Primary News - November 2020

Dear Parents,

Time is flying by far too quickly and we are fast approaching the end of the Autumn term in Primary. Since the mid-term break our learners have been embracing Talk 4 Writing and it has been a pleasure to see their levels of confidence, progress and pride in their learning all developing so rapidly.

Across the school this half term, our spirits have been raised by whole school events. The pupils have enjoyed dressing up and sharing their learning and experiences with others. Some of the pictures from these events can be seen on our Facebook page, on our website and in this newsletter.

One such event has been the TT Rockstar Maths competition that took place between a few of the Doha schools. This is the first time we have taken part in this competition and we are all very proud of the students who made the effort and challenged themselves at home as well as in school. Don’t forget the dress-up days on Thursday 10^th December when our computer screens (via Zoom) and the school will be invaded by our Maths Rockstars (KS2) and Robots (KS1).

Our Primary reports will be sent to parents next week (9^th December) via the Parent Portal. In the meantime, please sign up for a parent-teacher meeting via Zoom on 13^th & 14^th of December. Class teachers have posted available time slots on their Class Dojo page. It is essential that all parents book an appointment to speak to their child’s class teacher. If any parent would like a parent-teacher meeting with one of our specialist teachers (MFL, PE, Music, Arabic) please contact the specialist teacher via the Class Dojo page.

Thank you to those parents that have engaged with the school uniform expectations. Most of our older students in Years 5 and 6 are now coming to school wearing black tracksuit trousers on their PE days. If parents are buying school shoes for their children over the next few weeks, please remember that school shoes should be black leather. I also ask that necklaces and hooped earrings are not worn to school for safety reasons.

We are very conscious that some of our students are carrying very heavy bags to and from school. Parents in Year 1 and 2 may feel a small wheelie bag is easier for their child to manage. This is acceptable whilst the children are carrying books to and from school daily.

Finally, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all the students and especially those in Early Years and in Years 5 and 6, I feel extremely proud of them each day when I stand at the school gates. I am greeted by smiles, good mornings, goodbyes, interesting conversations and it is a pleasure to see models and creations being brought into school. Politeness, warmth and mutual respect have such a profound effect on us all and can set the tone for the day. Thank you!

Kind regards,

Mrs. Andrea Smith

Last week the final round of the selection process for the Primary Head Girl and Head Boy took place. As part of the process the children were expected to prepare and deliver a speech to their peers about why they wanted to be considered for the role. Their speeches were delivered during the year group Zoom Assembly. The children in Year 6 then voted securely, to ensure the election was fair, for who they thought were the best candidates for the positions. You could feel the excitement around school as the counting of votes from each class took place. Mr. Cassidy, Year 6 Leader, announced the successful candidates and recorded a message which was sent out on Dojo.

I am now delighted to announce that Aliz Gonsalves and Matheesha Fernando were elected by their peers to be Head Girl and Head Boy for the academic year 2020-21. Congratulations to them both, and I am sure that they will do a wonderful job in their new roles.

Our first Primary Student Council Meeting of the year was held on Thursday 26^th November via Zoom. Each Year group’s student representatives had the opportunity to introduce themselves and also to share some of their ideas for the upcoming year. Some of the topics discussed included different things that can be done during the lunch break, and how we could show kindness towards each other. It was a very successful meeting and demonstrated how here at Oryx International School we are committed to ensuring that our pupils are able to voice their opinion and be listened to. I am sure that our Student Council will work to make our school even better.

We would like to congratulate all our Primary children who completed their recent assessments, either in school or online, in Reading, Phonics, Writing, Maths and Science. This was an ideal opportunity for the students to show off their learning from this term. It is also an opportunity for teachers to see any gaps that may need to be focused on next term. Our FS2 children have worked exceptionally hard with their Phonics, in particular, this term and are seeing great progress. The FS1 staff are delighted with how quickly the children have settled and begun to develop social skills in making new friends. They continue to see progress each week. We look forward to welcoming all primary students back next term as they continue their learning journey.

What a fantastic finish to our Rock Stars Battle! Oryx International came in at 2nd place! Thank you to all the children for their hard work and thank you to parents for your continuous support. Learning the multiplication tables is a necessity in mathematics and playing TT Rockstars has had a significant impact on our pupils’ times table recall.

Out of the 4 schools in Doha that took part, there were 98 classes and 3-year groups from Oryx International came in the top 10:

- Year 6F 4th Place

- Year 5A 5th Place

- Year 6E 7th Place

Every member of these classes will receive 5 dojos for their tremendous work.

We will also be giving every member of Year 3A 3 dojos each as they narrowly missed out on 10th place, which is phenomenal work for a Year 3 class to come ahead of so many upper school classes.

Out of 98 classes and every class having approximately 20 children (that is approximately 2000 children), we have 5 children from Oryx International who came in the top 11:

- Manha 6E - 5th Place

- Emma 6F - 6th Place

- Tejas 5A - 8th Place

- Joy 6F - 10th Place

- Aditya 5A - 11th Place

This is an incredible achievement, each of these children will receive 10 dojos.

Well done to everyone who took part, we are super proud of you. Keep up the amazing work and don’t forget to come to school dressed as a Rockstar on 10^th December.

Anti-Bullying Week - This month the students and staff enjoyed a week to focus on anti-bullying with the theme ‘united against bullying’. The students spent time discussing how being bullied can make someone feel and identifying people that they can talk to when they feel worried or scared. The students and staff also came to school in odd socks of different colours and designs. This was to celebrate what makes us all unique.

Year 4 Zoom learners - This week the learners watched a clip of a Dragon in a school playground. The children used freeze frames and thought tapping to depict their feelings and emotions of seeing the dragon in the school playground. Children gathered adjectives and created their own expanded noun phrases with a prepositional phrase.

Group A, Year 3D Italy - As part of our study into the origins of drinking chocolate, we have been designing and making Aztec pottery using modelling clay.

Foundation Stage Nursery Rhyme Character Dress-up - Our Foundation Stage students had such fun dressing up as their favourite nursery rhyme character. Look how creative they are!!