Dear Parents
Congratulations to Kanzah Khan, Y10, for winning the BSME Short Story Competition with her entry 'A Game Of Demise'. Kanzah was up against entrants in multiple countries across the Middle East and to be selected as the overall winner is a fantastic achievement. The judges described her work as '.... a fascinating and incredibly solid work of fantasy that showed imagination, research skills, a love of chess and some very deft use of metaphor.' Well done, Khanzah. We are proud of you.
Further recent success was enjoyed by the Mathematics Department in the recent World Mathletics Championships. An outstanding set of results which, overall, placed Oryx ahead of all other schools in Qatar.
Year 7: 1st in Qatar Oryx International School
Year 8: 2nd in Qatar Oryx International School
Years 9 -12: 1st in Qatar Oryx International School
Congratulations to the Mathematics Department and all of our mathematicians.
The recent decision to revert to Hybrid learning has caused significant planning changes as our end-of-year assessments were obliged to take place during online learning (but with dispensation to attend in-person examinations) and the re-establishment of hybrid learning. Added to the mix was the unexpected and recent availability of GCSE and IAL Unseen assessments and the mandatory assessments in Arabic, Islamic Studies and Qatar History. It has all made for a busy three weeks but what has shone through is the adaptability of our students and the understanding and support of our parents. Thank you.
Assessments are nearly complete, with Year 10 completing the final set of examinations this week. The immediate task in hand is now to process Centre Assessed Grades (CAGs) for Year 11 and Year 12 I/GCSE, A level and BTEC candidates and this is ongoing.
Year 11 are currently making the transition to Year 12 now that they have completed (finally!) their Unseen assessments. They have striven to reach this point and can now look forward to receiving their confirmed grades in early August. Year 11 recently took possession of their School Hoodies to signify this milestone, and they took great pride in wearing them - it is a badge of honour, and richly deserved. Kudos to Ayyash Aslam (Deputy Head Boy) and Micayla Newbery (Deputy Head Girl) for managing the process from design through payment to delivery.
Information on booking appointment times for the end-of-term Parent - Teacher Consultations will be advised soon. Teachers are heavily involved with marking, completing reports and submitting recommended I/GCSE, BTEC and A level grades according to the 'new normal' of assessment criterion established by the British Government. We look forward to returning to the 'old normal' as soon as possible!
Yours sincerely,
Mr. Ken Haggarty
