Newsletter - PDO School

PDO School
PO Box 81, Muscat 100
Sultanate of Oman
Website:
www.pdoschool.com
Tel: (+968) 24675864
Newsletter
Date: 10th December 2015
Issue: 8
Dear Parents,
Sports Day
Last week we held our Mile Post 2 and Mile Post 3 Sports Days for the first time on our new sports pitch. The
children had a wonderful time participating in all the events, and demonstrated excellent sportsmanship,
stamina and resilience. Congratulations to all of the participants and the winning teams, and a special thanks
to Mr. Andy and the teaching team for organising such a great event. The children received amazing support
from so many parents who came to spectate and this is very much appreciated by us all.
Photos of our Sports Days have been
uploaded onto the PE section of our new
web pages for parents to view. Please
follow this link:
bit.ly/pdoschool
School Uniform Launch
Sunday 29th November saw the launch of our school uniform. Thank you to all parents for your wonderful
support in ensuring your children were equipped with uniform for that date. The children look absolutely super
in the new, vibrant colours that match our “Passion for Learning” logo!
Miss Jo congratulates the children
during our special assembly
School Year 2015-2016 Issue 8
A wonderful display of vibrant colour!
Thank You!
This is the final whole school newsletter for this term and what a successful and busy term it has
been with our move to the new building. The children have settled into their new learning
environments extremely well, and the teachers and support staff have all done a fantastic job in
ensuring that they all feel safe and supported, and are engaged in their learning. Thank you to you
our parents, for your patience, understanding and support during this eventful term. We look
forward to many more successes in the new calendar year.
Kind Regards
Joanne Speller
Head Teacher
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A Nurse in our School
My name is Manal Al Abri, a new joiner in PDO School as a nurse. I’m glad to help the children in
their daily health issues, give health talks and to answer any concerns about the children’s health.
I will be available in the early years building from 8:00 am till 8:45 am. and then I will be available in
my the school medical room until 2:00 pm daily. You can contact me by calling 246 79882 or email
[email protected]
Dear Parents remember I’m here for your children, if you need any help or if you have any
concerns you can come to me at any time.
School Uniform Update
During the cooler months you may feel your child needs to wear a cardigan or jumper.
Unfortunately we don’t currently have any long sleeved items in our school uniform range. In order
to stay in keeping with our uniform standards, please do not send your child to school in brightly
coloured jumpers or padded jackets with logos, writing and badges attached.
If your child needs to wear a long sleeved item over their school polo shirt, please send them in a
plain, navy blue cardigan or jumper. These can currently be purchased in many shops locally, in
particular Carrefour, H&M and NEXT. Thank you.
School Year 2015-2016 Issue 8
A Bumper Term for Music
It has been a fantastic term for Music, as we have transitioned to the new school and started making use of
the excellent new facilities and performance spaces. We saw a wonderful Concert for Peace in September
with a selection of songs performed by the Milepost 2 & 3 Choir. A truly moving event!
Following the transition to the new school, the Milepost 1 Choir and the school Recorder Ensemble were
reformed and it has been wonderful to see so many new children joining up to those groups. However, the
thing I have been most proud of is the commencement of the PDO School Orchestra – a group which I have
been hoping to found for some time. Having started with a group of our clarinet players from the P5 Wider
Opportunities Programme, within 4 weeks it has now swelled to a group of 28 which includes pianists (playing
keyboard and tuned percussion) recorder players, violin players and a harp. We continue to audition other
children for the orchestra and it is proving to be a great motivator.
Of course, there has also been a lot of fantastic Music curriculum work across the school with much singing,
instrument playing and performing going on in Music lessons and beyond.
In the last week of term, Music will be very busy… On “Mega Monday” we have a 2 hour workshop with
visiting French artists Amira Selim (soprano) and Nicolas Cheverau (pianist) and we also look forward to the P3
Musical, The Goblins Next Door. “Terrific Tuesday” sees the orchestra’s first performance to parents at 15.00
and the choir will later be performing as part of the RAHRC Christmas Carol Concert.
“Thoroughly Awaited Thursday” will see both the orchestra and the recorder ensemble perform as part of our
end of term assembly.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the 140+ students who give up their time each week to take part
in the different ensembles on offer. They have shown great resilience and dedication to make significant
progress this term. I would also like to thank their parents for all of the support that they continue to give Music
at the school.
If you wish to share some of the great musical moments of this term, please have a look at the school learning
website – bit.ly/pdoschool – and select the music tab.
Next term we hope to launch a further range of activities and I hope that many more students will want to
participate in these. In the meantime, may I take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy and safe
holiday and remind my musicians that they should still try to do some practice!!!
Regards,
Mr John.
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MPSL News!
MPSL students have had another busy month of sport, training hard for football and cross-country running.
ABQ School in Bawsher was the host for the U9 boys football tournament, where 9 boys competed. It was an
exciting event with 7 other schools involved. Our boys showed huge improvement in their football skills, but
best of all, great sportsmanship and teamwork. Well done boys!
Last Monday was a very exciting day for which our U9 and U11 boys and girls have been training for over a
month. The cross-country running event was held at The Sultan’s School in Seeb. After a little sleep on the
bus, the PDO students were nervous but excited as they stepped on to the field. The U9 children were running
a 1.2 km course through the wadi and the U11’s a grueling 1.5km course. Thank goodness for the cloudy day,
because all of the children gave everything they had in them and returned red-faced and out of breath. We
were so proud of each and every one of them!
Special mention goes out to 3 students that finished in the top 10 in their Division. Reem Ali placed 2 nd overall
and received a medal. Daniella Marcano 6th in the U11 girls and Jules Buijsman 7th in the U11 boys race.
Congratulations to all!!
We are looking forward to many new and exciting events in the New Year. Have a great holiday.
PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL NO MPSL OR AFTER SCHOOL PE ACTIVITIES WEEK BEGINNING 13TH DECEMBER. WE WILL
START AGAIN AFTER THE HOLIDAYS.
Keep Fit and Have Fun!!
Miss Jamie
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Farewell to Miss Ineke
At the end of term we say a fond farewell to Miss Ineke, our Nursery teacher, who will be leaving
Oman with her husband to return to The Netherlands. Miss Ineke has worked at PDO School for
several years and has made an excellent contribution to the development and learning of our
youngest children. Many of your children will have been in Miss Ineke’s class.
We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Miss Ineke for her contribution to PDO
School and to wish her and her husband family every happiness for the future. Next term Miss
Ineke’s class will be taken by a new teacher, Miss Anre.
Bake Sale
On Thursday 9th December the PTA, supported Kim Restucci and friends, held a bake sale to raise
funds for Oman’s Alzheimer’s Society. The school raised 852 OMR for such a great cause. The
money in conjunction with several other events will pay for 4 Omani nurses to train others in
dementia care so they can cope at home and maintain the dignity of those suffering from this
condition. Thank you to everyone who participated in this event and for your generosity.
Car Safety
Parents will have noticed that once all children are settled into school and the car park is less busy
the security team are closing gates and monitoring only one car park entrance/exit. This is
especially before and after school. Please be aware when driving into the school car park during
these times that another car may be trying to exit. The guards have been asked to monitor this
carefully and to offer support to drivers. Please drive in and out of the gate slowly and with caution.
School Year 2015-2016 Issue 8
International Lunch
On Thursday 17th December we will be celebrating the end of the term. One of the events will be
an international lunch for the children, where parents area asked to send in a typical dish from your
home country to share with the class. Your class parent will be in touch soon to let you know more
information. We thank you in advance for your support in this event and ask you to remember to
label the food clearly and to ensure that it is nut free.
Dates for your Diary
Please find below important dates that are coming up soon, as well as an
overview of the dates for the next academic year. A reminder that all term dates
are available on the school website.
Date
December
th
15 December
16th December
17th December
10th January 2016
14th
Event
P3 Show 5pm - details in separate invitation
Choir to sing at RAHC Candlelight Carols event 6.30pm
End of Term Celebrations in School
End of Term
School Re Opens for Term 2
School Year 2015-2016 Issue 8