March 2016 Newsletter - OurPlanet International School Muscat

MARCH 2016
ISSUE 1
Dear Friends,
In this Issue:
Book Week
Welcome to this March edition of the OurPlanet International School Newsletter.
Certificates
It has been another action packed month of activities at our school.
Days
You will see that “Reading Fever” continues to sweep throughout the school with so
Eco Summit
many children caught up in the wonderful contagion of reading for fun. We’ve been
reading books in English, Arabic, French, Russian, Portuguese, Spanish and even Welsh
Languages
my own special language . Some of our star readers read 150 books last month! Maybe
Media Centre
our parents might catch some of the reading fever too-inshallah!
Music
Its also great to see all the different activities that are taking place at OurPlanet. We
Sports Day
had lots of fun together in our first sports day. We really enjoyed the second Eco
Summit with 150 students from 12 different schools. We continue the sustainable
Sustainability
activities with composting the latest craze at school. Lastly, the student led conferences
What’s new
were a great success and we look forward to reading your feedback
I am also very pleased to announce that work on our new Primary school is advancing
well. We remain on schedule for our new building to be completed this year which will
house our Primary classes. Don’t forget to check out the pictures of our new building
Upcoming Events
31
MAR
and all the other school activities on Instagram. I would also like to thank our friends
Three-way conferences
between child, parent
and teacher.
from Carillion OHI for their generous donation of three beautiful recycled play houses.
Shukran!
Please note that next week we are on Spring Break. The school office will be open for
fee payments everyday from 8.30-12.30.
Enjoy the time with your children and I look forward to seeing on Sunday April 10th
Robert Owen Jones
Founding Principal
Grade One A sports day
Grade Three sports day
Early Years sports day
Student Led
Conferences
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Kids Yoga Camp
JUN Explore a daily theme
through yoga, art and
story.
BloomFamilyYoga
Book Week
In February, we celebrated with numerous
events. We kicked off with buddy reading,
Drop Everything And Read and educational
games in the Media Centre for the readers
of 100 books.
In March, Word Day saw pupils and
teachers sporting words in Arabic, English,
French, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian,
Slovakian, Spanish, Tamil and Welsh.
Jane Jaffer, Chairperson of the Let’s Read
Campaign, enthralled the children reading
from her book Dana and the Dolphin.
Dr Seuss Day
Mr Robert Jones, Founding Principal, read
Green Eggs and Ham and The Lorax to
Grades One, Two and Three to
commemorate the birthday of Dr Seuss.He
discussed the meaning of the books and
highlighted the rhymes.
Dress Up
World Book Day gave children and teachers
the opportunity to dress as their favourite
book character! Sena Zoric, KG2A, and
Finlay Norrie, Grade One A, were the
overall winners. Malo Khatib, KG3B, won
for his sustainable costume. They were all
presented with a National Geographic Little
Kids magazine.
Manuel Trinidade, KG3B, and Nil Vaquera,
Grade One A, were given a Borders
voucher
in
recognition
of
their
photographs for reading in an unusual
place. Other prizes were awarded for story
writing, book reviews and covers.
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Certificates
On 24 February, students from Grade One, Two and Three were
presented with certificates and Winnie the Pooh pencils for
reading 50 books.
Certificates
On 24 February,
students
from
Grade One and Two
were
presented
with
certificates
and 3D metallic
pens for reading 75
books. Jan Trier,
Grade Two, was
presented with a
certificate
for
reading 100 books
and allocated time
in the Media Centre
to play educational
computer games.
Certificates
On 23 March, Jan Trier and Rihards Kagis,
both Grade Two, were presented with
reading certificates and gel pens for
reading 150 books.
Hiba Al Habsi, Grade One A, was presented
with a certificate for her reading and
writing in Arabic.
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03
Days: Safety Drill
On Sunday 20 March, OurPlanet conducted
a safety evacuation drill.
The fire brigade visited and explained
which extinguishers to use on different
materials. The children were allowed to sit
in an ambulance.
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KG2 are exploring ‘People have a variety of
jobs and rules in order to address the needs
of their community.’Firefighters visited the
classroom and answered questions. Gaell
Alviso, KG2A, asked what you should do if
stuck in a house fire with no firefighter.
Days: Mangroves
Photo 5.7 x 7.6 cm
On Monday 21 March, Grade Three spent
an idyllic morning exploring a mangrove
ecosystem at the Qurum Park Nature
Reserve. Linking with their upcoming unit,
the group learned about the elements that
make up the ecosystem and about the
important services the ecosystem provides,
such as cushioning the shoreline from
storms, acting as a nursery for fish and
providing habitat for birds and other
creatures. The kids especially liked leaning
over the boardwalk railings and spotting
the many crabs scurrying in the mud
amongst the mangroves. The bird spotting
using our binoculars was also very popular;
highlights included a grey heron, great
western egret and Eurasian curlew.
We also had a chance to see first-hand how
an invasive species called sea purslane is
choking the mangroves. This invasive plant
is widely planted as an ornamental in
Muscat and is having a disastrous effect on
the native mangrove trees. In the next
school year, when the weather is cooler,
we plan to return to the reserve and help
to combat this threat by pulling up the
purslane.
Days: World Water
OurPlanet celebrated World Water Day on
Tuesday 22 March with some awareness
raising activities. Grade Two, who are
investigating water in their current unit,
took the lead.
First they helped create a water awareness
display in the outdoor play area, displaying
'water facts' submitted by all students and
creating a plastic bottle graph to illustrate
just how much water we use in daily
activities. Did you know we use six litres of
water (four large bottles) each time we
flush the toilet? 53 bottles are needed for
just one bath!
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Next they visited each of the classes and
demonstrated just how important it is to
turn off the tap while you are brushing your
teeth. The kids - and their teachers - were
amazed to see that leaving the tap running
while brushing your teeth for two minutes
used about 9 litres of water. When we
turned the tap off in between it took only a
half a litre. Grade Two taught everyone a
valuable lesson - and our plants were happy
to get an extra watering with the water
collected during the demonstration!
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Eco Summit
Sultan’s School, Muscat
The second Eco Summit was a wonderful
experience! On 17th March, 15 children
with five staff went to The Sultan’s School.
We were shown around the Eco Garden,
where we were all highly impressed with
the vegetable patches made on raised
beds, using recycled bottles and plastic
bags. We are now very inspired to
introduce this idea here at OurPlanet.
We then convened with a multitude of
other schools in Oman, 13 in total. An
impressive turnout.
H H Sayyida Tania Shabib Al Said, the
President of the Environment Society of
Oman, started proceedings with an
inspirational speech about the work of the
organisation and placed emphasis on the
fact that just one small action can lead to so
much change. This was truly reflected in
the growth of the Eco Summit in just one
short year, originating in OurPlanet School
in March 2015 with just eight schools.
Exciting activities were led by six schools,
all stationed in the sports hall. The Sultan’s
School taught us all how to make a solar
oven – using a few basic craft materials and
a pizza box. Ammar (G1) particularly
enjoyed this opportunity, especially when
we got to eat our warmed pizza for lunch!
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The children then rotated in mixed groups.
This was an excellent opportunity for
children of different ages and schools to
collaborate and get to know each other.
Sophie’s (G1) favourite activity was bottle
top mosaics, presented by TLC. She loved
the effect of a simple bottle top making a
wonderful picture.
ABA presented an Eco treasure Hunt which
Zunaira (G1), Mohamed (G3) and Yash (G2)
were very impressed with. They used iPods
and iPads to photograph different wildlife
and natural objects while they explored
outside. Mohamed enjoyed the challenge
of finding the specific bugs, while Yash
enjoyed mixing nature and technology.
Impressive masks were presented by
secondary children from MIS. They
brought in masks made from recycled
materials which had been made in
conjunction with their recent school
production. They also taught the children
how to use newspaper to make head
masks. This was Marko’s (G1) favourite
activity and he’s hoping we do this in class!
OurPlanet presented our home-made
compost. This was Imad’s (G1) and
Jan’s (G2) favourite activity, as the children
had the opportunity to poke around the
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compost and identify bugs and other
ingredients. Everyone was impressed with
our compost barrel, which was kindly made
by Owen’s (KG1) daddy and the conclusion
was that compost could be made in all
schools and homes – not just ours!
Zara (G3), Kawthar and Rihards (G2) loved
making their own fashion accessories on
the PDO activity station. The children used
recycled materials and enjoyed their hats
and glitter boxes.
Arthur (G1) and Daniel (G2) just couldn’t
decide what they enjoyed most… they just
had such a great time for the whole day!
The finale of the Eco Summit was a fashion
show. Hamnah (G3) and Aseela (G1) said
that this was the highlight for them. Sixth
formers from Sultan’s School designed
clothes made from recycled materials. The
recycled fashion accessories made at the
PDO stall were then used alongside the
clothes and displayed on the catwalk!
All attending schools were presented with a
certificate by Mr Jones (OurPlanet) and Deb
Canterford (TSS). They all left with Eco
Summit reusable bags and their very own
recycled compost bucket too, a gift from
OurPlanet to encourage all schools to make
their own compost!
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Languages
In February, the language of the month was
French. Ms Celine from the Omani-French
Centre started the Lower Primary school
assembly with a conversation in French.
She showed an art book with French words
and concluded with a story about the
Opera House in Paris.
For the Early Years assembly the children
commenced with a rendition of ‘Frere
Jacques’ followed by a traditional fable
featuring hands, fish and birds.
Russian story
Parent Natalia Taratynova read two stories
in Russian to Grade Two and KG1A about a
Silly Little Mouse and a Wise Mouse and
showed the children the Russian language.
Romance
Spanish and Portuguese are two of the
most widely spoken Romance languages.
Ms Maria, KG2A teacher, read O Aquario in
Portuguese to Grades One to Three,
explaining what an aquarium is.
Ms Charlie, GradeOne B, conducted
Spanish storytelling sessions for KG1 and
Grades One to Three. She read the
Emperor’s New Clothes and explained the
important Spanish words. Some children
were chosen to act out the story, including
Issa, who played the Emperor.
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Media Centre
In February, Asha O’Connor, a pupil at the
European International School in Vietnam,
a sister Nobel Education Network school,
read The Song and Dance Man to Grade
One A.
Arabic stories
Khuola Al Yrobi, Teaching Assistant, read
stories to KG1A in Arabic in the Media
Centre.
Hamnah Suleman, Zara Pereira and
Djimmer Koster from Grade Three, who are
learning Arabic as a Second Language, read
stories they had chosen aloud with help
from their teacher Ms Amel.
Donations
Zara Pereira and Ayah Al Hinai, both Grade
Three, donated books to the Media Centre.
Tania James, KG3A, donated eight books
and Nouf Al Lawati, Grade Two, donated a
book about the body.
Dot Gorman, former OurPlanet KG teacher,
has returned to the United Kingdom and
donated 18 teaching books to the school.
Jane Jaffer, Chairperson of the Let’s Read
Campaign, donated two books including
Tales with a Twist featuring stories written
by school children in Oman.
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Music
Rachmaninov Piano Trio
In February, the Russian embassy arranged
a visit by the Rachmaninov Piano Trio.
Victor on clarinet, Sergei on piano and
Natalia on cello entertained the students
playing Russian, Spanish and Hungarian
music. They explained they came from
Moscow, the capital of Russia.
The musicians asked which instruments the
children played. They explained the bow is
made from horse hair tail. The students
were asked how many parts there were in a
clarinet. There are six and Victor took the
instrument apart to count and name the
parts. He asked the children what the
difference in sound was when pieces were
added. The pitch was high when there was
only one piece. Victor explained the reed is
made from bamboo.
Mohamed Najwani, Grade Three; Nouf Al
Lawati, Grade Two; Zara Pereira, Grade
Three; Rihards Kagis, Grade Two; Ayah Al
Hinai, Grade Three and Adam Al Lawati,
Grade Three demonstrated their piano
skills.
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Sports Day
Early Years and Lower Primary
In February the students took part in sports
day.
Early Years commenced with hula hoops,
cones and tunnels. Mr Jones, Founding
Principal presented the children with sports
certificates, designed by parent Tascha
McNaught. Parents joined in the games:
wheelbarrow, shoulder rides, three-legged
race and egg and spoon. The day ended
with tasty treats provided by the parents.
Thanks to parent Yasser Macki for these
photographs.
Lower Primary demonstrated their skills the
following day. The children started the day
with a warm up workout. This was followed
by tennis racket relay, skittles and
basketball hoop, ball pass and zumba. After
break there was a three legged race. The
day concluded with a celebrity shoot with
Founding Principal Robert Jones on the
football field.
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Sustainability
In February, Grade Two students visited the Higher College of Technology’s
Greennest Eco House to learn more about how building design and green
technologies can help us to reduce energy usage. The trip was a great opportunity
to get out into the community and see some of the green initiatives taking place in
Oman.
During their lively tour, the students discovered how correctly orienting the
building according to sunlight and wind helped to keep the house cool. For
example, the north facing entrance stayed nice and shady for much of the day.
Most of the larger windows were also on the north, providing light without the
heat of direct sunlight. Creeping vines adorned the walls to the west, shading the
walls that faced the sun.
The kids were also impressed with the 76 solar panels on the building’s roof. These
provide enough electricity for the home and with enough left over to feed into the
grid. Another exciting feature was the grey water treatment and collection tanks,
where wastewater is collected and treated organically, before being used to water
plants in the home’s gardens.
Turtle Ranger
In February, KG3’s unit of inquiry was ‘Many
species of animals are endangered and
some are already extinct.’
Mohammed Al Hasani, a turtle ranger at
Shangri La, visited to explain about the
different types of turtles, green and
hawksbill, in Oman.
He said they were endangered because of
plastic and fishing.
He gave a leaflet in Arabic and English
about turtle watching. Each child was
presented with a baby plastic turtle.
Endangered
Ever wondered how we study endangered species? In February, our sustainability co-ordinator Ruth Kamnitzer talked to KG3 classes about
how researchers in Oman are learning more about our endangered species and how this information is used to help conserve wildlife.
Students learned how remotely triggered cameras called ‘camera traps’ have been used to find out where wildlife are found in Oman’s
mountains. They saw pictures of species like the Arabian tahr, Blanford’s fox, Arabian gazelle and others – and then got some practical
experience pretending to be animals that were ‘caught on camera’.
Students also discovered that researchers put satellite collars on animals to find out more about them. They saw how scientists use a
special receiver to listen to the collars signal and find out where the animal is so that we can find out what areas are most important and
protect critical habitats.
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What’s new?
Composting
School videos available online
As our composting programme grows, we
have been looking at improvements we can
make to our bins. This month, OurPlanet
parent Jim Nichol, father of Owen in KG1A,
kindly made us a compost tumbler using a
recycled plastic drum and pallet. This new
barrel will allow us to keep the compost
enclosed, making for a faster, sweeter
smelling decomposition process with fewer
flies. The design was much admired at the
Eco Summit.
To keep up with our volume of compost,
we will be adding more barrels in the near
future. If anyone has large plastic drums
(200 L) that they would like to recycle,
please let us know!
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Parents and Friends
group established
KG1A: Sonia
KG1B: Lisa
KG2A: Lubna
KG2B: Tascha
KG3A: Adriana
KG3B: Miriam
Grade 1A: Olga
Grade 1B: Rene
Grade 2: Alise
Grade 3: Sweta
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In line with the KG2 topic of houses,
Carillion kindly donated three recycled
wooden play houses. We welcome
suggestions from parents, friends,
teachers and students as to how we
should decorate our new additions.
Check out our new school videos
online:
http://www.ourplanetmuscat.com/about-nobel/nobeleducation/
http://www.ourplanetmuscat.com/about-us/careers/
OURPLANET International School Muscat
Al-Inshirah Street, Building No. 205
Plot No. 95, Block No. 221
Muscat, 111, Oman
+968 2200 5642
[email protected]
www.ourplanet-muscat.com
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Nobel Education Network Limited
6 Battery Road, #37-02A
Singapore
049909
+65 6513 0850
[email protected]
www.nobel-education.com
www.ourplanet-muscat.com