1Shamal 2015

Shamal 2015

DUBAI COLLEGEA tradition of quality in education

2 Shamal 2015

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2015Goodbyes

Year 7 Induction Day 2014

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The Sixth Form Year

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Dubai College would like to express its sincere thanks to Mark Donovan, Debra Harding, Andy Jones, Annie Kirkaldy and Sarah Lambert for helping to produce this years Shamal and to all the students, staff and members of the wider DC community who have contributed their words and images.

Gareth CaseShamal 2015

Shamal Foreward

3Shamal 2015

The 2014 Shamal was the largest ever edition. Needless to say, the 2015 edition is bigger still!

As well as being a fantastic read, this Shamal encapsulates a year which has witnessed progress and improvement for every member of the DC community as well as truly startling individual and collective success hence the size of this edition!

The College itself has grown in terms of numbers, facilities, opportunities and global recognition. We have now reached the desired maximum level of students (around the 880 mark). All the research suggests that this is an optimal figure for highly effective senior schools. Facilities have expanded to accommodate this growth. To add to the expanded Sixth Form Centre we will soon have a significantly enlarged Science Block, new Maths classrooms, a splendid new Sports Pavilion, expanded medical facilities, shaded swimming pool and a re-configured office area.

Building development is obviously important but what has been especially pleasing to witness this year has been the continued growth in academic and extra-curricular success and a fantastic sense of collective pride. Our debaters have triumphed in both the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) and the Cambridge Union Debates, our rugby players did tremendously well at the UK Rosslyn Park tournament and our athletes were victorious at the COBIS World School Games held in Athens. Our musicians achieved significant and wide ranging success in The Young Musicians of the Gulf competition and our F1 in Schools Team won the award for Best International Collaboration at the World Finals. Students have personally assisted with charity projects in Nepal and Vietnam and visited countries ranging from Borneo to the USA.

ShamalForeword

Without exception our students were superb ambassadors for both the school and their families at these events and for this we sincerely thank them.

Whilst we are proud of our increasing global presence we are well aware that the vast majority of what we do is rooted firmly within Dubai and the UAE. Im sure the community enjoyed watching the whole range of drama and musical productions (including the splendid West Side Story). Many witnessed our considerable achievements in sport - once again our superb rugby performance at the U18 Dubai Rugby 7s saw a fantastic win for the fourth successive year and a team that was also undefeated in the league. We also displayed memorable performances in athletics, basketball, cricket, netball, rounders, swimming and numerous other sports. Our students have participated in many local visits and we all enjoyed the National Day celebrations. Success was achieved in a whole range of DC events including the International History Bee & Bowl Competition and a rapidly growing number of subject specific Olympiads. Philanthropy has not been forgotten as shown by our fantastic Student Community Concert and by DC students hosting sporting afternoons for those in the neighbourhood who are less fortunate.

Although our involvement with the wider world and local community is significant it is the work within school which is of key importance. It is here that we see the engagement, progress and development of the individual students both within the academic classroom and via the enormous house and extra-curricular programme. Day in and day out our talented and motivated students engage with the complex matrix of knowledge and, crucially, develop the skills to effectively interact with the 21st century. A great public demonstration of this was our recent superb Art and DT Exhibition as well as the Community Service Award and Lower School Colours.

This whole process is facilitated and supported by all DC staff and a huge thank you for the tremendous commitment to the cause.

At this time of year we bid farewell to our departing colleagues and students. Our sincere thanks for their contributions to the growth and development of DC and we all wish them well in their next adventures. As we know, Peter Hill will be stepping down from the Headship this summer after an association with the school dating back to 1989 and as Chairman I would like to both thank him and wish him the very best in his future. Yet another new chapter of the DC epic opens in September with Mike Lambert taking the helm and under his learned, reflective and energised stewardship, I have no doubt that DC will go from strength to strength over the coming years. Enjoy this edition of Shamal!

Hussain Sultan Chairman

H.M. Sultan, Chairman of the Board of Governors

Staff Photographs

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2015

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Goodbye Salaam Auf Wiedersehen Au Revoir Adios Valete

6 Shamal 2015

When you were a child what was your dream job? The honest truth is a teacher, because I wanted to ring the school bell. When I was little I apparently ran around ringing a bell and getting all these imaginary children to line-up. Its slightly worrying actually.

Did you specifically want to be a History teacher? Again, sadly, from a very young age. I even pretended to mark books! Would you believe it? How sad is that!

When you were at school, who was your favourite teacher? Thats a good question. Strangely, not my History teachers who were mostly dire (constant dictation). A science teacher (Mr Morgan) was actually my favourite. I was useless at Science and this teacher spotted me and said you cant be that bad and sort of guided and mentored me so I became reasonably good. Those are the sort of things you remember - that individual help of a teacher guiding, motivating and inspiring.

Would you say that your science teacher influenced your teaching as well?

Whats important is to recognize the anonymous students in the school. You have the really good students and also those at the other end of the spectrum but then you have that group in the middle where I was. Spotting that bunch and helping them improve is what my Science teacher taught me. You mentioned how your Science teacher had a big influence on you. What puzzles us is your passion for History. What drove that passion? I somehow became interested in World War One in Primary School. After that, interest levels increased with History books and TV programmes consumed. The fascinating thing about History is essentially there is no truth as it all depends on ones interpretation and which side you view things from. Its a fascinating and complex web of issues.

Do you have a favourite period of History? When you do quizzes and theres a History round, people assume you know everything from Plato to NATO when, in reality, you know very little. I pretend to be an expert on the topics that are not being asked! If

I had to pick, my favourite period would be 20th and 21st century International Relations.

What was your first job? I ended up going to the Dominican Republic. Looking back, I cant believe I just went off to the Caribbean to teach at a school in a small Dominican town. It was actually a fantastic experience for three years. Though not paid a lot, I look back on those three years there very fondly, walking to work along the beach every morning.

Tell us about your first day teaching in the Dominican Republic. I was writing the theme of the lesson up on the chalkboard when it started to move in and out of focus. I put my hand on the board and it kept moving and I thought dear me, this is quite bad I must be seriously unwell and on my first day of teaching too! Then all the walls and floor seemed to be moving. I turned around to look at the class and the whole lot of them were in the process of running straight outside. It was an earthquake. A great start to a teaching career!

FarewellMr Hill

Goodbye Salaam Auf Wiedersehen Au Revoir Adios Valete

7Shamal 2015

When and why did you come to Dubai? I came here in 1989. Back in the UK I had quite a dis-engaged set for History. It was a Friday afternoon last lesson and it had been pouring with rain all day so all the students had been kept indoors. I still remember the name of the individual student now; I think hes dead; he certainly ended-up in prison. Anyway, he threw a chair at a window, jumped out and ran away. I suddenly asked myself why am I doing this? So I remember picking up the paper and looking at a job offer in Dubai, on a cold, rainy, Welsh Friday afternoon.

What is the best thing about teaching? The genuine best moments about teaching are when you see somebody understanding a topic or enjoying it. Its very rewarding when, on occasions, you have individual students who enter the classroom who are not quite enthusiastic or engaged but by the end of the lesson, they are captivated.

How has DC changed since you have been here? In terms of superficial things, the sandpit became a field, A block was a science block, the Sixth Form Study Area was Mr Woods current classroom. Camels used to wander across the site from the desert which was found on all four sides. It has changed in terms of the number of staff as well as the type of students it attracts. Obviously it has moved more and more into preparing students for the very best universities in the world. Despite the changes the general feel of what makes DC, DC has remained intact.

What is the best part about DC right now? At its heart is the feel and you cant really define this but, generally speaking, the dynamic pulse, the collegiate and caring nature, the pursuit of academic, creative, sporting and philanthropic achievement. There has been a focus on the Sixth Form over the last few years in terms of additional subjects, support and facilities. Its dynamic and vibrant and has achieved great success in terms of preparing students for university entrance and life. Its great seeing our debaters doing so well too (Dubai Debates, COBIS World Debates and Cambridge Union). And then we have

sport - its not simply participating exceptionally well on a local level, were now strengthening our presence internationally the UK Rosslyn Park Sevens, the athletes winning the COBIS World Student Games in Athens and off course beating Eton at cricket! On top of that we have the creative spirit as shown by the superb West Side Story, concerts and the Art and DT Exhibition. F1, Duke of Edinburgh, World Challenge, CASA, philanthropy and so much else all add to the dynamic mix. We are now sharply focusing on the alumni to ensure we provide a great after care service so they in turn will give back to the next cohort of DC students.

Something that has stuck with us through our years at DC is your rowing boat analogy, where did that come from? (laughs) Oh yes. One of my (many!) problems is that the mouth goes quicker than the brain, so I feel myself about to say something and before I know it Ive said it. A boooooring whole school address about balancing life was not going well and, for some inexplicable reason, a picture of a rowing boat popped into my head.pulling on just one oar (the academic or extra-curricular) sends you in circles but pulling equally on both oars sends you in a forceful straight line that saved the school from an additional 10 minutes of incoherent ramblings.

Last assembly you mentioned your experience in Haiti. Could you expand on that? I was talking I think about how we need to learn from our bad experiences to create good ones. We need to have bad experiences in order to make ourselves resilient and stronger. Four of us on motorbikes decided to ride over to Haiti to see what it was like. Baby Doc Duvalier, the infamous Haitian dictator, was in power with his secret police - the Tonton Macoute. We didnt realise that there was some sort of uprising being instigated by Westerners on motorbikes. We just happened to be four Western looking people on motorbikes. Wrong place, wrong time. They were very, very, very, angry with us! We were thrown into prison. There I was, waving my passport and uttering the immortal line: you cant do this, Im British! Eventually the mis-understanding was sorted. So what good/lesson

came from this? Quite a few but perhaps not to be printed!

What will you miss about DC? The students. Ive worked in schools in the UK and Gulf and without a doubt the DC students are what makes it what it is. The pleasant, positive, hard working and caring young people who genuinely (most of the time) get on, have a thirst for knowledge and a passion about life. So number one, the students. Number two, the staff that work hard and creatively with the students. Its great how the staff and students work together and we dont have much of an us and them type of mentality. I think thats the true strength of the school. That is what I will miss most: the hard-working students and staff working together. By staff I obviously mean the teachers but also, crucially, the administrative, office and the support staff.

If you had one piece of advice to DC students, what would it be? I could say work hard, play hard, be neat, be civil, be cooperative (copyright Mr Gulliford). Those things are just so very important. Its about getting the balance right in life. We genuinely have one go at life, dont we? It is a remarkably short period of time: our life on this planet, and before you know it, its over. Its gone. So, do things you enjoy. Obviously you want money and a good life, but enjoy the experience, treat others as you would like to be treated and be proud of what youre doing. That is why I want to go back to teaching. This job is great but even more so I enjoy the actual teaching and learning in the classroom.

Interviewed by Mohammed Razeen Hansrod 13JM and Shehryar Haris 12LH

I hope DC students look back on their days here with pride and happy memories. Im sure they will work hard, play hard, enjoy and be proud of their lives - and always use both oars!!

Goodbye Salaam Auf Wiedersehen Au Revoir Adios Valete

8 Shamal 2015

Ten years ago I naively strolled into Dubai College to meet with the headmaster to discuss a one year small part time Maths job, to be met with the Batman and Robin professional interviewing tag team of Eric Parton and Anne James. I was stunned and totally unprepared, perhaps because at that time I did not realise what a fantastic school it was that I was hoping to become a part of. However I must have said something they liked, or maybe they were just desperate, because I got the job. What was initially a couple of lower school Laths classes and a couple of hours of P.E. soon blossomed into an almost full time post teaching the two things I love: Maths and Basketball.There have been many fond memories over the years of times in the classroom; some when pupils have had that Eureka moment ( o.k. maybe not that often); or when they realise that maybe just maybe some of them may use Pythagoras after they leave school and it has a point; or they find an original solution to a challenge question; or sometimes its just when someone gets a countdown for the first time (my classes will understand that one).On the sporting front there have been some great moments; when one of my teams has clinched a league or won a tournament or sometimes its just when someone scores their first layup. However a couple of instances will always stick in my memory. One was when coaching the Senior Boys Basketball team with Mr Woolley and they won the cup with a three point shot in the dying seconds, but the thing I remember about it most is the reaction of captain Rehan Ali who scored said three pointer, he whooped and danced around the hall for a good two minutes after the final whistle we could not get him to settle down.- I still smile when I think of him and his utter joy. The second instance was when my Year 11 Maths team won the Junior Varsity Math Invitational Competition (it was American so there is no s). The smiles on their faces said it all for me.To my colleagues in the staffroom I say a big THANK YOU for all your support and friendship over the years, you are a fantastic bunch.To the boys and girls in blue, what would I have done without you, driving this team here and that team there, waiting sometimes just to bring me back, even on occasion clearing desks out of the hall so that we could practice.To the Maths department I have learnt a lot from you over the years and will miss your company, oh yes! and the home baking in the departmental meetings. Remember no pink carrot cake for John.So as I retire and ride off into the sunset and the unknown realms of Grannyhood I will think of you all working hard but hopefully I will be able to make guest appearances at the musical evenings, drama productions and of course the basketball finals which I am sure you will all be in. Its been a great ten years.

Lesley Nowacki

Having arrived in Dubai recently married to Anthea we had high aspirations as to the opportunities available to us in both Dubai and at Dubai College. It was abundantly clear by the end of a hot and sweaty first week that acclimitisation was going to be tough, but that the students were a special set of individuals. Being a PE teacher provides opportunities to work with a wonderful set of students in many environments, which has presented numerous highlights that I will take away with me.My two form groups have been a pleasure to spend time with. To have seen the dodgy haircuts of my first form group in Year 8 move through to mature and considerate students with dodgy haircuts in Year 12 should be a warning to my current, delightful, Year 7 tutor group!Highlights certainly include the tours, from Singapore to Rosslyn Park and seeing what superb ambassadors you are for the College. Sport at this school achieves incredible success due to the hard work of numerous staff outside the PE department who go above and beyond to produce high quality opportunities for you all. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with you, either on tour, in training sessions, at fixtures or in tournaments and thank you for all your hard work and dedication.Thank you to the ever patient and supportive PE department for the five years, you have incredible passion and dedication to the school. Behind every outstanding school is an outstanding PE department and you are certainly that. Messers Jones and Riordan, particular thanks for your friendship over the years. To work with friends such as yourselves certainly makes the job more enjoyable!To any student who has been involved in any of my rugby, cricket, football, basketball or athletics teams - thank you. You have endured hours of having to put up with my sparkling wit (which I think you call banter), have welcomed Oscar into training sessions and made working here not feel like work! To single out performance highlights is tough when there are so many to choose from, but the four-peat of the Dubai Sevens squads since 2011 along with the victory over Wellington College at Rosslyn Park in 2014 will live long in my memory.We now leave with two sons and not because we want to leave but because we want to arrive at our next opportunity. I wish you all the very best of luck in your academic, sporting and social pursuits! You are a long time retired so stay involved in sport as long as you can!

Mark Barringron

Flower of Scotland

Goodbye Dubai College! three words I have dreaded having to put together in the same sentence for such a long time. But in the words of Winnie the Pooh how lucky I am to have something that makes saying good-bye so hard. It is exceptionally difficult to say goodbye to such a huge part of your life. But it is not a forever goodbye,

more of a see you soon goodbye as I take a small break from teaching to spend more time with my two amazing boys, Gregor and Finlay and my

Bye, bye Barringtons

MrsBell

Goodbye Salaam Auf Wiedersehen Au Revoir Adios Valete

9Shamal 2015

I cant believe it has been almost a year - I remember the first day I woke up to come to Dubai College. I still remember how I was equally curious and excited about how this experience was going to be. I went early that day and started walking around the school. I was

amazed by the different facilities, green fields and the inspir-ing architecture. At the time, I thought these surroundings were the most exciting characteristic of Dubai College.I had an orientation scheduled that day where I had the op-portunity to meet the Languages Department and the Senior Leadership Team of the school. Everyone was so kind and helpful. I thought this warm welcoming and family atmos-phere was a very special quality. I then wondered, was this the most exciting characteristic of Dubai College?A few days later, I had my first meeting with my new students; I still remember how fast that day flew and I enjoyed every single discussion with the young, intelligent minds. I then thought that these young minds were by far the most exciting characteristic of Dubai College.During the course of the academic year, I learned about the various activities that both students and departments enjoy in Dubai College. I asked myself again: Is this the most exciting characteristic of Dubai College?It has been almost a year, and today I know that there is no single characteristic that makes working in Dubai College the best experience I have ever had: It is everything and everyone in this remarkable school that makes me feel privileged to have belonged to it. I would like to thank everyone for making this year in Dubai so exciting and rewarding.

Shiraz Shahoud

The end of an era? Well it certainly feels that way. After 23 years I am moving on and looking forward to the change. There is life after DC.Throughout my years here I have seen many changes. The number of students has doubled

and so has the number of genuinely talented bright sparks.When I arrived we stayed at the Chicago Beach Hotel which has since been demolished and replaced by the inferior Jumeirah Beach Hotel. Another retrograde step was to replace Nad Al Sheba racecourse with the characterless Meydan. The accommodation provided during my first year was at Golden Sands 1, I have lost count of the number of Golden Sands blocks that now exist. Miss John would often give me a car lift into DC as did Mr Hill who was Head of History at that time.After one year I moved to Jebel Ali Village which often reminded me of the duelling banjos scene from the movie Deliverence. In the late 90s I did an exchange with Mr Over and moved into an apartment in what is now called the Finan-cial Centre of Dubai, much more central and I can now use the metro to get to and from DC. At the start the tallest building in Dubai was the World Trade Centre, now it is dwarfed by the many buildings in that area.Now returning to DC, it must be said that the students are a credit to the school and make the place what it is. I will miss the challenge of keeping up with the students but I will not miss the hot summer weather or the horrendous traffic. It will be nice to see some real blue sky when it is not overcast in the UK. Goodbye!

Joe Croft

ever supportive husband, Neil.Im sitting here wondering what I should write about! Im not leaving Dubai.Im just not going to be turning up for work! I suppose the obvious answer would be to write about what I know best: girls sport.and not just any old girls sport: DC girls sport. I consider myself very lucky to be the daughter of two successful PE teachers and the sister of another from whom I have taken my lead using their experience and guidance. I have led the girls games department at DC for so long based on my view that any girl who wishes to proudly pull on their DC badge and repre-sent their school in sport should be given the opportunity to do so. After all we are a school, I am a teacher and it is my job and my passion to facilitate this (even if at times I hoped for more hours in the day!). It certainly hasnt been easy, but to boast at its peak 21 school teams and 8 club teams in one sport alone is something I couldnt be prouder of. We have set the benchmark for our competitors and become internationally recognised as a centre of excellence for netball. It is so important to have depth in numbers. This is what feeds the elite and ultimately leads to the success that DC is so rightly proud of. My own personal measure of success is to see the girls continue with their sport, whether it be social or competitive into their adult years. If they achieve this, then I have done my job. What more can I ask for? To my wonderful colleagues there are so many of you who have made my time at DC so enjoyable. There have been too many memories and laughs to count and you should never underes-timate the importance of people who make you laugh! However, it wouldnt be right to finish without mentioning a few special people. I have been exceptionally fortunate to share my views on girls sport with a very dear friend and colleague, Mrs Adamson. Without wishing to be emotional about it all, I am the teacher I am today because of the support, guidance and good humour that she has given me for 9 years! What will I do without my Sunday morning to do lists and the ever increasing number of post-it notes stuck on my monitor of things she was merely reminding me to do!!! Mr Woolley is also a very close friend and has been an exceptional influence on me, especially back in the old days when he used to teach PE (yes he is that old!). Lastly, to Mr Jones (PE Jones!) who I have worked so closely with for 9 years.thank you for trusting my ideas and believing in my madness I think I did an ok job!My final words are to the people who matter the most to me at DC: My Girls. Girls promise me one thing - never stop playing sport for fun! Take it seriously of course; there is nothing wrong with wanting to win, believe me....but never lose the intrinsic values of why we play in the first place. It has to be enjoyed; you must socialise and bond with your team-mates, you will win together and you will lose together.but the experiences you all share along the way will stay with you for a lifetime. I promise.

Keren Bell

Mr Croft

Shiraz Shahoud

Year Pages

10 Shamal 2015

Thursday September 5th will be a day that our 132 new Year 7s will remember for a very long time their first day at Dubai College! After a tour of their individual teaching rooms with their Form Tutor and Year 13 Liaisons it was time for a well-earned break before sitting through a whole series of speeches from the Headmaster, Bursar, FDC and Head of Lower School. After lunch the new members of DC took part in a series of team building exercises which culminated in a rather dubious tallest tower building competition at least four of the six towers remained standing long enough to be judged by Mrs Greenlees and Ms Jones! The competition was fiercely fought, however, 7CW came out victorious well done to Mrs Cornwall and her new students. A big thank you to Year 13, the Form Tutors and Year 13 Liaisons for giving up their time to make the event work so effectively. We all wish Year 7 well as they start their DC careers.

Mr M WoolleyHead of Lower School

Year 7 Induction Day 2014

Year Pages

11Shamal 2015

The greatly anticipated and traditional Year 7 Barbecue took place on Thursday November 6th. With Sixth Form students in charge, the day was clearly going to be filled with fun, mayhem and lots of mess! The six Year 7 tutor groups took part in games

during the exciting afternoon and the competitive nature of the students shone through. Swimming, football, water balloons and donut eating were just some of the crazy activities that were on offer and with 132 Year 7 students, 50 Sixth Form students and 15 members of staff involved, it really was organised chaos! Mr Bernazs barbecue went down a treat with burgers and sausages eaten by the dozen, fuelling the students in preparation for my favourite part of the day the Tutor Group dance! It was brilliant to see everyone taking part, especially the Sixth Form liaisons who took it far more seriously than they did when they were in Year 7 themselves! 7KM were deserved competition winners and collected the cup triumphantly.

Mrs K Greenlees Assistant Head of Lower School (Head of Year 7)

Year 7 Barbecue

2014

Class Photographs

12 Shamal 2015

Mrs G Cornwall

Miss K McGivern

Miss A Greer

Back Row: Pranav Nanda, Thomas Davidson, Madeline Lake, Sourav Roy, Davey Jackson, William Hicks, Tiya Bhatia.

Middle Row: Miss A Greer, Winona Obee, Lucy Burrell, Divraj Singh, Yahvi Shah, Arman Thariani, Jake Hewer, Kiara Taurani, Mehak Rattan.

Front Row: Holly Hickman, Eisa Hussain, Anna Campbell, Sanjana Mittal, Thomas Ayre, Abdul Mirza.

Absent: Kohei Nishikawa.

Back Row: Aranya Gupta, Alexander Krupp, Chloe Russo, Subhag Pandit, Benjamin Hobart, Jakub Skroban, Laith Al Nabhani.

Middle Row: Mrs G Cornwall, Isabel English, Saad Ali, Ermina Memon, Zara Edwards, Elyse Truebridge, Gaby Cordahi, Maia Edmonds, Yana Mulani, Lee Ann Lee. Front Row: Paul Bustarret, Adam Jabri, Rohan Khaleghian, Chrissie Lowndes, Disha Kewalramani, Hessa Al Maktoum.

Back Row: Dhru Dattani, Amitav Samadhin, George Beer, Olivia Allen, Benjamin Morris, Angelina Dooa, Nidhi Sethi, Reva Poddar.

Middle Row: Miss K McGivern, Ava Warren, Nadja Suljkanovic, Megan Parks, Lucy Kane, Ishan Pahwa, Luke Nijkamp, Hugo Donnelly.

Front Row: Zeyad Salah, Aryaman Chawla, Jake Mustard, Kashif Syed, Atunya Agrawal, Tia Patel, Eleanor Bourne.

7AG

7CW

7KM

Class Photographs

13Shamal 2015

Mr M Barrington

Miss T Sopaul

Miss K Winters

Back Row: Ebba Zickerman, Sen Ali, Nishka Keni, Georgia Allen, Thomas Morris, Jack Gravestock.

Middle Row: Miss K Winters, Veer Vohra, Noah Shawki, Kyra Menezes, Natasha Whittall, Rania Zimmermann, Erica Ryan, Aanya Tashfeen.

Front Row: Oliver Duthie, Rayan Malik, Gabriella Shennan, Marie Aractingi, Manan Gupta, Hashim Mirjan.

Absent: Jack Body, Jaiveer Chadda, Ayesha Gibbons.

Back Row: Dominic Marmarchi, Bilal Hashim, Amelia Pearce, Katie Watson, Caitlin Holden-MacDonald, Sumaiya Motara, Andreas Paschalis.

Middle Row: Miss T Sopaul, Basil Lone, George Weddell, Sahan Noor, Krisna Bhargava, Aryaman Mohta, Marwan Gedeon Achi, Laith Mohajer.

Front Row: Alixe Aractingi, Melina Aggarwal, Eesha Yaqub, Edward Hunter, Catherine Smyth, Abigail Anderson, Sidonie Anderson.

Absent: Harrison Devereux.

7KW

7MB

7TS

Back Row: Mr M Barrington, Arjun Dhawan, Sebastien Springuel, Eleanor Baker, Shaima Lone, Arran Shah, Samuel Taverner, Anisha Johnson, Kirsten Fergusson.

Middle Row: Kiana Mottahedan, Matthew Hardie, Lara Elliott, Meeral Tashfeen, Amy Mackenzie, Max Matta, Syed Islam, Imaan Seth.

Front Row: Jemima Garner, Marco Zaccaria, Yousuf Yaqub, Luke Surrey, Anavi Madnani, Lara Begley.

Class Photographs

14 Shamal 2015

Miss L Clohesy

Mr M Lavery

Mrs Lee Foster

Back Row: Sean OGorman, Rima Makhoul, Isobel Thompson, Thomas Boers, Disha Narain, Joel Harrison, Angelica Slater.

Middle Row: Mrs J Lee Foster, Gabriella Helayel, Viraj Ramakrishnan, James Morris, Krish Vithani, Ella Verrall, Maria Iorini, Diptasri Gupta, Casey Bell.

Front Row: Mihir Rajwade, Zainab Kashif, Ein Mountain, Mahe Samee, Ibrahim Afshar,Jai Hindocha.

Back Row: Rhea Javat, Kyarash Aryanpad, Finlay Page, George Hosking, Jessica Passey, Amy Storey, Jaahnvi Shastri.

Middle Row: Cameron Walker, Gabriella Rajpoot, Armaan Flisher, Joshua Paul, Benjamin Jagtiani, Tom Jarvis, Ben Skelton, Sophie Bezzina, Ciara Corroon.

Front Row: William Allinson, Charmaine Kee, Lana Al Hajj, Zunaira Nader, Ethan Goddard, Gabrielle Tode.

Back Row: Nina Mul, Krish Gupta, George Boon, Aryan Mehta, Jacques Holmes, Kitty Davies, Alexander House.

Middle Row: Mr M Lavery, Catherine Withers, Scott Stevens, Inayah Hussain, Maxwell See, Jason Bushill, Katrina Webb, Anjali Menon, Shrey Chawla.

Front Row: Robert Stumbles, Noa Consiglio-Cockle, Aakanksha Deb, Inayah Ahmed, Seyhan Khan, Sophiya Joseph.

Absent: Wajih Zaman.

8JF

8LC

8LV

Class Photographs

15Shamal 2015

Mr R Verma

Miss M Parkes

Back Row: Ben Davies, Henry Tatham, Oliver Garner, Ajay Anand, Hamzah Raza, Elanor Wright, Charlotte Hide, Raphaelle Landais.

Middle Row: Miss M Parkes, Suryansh Loya, Rhea Kale, Lucy Graham, Jack Craig, Charlie McMillan, Samuel Muller, Rija Rao, Ben Crowcroft.

Front Row: Nadir Mussa, Ross Vintcent, Casey Maloney-Pinto, Mahira Jethwani, Almaz Razif, Sophie OKeeffe.

Back Row: Mr G Rodgers, Gabriella Crick Lewis, Emma Robertson, Sebastian Snaas, Omer Oce, Elle MacDonald, Max Brett.

Middle Row: Katie Mewawalla, Rishi Barve, Hannah Dawson, Charlotte Haigh, Aanya Gardi, Kathryn Beck, Sara Ahmed, Kiyomi Hanson.

Front Row: Samar Aswani, Zayed Doleh, Aparna Sridhar, Jake Wade, Tricia Chua, Ali Tabba.

Absent: Ayaan Fazil.

Back Row: Roisin McElligott, Elena Beer, Shehza Shafeek, Kaivalya Vohra, Ritvik Ramnath, Pierre Dalem, Nadia Shamsuddin.

Middle Row: Mr R Verma, Jeremy Pontefract, James Craine, Yun Park, Anahita Kashyap, Ryan De Sousa, Grace Williams, Hannah Burton, Neil Shukla.

Front Row: Maya Sondhi, Sophie Newbery, Eugenio Vecchi, Oliver Reedy, Michael Murphy, Dana McCann.

Absent: Rory Jones.

8MP

8RG

8RV

Mr G Rodgers

Year Pages

16 Shamal 2015

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Year Pages

17Shamal 2015

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Class Photographs

18 Shamal 2015

Miss N Madison

Mr N Bernaz

Mrs W DaviesBack Row: Owen Palmer, Arman Jasuja, Anders Mahesan, Cameron Matthews, James Dare, Shaan Nathwani, Benjamin Avery.

Middle Row: Mrs W Davies, Tamsin Rose, Sahil Mordani, Serena Lambert, Polly Jones, Lara Zaveri, Alysha Alimohamed, Etienne Tillon.

Front Row: Diya Malhotra, Yash Bhansali, Emaan Ahmed, Joonwoo Jeong, Maisie Harvey, George Gunn.

Absent: Rhea Ganguli, Alma Zickerman.

Back Row: Cassia Middleton, Amun Chaudhary, David Hunt, Ishaan Arora, Joni MacDonald, Ammar Mooraj, Caitlin Hunter.

Middle Row: Miss N Madison, Samuel Reedy, Jasmine Liew, Sophie Ingram-Johnson, Harvey Bullock, Hannah Nurmohamed, Hamilton Rogers, Brianne Riewer.

Front Row: Maryam Ahmed, Kiara Whittle, Shemica Adenwalla, Vishal Ayyagari, Oliver Chohan, Alisha Gupta.

Back Row: Mustafa Lone, Siddhant DSouza, Khalid Belselah, James Caution, Geesue Abrichami.

Middle Row: Mr N Bernaz, Eman Zeeshan, Jamie MacKinnon, Alexander Smyth, Sylvia Waft, Matthew Wane.

Front Row: Ratan Kachwalla, Jacob Camilleri, Lucy Skelton, Jaimini Patel, Alizeh Yahya, Maryam Siddiqi.

Absent: Andrew Macintosh, George Gosling, Jade Fernandes, Rhea Kotecha.

9DV

9NM

9NB

Class Photographs

19Shamal 2015

Miss R Shah

Mr M Wood

Mr P Sparks

Back Row: Samuel Burns, Jack Norman, Patrick Dowling, Annabelle Style, Kasia Truscott, Tara A H Zadeh.Middle Row: Mr P Sparks, Kara Catchpole-King, Jason Pollock, Joseph Plumtree, Emily Peck, Jack Burrell, Rory Nisbet, Muhammad Khan.

Front Row: Mehek Vohra, Navika Agrawal, Syed Fehmi, Malika Alidina, Hireena Hans, Niamh Bone.

Absent: Owen Wakeham.

Back Row: Adam Shah, Lauren Johnstone, Gabriella Reynolds, Marco Gabriel, Benjamin Davidson, Alberto Viel, Anna Maureta, Thomas Plumtree.

Middle Row: Miss R Shah, Tomos Roberts, Rebecca Wilding, Ella Nates, Sasha Verrall, Nitya Thawani, Jawad Jafar, Brendan McCann, Naoise Morgan.

Front Row: Finlay Keegan, Sebastian Webb, Ibani Hattangadi, Rihana Al Nabhani, Anoushka Malhotra, Caitlin Theocharis.

Back Row: Tara Desai, Arya Flisher, Michael Reid, Edward Roy, Harry Hughes, Jemma Shand.

Middle Row: Mr M Wood, Isabella Duthie, Serene Sng, Aryan Oberoi, Benjamin Williams, Aleyha Hameed, Jordyn Hamilton, Francesca Hall, Layla Haider.

Front Row: Mark Baxter, Kristian Kolandjian, Hishaan Mahtani, Anise Noor, Holly Rhys-Maitland, Simrin Vaswani.

9PS

9RS

9WD

Class Photographs

20 Shamal 2015

Miss A York

Mr C Temple

Mr A Hann

Back Row: Eleanor Reid, Rhys Luke, Alexander Wiltshire, Jonathan Mulligan, Daniel Gibbons.

Middle Row: Mr A Hann, Mikaeel Habib, Kate Dodds, Amy Harrison, Hugo Dolan, Blake Murphy, Chiara Rehman, Vasiliki Stogiannidou.

Front Row: Isla Stewart, Victoria Tode, Hayat Brannelly, Rachel De Sousa, Nimrah Siddiqi, Georgina McBride.

Absent: Mathieu Springuel.

Back Row: Luca Parkinson, Alex Smith, Ariyike Oyelola, Joshua Armstrong, Hasan Malik.

Middle Row: Annabel Clifford, Thomas Haigh, Alexander Newbery, Thomas Ryan-McGrath, Roberto Pereira, Daisy Kirkaldy, Rae Mitchell.

Front Row: Ellie OKeeffe, Devina Popley, Kimberly Miranda, Mayuri Vinod, Mariam Shaikh, Meiha Raja.

Absent: Tobias Tatham.

Back Row: Seung Lee, Alexander Hall, Max Holt, Angus Thompson, Arnav Lahiry, Oh Jun Kweon, Kabir Nanda.

Middle Row: Mr C Temple, Maya Sandhu, Yaamir Badhe, Hannah Story, Olivia Brown, Sophie Shamsuddin, Kaitlyn Gardner, Chloe Williams.

Front Row: Sophie Scott, Claudia Young, Chloe Elliott, Kristian Ryan, Kim Sparrow, Laura Murphy.

10AH

10AY

10CT

Class Photographs

21Shamal 2015

Miss S Mennaai

Ms T Johns

Mrs E Adamson

Back Row: Safwan Malik, Lucas Moon-Almaraz, Matthew Denton, Matthew Russo, Murtaza Javaid, Amrita Vohra.

Middle Row: Mrs E Adamson, Malaika Nanda, Julia MacKay, Yasmeen Mohajer, Ellen Holmes, James Till-Nehme, Hriday Mani, Olaolu Faniran. Front Row: Georgina Peck, Sophie Rhys-Maitland, Tara Mewawalla, Janne Meijer, Sadhana Madnani, Georgina Holbrook.

Absent: Craig Buchan.

Back Row: Anushe Sheikh, James-Lachlan McCallum, Francois Maureta, Joe Page, Felix Firth, Cameron Graham.

Middle Row: Miss S Mennaai, Victoria Ewert, Mitali Doshi, Magen Chadha, Hyun Ji Kim, Iysa Qureshi, Ruby Ebdon.

Front Row: Thomas Williams, Harold Sheedy, Janvi Jetwhani, Rebecca Ludden, Mina Jenkins, Jessica Pollock.

Absent: Ramzi Jalili, Emma Janus.

Back Row: William Treston, Ethan Pearce, Oliver Tait, Barnaby Holt, Yash Bhandari, Matthew Anderson.

Middle Row: Ms T Johns, Yon Ju Choi, Isabella Lahdo, Devansh Popley, Angus Benstead, Emma Kelly, Vanessa Sumners.

Front Row: Zahra Mandviwala, Aleksandra Skroban, Iman Shaikh, Chloe George, Eve Macdonald, Maha Masud.

Absent: Josh Kotecha, Luca Sackeyfio.

10EA

10MS

10TJ

Year Pages

22 Shamal 2015

Popular Now

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Year Pages

23Shamal 2015

Year 10Polaroids

Class Photographs

24 Shamal 2015

Mr D Riordan

Mr J Cottam

Mr A Davidson

Back Row: Kipngeno Chirchir, Dylan Russo, Dharam Madnani, Franciska Kundrak.

Middle Row: Mr A Davidson, Maxwell Dennehy, Dushan Stembo, Alexandre Gheysen, Rahul Samadhin, Cameron Hughes, Sabrina Daga.

Front Row: Sakshi Gupta, Sally Marr, Jet Biddle, Oliver Dyson, Aleka Gheewala, Sophie Cameron, Madryn Riewer.

Absent: Noah Shariat.

Back Row: Juan Rivero Cruells, Yehia Islam, Joshua Devereux, Jodutt Qudsiyeh, Siddharth Pillai, Shahmeer Chaudhary, Jordan Russell.

Middle Row: Mr D Riordan, Felix Meijer, Max Lovett, George Simmonds, Charlotte Style, Shahmir Samee, Rahul Lopez, Matthew Baxter, Ali Kapasi.

Front Row: Sarah Bolton, Charlise Koch, Anushe Samee, Reeza Khan, Beth Jarvis, Fatima Gheewala, Alison Tuffin.

Back Row: Darius Afkhami, Rory Quick, Aaron Camball, Oliver Boon.

Middle Row: Mr J Cottam, Alec Bandy, Frazer Hanson, Daniel Jhoolun, Isabel Snaas, Ali Malik, Matthias Falzon Young.

Front Row: Denia Loukou, Ceyda Davidson, Anjali Magecha, Simren Nijhawan, Kirsten Drake, Helen Fergusson, Rebecca Hamer.

Absent: Blanca Pamias Lopez.

11AD

11DR

11CJ

Class Photographs

25Shamal 2015

Mr J Salisbury

Mrs S Maclaren

Miss E John

Back Row: Jay Desai, Oisin Morgan, Jeremy Clark, Adam Osborne, Eoin Brady.

Middle Row: Miss E John, Alireza Chassebi, Vikramaditya Jadeja, James Lemon, Alex Faulkner, Min Lee, Sen Mountain, Catherine Waft.

Front Row: Mahnoor Kamran, Eleanor Roy, Alkis Loukos, Corynn Foote, Jetasri Gupta, Naina Grover.

Back Row: Scott Simpson, Katherine Willson, Zachariah Davies, Owen Mul, Rowan Weaver.

Middle Row: Mr J Salisbury, Valentin Arstal, Richard Pickup, Siddhant Jhurani, Rebecca Edwards, Issam Al Ghussain, Konstantine Skandalis.

Front Row: Shenez Ahmed, Kirsten Holtby, Emma Taylor, Alexandra White, Zena Sharif, Kristi Flanagan.

Absent: Rida Ali, Max Jones.

Back Row: Robert Hughes, Omar El-Ashmawi, Barnaby Brett, Saif Khawaja, Christopher Vail.

Middle Row: Mrs S Maclaren, Alex Jarvis, Jonathan Lattouf, Shaan Lalvani, Omar Malik, Alexander Cargill, Jude Mahmoud.

Front Row: Kate Fisher, Alexandra Clements, Zahra Kapasi, Jason Daswani, Hannah Cleere, Miraal Ikramullah, Anaa Haider.

Absent: Angus Steel.

11EJ

11JS

11SM

Year Pages

26 Shamal 2015

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Class Photographs

27Shamal 2015

Mrs J Bailey

Mr C House

Mr B Christopher

Back Row: Mr B Christopher, Harry Hardman, Joseph Blakemore, Alexander Tait, Lachlan Whittle, Anneka Javat.

Front Row: Jessica Sayer, Lauren Beattie, Ellen Burley, Caleb Goddard, Urmika Mani, Ashna Gupta, Alina Siddiqi.

Absent: Samuel Ashby.

Back Row: Mrs J Bailey, Sacha Harding, Zachary Wilke, Jonathan Lahdo, Inaam Mian, Olivia Johnson, Giorgia Maccini-Hill.

Front Row: Jenna Pfeifer, Hasan Masud, Olivia Dennehy, Kevin Peiris, Charlotte Baines, Karan Nair, Nadia Young.

Back Row: Mr C House, Brendan DSouza, Zack Bremner, Hannah Cassidy, Matthew Dunne, Sheamus Power, Zahid Siddiqui.

Front Row: Tanisha Koshy, Emma Murray, Isabelle Grenville, Sofi Zickerman-White, Layla Armstrong, Gabrielle Guscott, Aashka Iyer.

12/13BC

12/13BV

12/13CH

Class Photographs

28 Shamal 2015

Ms M Doherty

Mr G Case

Ms D Foulkes

Back Row: Ms D Foulkes, Sahil Badlani, Arjun Dave, Rohan Padmanabhan, Aditya Prakash, Prateek Nadkarni, Alice Lovett.

Front Row: Eilisha Hatter, Tilsim Palfreyman, Millie Ayres, Ahmad Rabbani, Ashling Murphy, Margherita Vianello, Jenna Denton.

Back Row: Ms M Doherty, Jack Jones, Joe Shams, Oliver French, Francois Pieterse, Rohan Gupta,Tzeitel Degiovanni.

Front Row: Humna Siddiqi, Natalie Jalili, Emily Dunne, Saava OKirwan, Jemma Ansell, Jessica Ingram-Johnson, Tania Valrani.

Back Row: Mr G Case, Adil Javat, Aniket Chandra, Adil Saldanha, Nicolas Bagatelas, Alidad Chassebi, Tamsyn Morfee.

Front Row: Nehaa Nagpaul, Amy Hosking, Hanna Salem, Kristen De Sousa, Elizabeth Adamson, Alexandra Mulligan, Catriona Benson.

12/13DF

12/13DM

12/13GC

Class Photographs

29Shamal 2015

Mr G Roberts

Ms H Bastable

Mr G Jeffcote

Back Row: Mr G Jeffcote, Ciara Bone, Alistair MacGillivray, Matthew Laven, Christopher Quelch, James Hoad, Thomas Murphy. Front Row: Pooja Daswani, Imogen Lemon, Alyzeh Jiwani,Shivani Maru, Neha Narain, Alesha Gulamhusein, Saleena Nurmohamed.

Back Row: Mr G Roberts, Minjun Kim, Eleanor Proctor, Samuel Morris, Cameron Moffat, Shan Maru, Oliver Fleming.

Front Row: Saskia Heyster, Hannah Holly, Albert Shehata, Jessica Shaw, Evie Coghill, Natalia Adair, Anusha Aggarwal.

Back Row: Ms H Bastable, Ryan Underwood, Joseph Story, Lucy Bell, Thomas Webster.

Front Row: Cameron MacKay, Beatrice Prosser, Holly Jhoolun, Mia Bazzoui, Ariana Bakhshandeh, Sneha Nagpaul, Ethan Ebdon.

Absent: Sara Ali, Angus Maxfield.

12/13GJ

12/13GR

12/13HB

Class Photographs

30 Shamal 2015

Mr J McIlveen

Mrs L Hodge

Mr I Jones

Back Row: Mr I Jones, Jyotirmai Singh, Waleed Malik, Tristan Ebdon, Raahim Zafrullah, Daniel Momeni, Olivia Needham.

Front Row: Aiza Ahmed, Zahra Karmally, Sara Kachwalla, Pranay Jethwani, Radhika Bhatia, Hannah Wilding, Zahra Bawany.

Back Row: Mr J McIlveen, Harkirath Dhillon, Haren Bhavnani, Ciaran Brady, Daniyal Malik, Mohammed Hansrod.

Front Row: Vedika Agarwalla, Isabelle Haigh, Kristina Serdyuk, Sarah Duncan, Sarah Khullar, Tabetha Davies, Antara Jaidev. Absent: Perle Battistella.

Back Row: Mrs L Hodge, Joanna Summers, David Culemann, Mohammad-Wahid Ghaffari, Mohammad Sardar, Robin Over, Helena Wick.

Front Row: Ryota Minagi, Iona Stewart, Leah Mitchell, Trishla Shah, Erin Dawson, Drishti Masand, Muhammad Haris.

12/13IJ

12/13JM

12/13LH

Class Photographs

31Shamal 2015

Mr P Rivers

Mr R Ashby

Mr P Flower

Back Row: Mr P Flower, Urooj Ali, Michael Foote, Adian Liusie, Conor Kennedy, Joseph Taylor, Josephine Jagtiani.

Front Row: Sarah Kashani, Aidan McBride, Finnian Ford, Neeksha Vikram, Constance Antia, Katherine Jones.

Absent: Nermeen Islam.

Back Row: Mr P Rivers, Martha Gregory, Aiden Wright, Stephan Koenigstorfer, Liam Benstead, Zorez Haider.

Front Row: Zoe Curtis, Natasha Lopez, Beatrice Turner, Amy Henderson, Kripa Venkatesh,Navya Kataria.

Back Row: Mr R Ashby, Kiana Simpson, Michael Camball, James Thrower, Zohayb Shaikh, Ryan Evans, Sandip Roy.

Front Row: Saad Iqbal, Caitlin Janus, Bianca Pereira, Devina Singh, Anya Malik, Evelyn Quelch, John Devitt.

12/13PF

12/13PR

12/13RA

Class Photographs

32 Shamal 2015

Mrs T Drake

Mrs V Holmes

Mr S Over

Back Row: Mr S Over, Christopher Rose, George Ludden, Jake Rogers, Sarah McKinney, Tasha Howard, Mustafa Zaidi.

Front Row: Anurati Sodani, Daksha Agarwal, Sophie Shennan, Thomas Cleere, Jessica Lattouf, Pooja Nair.

Back Row: Mrs T Drake, Todd Davies, Aneeb Sheikh, Ryan Harris, Marwan Farha, Simran Kashyap, Abhishek Nair.

Front Row: Niki Mottahedan, Aoife Corroon, Nikita Tourani, Sheyan Adenwalla, Kelley Day, Joanna Park, Annia Mirza.

Back Row: Mrs V Holmes, Euan MacKinnon, Pierre Springuel, Jordan Fenton, Nathan Appleby, Padraig Ryan.

Front Row: Brigid Fogg, Madelaine Freeman, Tara Chacko, Niall Moore, Elizabeth Dryburgh, Alana Rogers.

Absent: Ashnaa Chandnani, Saad Khan.

12/13SO

12/13TD

12/13VH

The Sixth Form Year

33Shamal 2015

Now this is not the end. It is not even the

beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of

the beginning.

Winston Churchill

I am coming to the end of three immensely enjoyable years at the helm of one of the worlds leading Sixth Forms. This is a bold claim, I know, but this years cohort has achieved so much across such a broad spectrum that I believe they can satisfy even the most stringent of critics.

Without a doubt Alice Lovett and Rohan Padmanabhan (pronounced Pad-man-arr-ban much to my chagrin after mispronouncing his name for three terms!) have been the greatest Head Boy and Head Girl team in living memory. Sure, they might have given us a 40-minute tour of Dubai in a single propeller aircraft as a thank-you gift despite my fear of flying. They may have delivered one of the most controversial ever assembly speeches in the history of school, which caused shockwaves among the staff body for days. However, ably assisted by their statesmanlike and considered deputies Jenna Denton and Prateek Nadkarni, these four peer group leaders have truly activated the student voice. They have initiated a culture of dialogue between the student council and senior leadership team of Dubai College, which has never existed before and for which I am truly grateful.

Whilst the U18 boys won the HSBC Rugby 7s for the fourth year in a row If you want your kids to play rugby send them to DC remarked the 7s commentator on 6th December 2014 this years real Sixth Form sporting success (some might argue) came from the girls. Winners of more silverware than you can shake a stick at, the girls are

DASSA Girls Athletics Champions, Doha Sports Exchange winners, U18 Girls MEUC Basketball Champions, U18 Girls DASSA Basketball League Champions, Hatta Run Champions, U18C DASSA League Division 2 Winners, U18A DC Intl. Tournament Winners, U18A DASSA League Division 1 Winners, Senior Rounders Latifa Tournament Winners, U18 DASSA Swimming League Champions, DASSA Swimming Championships Winners and DASSA Swimming A League Winners.

Holly Jhoolun (what a voice!), Ethan Ebdon (what a T shirt!), Cameron MacKay (what denim!) and Mia Bazzoui (what!) along with the rest of their stellar supporting cast set the stage on fire in this years production of West Side Story. To think that the worlds leading universities will play host to these students over the next two years makes you realise that we are lucky to educate students who must cope with the agony of choice sure, academia beckons but any of these students have a very real chance of achieving great success in any number of spheres, including the creative, if they continue to apply themselves in these areas.

Aided and abetted by an army of willing volunteers this years Charity Committee led by Neha Narain, Emily Dunne, Zahra Bawany and Rhadika Bhatia have raised more money for worthy causes than ever before. Having juggled scheduling glitches to host the perennially popular Music, Charity, Love as well as supporting the inaugural DC Winter Bazaar this years altruists deserve special mention for their generous commitment to

philanthropy.

The rest, one might argue, is academic. It is, however, worth noting that even in a field of dreams this years cohort have harvested an impressive crop of university offers. Between them Year 13 have received 10 offers from Imperial, 9 from Oxbridge and 9 from LSE as well as offers from Yale, Princeton, Berkeley, Stanford, UPenn, Brown, Georgia Tech and Columbia. Most importantly, however, each one of our Year 13 students is on track to their chosen future and I wish them every success.

I have no doubt that I will continue to be equally impressed by the rest of Dubai College as I take up the position of Headmaster in September. In the meantime, however, I want to express my sincere gratitude to every single member of the Dubai College Sixth Form for making my life so rewarding, stimulating and enjoyable over the past 12 months.

As they say education is what remains after you have forgotten everything you learned in school. If this applies to our current Sixth Form then we have educated prime physical specimens with huge cultural appetites, giving generously of themselves in their pursuit of lifelong learning. Not bad for a years work.

Have a great summer.

Mike LambertHead of Sixth Form

The Sixth Form Year

Class Photographs

34 Shamal 2015

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, Raa

him

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rulla

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vie

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hill,

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tya

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ash,

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jun

Kim

, Geo

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arth

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rego

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non,

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atar

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neeb

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tafa

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di, L

iam

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stea

d, T

abet

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avie

s, T

rist

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bdon

, Lib

by J

ohns

on, C

hris

toph

er R

ose,

Alb

ert S

heha

ta, K

evin

Pe

iris

3rd

Row

: San

dip

Roy

, Sah

il B

adla

ni, J

ames

Hoa

d, C

aitli

n Ja

nus,

Zah

id S

iddi

qui,

Eth

an E

bdon

, Arj

un D

ave,

Aas

hka

Iyer

, Eliz

abet

h D

rybu

rgh,

Jes

sica

Lat

touf

, Tils

im P

alfr

eym

an,

Roh

an G

upta

, Sal

eena

Nur

moh

amed

, Cam

eron

Mac

Kay

, Isa

belle

Gre

nvill

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hom

as M

urph

y, N

atal

ia A

dair

, Hol

ly J

hool

un, B

eatr

ice

Pros

ser,

Joa

nna

Park

, Am

y H

oski

ng, L

achl

an

Whi

ttle

, Am

y H

ende

rson

2nd

Row

: Nik

i Mot

tahe

dan,

Tze

itel

Deg

iova

nni,

Ale

sha

Gul

amhu

sein

, Alin

a Si

ddiq

i, A

hmad

Rab

bani

, Mill

ie A

yres

, Tar

a C

hack

o, T

anis

ha K

oshy

, Sar

a K

achw

alla

, Jes

sica

Sha

w,

Nee

ksha

Vik

ram

, Tho

mas

Web

ster

, Lay

la A

rmst

rong

, Ion

a St

ewar

t, Le

ah M

itch

ell,

Eri

n D

awso

n, S

neha

Nag

paul

, Ant

ara

Jaid

ev, A

nnek

a Ja

vat,

Tris

hla

Shah

, Zah

ra K

arm

ally

, A

shna

Gup

ta, S

arah

Khu

llar,

Nat

alie

Jal

ili, A

oife

Cor

roon

, Anu

sha

Agg

arw

al, B

eatr

ice

Turn

er, C

harl

otte

Bai

nes.

Fro

nt

Row

: Anu

rati

Sod

ani,

Sheh

ryar

Har

is, A

iza

Ahm

ed, S

heya

n A

denw

alla

, Neh

aa N

agpa

ul, A

bhis

hek

Nai

r, A

nnia

Mir

za, M

r Tr

ivic

, Mr

Lam

bert

, Mr

Tate

, Mrs

Kir

kald

y, V

edik

a A

garw

alla

, Nia

ll M

oore

, Sop

hie

Shen

nan,

Pra

nay

Jeth

wan

i, Po

oja

Das

wan

i, Je

ssic

a In

gram

-Joh

nson

Abs

ent:

Ash

ling

Mur

phy,

Aas

hna

Cha

ndna

ni, H

anna

h W

ildin

g, M

argh

erit

a V

iane

llo, R

yan

Eva

ns

Year Pages

35Shamal 2015

Year Pages

36 Shamal 2015

Class Photographs

37Shamal 2015

Yea

r 13

20

15

Bac

k R

ow: R

yan

Har

ris,

Oliv

er F

renc

h, C

atri

ona

Ben

son,

Adi

l Sal

danh

a, P

ierr

e Sp

ring

uel,

Ele

anor

Pro

ctor

, Chr

isto

pher

Que

lch,

Cam

eron

Moff

at, J

orda

n Fe

nton

, Mat

thew

Lav

en, J

ake

Rog

ers,

Zoh

ayb

Shai

kh, A

lista

ir M

acG

illiv

ray,

Sam

uel M

orri

s, M

icha

el C

amba

ll, M

oham

mad

-Wah

id G

haff

ari,

Sim

ran

Kas

hyap

, Joh

n D

evit

t, S

aski

a H

eyst

er, M

icha

el F

oote

, Pad

raig

R

yan,

Jac

k Jo

nes

4th

Row

: Jos

eph

Tayl

or, U

rooj

Ali,

Dav

id C

ulem

ann,

Wal

eed

Mal

ik, M

aisy

Dun

can,

Ali

Chas

sebi

, Zor

ez H

aide

r, J

osep

h B

lake

mor

e, K

aran

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r, K

rist

ina

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yuk,

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l Jav

at, T

asha

H

owar

d, R

yan

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kerm

an-W

hite

, Gab

riel

le G

usco

tt, T

odd

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ies,

Han

na S

alem

, Moh

amm

ed H

ansr

od, H

elen

a W

ick,

Dan

iyal

Mal

ik, H

arki

rath

Dhi

llon,

Fin

nian

For

d.

3rd

Row

: Ina

am M

ian,

Kel

ley

Day

, Zah

ra B

awan

y, A

nya

Mal

ik, N

ikita

Tou

rani

, She

amus

Pow

er, A

rian

a B

akhs

hand

eh, E

mily

Dun

ne, J

enna

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ta M

inag

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leb

God

dard

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ivan

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u, Im

ogen

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on, A

lyze

h Ji

wan

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atas

ha L

opez

, Tho

mas

Cle

ere,

Gio

rgia

Mac

cini

-Hill

, Oliv

ia N

eedh

am, H

arry

Har

dman

, Han

nah

Hol

ly, B

rend

an D

Sou

za.

2nd

Row

: Tan

ia V

alra

ni, P

ooja

Nai

r, L

aure

n B

eatt

ie, Z

oe C

urtis

, Isa

belle

Hai

gh, M

adel

aine

Fre

eman

, Bid

dy F

ogg,

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n B

urle

y, J

emm

a A

nsel

l, D

evin

a Si

ngh,

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shti

Mas

and,

Nad

ia

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g, U

rmik

a M

ani,

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sha

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, Kri

pa V

enka

tesh

, Oliv

ia D

enne

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isha

h Si

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ssic

a Sa

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stan

ce A

ntia

, Aid

an M

cBri

de.

Fro

nt R

ow: J

oann

a Su

mm

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Liz

zy A

dam

son,

Joe

Sin

gh, A

lexa

ndra

Mul

ligan

, Sa

ad Iq

bal,

Jenn

a D

ento

n, R

ohan

Pad

man

abha

n, M

r Tr

ivic

, Mr

Lam

bert

, Mr

Tate

, Mrs

Kir

kald

y, A

lice

Love

tt, P

rate

ek N

adka

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Baz

zoui

, Ste

phan

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nigs

torf

er, N

eha

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ain,

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Sha

msu

ddin

, Bia

nca

Pere

ira.

Abs

ent:

Ang

us M

axfie

ld, N

erm

een

Isla

m, P

erle

Bat

tist

ella

, Rad

hika

Bha

tia,

Saa

d K

han,

Sam

uel A

shby

, Sar

a A

li.

Open Day 2014

38 Shamal 2015

This years annual Dubai College Open Day brought together over 1500 students, staff, prospective parents and guests onto the College site. They came on foot, by car and for the first time this year by tram and the college busesa taste of things to come perhaps for the potential new recruits to next years Year 7 and Year 12 intake. As ever, a great deal of preparation and hard work went on behind the scenes and allowed us to show DC at its best. It was wonderful to see over 600 students forego the usual early finish on a Thursday and volunteer to stay back and support their school. Talking to students and staff on the afternoon there was a clear sense of pride and achievement in evidence; Open Day is our chance to let the wider community see what goes on behind the red brick walls.Our Sixth Form tour guides ably led parties of parents and students through the campus. As ever many struggled to see everything that was on show from The Black Death Experience to Literary Detectives and from Formula 1 in Schools to Fetez la Fiesta. Our students experimented in Science, debated in English, created in Art and designed in D/T, computed in Mathematics and programmed in ICT. Our sporting, musical, dramatic and philanthropic pursuits were all well represented with football and netball house matches, water polo, basketball, dance, gymnastics and trampolining vying with The Beginner Band, the Orchestra, the cast of West Side Story and the Sixth Form Charities Committee. Our students invited guests to experience teaching and learning in Geography and Economics and to take learning outside the classroom in Arabic and Islamic Studies with traditional costumes, henna and gypsum activities. Mr Hill brought everybody together in the auditorium to explain what makes Dubai College tick at the end of the

afternoon; to describe our philosophy and practice, our endeavours and achievements, our core values and diverse pursuits. Guests were then invited to take refreshments on the lawn, serenaded by The Chamber Choira lovely end to an excellent afternoon and, this year at least, the skies stayed blue throughout. Thank you to all who contributed!

Mr M HunterDeputy Headmaster

Open Day 2014

Local and Overseas Trips

39Shamal 2015

On June 23rd last year thirty-five Years 10 & 11 students embarked on the longest school trip any of us had ever been on and, for the majority of us, with people we didnt know all that well. But the preparation for the twenty-one day trip began long before then. Throughout the year we tirelessly raised funds in order to support the project phase of our trip which was different for each of the groups on the trip. For my group it was the first phase of the trip we faced after grasping our bearings in Hanoi (which we used as a rapid culture-acclimatisation stop off) before we ventured off into rural Vietnam.Our project phase was in a region called Mai Chau; I feel that I can speak for the whole group when I say that this was the most satisfying part of our journey. We arrived on the third day of our trip to this small village and right away we trekked to the site on which we would be carrying out the task of building a toilet block. It sounds odd but it was in fact a gruelling task. Not only did our group of seventeen need to move all of the bricks needed to construct it up a fairly steep slope, but it also required the constant mixing of cement throughout the day in order to allow us to build the toilet block. The temperatures were up in the 30s and the humidity was unbelievable, but after all of our hard work we managed to not only finish the block, but also make a few friends along the way. This included the son of the family we were helping and our beloved group cow, Daisy.Unfortunately we had a couple of group members get ill on this part of the trip but luckily we were all reunited in full numbers for the trekking phase. This stage was split up into a trek of three days in Mai Chau and then another longer trek in the Sappa region in the mountains of Vietnam that lasted five days. The weather was definitely not on our side...on the Mai Chau trek it poured it down for the first two days and then was absolutely scorching hot on the last; and on our Sappa trek the weather was just as erratic as the first, however, the rain was a bit more serious this time. All joking aside the trekking got very dangerous as we walked through mud on cliff sides

which meant that we had to concen-trate for the entire time that we were walking in order to ensure no one got seriously injured. Eventually, however, we made it through the trekking and it was things like being able to swim in the local rivers and play card games for hours on end that really kept us going.As far as experiences go I would say that I loved the local culture as well as some of the things we got to do when we were there. Among the adventures were crossing the road, getting the night train not only to but also from the Sappa trek, accidentally booking ourselves into a party hostel

(because it was cheaper) and the most gratifying of all, being able to buy rice cookers and fans for the disabled community in Mai Chau. It amazed and humbled us all at how such a small gesture with the extra funds we managed to raise affected the local community so much, and I would even go as far as to say it brought a tear to Mr Vermas eye!I am not only grateful but I am also amazed at what I experienced over those three weeks and the friendships I forged there will last a lifetime.

Matthew Dunne 12DM

World Challenge

Local and Overseas Trips

40 Shamal 2015

. . . .

Restaurant. Good morning. Goodbye. Call the fire department. That was the extent of the Russian we picked up on our six day trip to the Russian capital, Moscow, and St Petersburg. However, culturally and historically we were enriched far beyond the pages of our GCSE textbooks. Bundled up against the cold, fifty-one students plus six teachers made their way to the hotel (after an entertaining escapade with Interpol) for what was to be a jam-packed Russian experience. Our first evening was indeed enchanting. The mercury read -14 degrees Celsius as we left the hotel, but standing in an illuminated Red Square absorbing the architectural wonder of the Kremlin and St. Basils Cathedral the numbness in our fingers was bearable. In the words of one Mr Skandalis, it was bare cold.The next morning we returned to Red Square for a guided tour of the Kremlin and the Armoury. Frozen, and our minds overflowing with information, we were later released into the food court at the local mall where a slight miscommunication and some fumbled Russian left someone with thirty-two pieces of chicken to consume within the hour! After lunch we explored a genuine Cold War bunker many metres below the streets of Moscow. We all trudged down eighteen flights

of narrow stairs, shedding layers of warm clothing as we descended. Whilst the simulation alarm left some of us severely traumatised, we did not fail to notice the teachers sneaking into the elevator, leaving us to make the long trek up to the entrance of the bunker. That night we attended the Nikulin Circus and although some of us may not have necessarily agreed with the ethics of the circus, it was definitely an authentic Russian experience. Our longest day of the trip involved a visit to Lenins Mausoleum and then a Moscow sightseeing tour. Driving past the KGB our tour-guide informed us of the good views one once had of Siberia from the rooms of this notorious building! After some serious haggling on Old Arbat Street and dinner, we prepared ourselves for the long night ahead. At 12.50 we boarded the night train to St. Petersburg. Exhaustion set in and despite our rather limited accommodation we all slept soundly. In St Petersburg we paid a visit to the Peter and Paul Fortress the final resting places of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, and his family. Later, showered and refreshed we headed off to watch Le Parc, a contemporary ballet with many, many interpretations! A blanket of snow covered St Petersburg the next day and we spent the morning at Catherines Palace, destroying friendships in vicious snowball fights! Im pretty sure there was one point when Mr Lavery was genuinely afraid of the combined wrath of fifty-one teenagers! We later enjoyed an evening of total cultural immersion, when we ate dinner

at the Nikolaevsky Palace, and wondered just how long Mr Lavery had intended on hiding his talent for Russian Folk Dancing. After a rather pathetic attempt at storming the Winter Palace we spent our last few hours exploring the magnificent Hermitage Museum. Our Russian experience was absolutely unforgettable! Without a doubt, a massive thank you has to go to all of the teachers who dealt with us for the six days and for meticulously planning such an amazing trip.

Anjali Magecha 11CJ

History Trip to Russia

Local and Overseas Trips

41Shamal 2015

The mission (which we rapidly chose to accept): squeeze as much knowledge of German history into twenty students and three teachers in four days as humanly possible. Fun would just be a side effect, provided we didnt freeze.

We hit the streets of Berlin with our Walking Wikipedia tour guide, Roy. There wasnt a fact he didnt know about German history as we whizzed through the citys iconic landmarks like the beautiful Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie, which proved to be a wonderful photo opportunity. A specialist Nazi History Walking Tour took us through nearly all the places we had only read about in our textbooks. The Story of Berlin interactive museum was a whirlwind, reflecting how buzzing the city Berlin is.

Whilst our trip was predominantly wunderbar and filled with laughter, there were some startling moments of reality that struck us; none as potent as during our visits to the Stasi Prison and the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. After our endless complaining about the weather we were told that prisoners of the camp were forced to stand to attention, withstanding temperatures of up to -20C in nothing but rags, a thin coat and some boots for forty-eight hours. Suddenly we no longer felt cold. It wasnt all history as the girls engaged in some heavy (window) shopping, and retail therapy in Primark. We even celebrated Izzys birthday with much pomp and cake at the Hard Rock Caf. Many a souvenir was bought, but our main regret from the trip was not buying a real, genuine, fake piece of the Berlin Wall. Exhausting yet enriching days saw us walk 20km on average, and were made even more exhausting by Herr von Dennis tendency to sprint everywhere we went. Luckily us lesser mortals had Herr Lavery keep us company at the back of the pack.Our heartfelt dankeschn to Herr von Dennis, Herr Lavery and Fraulein York for tolerating us and giving us an amazing experience to cherish. An even bigger shout out to Frau Von Drake for organising all our exploits.

Kripa Venkatesh 13PR

HistoryTrip toBerlin

Local and Overseas Trips

42 Shamal 2015

On March 17th, Year 11 art students embarked upon an adventurous journey to Bastakiya, the older and historical area of

Dubai. After rushing through the narrow streets of old Dubai, we travelled down the creek on an abra, a rustic boat rich in authenticity and history. As we rode down the creek with the soothing sound of the wind and water, we spent one hour making a series of drawings of traditional buildings, mosques, boats and water studies. After this we had lunch at the XVA, an art hotel, where we encountered Halim Al Karims installation series, called Chaos. We even had the pleasure of seeing Al Karim himself, instantly recognisable with his bright purple beard and unruly long hair. Al Karim had transformed the XVA into Chaos literally to display his ideas on the disorder and madness surrounding the lives through love and war. By covering the restaurant in plastic, hanging upside down wax covered creatures and disco lights from the ceiling and polaroid photographs from trees I was slightly disturbed but also intrigued and inspired.

Ceyda Davidson 11CJ

Year 11 Art Trip to the Creek and

XVA Gallery

Local and Overseas Trips

43Shamal 2015

On March 19th we visited Alserkal Avenue where Anahita Razmi was exhibiting at the Carbon 12 Gallery. She is a German/Iranian conceptual artist who uses a variety of media to convey issues of identity and gender while appropriating national, cultural and artistic references.

Razmi delivered a talk about her work and explained how her art confronts the term Gharbzadegi, meaning Weststruckness with the fictional term Sharghzadegi, Eaststruckness. This Persian term translates to Westoxification and describes the ill-fated relationship between the West and Iran. The serious nature of her

Year 11, 12 and 13 Art Trip to Art Dubai and

Alserkal Avenue

work contrasted with the humour it also managed to portray. I enjoyed her talk immensely, finding her approach fascinating and have since been exploring some of her ideas in my own art. After Razmis talk, we visited a number of the other galleries including Grey Noise, Gallery Isabelle Van Den Eynde, Ayyam Gallery and Gulf Photo Plus, all of which were displaying works that were just as powerful. After Alserkal Avenue, we visited Art Dubai at the Madinat. It was a rare opportunity to see artworks covering a diverse range of media by a number of important and emerging contemporary artists. We only had a few hours to view this extensive range of art, and the vast amount of artworks was overwhelming, but has since provided us all with a great deal of inspiration.

Helena Wick 13LH

Local and Overseas Trips

44 Shamal 2015

Year 7 students had a brilliant time in Dibba for two days during March 2015. They participated in lots of different activities at the North Star Camp including abseiling, rock climbing, obstacle courses and team building. They also had

the chance to go to the Radisson Blu Hotel and try kayaking, snorkelling and raft building. The water was crystal clear and the students didnt seem to mind that it was freezing cold, but it was unfortunately marred by copious amounts of jelly fish! The rock climbing was great fun and whilst the students were waiting for their turn, they attempted to solve my many different riddles. After a HUGE dinner, we went on a night hike in to the mountains, searching for scorpions on the way. The

Year 7 Dibba

Trip

instructors told us all about the constellations and made us do an experiment to show us how our eyes work in the dark. Unfortunately there were no scorpions, but we did see a comet. On return to the camp and after a few games of football, rugby and basketball (Im not sure what the boys did?), it was lights out ready for another action packed morning before a very long and noisy trip back to school. Arjun of course left half of his belongings on the bus, Mr Woolley ate everyones sweets and I slept very well on Saturday night! Im looking forward to doing it all again with the new Year 7s next year.

Mrs K Greenlees Assistant Head of Lower School (Head of Year 7)

Local and Overseas Trips

45Shamal 2015

The Year 8 trip to Kalba was an exciting adventure for everyone. After leaving school on Thursday we departed for our 2 hour journey to Eco-adventures in Dhaid. Much to the delight of the students, we passed many herds of camels and goats which resulted in lots of screaming from the students. When we arrived, and after a mad rush for the best tents, we began our activities for the day. We took part in the Jacobs Ladder (a giant ladder), team building exercises and the climbing wall. After the activities we sat around the campfire and sang campfire songs, watched the #bantersquad with the talent show and Ms Romans try the chicken dance. After we all settled down for sleep (no midnight snacking involved) ready for an early start the next morning. At 6am (gosh) we had breakfast and left Dhaid for our sea activities. After another 2 hours of driving we arrived at the Eco-adventures headquarters ready for our days activities. Our day included raft building, where we built a raft out of barrels, wood and rope and raced against the other team, canoeing and kayaking.

With heavy hearts we started our journey home. It was an amazing trip and we made memories which will stay with us all the way through school.

Sophie Bezzina 8LC

Year 8 Trip to Kalba

Local and Overseas Trips

46 Shamal 2015

On June 24th a group of students from Years 9, 10 and 11 left Dubai to go to Italy on a GCSE music trip. After two very long flights

we finally landed in Milan and took a bus to our hotel in Sirmione. La Paul Hotel was amazing and supplied breakfast and dinner for us every day. It was situated on Lake Garda and even though it was near a lake, it still had its own pool. During the week spent in Italy we visited many different places which included Venice, Verona and Murano.

When we were in Verona we toured around the beautiful city. A tour guide took us around Verona and shared some really interesting historical facts, such as the fact that Verona used to be significantly lower and due to earthquakes they had to raise and rebuild it. Part of old Verona still exists and some of us managed to take a private tour below ground to see it. We were told that during our tour there had been some earth tremors, but we didnt feel any of them! One part of our tour showed us all the significant time periods of Veronas history in one square. These four time periods were Roman, Gothic, Medieval and Renaissance. Each time period had its own style so this particular square in Verona was extremely interesting because it showed one style on each side of the square. A famous building in Verona is the Coliseum. The Coliseum was an amazing building and we learned that it once had an outer section and another level above it, but earthquakes in 1117 and 1183 destroyed most of them. One of the most well-known Italian operas is Carmen and during our stay we had the pleasure of going to the Coliseum to watch it. The only unfortunate part of the opera was that it was four hours long and the performance started at about 9pm. The bus journey home from Verona was subsequently very quiet, which pleased Mr Zambonini and Mrs Hughes a lot! Another well-known opera that we watched was Rigoletto, which was performed in someones very large house. The performance was very interactive: after each interval the audience went to a new room for a change of scenery and for a lot of the time the audience surrounded the stage. It was an amazing performance with an

Sounds of Italy

interesting story line and powerful actors.A highlight of Verona was visiting Juliets balcony and the statue of her. It is rumoured that if you hold a certain part of Juliet, you become lucky in love. A handful of us did that and in that same area there were two walls covered with lovers names surrounded by a heart.

In Venice we took a ferry to Murano where we watch