Message from the Head of Primary - 7 May 2020

Dear Parents,

Thank you to the children and parents who have made Virtual Teacher Appreciation week so special by taking the time to write and record their messages. The teachers and teaching assistants very much appreciated the heartfelt messages that were sent to them.

Today, parents in Years 3 and 4 will receive login details for their children to access the new VLE platform Canvas. The information sent out yesterday, along with the videos and support documents on our school website, should enable the migration onto Canvas to be relatively smooth. We are aiming for all pupils and parents to be able to access Canvas by the end of May. Our Primary Canvas champions are available on Sunday and Monday next week to answer any parental queries.

Parents will see, from the attached events diary, that we have a number of parental opportunities over the next few months. We have endeavoured to offer the same workshops and transition meetings as we would usually if we were in school. These events will be hosted on Zoom and the invite will be either posted on the weekly newsletter or sent via the class teacher. We hope that parents find these sessions useful and supportive.

I have been very impressed with the levels of pupil engagement in online learning across Primary this week. It is a pleasure to see the learning that is taking place and the children engaging through Canvas and their portfolios. As from next week, on a Thursday, Mr. Peacock will be posting the Oryx Occupier activities on Canvas/Dojo for the children to have a go at- these activities are creative and can be undertaken as a family or with siblings.

Even though we have come to the end of Teacher’s Appreciation week please continue to send your messages into your child’s teacher and teaching assistants as positive and heartfelt messages are always very gratefully received.

Stay safe,

Andrea Smith

Head of Primary

Well done to all who have been joining the Zoom sessions being offered by the Inclusion Team each day. These sessions are available to those students who are just starting to learn the English language or who have extra learning challenges. If you feel that your child would benefit from these extra Zoom sessions then please contact me at Michael.peacock@oryxschool.qa. Remember to ensure that your child has regular breaks away from the computer and an opportunity to stretch their legs.

Please remember, if your child has any worries, concerns or anxieties and would like to talk to someone at school please reiterate to them that they can contact our school counsellor, Miss Bunmi, at oluwabunmi.tobun@oryxschool.qa. She can also be contacted by giving her a call on 66011301 from Sunday to Thursday between 8:30-9:30 am and 12:30-1:30 pm. She’s always happy to listen and provide reassurance.

Mr. Walsh, one of our specialist Inclusion Teachers, is running a parent workshop on revision strategies. This is mainly aimed at the parents of students in the Secondary school, but there may be some content appropriate to all ages. This workshop is open to all parents. To join the event please click on the below Zoom invite at 09:00 am on Sunday 10th May.

Time: May 10, 2020 - 09:00 am Riyadh

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86988322710?pwd=YlZMVU1zeTBwdGZpbkxya2gzSFdJUT09

Meeting ID: 869 8832 2710
Password: 013854

So much learning is happening in FS1 this week! The children designed pirate friendSHIPS and pirate flags. Many children designed pirate cookies and baked them in the evening with their families. Ms. Charo even made her own pirate ship at home!

Next week in FS1 we say goodbye to Pirate Pete as he sails away with his new friendly pirate crew. The new story is called Captain Jack and the Pirates. We will be learning about islands around the world and take part in practical activities for counting and taking away. We will also discuss our emotions and how we manage our feelings.

This week in FS2G Yemen class, the children have been reading, writing and drawing about Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They have been using their phonic knowledge to sound out and write the words and sentences. The three literacy lessons covered the beginning, the middle and the end of the story.

In Mathematics this week, Yemen class have been revising measures, and addition using a number line. The children looked at different sized objects in their homes and made comparisons in reference to the different sizes. They created their own number lines and then used these to answer some addition questions. In the Understanding the World lesson, the children learned all about real bears. In Expressive Arts and Design lesson the children made their own role-play mask using a variety of materials. They chose their favourite character from the Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Year 1 have had another fantastic week of e-learning. The children have been continuing their Term 3 topic of Superheroes, completing a range of tasks linked to the topic in both English and Maths. In English, the children have begun to plan and write their very own newspaper articles about evil villains and superheroes. In Maths, the children have been learning about different forms of measurement. They have been using scales to weigh different household items and place them in order from lightest to heaviest. They have also been learning about capacity and have even made their very own measuring device using a plastic bottle. The children are working so hard and I and the Year 1 team are so proud of them all.

We are learning about materials in science and we had to describe what plasticine looks like when we squash, bend, stretch and twist it. This was a really practical and fun lesson that involved the children looking for materials around the house, exploring and investigating, then recording their findings.

Maths has been challenging this week but we love a challenge in year 2! We started off with doubling and halving 2-digit numbers by partitioning and moved onto fractions of numbers as the week went on. We used some practical activities such as doubling board games and used money to put in into context for the children.

What we have learned from our topic ‘Romans’ this term is that we have some ferocious warriors willing to do anything to conquer year 2! We loved the creative ways in which the children and parents are working together to memorise key dates in Roman history and write key facts about important Roman leaders!

In English, we stepped into the lives of a Roman person for a day to observe and understand them better. We chose between a slave, a gladiator and an emperor and wrote a diary entry detailing the things those people would get up to in their daily lives. It was really interesting to see what things they would do in their spare time without computers, TVs and iPads to play with!

We are really proud of all the children in Year 3 for working extremely hard as always! This week in Maths, the children explored Times Tables Rock Stars website and had fun competing online with their classmates. In English, we focused on creating an argument for and against the different sweet inventions in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

In Year 3 we were also practising our Phonics with Mrs. Ana through Zoom.

Next week, we will continue developing our multiplication skills using the grid and column method. In English, we will continue reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and look at how to write postcards. Keep up the fantastic work!

This week Year 4 have been showing off their great sense of humour and making their teachers laugh by writing limericks using all the poetry skills they have been working hard to develop. In Maths we have been consolidating our rounding skills and using them to solve problems. In Science, we continued our ’Living Things’ topic and we learned how animals are categorised by their different characteristics, like laying eggs or living in the water.

This week year 5 have enjoyed looking at reflecting and translating shapes and continued our journey through space by investigating how we get day and night. The children have truly enjoyed interacting with their class teachers and each other in zoom lessons in another successful week of learning. Next week we look forward to story writing and investigating the phases of the moon through the use of oreo cookies.... interesting!

What a great week it's been in Year 6 this week. Following on from writing a discussion letter to Mr. Laidlaw, asking (begging) to go back to school, the students turned their hand to becoming salesmen and ladies, and planned and produced some great adverts to sell a rustic old caravan from 'Danny the Champion of the World' using a combination of slogans, rhetorical questions, imperative verbs and amazing adjectives.

In maths, the students honed their long division skills and practiced finding the remainders as both fractions and decimals, and in Science, they completed research projects on the impact that different diets have on our wellbeing in both the long and short term. Overall a great week of learning, and us teachers are very impressed with how well you are working and pushing yourselves to improve the standard of your work!

Have a great weekend, and keep safe.

It was a busy week for our students in Arabic this week.

They worked on applying their Arabic language skills, developed their reading skills through the videos provided, and read the lessons clearly and correctly.

They also studied and memorised many verses of the Qur’an.

Our students learned valuable information in Qatar History subject and they were enthusiastic in carrying out the homework assigned to them.

My sincere thanks to our wonderful students and to the parents who have been our constant support in the success of the educational process.

This week in our primary MFL lessons, Year 6 French students interpreted an interview with superstar footballer Cristiano Ronaldo. Many students were also able to push themselves by answering the interview themselves. Year 5 Spanish students learned different ways of asking about the time and answering.

Year 3 students have really enjoyed learning about the colours and will be learning to describe themselves next.

Years 5 and 6 have now moved to Canvas and this new platform will offer us many opportunities to try new things in the coming weeks. Years 3 and 4 are scheduled to start on Canvas next week also and we can’t wait to show students all the new opportunities that will be available for learning in the coming weeks.

Finally, everyone in the MFL department would like to thank our students for their kind gestures of appreciation during Teacher Appreciation week.

Thank you!

We are now into week 3 of our PE challenges and we have had some brilliant entries and a lot of fun watching you all staying on the move by trying these challenges. They will be posted every Sunday on your class page so make sure you have a look and get involved.

Our PE teachers have been working hard to ensure your PE lessons have a variety of different tasks and you get a chance to develop new skills each week. As some of our students are fasting throughout the month of Ramadan, we are including tasks that do not involve physical activities but allow you to learn about health and the human body. We encourage all of our students to give them tasks a go.