Dear GWA Community, There are a few things happening at the moment that I would like to draw your attention to. First, GWA begins MAP testing next week and we are taking a slightly different approach to how and why we test. Elementary classes will not start testing until Sunday, April 30; however, next Thursday I will be sharing more information about these changes and send out the testing schedule so you can see when your child is doing their assessments and which tests they will be. Keep reading... |
Dear 5th grade parents,
Amongst the exiting changes that the stepping-up into Secondary School brings, next year your children will be enrolling in the Week Without Walls 6th grade program. To learn more about what this program offers and how to sign up for the different options please visit: https://www.gwa-www.com/ Best regards, Sergio Juarez Activities Director Hello Parents of our Grade 5 PYP students,
We hope you had a restful and relaxing spring break! In the Secondary school we have a very busy couple of months ahead as we prepare for the completion of the 2016-2017 school year, as well as the preparations for next school year. Therefore, it is time to begin our conversations around course selections as we start to prepare your child’s schedules for next school year. The Grade 5 students – who will be entering into Grade 6 next year, may be getting nervous or excited about the transition that lies ahead. In the MYP, we are here and ready to support the students in every way possible. Below you will see some information that will be important for your child in the coming months as they begin their transition into the MYP at GWA. Calling all Minecraft builders! On Friday, May 12th, starting at 9:00am, GWA will be hosting a special Minecraft event. Early this year, a local Dubai student, Max Chow Everett, wanted to find a way to combine his love for Minecraft, the UAE, and Canada's 150 birthday this year. The result is a huge and growing Minecraft world of user-created iconic buildings found across the UAE and Canada. Max is an 11 years old Canadian, but has lived most of his life in Dubai. He has been playing Minecraft since 2011 and he is looking forward to meeting new friends and collaborators with this big project. Passionate Master and Junior Builders are needed to be part of this Canada150 UAE Minecraft Community Day. Sign up here. Watch the below video link to give you an idea of what you can expect on this day and to meet Max: What: Canada150 UAE Minecraft Community Day
When: Friday, May 12th 2017 Where: GEMS World Academy Secondary Building, Rooms E-214/215 Who: Any students (and parents) with their own device with Minecraft installed. A sign-up here. Why: To celebrate Canada150 and the UAE (and to have a lot of fun!) How: Max will be guiding both experienced and not-experienced builders through the world. This promises to be an enjoyable and engaging morning, with lots of additional fun and activities also taking place. Drinks and snacks for adults and children will be provided. Stay tuned for more information and where to sign up. Big thanks go out to Max and his mom Lucy for starting this project and involving others, and thanks goes out to our parent Nancy McNair for helping to bring this to our school. Last week GWA was proud to mark the opening of a Swedish library to complement the after-school Swedish mother-tongue program. The library was a joint effort between the mother-tongue teachers, the After School Activities director, and the GWA Library Learning Commons. Competency in a child’s mother tongue is important for all further language learning and developing literacies. We are both proud and thrilled to have such a large Swedish collection. Many thanks to the Swedish community for working so hard to make this library a reality. Miss Betty, Librarian Living Internationally Have you ever felt completely at home, a natural sense of belonging somewhere in the world? It often means that your environment mirrors your personal and cultural values. You may relate this to the idea of having a home country. You may also feel this way about a new country after living there for long periods of time and adopting some of the cultural values of the environment you’ve immersed yourself in. Have you ever felt disoriented, confused and ‘foggy’ when arriving somewhere new in the world? These feelings are often associated with the culture shock of a new environment that looks and thinks very differently from the norms you live by. The PolVan Cultural Identity Model identifies 4 lenses (perspectives) that you may be using to see the world around you. After living overseas for long periods of time, members of the same family may begin to see the same place through different lenses. It is an interesting conversation to have with each other as you, your family and friends transition schools and countries. These lenses give us a way to talk about how we view ourselves and our world as well as some insight into how others may be feeling and why some people (adults and children) may transition easily while others face greater challenges. To support your inquiries, reflect on your experiences and deepen your understanding of living globally, please attend our upcoming Parent Coffee Morning on April 26, 2017 with our Counseling Team focusing on family transitions (a healthy process to leave and strategies to support those being left behind). You may also enjoy reading Third Culture Kids by David Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken as well as visiting www.inourchangingworld.com for additional resources (books, websites, videos etc.) related to living within and across cultures in a global world.
Fidget Spinners are the latest craze at GWA. We recognize that they are fun to play with, but they are becoming disruptive in lessons. Therefore, we are not allowing them in classrooms beginning Monday, unless there is an agreement between your child’s teacher that the tool is needed to help with focus and concentration in class. This will be determined by your child's teacher and other personnel in the school. Children are welcome to continue to bring them to school to play with during recess times. However, if students are found using them in the classroom, they will be confiscated and returned to a parent/guardian. As with any items, these are brought to school at your own risk and the school is not responsible if they are lost, stolen, or broken. Please reiterate to your students that there is always a risk when bringing toys from home to school, they can get lost or broken. Thank you for your support, Kristen Murphy Counselor's Corner..... Coffee Morning - Wednesday, April 26th from 08:15-09:15 in the Planetarium.4/18/2017
End of the Year Transitions: Leave Well to Enter Well
Our return from spring break for the last quarter of the school year brings forth a time of transition and change. Whether it’s a transitioning to a new grade, change of schools, saying goodbye to friends, or moving to a new country, change will be all around us and everyone will be experiencing it in one way or another. With that being said, a tool we use at GWA to help facilitate these transitions is called R.A.F.T. The late David Pollock, an expert on third culture kids (TCKs), transitions, and internationally mobile families, prepared very helpful transition materials including this framework to help international students and families. R.A.F.T. is an acronym with a four-step process that entails the following:
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Please be sure to look through our Lost and Found located near the entrance to our school cafeteria. Thank you.
If your child is late to school, please visit the Elementary Office upon your arrival to school and obtain a late pass from the office.
CLICK ON THE FOLDER icon below to download the forms you need to apply for student absence leave, reporting absence/sickness, using ID cards and more. Is your child sick? Click on the icon to directly email the Elementary Office.
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