High School Newsletter

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P.O.Box 6446, Al Thanya Street, Umm Al Suqeim, Jumeirah, Dubai UAE Tel: 04 348 9804 Web: www.eischools.ae

Term 1 Issue 13

10 Dec 2020

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Dear Parents,

How quickly this term has gone! Our young people have been really impressive in the way they

have tackled new routines and expectations. We have maintained a strong sense of community for

all of our learners, regardless of whether they are here on Campus or in their homes. Student

numbers are very strong, with a number of new admissions. Some of this is because you, as

parents, are sharing your satisfaction with the return to campus with your friends. We do value your

loyalty and your continued support, and will continue to do our best to care for your children.

Huge congratulations must go to our amazing team of scientists, engineers, and designers, who

have been working so hard on the Formula 1 STEM Challenge throughout the year. In a tense final,

EISJ Jaguars were awarded 3rd place overall, which is a real tribute to their ingenuity and

enthusiasm.

Well done to the entire team who represented us to impressively:

Muhammed Zein - Year 11

Doha Noureldin - Year 13

Nour Noureldin - Year 13

Dana Abodahab - Year 13

Ali Jafri - Year 13

Marsel Abusamra - Year 13

Our Year 12 exams are scheduled to begin upon our return to School on January 3rd. Our students are

already preparing conscientiously. If you’re a Y12 parent, please do check in with your child about their

preparation and the examination arrangements which have previously been sent to you by Ms Nausheen

Arif, our DP Coordinator.

We have had no change, as yet, in our instructions from KHDA and anticipate that students will be

learning in their current stated preferred model when Term 2 begins. Where you wish to change the model

of learning, we do need sufficient notice of this to manage the changes so that learning is not disrupted for

your child. Any return to Face to Face is subject to availability of a seat.

I know many of you will be travelling over the winter break. Can I urge you to be vigilant with regards to any change in requirements here or in the region you will be visiting? We do want to welcome our community back in January, safe and sound, so please do be extremely mindful of your safety throughout the break.

Have a wonderful winter break. My very best wishes to all of you. Stay safe.

Ms Shirley Harrison – Head of High School

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Emirates Youth Platform The Emirates Youth Platform (EYP) is a new initiative by a Year 12 student, Krish Sanklecha, who co-founded this platform alongside two friends from different schools within Dubai. The Emirates Youth Platform is a unique forum for students in the UAE to collaborate and communicate with the rest of their community. This will be in the form of an online event via a ZOOM webinar in which students will be giving a talk in front of a nationwide audience on a topic of their interest related to our theme: Ctrl Alt Delete – A Fresh Start. Think of it as a fresh take on TEDx Talks, but on a national scale. Students will be able to apply through the Google Forms, accessible through the event’s website. After the application process, 6 to 8 student speakers will be selected. We will work with them to create and edit a 5-10 minute video about their topic and then display the videos live on a Zoom Webinar on the day of the event, which is going to be in the end of February 2021 if it is a Zoom Webinar. There will also be a notable Keynote Speaker on the day. This is an amazing opportunity especially in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, as we are giving you the chance to speak to a nationwide audience of hundreds of people, with us having student ambassadors in 8 different schools. For students keen on building their CVs, the idea of speaking at a national TEDx-inspired event is what universities look for in engagement towards your community. If you want to apply to become a speaker, applications will be closing on the 31st of December so check out the forms at https://forms.gle/Fy4othnzKMj7XMs7A or at our website www.emiratesyouthplatform.org. For further inquiries please feel free to contact Krish in School. You can also, follow our Instagram on https://www.instagram.com/eyp2021/ to keep up with the latest news regarding the EYP. Krish Sanklecha Year 12 ************************************************************************************

School Advisory Council Members 2020-2021

Christopher McDermott

Christopher McDermott is an internationally regarded educator and a former National Leader for Education for England and Wales. He has extensive international experience as a Principal, in the UK and in Dubai.

He is a qualified school inspector as well as a renowned Educational consultant in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.

Fahim Al Qasimi

Fahim was a student at EISJ along with his three brothers and graduated with an IB Diploma in 2004. He completed his undergraduate degree from Lancaster University in the UK followed by Masters in International

Relations from the University of Cambridge. Fahim spent part of his

childhood in Germany and speaks Arabic, English, French and German. Fahim holds a variety of portfolios within the government of Sharjah.

Dr Lejla Vrazalic

Lejla joined EISJ in 1992 and was in the first cohort of IB graduates in the UAE in 1994. She went to the University of Wollongong in Australia where she spent 10 years and completed her PhD, working as a lecturer at the University. She also taught in Malaysia and Hong Kong. In 2004, she joined the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD), first as a lecturer and later as the Chair of the College of Undergraduate Studies. In 2014, she set up an educational consultancy and now works for

the Ministry of Education in the UAE and the Oman Academic Accreditation Authority.

Mohamed Adnaan Oomer Sait

A motivated and enthusiastic leader with a wide range of experience gained over the last 20 years, including the last 11 years as the Group

CFO of a large conglomerate based in Dubai. Excellent team player with strong leadership skills, focused on managing the Group’s strategic goals, corporate governance, capital structure and directing the Group’s

performance to meet set objectives. He has a son studing in Year 12.

Anita Singhal

Anita Singhal has been involved with Special Needs Services in Dubai for the past 40 years. As the Gulf representative of the Hornsby Centre, a UK based organisation, she has been instrumental in training teachers who work with Persons of Determination. She founded the Dyslexia Support Group, to help parents and Specialist Teachers of children with Learning Difficulties. Anita is passionate about her commitment in this field of Learning.

Fatima Tomoum

Fatima Tomoum is an Australian expat and has been an EISJ parent for the past 3 years. Her triplets are in Year 2. She graduated with a master’s degree in applied linguistics (specifically Japanese interpreting and

translation) from the University of Queensland, Australia. She has also worked in Japan, China, France, UK and India before settling in the UAE about 15 years ago. She currently works as the General Manager for Customer Engagement at Al-Futtaim Automotive. She is a passionate

advocate for Inclusion, and believes every child has the potential to be the absolute best version of themselves.

Jannie Nielsen

Jannie has been a parent at EISJ for 8 years, her 3 children are in Early

Years 1, Year 3 and Year 7. She was a member of the Parent Support

Group until 2019. Jannie is originally from Denmark and has a

Master’s degree in International Development Studies and Geography,

from Roskilde University. Prior to moving to Dubai she worked with

the Danish Immigration Authorities.

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Farmers’ Market

Ms Janine Badawy visited the students at the Farmers’ Market, she was most impressed with the range of produce and asked lots of pertinent questions.

The students were able to give produce to one of our lovely proctors, Mona, to thank her for all the support she gives us around the school.

Finally, Ms Roopa Kannan took pumpkin leaves home and used them to create her

culinary delights.

Shallow fried rolls & Mangalore bean curry with pumpkin leaves.

You can follow us on instagram: eisjfarmersmarket EISJ Community Quilt

The students and staff have been deftly working on natural hemp and calico, creating

skilful pieces for the wall hanging.

This project goes hand in hand with the Farmers’ market to create awareness for

sustainability, eco-living and encouraging bees into our environment. You can follow us on instagram: eisjcommunityquiltdubai

Ms Angela Hargett - MYP & DP English teacher ***********************************************************************************************************

IB Diploma Programme

In the last month of the calendar year and at the onset of the

winter break I take this opportunity to highlight the successes of

our students in Year 12 and 13. Our students have shown

remarkable resilience and I take this opportunity to

congratulate all EIS students for their commitment and

perseverance in these challenging times.

Our Year 13 students have completed a number of assessments

in each and every subject, they have also completed their

Extended Essay and the first draft of the Theory of Knowledge

essay. Most of them have completed their university

applications and are receiving offers from universities.

Our student leaders have been remarkable ambassadors, displaying strength in adversity by leading

initiatives within the EIS community.

Our Year 12 students have completed the first term in the

Diploma Programme, they have successfully participated in a

wide range of virtual activities namely the

International Business Conference from Oslo, the New York

University (NYU) Abu Dhabi debating competition, the

International CAS Conference to name a few. Under the

umbrella of CAS, students sewed masks for the

support staff in the school community and the Al Habtoor

Group, they have initiated the Anti Bullying Campaign in

school alongside the academic programme displaying

remarkable resilience in the current situation.

I take this opportunity to remind parents that the IB have

modified assessments for the May 2021 examinations.

Timetables for internal school examinations for the

midyear and mock examinations for Years 12 and 13

respectively have been shared on Managebac. Important

dates for January 2021 have been listed.

Year 13

6th, 7th, 13th and 14th January: Final English Oral

Assessment

14th January: TOK ESSAY

31st January: Mock Examinations

Year 12

January 3rd to 7th : Mid Year Examinations

As a final word I take this opportunity to thank our parents for their continued support and wish everyone the greetings of the season and a safe and relaxed winter break. The IBDP Leadership team at EIS Jumeirah

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JAGUARS TAKE THIRD PLACE AT NATIONAL FINALS On 28 & 29 November 2020, six students represented our school at the first ever virtual F1 in Schools National Championship. After working tirelessly and enduring the challenging circum-stances, they made it to the podium with an average race time of 1.435 seconds and an average speed of 62.9 km/h in the professional category.

The team:

Marsel Abusamra – Year 13 Ali Jafri – Year 13 Dana Abodahab – Year 13

Nour Noureldin – Year 13 Doha Noureldin – Year 13 Muhammed Zein – Year 11 Congratulations Team Jaguars – you made us all very proud!

Aditya Mishra selected to participate in the 2021 Barcelona International Youth Science Challenge

The Barcelona International Youth Science Challenge (BIYSC) is a two-week international excellence program. The program has been designed and developed with the aim to offer the participants a world-class experience by working in research projects, attending scientific lectures and debates and enjoying the company of peers from around the world; whom share their same passion. This year’s challenge sought for 120 ambitious, assertive and passionate scientific minds; between the ages of 16 – 18 years from across the world, to participate in 12 research programs from top research facilities. I am extremely proud to announce that one of our current year 12 students, Aditya Mishra, has been selected to participate in next year’s challenge in July 2021 for the research topic “Can computers do math? An approach through axiomatic geometry.” After meeting with Aditya this week, I have asked him to provide our school community with a bit of background about himself and his BIYSC journey: “I like to build things ever since I was little, and will continue to do so. My name is Aditya Mishra of Year 12A, and I shall be participating in Barcelona International Youth Science Challenge (BIYSC) in 2021. I major in math, physics, and chemistry, and wish to pursue engineering as my future career. Some of my past time hobbies are sudoku, solving different Rubik’s cubes, reading, and watching TV. I have had a passion of building things ever since I could remember, initially beginning with small lego models, moving onto the Burj Khalifa model, and progressing to 2000+ pieces lego crane, a project which I dedicated myself to for 3 full days. I preferred to work on mechanical models that could operate, as I am fascinated with machines in general; the concept of process occurring from manmade conditions is quite fascinating of itself, and the ideology of machines performing actions in place of humans and “automating” processes is revolutionary in my opinion. This is how I came to know about BIYSC from Mr. Swartz, the STEM leader of EISJ.

The BIYSC is a two week program held in Barcelona itself, where 132 students from across the globe aged 16 to 18 are selected through the hard application process - two rounds of preselection before interviews, cutting hundreds to thousands of students - to attend one of the 10 programs based on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields. I have chosen and been selected for the research topic “Can computers do math? An approach through axiomatic geometry,” held by the Department of Mathematics at Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Though the title seems simple, it is actually a study into machine learning, and can be slightly modified into “Can computers do math intuitively?” to better capture the purpose of this research. It is quite fascinating as it involves discovering the past of geometry, the present of computer science, and the future of mathematics. This program is quite useful to me personally as it serves as a huge boost for my future. I hope to gain international experience, share my knowledge to a wider range of people, gain a small inkling as to the level of knowledge on the international level, and not only interact with different people from different parts of the world and in different curriculums, but also collaborate with them.” Aditya is the second student selected from our school to participate in this program. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate both, Aditya and his parents on this remarkable achievement. We are very confident that he will be a great ambassador not only for EIS-J, but also for the UAE. Mr J.L Swartz - MYP & DP Physics Teacher | STEM Leader ************************************************************************************************************

WEBINAR RECORDED LINK:

Topic: Your Mind Matters: INSIGHTS ON TEEN MENTAL HEALTH - for students

Presenter: Dr. Catherine Frogley, Clinical Psychologist

The Light House Arabia

Please see the recording link (valid for 7 days) https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play _XqKXw3abibE26CBVxMXVkrjkbWVkuHgewtJNLakNfVfTEM3uZLlhPxFje5K6uUPDIiS

PzkN5HQK1TRI.kMG3crvMTUX2gQyR?continueMode=true

Download: https://we.tl/t-pC7tbjwpU3

If you enjoyed this session you could leave a google review https://bit.ly/2VovvaY.

Dr. Rose Kamath - High School counsellor

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Registration Department

Admissions for new students from EY 1 – Y 13 for the academic year 2021-2022 started on

1st November 2020.

Please click the given link for the online admission form : http://www.eischools.ae/Jumeirah/

admission/admission-form

A Payment of 525dhs (inclusive of VAT) none refundable advance admin fee is required in order

for the application to be considered.

We continue our Refer a Friend Programme which gives a 5% tuition fee discount to the referee

for all new admissions for the academic year 2021 - 2022. (T&C applied)

Should you have any question please contact the registrar’s office at 04- 3489804, extension:

405 or 406 or email at subarna@eischools.ae; samar@eischools.ae

Ms Subarna Banerjee - Registrar

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