to facilitate communication between school and home. Letters given to your child for your attention will be placed in it. There is a space for teachers to write a note for your attention, and for you to write one for your child’s teachers or tutor. Every morning, your
T 974 4437 9600 E [email protected] www.cisalkhor.com
Nord Anglia International School Al Khor PO Box 60256 Al Khor, Qatar
child’s tutor will expect the Communication Book to be brought to the tutor time (or registration time) alongside the learning materials for the learning sessions until break time. Your child’s tutor will ask each of his or her tutee if a note has been written from you. Because learning is at the heart of all we do at NAISAK, we are currently reviewing the way we assess our students and report their progress and attainment. We completed a review cycle last year that prompted the adoption of a new programme and method of evaluation in English for our Curriculum 2 students. This year, we will report on the three Science subjects (Biology, Physics and Chemistry) individually and will keep track of your child’s progress with percentages, allowing also to compare between subjects and highlight areas of strengths. I am looking forward to discussing this further with you, should you wish, when you come to the ‘Meet and Greet’ session in October to meet your child’s teachers and tutor. NAISAK is ambitious and as such, we are starting to teach towards the GCSE exams in Year 8. A letter was sent to you last academic year regarding the purchase of learning materials for English, Maths and Science. You will receive it again this week with further information. Thank you to those of you who have already made this payment. NAISAK has been dedicated to teaching modern foreign languages to the Curriculum 1 students. At the moment, French, Hindi and Arabic as a Second Language are on offer. Please fill in the slip below with your choice of language for your child, and have your child return the slip only to his or her tutor by Thursday 10 September. Please be aware that, as we are preparing the students for the GCSE exams in Year 10 / 11, you need to give ample consideration to your language choice as this one will be definite for the duration of Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 (until Year 11). In order for our NAISAK students to become comfortable communicators in a foreign language, they need continuity and the time to progress towards the exam requirements. In line with our expectations of well-kept learning materials, I would like to request your support regarding the respect of PE kit. PE kit is considered part of the learning materials for this subject, and as such, needs to follow the guidelines from the Parent Handbook and be brought to school on the two days your child has PE on the timetable. Only NAISAK kit or plain black and white kit are acceptable. The PE department has a few spare PE kits to make up for an oversight and not interrupt your child’s learning. A form with the provision of Extra-Curricular Activities (ECA) will be sent home during the week. Students are entitled to two activities and places are distributed on a first come first serve basis. Please discuss with your child the ECA choices, keeping in mind current interests and future aspirations. Academic, skill-based and sport ECAs are on offer. The ECA list is sent
T 974 4437 9600 E [email protected] www.cisalkhor.com
Nord Anglia International School Al Khor PO Box 60256 Al Khor, Qatar
out at the beginning of each term to give the opportunity to students to experiment other activities. Finally, I would like to remind you that we try very hard at NAISAK to encourage our students to be healthy and eat foods that support their brainwaves and energy levels, and therefore their learning. Healthy foods such as fruit, vegetables, brown bread and nuts are encouraged. Unhealthy foods, such as sweets and chocolate, fried items and sugary drinks are not allowed. I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this letter and for the support I know you will give to your child to strengthen his or her success. As always, please do not hesitate to contact me, or your child’s tutor or teachers, through your child’s Communication Book, the phone or an email. Kind regards Ms L. Gonzalès Middle School Leader _____________________________________________________________________________________________ NAISAK Academic Year 2015-2016 Student’s name: ……………………………… Tutor group: ………………………………… Modern Foreign Language (please circle your choice): French Hindi Arabic as a Second Language I acknowledge that I have given careful consideration to my choice and understand that it is definite. Parent’s name: ………………………………………………………………………… Signature:
