AL NOOR-ABA NEWS 1st February 2018

Superintendent’s Message

We all went to school didn’t we? For a good number of you it might have been at a time when knowledge in the form of facts was prized above other forms of learning. So, if this reminds you of the halcyon days of your youth and you have been dying to show off your encyclopedic knowledge, ABA now offers you that opportunity. No, I do not mean that we are moving away from our IB programmes, I mean it is QUIZ NIGHT.

The bi annual event is here again giving all parents the chance to test their knowledge against others who, like you, are not competitive at all and merely want to spend an evening in the company of your quizmaster (the Superintendent) answering general knowledge questions, chatting with friends and enjoying a bite to eat. Well, there are some prizes too, I believe.

If you are wondering what might be in store, try these! What is the capital of Nigeria? Who said, most famously, “Veni vidi vici”? What theory does this describe? “The increased relativistic mass (m) of a body times the speed of light squared (c2) is equal to the kinetic energy (E) of that body”

So, it is time to rummage through the history of your mind and find the notes on geography, history, science etc and prepare yourself for a fun evening. Please gather a team of like-minded intellectuals (?) and sign up for the event of the year.

I look forward to seeing a full house...please.

Superintendent’s Forum

I will be holding my mid year forum on Thursday 8th February. Unlike the section coffee mornings which cover section-specific matters, my forum’s topics are those covering the whole school. On the agenda for this meeting, we have three items:

• Accreditation feedback • ISA results • Campus planning

The forum will be held in the PAC at 8.00am. After drop off, why not try a coffee from our new hospitality provider in the cafeteria of the main building before coming along to the forum. Safety

I am still surprised and alarmed to see young children standing between the two front seats of cars, children not wearing seatbelts and very small children not in special car seats . The government is also concerned about the safety of our children and is introducing new rules relating to car safety that will come into effect next month. If you have not seen these articles, I strongly advise you to read them. Infractions will lead to fines and points on your licence. http://timesofoman.com/article/127138/Oman/Seat-belt-rules-changed-for-vehicles-in-Oman http://timesofoman.com/article/127090/Oman/Car-seats-for-kids-to-become-law-in-Oman

Simon Taylor

Upcoming Dates

1-3 Feb MESAC Basketball All Day ABA MPH MESAC BBQ Outside MPH 10:30 am – 4:00 pm 8 Feb Superintendent’s Forum PAC 8:00 am Quiz Night Dolphin Club 8:00 pm

Message from the Elementary School Principal

Mother Language Week - 18th - 22nd February

Mother Language Week is fast approaching! There will be a variety of classroom activities and small events hosted during the week to celebrate and share our native languages with each other. We will have more information coming out for this week soon, so be sure to look out for opportunities to get involved on all the language fun! Thursday 22nd February will be an international Mufti - so start planning what you might wear to represent your home country or culture.

Report Cards

Teachers have been working hard over the past few weeks to summarise student learning for the report card. These are currently being checked and will be available through the Parent Portal from Tuesday 6th February. More information will follow about how to access them.

Sam Cook

Message from the High School When The Entrepreneurial Club was founded in late 2016, it had the goal of bringing business, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills to students who did not have access to such education in the ABA community. This year we have expanded the influence of knowledge that we offer to an entirely new level. Today we provide students the opportunity to understand and develop skills of entrepreneurship, leadership, marketing, customer focus, and much more.

Recently we spread out into two clubs to make the most substantial impact we possibly can to achieve the above knowledge influence. To further reach our goal this year we invited our second guest speaker as part of The Entrepreneurial Series - Dr. Amer Al Rawas, a successful businessman, entrepreneur, leader, and teacher. He has held many respectable positions in the community such as CEO and Managing Director of Omantel, Chairman of Themar Group of companies, CEO of Tasneea Oil and many more. He spoke openly about entrepreneurship, education, and discussed real problems that we are facing in Oman such as Oil prices, recession and so on. We were able to bring the students reliable source of information in business leadership and hope to continue and expand on the same for the years to come. Saatvik Korisepati - Grade 11 Student

Grade 10 visit to Middle East Desalination Research Centre (MEDRC) On Wednesday 24th January, grade 10 Chemistry and Coordinated Science students paid a visit to the MEDRC in Seeb. They explored the science behind reverse osmosis, saw it happen in action and explored the structure of the desalination membranes. Additionally, they investigated the properties of salt and treated water in the laboratory.Through exploration and inquiry, this exciting visit enhanced understanding of the processes involved in obtaining our most valuable resource.

Kathryn Dillion – Science Teacher

Message from the Extra Curricular ProgramAwards Evening

Season two is coming to an end. It is time to celebrate the success of the teams. I would like to invite the teams and parents to the Season Two MESAC Achievements Awards evening held in the MPH from 6:00pm - 7:30pm on Tuesday 13th February.

The awards night is for the following teams only: MESAC JV Basketball MESAC Varsity Basketball

MESAC JV Soccer MESAC Varsity Soccer

MESAC Cross Country MESAC Tennis

Tickets for the event will be on sale over the MESAC weekend at the Booster Club concession stand or at the Admin building from Thursday Feb 1st – Monday Feb 12th. Tickets will be 3 OMR. The ticket cost covers a buffet dinner catered by Mani’s cafe. Tickets will not be sold at the door so you need to purchase a ticket prior to the event to be part of the evening.

Fixtures and events for next week

Come and support our teams over the MESAC weekends

Final preparations are being put in place for all the MESAC teams. There is less than one week to go before our Tennis, Cross Country and Varsity Basketball teams depart for their tournaments. Today ABA welcomed the MESAC JV Basketball teams. There has been some great games in the Gym and MPH. I hope you will be able to come and support our basketballers over the weekend. Next week we welcome the MESAC Varsity Soccer players on February 7th. Click on the link for the schedule of those games. Soccer Schedule The tournament will be held at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex (Bousher). Location: https://goo.gl/maps/YawH5ENHBL52 . It should be a great weekend.

Paul Brace – Athletics Director

4th February U14 B Soc vs BSM @ BSM 4:25 - 5:25pm

5th February U14 G Soc vs TAISM @ ABA 4:15 4:15 - 5:15pm

5th February U13 G Soc vs TAISM @ TAISM 4:00 4:00 - 5:00pm

5th February U12 B Soc vs BSM @ ABA 2:45 2:45 - 3:45pm

5th February U13 B Soc vs BSM @ MQ 3:00 3:00 - 4:00pm

5th February TAISM Relays @ TAISM 3:40 - 6:30pm

6th February MPSL U11 Boys Basketball @ BSM 3:30 - 5:30pm

7th February MSSL Soccer U14 Boys @BSM (8 a side) 3:15 - 6:15pm

7th February MSSL Soccer U13 Girls @MIS (6 a side) 3:15 - 6:15pm

7th February MSSL Soccer U13 Boys @TSS (8 a side) 3:30 - 6:00pm

8th February U12 Girls Soc vs BSM @ ABA 2:45 2:45 - 3:45pm

8th February U13 Girls Soc vs BSM @ MQ 3:00 3:00 - 4:00pm

8th -10th February MESAC Soccer at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex (Bousher) All day

Message from the Mother Language Week

During the week of February 18th – 22nd, the Language Acquisition Department will be hosting Language Week to celebrate the many languages spoken and taught throughout our school. The week will include the following events:

• Cinema Evenings - Students and families are welcome to join us for movie nights Monday through Wednesday of Language Week. All films will be shown in the PAC and will start at 6:00pm.

o Monday, February 19th - “واجدة” (Arabic, with subtitles in English)

o Tuesday, February 20th - “La Vache” (French, with subtitles in English)

o Wednesday, February 2st - “Retorno a Hansala” (Spanish, subtitles in English)

• Daily Trivia Questions and Prizes - Students in the secondary school will hear trivia questions each day during morning announcements in Advisory. Information about submitting answers and receiving prizes will be forthcoming.

• Language Soccer World Cup - Students from Language B classes have worked to form soccer teams of middle and high school students as well as one teacher. During first break throughout the week, matches will be held in the gymnasium. All are welcome to come and cheer on a team of your choice and hopefully follow them to the championship match on Thursday.

• Multilingual Music - During second break for the entirety of the week, we will be playing multilingual music in the Drama Court. Students are welcome to bring their lunches and their friends to enjoy the weather and sing along.

We look forward to a wonderful week of language activities!

Kristin Westby and Mario Giraldo

Message from School Cafeteria

Dear Parents and ABA staff, We offer daily freshly brewed Florian coffee & coffee beverages from Sunday to Thursday in the Elementary cafeteria from 7:00 am - 16:00 pm. Please see below the menu options for week 4th – 8th February along with prices.

Wholesome meal of the day (Daily Vegetarian & Non Vegetarian options) Gluten free & Vegan option available upon request

Adult portion –Meal of the day RO 1.800 Junior portion –Meal of the day RO 1.000

Soup of the day RO 0.700bz Salad bar counter RO 0.900bz

Healthy snacks: muffins /breakfast granola pots /cookies /vegetable pots: available on daily rotation

Fresh juices & smoothies 0.500ml & 0.250ml

School Meal Plan Week: 4th - 8th February

Grab & Go chillers offering: Homemade Vegetarian & Non vegetarian: Sandwiches/Wraps/Salads/Healthy snacks Beverages: Fresh fruit Juices, Fresh Fruit Smoothies, Bottled juices, Fresh milk

Catering & Events: We cater for every occasion! Canape receptions, cocktail parties, barbeques, garden parties and formal dinners, boat trips, afternoon tea, breakfast, brunch, business lunches, corporate events, bespoke banquets and more…..

Messages for the Community GOOOOOOOO VIPERS SPIRIT, PRIDE, TEAM!

We are thrilled to welcome our international participants, coaches, and

supporters from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, New Delhi and Doha for the MESAC JV Basketball tournament this weekend. The Activities Council were front and centre this morning greeting students with free face painting, free VIPERS stickers and tattoos to inspire the VIPERS spirit.

Come watch all the action LIVE all weekend. Grab a burger from the Booster Club BBQ and cheer on our VIPERS!

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

Chicken Tajin

Or

Thai vegetable

curry

Choice of side: Lemon Herb Cous Cous Steamed white rice

Smoked chicken

lasagna in cheese sauce

Or

Spinach lasagna

Side

Steamed broccoli

Breakfast for

Lunch!

Breakfast sausage, bacon, hashbrown,

scrambled egg, beans,

slice bread

Spaghetti with

meatballs & tomato sauce

Or

Spaghetti with

beanballs & tomato sauce

Side

steamed mixed greens

Pepperoni beef

Burger Side Cajun roasted

potato and asian coleslaw

Or

Cottage cheese

burger Side Cajun roasted

potato and asian coleslaw

AVAILABLE THIS WEEKEND AT THE BOOSTER CLUB CONCESSION STAND:

TICKETS… • MESAC ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS SEASON 2 – Tuesday 13th February ‘grab a seat…we’re all on the same

team!’…TICKETS ON SALE all day from 08:30 am! OMR3 per ticket!!!

MERCHANDISE… • PERSONAL HOODIES / TOWELS – due to the current backlog of Hoodie orders we will NOT be taking any new hoodie

orders until our current waitlist is delivered and distributed! We will email you once we are ready to take our next orders. Thank you in advance for your understanding and support.

• VIPERS Sports BAG, Caps, Sunshades, Wrist Bands, Tattoos and much more FOR SALE!

MESAC VARSITY SOCCER at SULTAN QABOOS STADIUM… Next weekend 08th - 10th February we will do it all again for the MESAC Varsity Soccer at the Sultan Qaboos Stadium. If you can help make this MESAC Season the best one yet, please fill in the ‘food donation’ or ‘volunteer’ (or both) spreadsheet that will be sent via email ON SUNDAY 04th FEBRUARY. If you don’t receive it, please email us directly. ALL DONATIONS of food and / or time WELCOME!

HOODIE ORDERS – If you have already ordered your personal VIPERS hoodies, an email will be sent directly to you for date of collection!

SMOKING HOT SHOTS!! Our biggest ever VOX Movie ticket giveaway last Thursday at our annual Half Shot Hot Shot event with 8 winners = 9 tickets. Congratulations to Issa Dawani (Gr12), Andrea Bogonovic (Gr8), Petar Maksimovic (Gr9), Rodion Haataja (Gr11), Jainum Kothary (Gr10), Nabil Talih (Gr10), Faris Dabbous (Gr3) and Aqil Zul Shameer (Gr4).

Yours in community spirit – VIPERS Booster Club