SHARJAH ENGLISH SCHOOL MARCH/APRIL 2014

What are they thinking about? See inside!

Principal’s Message

by John Nolan• • •

Dear Parents,

As always it is a pleasure to introduce the latest SES Newsletter, and as always you’ll realise what a busy term two we have had.

The Ministry of Education evaluation visit in February was inevitably a stressful time for staff. However many inspection or accreditation processes we go through, and however successfully we emerge from them, they are always hard work and an anxious time for teaching and support staff. I thank all the staff for their efforts and professionalism is this regard.

Parents and students should be delighted that their school has been judged ‘highly effective’ in all the six areas that were inspected (School Leadership, The School as a Community, School’s Approach to Student Learning, The Classroom Climate, Students’ Personal Development, Students’ Attainment and Progress). The school was rated ‘highly effective, with distinction’ overall. This means we scored the highest possible rating in every available category. Combined with last year’s inspection results, this demonstrates not only our consistency, but also the distinction of once again achieving recognition as an outstanding school.

Obviously the management and staff take great pride in our evaluation and inspection history, but you can rest assured that nobody is complacent or smug about our strengths. The school does not claim to be perfect. One of the aspects of the school that impresses inspectors and evaluators, is our recognition of those things we do not do as well as possible, and the planning and efforts we put in to correcting and improving any areas of weakness.

Partnership with parents remains a key cornerstone of our success; last term’s parent / teacher meetings have continued to show your level of support and engagement – attendance at these meetings normally well exceeds 85%, an unusually high figure for any school. The continuous communication with parents is one of the spurs that keeps us going and seeking improvement.

Amongst the many activities successfully completed in the past few months have been camps and trips, including the annual Year 6 ski trip. We have completD our sports days with a number of new inter-school competitions, hosted at SES – all of these help to raise the profile of the school. We hope all the students have enjoyed their involvement in these adventurous challenges. A word of tribute must go to the girls’ sports teams, who have had a phenomenal measure of success, in netball, athletics, cross-country and rounders, in both the Sharjah and Dubai leagues.

Finally, I would refer parents to the Board of Governors Newsletter which is available on Communicator; this will be published on a termly basis, and is part of our effort to enhance communication with parents and create more awareness of what is going on and the current priorities for the school. There will be a further Governors’ Newsletter shortly, when hopefully we will be in a position to provide some detail on plans for the coming years at SES.

Thanking you all for your trust and support. I wish all our students a

successful Summer term, with a particular thought for all the students sitting external examinations in the coming months. Your hard efforts and diligence will be rewarded.

John Nolan

Principal

BOARD OF GOVERNORS

On behalf of the Board of Governors of Sharjah English School, I wish to extend my congratulations to all the teaching and support staff for the wonderful outcome of last term’s inspection.

To achieve such uniformly positive feedback in every area that was assessed is a tremendous achievement, and one which staff should be very proud of.

The feedback from parents has been very effusive, with everybody recognising that this is just reward for the management team, middle leaders and class and subject teachers for the effort they have put into maintaining and improving the school’s excellent reputation.

In combination with last year’s inspection reports, SES can point to this result as an endorsement of the quality of education which you are providing to the children of the UAE.

Well done to all.

Yours sincerely,

Khalid Al Amiri

Chairman

Primary School

by Nan McKeownHead of Primary

• • •

New clubs have started this term. Table tennis, Ski Fitness, French and Athletics have all been added to the long list of popular and exciting activities on offer after school. We thank parents for their support in collecting their children directly from the classes or where the clubs take place, thus ensuring children are fully supervised at all times whilst in school.

Educational visits have taken place to The Sharjah Science Museum, The Wildlife Centre and Al Tamimi Stables where pupils gain hands on experience to support their topics.

Instilling responsibility and leadership into our pupils is an important element in school pastoral development. We have class monitors and line leaders in class. Furthermore, we provide the pupils with peer contacts whom they may talk to if they have a suggestion or problem. Our elected Student Councillors for this year are as follows;

Oscar Petherbridge , Dorra Ali, Maya Manning, James Barrs , Shanaya Costa , Aahan Kandoth, Taro Bamps and Ellen Dowling

One of the first fund raisers they organised was a very popular “Hot Chocolate Sale”. The Councillors met to plan the entire event themselves, from deciding responsibilities, buying

the supplies of chocolate, marshmallows and the all-important whipped cream! They designed the flyers, arranged for an urn, tables and cups, plus managed the funds. Well done!

New Team Captains for Term 2 have also been appointed. Congratulations go to the following year 6 pupils;

Burton - Bella and Saul

Lawrence – Dominic and Lena

Doughty- Fraser and Roxana

Wentworth- Anneketrien and Ilya

House Points are announced each week in assembly as part of our promotion of positive behaviour and rewarding good work. The points are also displayed on the board in central area as a reminder to pupils to always try to do their best!

We are also following the blog of Andy Smith, a friend of Mr. Smithard, who is completing a cycle ride in Brazil to raise money for charity. Primary pupils made a donation and Andy has sent messages to us which we have shared at assembly. You can follow him on www.smudgerssambacycle.com. We wish him every success on his epic journey!

My best wishes to you all for a happy term,

Nan McKeown

Key Stage 2 Disco

http://goo.gl/kDI47e

Password : ks2disco

Primary Sports Day (1)

http://goo.gl/23TAcZ

password : sportsday1

Primary Sports day (2)

http://goo.gl/yksjec

password : sportday2

FoundationMrs Doublesin & Mrs Hornibrook & Mrs Herrmann-

Bell & Mrs Passey• • •

AL TAMIMI STABLES

This term we have been learning all about homes and habitats in Foundation 1. This was just the opportunity we needed to go visit some animals in their home: the farm! We boarded the bus bright and early one morning and headed for Al Tamimi Stables in Sharjah. We saw rabbits, tortoises, goats, llamas, cows, donkeys, and camels. There was even a Shetland pony named Blondie! The kids really enjoyed taking turns sitting on Blondie’s back. Once we were done visiting our new animal friends we played a bit on the playground, and then we had a lovely picnic lunch under the tent. After such an exciting day seeing animals at the farm, it was finally time for us to board the bus so we could return to our homes.

What’s happening in Foundation1?

FoundationMrs Doublesin & Mrs Hornibrook & Mrs Herrmann-

Bell & Mrs Passey• • •

SHARJAH DISCOVERY CENTRE

On the 19th and 20th March the children in Foundation went to the Discovery Centre. The Sharjah Discovery Centre is an interactive ‘hands-on’ facility, designed for young children where they can discover, learn through play, explore the world around them, and understand that science and technology are part of their daily lives. The children had a wonderful day filled with action and entertainment. They explored the dynamics of water, their five senses, the mechanisms of building, the excitement of travel and had great fun climbing the wall.

What’s happening in Foundation1?

EXPLORING SCIENCE

The children were very excited at the thought of being a scientist for the day! We organised a variety of activities in each class to give the children an opportunity to see how Science is involved in many different areas.

There were four activities: using Magnets, Floating and Sinking, Nature Explorers and Making Gloop. The children rotated around each of these activities having great fun and sharing their knowledge with their peers.

SCIENCE DAY IN FOUNDATION

EXPLORING THE WORLD

Year 1 have had a very busy term! We travelled all around the world to learn about lots of different countries. The first country we visited was China and so far we have been finding out lots of interesting facts about this country by reading books and watching videos. We have been colouring in pictures of Chinese objects in our China colouring books. We have even completed a word search! We are really looking forward to doing some Chinese writing.

In art we have made and painted a Valentine’s Day plate to take home for our parents. We have been working very hard on our very own piece of art by using five different colouring materials to make it look really bright and colourful.

YEAR 1

YEAR 1 TRIP TO AL TAMIMI STABLES

On the 23rd March Year 1 visited Al Tamimi Stables which was in the middle of the desert. We did lots of fun activities and saw lots of different animals. We saw horses, cows, camels, donkeys, oryx and many more. We found out that animals come from different countries all around the world. We saw a horse from Spain, a cow from Holland and a camel from Saudi Arabia! The first thing we did was play some team games and have a penalty shoot-out competition. We fed grass to the animals in the petting zoo which was so exciting.

The animals were very friendly so we enjoyed feeding them. We touched the shell of the tortoise which was really hard! We all brushed the hair of a Shetland pony which was great fun. We saw lots of horses in the stables. They were so big, apart from the baby foal which was very small and cute. We went on a nature trail and we saw more animals from around the world. We saw chickens, ducks, red deer and even an ostrich!

We found out that the ostrich eggs are as big as our heads! We learned how to do art using recycled materials. We made a fairy and a batman out of different materials. We thought it was a good way to reuse materials. We had such fun at Al Tamimi Stables. We didn’t want to leave and would love to go back again.

YEAR 1

AL TAMINI STABLES

On January 28th all of Year Two visited the Al Tamimi Stables in Ajman. After a short bus journey everyone was excited to arrive at the venue. The children were looking forward to all the activities that were planned. In art and craft everyone made a turtle and decorated them with all sorts of materials. Some of the students were quite tired after the penalty shootout and were happy to take a leisurely stroll through the zoo and feed the animals some grass. Of course, we had to visit the stables and see the beautiful horses and learn a little about them. Everyone had a chance to groom a Shetland Pony, which was great fun. By then tummies were rumbling so a picnic in the garden was the perfect way to end the trip. It was great fun. We learned a lot and we would all love to go back again. The reports that everyone wrote are displayed in the KS1 corridor.

YEAR 2

KEY STAGE ONE BAKE SALE

On March 20th the students of KS1 held their annual bake sale. There was a mountain of cakes, cupcakes, cookies, pops and ice cream for sale and by the end of the day there was nothing left at all. The students had great fun advertising their wares and haggling over prices. The bake sale is an opportunity for the Year Two students to handle and deal with money first hand, assisted by volunteers from Year Six. They had to calculate totals and figure out how much change to give back. Everyone in Year Two got to participate in the selling and buying.

The bake sale was very well supported, as always, by students and by parents. We raised almost 3,000dhs on the day. Thank you to everyone who participated in the sale, provided baked goods to sell or who spent their money on the day. We couldn’t have done it without you!

KEY STAGE 1

LITERACY

Year 3 were very busy in Term 2! In literacy we have just finished learning about “Myths and Legends”. We particularly enjoyed reading the story of Odysseus and Polyphemus. Here is a brief synopsis of the story from Rishika in 3G.

“Odysseus was a warrior who had a stong and mighty crew. He landed on an island which belonged to a Cyclops named Polyphemus. A Cyclops is a giant with only one eye in the centre of its forehead. Odysseus was captured by Polyphemus in his cave and couldn’t escape. However, he had a plan to blind Polyphemus with a red hot pole. Odysseus’s plan worked and he managed to escape but he didn’t know that Polyphemus was actually the son of Poseidon. Poseidon was furious so, as punishment, he sent many terrifying storms to stop Odysseus and his crew reaching their home. “

We used drama to re-create scenes from the story to help us understand how the characters would have been feeling. The children really enjoyed the opportunity to show off their acting skills!

Then, we learned about the five different stages of a myth. We used this knowledge to help us create our own story, a sequel to the original Odysseus and Polyphemus. The sequels are all very exciting, with lots of imaginative ideas. Their writing also includes many descriptive phrases, interesting and powerful verbs to help fully engage readers and allow them to imagine they were there too.

YEAR 3

NATURE TRAIL

Year Four became great explorers of nature and set about comparing different environments around the school. Our explorers were trying to find out observable information about mini-beasts. At first we looked at the maintained nature trail and then compared it to the natural surroundings around the school. We found out many interesting things and gained an invaluable knowledge about the school site habitat.

YEAR 4

INTERNATIONAL DAY

Class 4O celebrated part of International Day by learning how to make and bake a traditional English Victoria sponge cake. They weighted out and mixed the ingrdiants and baked the cake, followed by the all-important taste test.

YEAR 4 - INTERNATIONAL DAY

Year 5INDIA

In Year Five we have been researching India. As part of our topic each pupil completed a watercolour miniature depicting three aspects of Indian culture. Their work includes using computer skills alongside traditional book learning. Pupils from 5G display their artwork in these photos whilst some of 50’s print outs are included here. Well done Year 5!

by Mr O’Brien & Mrs Baggaley

DEBATING

To kick start our new literacy unit, persuasive writing, we had the pleasure of the Year 8 debating team come and present. Year 8 demonstrated the type of language and structure you would normally see in a formal debate. The motion, however, was not so serious, ‘Is pizza better than ice-cream?’ We listened carefully and noted down any quality features that we could use in our own debates and writing. We have now split into groups and look forward to creating and presenting our own debates!

Year 6

by Mr O’Brien and Mrs Baggaley

UAE PROJECT

If you’re passing through the primary building anytime soon, come along and see the exhibition of work the pupils in Year 6 have created, as part of an independent homework project, on the UAE. The task allowed the pupils to choose between four and seven tasks to complete. That ranged from writing stories and poetry to creating accurate maps with co-ordinates and creating 3D models of the UAE. Some children created plausible information leaflets about different Emirates, which wouldn’t look out of place with other professional tourist guides at Dubai International

Airport. Children used their computer skills to create and publish different elements of the project as well as using Powerpoint or the online software Prezi to make presentations.

Year 6

SCIENCE DAY IN KEY STAGE 2

A fantastic day was had by all, as all the children in Primary became scientists for a day. Experiments were conducted from Foundation to Year Six, ranging from making gliders and parachutes to investigating the properties of slime and solving some forensics in the secondary science labs.

SCIENCE DAY IN KEY STAGE 2

YEAR 6 SKI TRIP 2014

On the 7th of March ,2014, twenty eight of our Year 6 pupils headed off for the trip of a lifetime to Morgins, Switzerland. Many of the children on the trip had not seen snow before, so we were very fortunate to not only have lots of it, but also have skies that were beautifully sunny for the whole week.

Whilst there, the pupils were put through their paces by ESS qualified instructors in what is a picture postcard village in the middle of the

area known as the Portes du Soleil in the Swiss Alps. Any nervousness was quickly forgotten as the

children’s confidence and skiing expertise grew over the week, enabling them to progress rapidly onto more and more challenging slopes. By the end of the week

the children’s progress was astonishing.

Progress was not just about the skiing. The children enjoyed daily French lessons allowing them to use the language in a real life context. Perhaps even more importantly, the trip has given the

children more confidence to try new things, greater independence, budgeting skills, improved organisation, as well as develop their social skills amongst each other and adults.

The children’s behavior was excellent throughout the trip; they

all need to be highly commended for the way they conducted themselves throughout and for what an outstanding advertisement they have been for the school. I am sure that the current Year 5 children will be looking forwarded to having their opportunity next year and reap the benefits of what is a very special trip.

YEAR 6 SKI TRIP

by Mrs Garrett

JEBEL ALI CROSS COUNTRY EVENT RELAY

The top 4 runners in each year group in Key Stage 2 were selected to represent the school at the Jebel Ali cross-country event. It was a relay event and each runner completed a distance of 700m. We had some excellent individual results with James Passey finishing his part of the relay in 2nd position and Tom Cowan finishing in 3rd. It was a great experience for our athletes with our best results being the Year 5 boys coming in 5th position. Well done to all the runners!

PRIMARY PE

by Mrs Garrett

SHARJAH SCHOOLS PRIMARY ATHLETICS

The top 4 runners in each year competed against 6 other schools recently in the Sharjah Schools Primary Athletics. Results are displayed in the table.

The students from SES performed incredibly well against the other schools and we had numerous 1st placed positions across track and field. All the hard work and training has paid off – well done to all the athletes who took part in the event!

STAFF TRIATHLON

The staff at Sharjah English School

competed in the Sharjah University Sprint Triathlon on Friday 20th March. For most it was their first ever

triathlon and everybody completed the 3 events in fantastic times and some even came home with silverware! It was a fantastic event and we’re now

looking for the next challenge! Well done Teachers!

PRIMARY PESCHOOL POINTS

SES 326

SHEF 273

RAK -PYP 254

AIS 243

RAK - BC 231

VISS 203

WES (U9) 36

by Mrs Garrett

SPORTS DAY KEY STAGE 1 RESULTS

The Key Stage 1 children competed in 6 different events, collecting points for their house. There were some outstanding performances by the children. The Year 6 Sports Leaders did an amazing job at scoring and leading each event. Well done to all the competitors and medal winners! It was a great event which was watched by many proud parents.

BURTON – 628

WENTWORTH – 687

LAWRENCE- 596

DOUGHTY – 563

PRIMARY PE

by Mrs Garrett

SPORTS DAY KEY STAGE 2 RESULTS

The Key Stage 2 students performed in a variety of events all morning, collecting points for their house. The Year 10 Sports Leaders did an amazing job at scoring and leading each event. Well done to all the competitors and medal winners!

BURTON – 1629

WENTWORTH – 1670

LAWRENCE- 1791

DOUGHTY – 1874

PRIMARY PE

SPORTS BAG

Year Nine Students have got into the spirit of house team sports by making a sports bag to carry some of their kit. The house colours were used to identify which house they are part of and the designs were inspired by sports they enjoy. Whilst doing this Design and

Technology project they have learnt many important textile manufacturing skills such as Applique, making a draw string fastening, hand and machine sewing. They now understand the characteristics and properties of both natural and synthetic fibres and their uses.

STUDENT VIEWS

Year 8 DT day was fun and interesting for us. We were working on the design and making of our model chairs. For this project we

were using acrylic which is very colourful and good to bend into shape, but can break as some of us found out. As we had a whole day it meant that we could achieve a lot which is what I enjoyed the most.

By Megan Year Eight.

I found Year 8 DT Day really fun. My group worked on electronics and programming. The first thing I did, in a group of three was to design a V- Roller Bot. We basically just had to find all the parts and wires to design and program it. When we finished that we used logic gates

to make different ways of making alarms etc. It was really fun and my whole group enjoyed it.

By Meara Year Eight.

PENCIL CASEIn Design and Technology Year Seven have designed and made their own pencil cases using their house colours. They have learnt many useful manufacturing skills which will equip them for Design and Technology future projects and in life. It is wonderful to see these being used to help keep them organised around the school. Well done,Year Seven.

DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY DAY

GCSE

Our Year 10 students have completed their lessons on plate tectonics. We are now studying coastal processes and landforms around the U.K. To enrich their knowledge and understanding we have taken an alternative approach to learning. The students have been using a combination of play dough and the app iMotionHD on their hand held devices. Their assignment is to represent a coastal process, such as mass movement, through animation, using play dough and other props created on their own initiative and creativity. The students seem to have really enjoyed this approach, despite the troubles of working in a team under pressure.

Well done Year 10!

Mr Mosley

Year 11 are on the home stretch of their GCSE Geography course. Soon after the term break, they will be off on study leave preparing for their final exams. Currently, in Geography, they are studying global economic changes, past, present and future. As part of the specification content, we have been studying the employment patterns in various sectors of industry in the UK. Students have been creating their very own news reports to illustrate the key reasons for the shifts in employment between the sectors of industry. The snapshots below give a behind the scenes look into the Year 11 GCSE Geography newsroom!

Geography Fieldtrip

As part of their Geography GCSE, students visited Jumeirah Beach Residences to look at how tourism

has changed the area. We set off on the morning of Sunday, 26th January, ready to collect some data that we could write up as a controlled assessment when we returned. This would be worth 25% of our final grade.

Students had a variety of tasks to carry out. These included completing environmental surveys, questionnaires and traffic and pedestrian surveys. As expected, the students were an absolute pleasure and thoroughly enjoyed learning outside of the classroom.

Mr Darren Cowan

Head of Geography

GEOGRAPHY

CYPRUS FIELD TRIP

For our AS fieldwork we travelled to Paphos, Cyprus. On the trip we investigated urban and rural rebranding and extreme weather. We would start the day in the classroom. After about an hour we would go out to collect our data. After collecting the data we would come back to the Environmental Centre where we would analyse the data.  

For the first three days we focused on rebranding in different areas of Paphos. The first day we visited Paphos Town which we were going to compare to Kato Paphos, which we visited on the third day. We compared data and investigated which locations needed rebranding. On the way to Kato Paphos we stopped off at the new flagship of the area which was Paphos Mall. These locations focused on urban rebranding. The second day we studied the town we were staying in, called Kritou Terra and then we investigated another rural town called Katikus. We collected the data and analysed it like we did for the urban locations.

The last day of fieldwork we moved onto our extreme weather topic. We went to a number of different sites along a river. At each location we measured various characteristics of the river, including water speed and wetted perimeter. We also analysed whether the areas were at risk of flooding and whether any engineering had been done to prevent the potential damage.

Unlike at GCSE we do not need to do coursework at AS. The data collected and the methods that we used will be tested in our exam paper, either being a 10 or 15 mark question. The question will ask us how we carried out our investigations or what we found out, where we would include what we learnt in Cyprus.

Although there was a lot of work to do, it was an amazing trip. The village we stayed in was peaceful and was great to come back to after a long day of working. The work we did is unforgettable and we won't be able to forget it when it comes to our exam.

Robyn Stephenson Year 12

GEOGRAPHY TRIP

by Mr Darren CowanHead of Key Stage 4

• • •

ISCO

On the 26th January we had two staff from ISCO visit SES to talk to Key Stage 4 and some of 5. ISCO is the Independent Schools Career Guidance Service who are an organisation that provides careers education and guidance for young people, both in the UK and internationally.

26 students signed up to ISCO and carried out a series of psychometric tests that would determine a number of things such as what motivates them, what sort of learner they are and what careers might suit them later on in life. This testing took place on Sunday 2nd February and the results were a real eye opener. Student quotes included,

“Wow, I’ve never thought of that career but can see how it might suit me”

“This career is the one I was looking at all along. How does it know this?”

Martin, one of the facilitators for ISCO, is set to visit the school in the near future to offer some one-on-one careers advice to those students who sat the tests. Watch this space!

Key Stage 4 Update

It won’t be long until we wish our Year 11s farewell and good luck. Many are already deep into a revision programme and all are hopeful for some encouraging grades. As Key Stage Coordinator, can I wish all GCSE students the best of luck with their revision and can I remind them that, if they need any

assistance or advice, they need look no further than their subject teachers who are all accessible and more than happy to help.

Best wishes,

Mr Darren Cowan

Key Stage 4 Coordinator

Key Stage 4 News

INTERNATIONAL AWARDIt has been such a busy term that we have barely managed to plan events let alone write about them afterwards

On the 23rd January 42 bronze students set off on their Bronze Assessed Expedition.

This is what some of the participants had to say:

“We slowly tramped up the hill. Ten minutes later we were already nearly dead from exhaustion. The mountain ranges provided a beautiful backdrop to our ordeal as the sun sank below the horizon.”

“We set up camp at the foot of one of the mountains after only 5km into our long journey. Each team was

exhausted but we had enjoyed the trip so far.”

“The night was freezing, the ground hard but everybody slept like logs, preparing for the 19km walk that awaited us the next day. “

“A short six hours after departure the end was in sight: We had done it!!”

Jonathan Raj from team Tikka Masala.

Hi ,

My name is Deepika and I am here to tell you some interesting moments from my International Award Bronze trip. To be frank, it took a lot of courage to survive a 21km walk and I was stunned when I finished.

It is said sometimes that time with friends creates the most cherished memories you can have and their

support is exactly what helped me complete the expedition in spite of great difficulties. The credit goes to my team who were with me no matter what happened. I would like to thank them for being there at every step with me. You may be

feeling that I am exaggerating but, honestly, I am lost for words.

We had some extremely tasty mashed potatoes for breakfast and I had amazing shoes this time to, keep myself from falling as we walked ahead.

As an individual I think the Duke of Edinburgh Programme is a great opportunity to develop your survival skills and help you in the future.

I would like to thank everyone who came on this trip and made it a memorable one. I would encourage every

student at SES to enrol on the programme as it creates a collection of interesting experiences that will remain with you long after your school years.

Deepika from Raven Puff

This is what Arran from The Tourists had to say:

“For our Bronze Duke of Edinburgh we went on an expedition in the desert for a night. We left at around 1pm in the day. We took a two hour bus ride to Oman where we got off the bus, received our navigation kits and planned our trek. We then started walking on a flat road until we reached the base of the mountain.

Then we had to start the steep climb up the mountain which for many was a challenge. We then set up our camp on rocky terrain. Once we had set up our tents we began to cook our

INTERNATIONAL BRONZE AWARD

dinner. My group cooked beef and pasta. After this we hung around for a few hours, roasting marshmallows and talking until 10pm when we fell asleep.

In the morning ,at around 6.30, we woke up and ate nutella and bread for breakfast. We then took down the tents and packed up our rucksacks before leaving. We then walked 19km until we reached the end of the

journey.

It was a fun and interesting experience where we all learned new skills and had fun. “

Brandon from The Tourists says: “The steep climb was torturous. After five minutes of walking up the mountain it had already decimated my team’s confidence. Despite the harsh terrain and our burning muscles we continued to trudge on up the blistering mountain. The trek

up the mountain was challenging but then the mountain peak came into view. We had stopped many times for water as almost all liquid that went in came out through our skin. The distance to

the camp site was closing and our confidence began to improve and finally we reached our destination. We looked back on our journey up the nearly impossible walk and toasted the

glory of our achievement. We walked out on the flat land and realised how beautiful it really was. Our team’s self -esteem was restored and we were ready to continue the long walk to our new home.

We returned on the 24th January and we are pleased to announce that all the students

passed their assessment and completed the expedition.”

Here is a list of the participants: Farida, Hind, Faizaan, Mikola, Nimra, Kareem, Maria, Caitlin, Oliver, Gabriel, Dalal, James, Chiara, Rokia, Tony, Vinanti, Racha, Vedant, Amaani, Hannah, Holly, Samarth, Dries, Isabella, Saira, Brandon,

Sadim, Jonathan, Mustafa, Deepika, Sarah, Cassandre, Arran, Shanay, Saro Jack, Mohammed, Charlotte, Henrietta, Marco and Fearghal.

Well done, guys!

And thank you to our beloved Nurse Mary, Mr Brain, Mr Walsh, Miss Shirazi, Mr Doyle, Mr Ellaby and the great team of teachers at SES who help to make it all happen.

Miss Marie Byrne

INTERNATIONAL BRONZE AWARD

Twenty one Silver students arrived at Bitnah Fort near Masafi to start their expedition. They were treated to an in depth tour of the fort with the opportunity to ask the guide questions. From there they set off trekking through Wadi Ham. At our first campsite we were visited by a local man who joined us for dinner and chatted about his life. Next day, we met goat and sheep herders tending their herds along the Wadi Bed.

Two arduous days later we arrived at Hayl Castle in Fujairah. This fortress overlooks a large area with a view of all the roads leading into Fujairah. It is built on the west bank of Al Hayl on top of Fortress Mountain. Gravel, burnt clay, solid wood and palm leaves were used in the construction. It consists of two floors and the roof is used for surveillance and defence with an array of platforms and holes. It has been beautifully restored during the period 2006- 2008.

The students arrived in the

afternoon and were once again given a guided tour and allowed to climb through the fort. It was a fantastic experience. The wind howled through the ramparts and we had to

cling on for fear of being blown away. Donations were made by the students and the school for the upkeep of the Forts and to support local culture.

Our second campsite was in a beautiful peaceful setting. We were visited by donkeys during the night –

it is possible that we had inhabited their home.

Check out the pictures….

The Teams:

“It’s Fine” Pheobe, Leila, Ellie, Tori, David, George

“Idgraph” Lily, Gabriela, Josephine, Veronica, Nina, Fatima,

“Hotto-Doggo” Charlie, Akira, Jia, Arief,

“Brotatoes” Talib, Imran, Oliver, Sam, Faisal

They all passed their Silver Expedition

Well done, guys!

Miss Marie Byrne

INTERNATIONAL SILVER AWARD

by Mr S DAWOODBHAI

• • •INTERMEDIATE MATHEMATICS CHALLENGE

On Thursday 6th February, eleven Year 9 students participated in this annual competition organised by the UK Mathematics Trust. Students were apprehensive to start with but were not deterred and completed the challenge with pride and determination.

The initial feedback from the participants was that it was an enjoyable experience.

The results will be published in the next newsletter.

It is now the turn of Year 8 students to prepare for the Junior Mathematics Challenge on 1st May 2014.

There will be sessions with me to prepare students every Tuesday lunch time from 12.35 to 1.00 during term time.

Puzzle

A 6 ₒ 6 grid was tiled using only the two tri-ominos shown, with reflections and rotations of these tiles permitted. The locations of the tiles’ dots are indicated in the grid. Show where all of the tri-onimos should be placed.

Winner of previous competition: Ishaan Ghosh & Dionysios Tanteles

MATHEMATICS

• • •

SUCCESS IN BAHRAIN

10 of our best singers and musicians, together with Mrs Maria Lis, recently travelled to Bahrain to compete in the annual ‘’Young Musicians of the Gulf’’ Competition. We are pleased to report that, for the second year running, our vocal ensemble reached the grand final, being placed second overall of the 17 ensembles that entered. Here are a few thoughts from some of the students about the experience, along with some photos taken during the competition.

“Young Musician of the Gulf is a music competition that encourages musicians across the gulf to express their talent. Personally, I think that it was great as I learned a lot more than I could have hoped for. My host family was very nice and fed me well and made me welcome. I’ve come back more experienced than I was and I’m glad I went because I heard a lot of good players/people and, best of all, we came second in the ensemble as a team! Thanks a lot to everyone in the group and Maria Lis. Without her, we would not have made it so far. “

Michelle Delves

“Greatest experience!”

After a months of preparation, the day had come. Flying to Bahrain on the 28th January, ended up being the most exciting flight of my life. Not only was it the day of our arrival in another country, it was also the day to perform our solos!

Once we arrived at St Christopher’s School, the fight was on. We sang (and played) our hearts out for the judges, whilst the nerves almost took over.

On the third day, it was the time we had all been waiting for anxiously. The Ensemble Competition was our main goal and, after constant rehearsals, we felt absolutely ready. Getting to the finals was not what we had expected.

That night, in our lovely dresses and the flowers in our hair, we performed one last time. We were so proud to have come so far. We didn’t even mind not winning.

Coming second again was an honour and we were very happy. It was a brilliant experience and I can’t wait for next year!”

-Nickey   van Tooren

“I’ve competed in this competition ever since my first experience in Bahrain 2011. Even after these 3 years, YMoG is still such a delightful event to take part in. After you arrive at the school, all the musicians sit in the audience as each one goes up on stage to perform a solo in front of the judges. Being surrounded by fellow musicians, composers and ensembles is so overwhelming as you are constantly absorbing different styles of vocals, pieces, and genres. I am absolutely dismayed that YMoG 2014 was my last year of competing as it is one of my favourite events of the year. This year was wonderful as all the girls who went got on like a house on fire and we have developed our relationships from fellow singers to friends. Gaby, Johanna and I had an absolutely wonderful host family who got us to where we needed to be and fed us and attended the events to watch us perform. I also met so many friends for life who have inspired and helped me expand my musical knowledge. Only a week after the competition, I was skyping a viola player from BSAK about favourite composers and operas and discovered that he played with ex-

YOUNG MUSICIANS OF THE GULF

Head of Science, Mr. Albasri, in the UAE Philharmonic Orchestra- small world! The whole YMoG experience is not just when you go to the competition, but carries on throughout the year through preparation and meeting new friends. I hope that each year more and more musicians from Sharjah English School are inspired by our talent and join in the YMoG experience as it really is a chance of a lifetime. I’d also like to say thank you to the girls for making my last experience the best and also, Maria Lis, my inspiration, who spent hours of her own time preparing myself and the girls for YMoG.

ABRSM EXAM RESULTS

The Autumn/Winter session of music exams took place in November with over 20 SES students sitting their instrumental exam.  The examiner was Martin Cotton, ex-producer of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and a regular contributor to BBC Music Magazine, in between his many composing and recording engagement.  Results are as follows:

Flute:  Anna Lis, grade 2 merit, Johanna Heidenreich, grade 3 merit, Julia Miles grade 2, merit

Singing:  Vea Bley, grade 3 pass, Nina Storey, grade 2 pass, Anneketrien van Wassenhove, grade 3 merit, Caitlin Collom, grade 5 merit,

Clarinet:  Robyn Stephenson, grade 5 pass

Guitar:  Sebastian Froning, grade 2 merit

Piano:  Hannah White, grade 1 pass, Luisa Miles, grade 2 pass, Annika Taylor, grade 1 merit, Nikita Webb, grade 4 pass, Harish Menon, grade 2 pass,  Alex Ichiro Fujiwara, grade 2 merit, Jessica Page Duffy, grade 7 pass, Mikhail Kononovich, grade 8 pass, Vidushi Fonseka, grade 3 merit,

Dominic Manning, grade 2 pass, Joshua Poonnen, grade 1 merit, Saira Poonnen, grade 4 merit, Georgina Liu, DipABRSM Piano Performance, pass.

Congratulations must go to Georgina Liu for attaining DipABRSM in Piano Performance.   She is now entitled to add these letters to her name as a recognized qualification.  ABRSM’s Diploma examinations are the world’s leading benchmark in post-grade 8 music performance, teaching and direction and are rigorous in the extreme with few candidates managing to reach a pass.  The standards required in performance are at a professional music level and the school should be proud of Georgina for her achievement and also as the first SES student to pass such a level of

exam.  Well done Georgina!

YOUNG MUSICIANS OF THE GULF

by MR D KENDALL

• • •THE ELECTRICIAN

How can the electrician, using the equipment shown and wires only, connect the circuit so that both switches can turn the light on and off?

Answers to Mr Kendal- Merits will be awarded to the first correct solution from each year group.

SCIENCE AT SES

by MR D HICKS

• • •

In the last edition I asked if you could solve the following cryptic messages?

CHALLENGE 1 - MODERATETSESPBU  HTIALST  ETTSETI  LIWISIO  AMAMUTN

ANSWER  =  THE  LAST  TIME  IT  WAS  A  SIMPLE  SUBSTITUTION

Technique  -­‐  first  le?er  from  each  block,  then  second  le?er.......

CHALLENGE 2 - CHALLENGINGTIINI  IETPI  TTASN  SIROO  HMSST

ANSWER  =  THIS  TIME  IT  IS  TRANSPOSITION

Technique  as  above  but  different  block  order  1,5,2,4,3

Well  done  to  Joseph  Babu  who  again  cracked  the  challenge  first!

Chess  Challenge  -­‐White  to  move  and  mate  in  2  moves

CIPHER CHALLENGE

• • •

SHARJAH SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY

Sharjah English School hosted the second Inter Sharjah School cross country races. With over 200 students competing from Sharjah and Ras Al Khaima, the afternoon provided some great displays of endurance and mental toughness.

There were 5 age groups running, U10-U18. The U10-U12 ran a distance of 1.5km and the U14-U18 ran 3km.

In the U10 race, Sarah Salama was the first SES girl runner finishing in 6th position whilst in the boys, James Passey won his event and Muneeb Mennad finished 3rd.

The boys also won the U10 team competition.

In the U12 race, Ellen Dowling came through in 3rd position whilst Zaki

Youcef powered his way through in the last 200m to win his race. Both teams, boys and girls winning their team competitions.

The U14 competition saw Year 8 student Reyhaan Guerni, placde 1st but 3rd in the overall race (U14-U18). Meanwhile, Nickey Van Tooren finished 3rd in the girls U14 race. The boys finished 1st in the team event with the girls claiming second.

In the U16 race, Hannah Omari finished 3rd to lead the SES team in 1st place, just 1 point in front of RAK Academy, whilst in the boys race, Oliver Cottam came through in

3rd.

The U18 team race was won

by SES, thanks to a perfectly timed sprint finish by Cian Sidey to win the overall race as well as his age group respectively. Taya Chase and Sam Menzies finished 2nd and 3rd in the U18 girls race to lead the School to 1st place in the team event.

Well done to all runners.

SECONDARY SPORTS REPORT

• • •

U16 RUGBY SEASON ROUND-UP

The U16 rugby team had a solid rugby campaign in the Dubai DASSA ‘B’ League rugby season. The year started well in January the team winning the first game of the season against Dubai British School , 47 - 38 in what was an impressive start, keeping the ball flowing with some excellent support and offloading. The second, at home, against neighbours, DIS, saw the lead keep swapping throughout the course of

the match. Two early tries for the visitors before half time put them in a commanding position but was soon cut down by SES with some strong set piece plays to regain that lead. However, just 2 minutes before the final whistle, DIS made use of the unprotected ruck and scored to win 21 - 24. The return fixture against DBS saw SES win from a disastrous start being 26 - 0 down. An improvement in discipline and execution clawed back the points to win 35 - 26. The season was rounded off against DIS with a comfortable 47 - 14 win.

U18 RUGBY SEASON ROUND-UP

The U18 rugby team, along with DIS, had originally entered the Dubai DASSA ‘B’ League but due to a lack of schools entering had to compete in the more established ‘A’ League. Nevertheless, each game was a hard fought contest particularly at the breakdown and scrums where SES held their own. Only a lack of playing experience and fitness held SES back but each game improved week by week until the final game of the season where SES played and beat local rivals DIS winning 49 - 5. Strong tackling, set piece plays and

flowing attacks which had been developing during previous games helped secure the win.

SECONDARY SPORTS REPORT

• • •

RECORD BREAKING DAY!

With the newly formed Wentworth house competing, this year’s Sports Day was packed with high spirited performances, tough competition and even higher standards. U18 student, Cian Sidey, broke the 60 second barrier for the 400, after going through the halfway stage in 27 seconds. Cian managed to sustain his pace to cross the finishing line in

58.3 seconds, a school record by some 6 seconds.

Another hotly contested event was the U18 boys 100m. Cez Golley and John Wilkie both qualified comfortably in their semi-finals. It was Cez who got the better start powering his way to a new school record in 11.3 seconds with John Wilkie in second, who was feeling the strain of running the 200m final just 30 minutes earlier. In the U15 girls, 400m, Anna Lis and Hennie Van-der-Byl battled it out on the final straight before Anna Lis fractionally won in a new school record of 74 seconds. On the field, U18 Austin Mowatt and Mikhail Kononovich fought a close battle in the discus, with Austin and Mikhail beating the old school record by some 5 metres. Austin won by a narrow margin of 4cm, throwing 32.86m. Back on the track, Year 8 pupil Rayhaan Guerni equalled the U13 record and set a new 800m. He competed in boys U18 800m race 15minutes later, finishing an impressive 3rd.

To sum up the day, there were 20 new school records set. Burton won the Inter-house competition followed by Lawrence, Doughty and

Wentworth and the staff

maintained their unbeaten record in the tug of war and relay against the Year 13s. Well done to everyone involved on a great day.

SECONDARY SPORTS REPORT

• • •

INTER SHARJAH SCHOOLS ATHLETICS - 26TH FEB 2014

Sharjah English School won the EISSA Inter-Sharjah Schools event for the 6th consecutive year, in what turned out to be a great day of athletics. The students at SES produced some fine performances, particularly on the track.

After the field events had been completed, SES were trailing in second position behind AIS by 4 points, but soon challenged and took the lead when the finals were taking place.

Cian Sidey continued his form from the previous weeks Sports day by doubling up in the 400m and 800m races and winning impressively whilst Cez Golley dominated the 100m running 11.4 seconds in the final.

The SES girls also ran impressive performances in the sprints winning the 100m and 200m races in the U14, U16 and U18 age groups. Michelle Delves and Chiara Haynes both ran strong races to take 1st place.

Overall Placings:

SES - 1142 pts

RAK - 799 pts

AIS - 655 pts

VES - 580 pts

VISS - 543 pts

SHF - 350 pts

WES G - 305 pts

DUBAI ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Following on from the success of the previous athletics events, SES took a select team to Sports City, for the inaugural Dubai School Athletics Championships. This is not a team event but a chance for individuals to compete against the best athletes in schools in Dubai.

The SES athletes once again performed extremely well, placing well between 2nd and 4th for the majority of the field events particularly.

But it was Year 10 student, Sarah Salama who performed most impressively winning both the discus and the shot putt to collect 2 gold medals and be crowned Champion of Dubai.

DUBAI FAB 5

For the first time this year, Sharjah English School entered and hosted the C League FAB 5 Athletics Tournament. The format consists of 5 male and 5 female athletes, all of whom had to perform 1 track event, 1 field event and be part of the 5 x 200m relay team.

The U12 team performed first and just missed 3rd position finishing 4th behind JC ‘B’

Final U12 results: DESC ‘B’ (1st), EC (2nd), JC ‘B’ (3rd), SES (4th), DIS (5th)

The following day was the turn of the U14 SES squad. SES were keen to try and take the bronze team medal position. The U14 performed extremely well, narrowly missing out on second by 2 points.

Final U14 results: DESC ‘B’ (1st), EC (2nd), SES (3rd), DIS (4th), JC ‘B’ (5th)

With momentum rapidly increasing in the teams positioning, all sights were set on trying to improve to second place. SES were confident with their strong squad in securing the silver medal and fought off competition from JC ‘B’ to be awarded second position by 4 points.

Final U16 results: EC (1st), SES (2nd), JC ‘B’ (3rd), DIS (4th), DESC ‘B’ (5th)

The final day belonged to the U18 SES squad. The question was, could they win the final competition? Answer: Yes they did. The U18 team rounded off a great week of athletics and, in the overall C league result, SES finished in 2nd place. Well done to ALL athletes involved.

Final U18 results: SES (1st), EC (2nd), DESC ‘B’ (3rd), JC ‘B’ (4th), DIS (5th).

C League results: EC (292 pts), SES (272 pts), DESC ‘B’ (271 pts), JC ‘B’ (228 pts), DIS (210 pts).

SECONDARY SPORTS REPORT