Dear Parents

We have enjoyed a wonderful ‘Book week ‘in school this week, culminating with a fantastic parade by the Primary children in their favourite book character costumes. Reading is so important for all our children and especially those whose first language is not English, so I would ask you to encourage your children to continue reading regularly throughout the year. I enjoyed being a ‘mystery reader’ to Year 6A and look forward to doing so again soon.

Our Under 11 sports teams took part in the BISQ (British International Schools Qatar) games last weekend at Aspire. The children performed very well over the two days and I was impressed with their spirit, attitude and teamwork. I was delighted that we were awarded the ‘Fair Play Award’ having received 90% of the votes from the other 13 schools. We should be extremely proud of this achievement as the children were outstanding ambassadors for the school, their families and themselves.

The Official Opening of the school event which was scheduled for Wednesday 13th March has been postponed. Once we have the new dates confirmed by Qatar Airways, I will inform the school community.

I have now received initial dates from the MoE for the Academic year 2019- 2020. I will send you our proposed school calendar next week as a draft, however, as always, these dates will be subject to change by the MoE. The start date for students is most likely to be Sunday 25th August.

Our PTSA has confirmed the date for International Day which will be held on Wednesday 3rd April. All students will be asked to come to school wearing something of their national attire. We will start the day with a Parade of Nations followed by a series of learning activities based on the different countries. Parents are welcome to stay for the parade in the morning, however, as this is a teaching day for the children, only parents who have already signed up to assist with activities will be able to stay after the parade.

‘Going Places Together – our journey to becoming a 5-star school’. I will be offering all parents a second presentation of my vision for the school on Wednesday 13th March at 1.15pm in the auditorium.

As part of our safeguarding measures all parents are required to wear Parent ID Lanyards whilst on school premises. If you haven’t already done so, please provide the school with a photograph for your ID Lanyard as soon as possible. Thank you.

We have received a circular from the MoE with regard to the use of school facilities outside the normal school day. Until we have this clarified and approved by the ministry we are unable to offer further use of our facilities. We have every intention of making facilities available to parents however you will understand that we require clarification from the ministry on their regulations at this time. As soon as we have any further information I will inform you and hopefully we can start offering use of our facilities soon.

Have a lovely weekend.

Regards,

Mr. Derek Laidlaw