OURPLANET International School Muscat A NOBEL TALENT SCHOOL OF SUSTAINABILITY The School Newsletter May 2014 Content Letter from the Principal 1 PYP News 2 Sustainability News 3 News from Salalah and Nizwa class 4/5 Music and Physical 6 Dear Parents, Welcome to the May edition of the OURPLANET International School Muscat newsletter. A special big welcome goes out to all our new parents and especially to those parents who will be joining our school for the first time in August 2014. Our school continues to grow and flourish. We currently have forty students and we predict that we will have one hundred students for the next school year. I have to thank all those parents that have shared the good news of our school with their friends and colleagues. It seems that everyone in town is talking about OURPLANET School! Thank you all for your support. Enjoy this bumper edition of our newsletter where you will find news from both the Salalah and Nizwa classes, news in English and Arabic, exciting news about IB authorisation, good news about our sustainability projects and lots more. Enjoy and as always, we would love to hear your feedback. Finally, don t forget to follow OURPLANET on Facebook, on Instagram, on Twitter and for those traditionalists like me, you can even check out our fantastic website: www.ourplanet-muscat.com We look forward to seeing you all for the special Parents Assembly on Thursday May 15th at 8.00 am. All the best to you all, Robert Owen Jones Founding Principal OURPLANET International School Muscat OURPLANET International School Muscat, Madinat As Sultan Qaboos, Al-Inshirah Street, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, Phone: +968 9765 4312,We, Email: info@ourplanet-muscat.com 1
PYP NEWS We are pleased to share with our school community that OURPLANET International School Muscat has now been accepted as a candidate school for the Primary Years Programme (PYP) of the International Baccalaureate(IB). Our school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. These are schools that share a common philosophy a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that OURPLANET International School Muscat believes is important for our students. We are really pleased to see that our students at OURPLANET school continue to demonstrate that they understand, value and model the attributes of the IB learner profile. During our weekly Assemblies on Thursdays in March and April, we had the opportunity to celebrate the following students in both the Nizwa and Salalah class for displaying the elements of the IB learner profile. IB Learner Profile-Students of the month In the Salalah class: Fatma for being a communicator Zazil for being reflective Ayah for being principled In the Nizwa class: Ammar for being caring Faris for being balanced Sophia for being open minded 2
Sustainability Handmade gifts are from the heart and that s exactly what the students of Niwza did for Mother s Day. Cutting the tops off plastic bottles and transforming them into beautiful flowers. Each student added their own personal touch as a special gift for Mother s Day. The students are coming to understand that sustainability is about the future of our society and that it s up to each one us to take action in our own lives. In case you missed it, April 22, 2014, was Earth Day and it is never too late to celebrate. Get evolved with Earth Day: focus on the unique environmental challenges of our time. The smallest changes can a make a huge impact such as drinking from a water bottle verses a plastic bottle; using reusable bags instead of plastic bags; don t leave the water on when brushing your teeth and bring all your reusable items to OURPLANET school. Coming Up June 5, 2014 celebrates World Environment Day. The United Nations Environment Program announced that the theme of this year's World Environment Day will be small island developing states or "SIDS." Island nations around the world are particularly vulnerable to climate change, natural disasters and rising seas. However, they have also come up with some amazing solutions to cope with these problems. June 8, 2014 celebrates World Ocean Day. Around 3/4th of our planet is water and World Ocean Day provides an opportunity to raise global awareness of the challenges faced by the international community in connection with the oceans. 3
NEWS FROM SALALAH AND NIZWA Salalah Class English Class The students have just finished investigating a Unit of Inquiry under the HOW WE ORGANISE OURSELVES Transdisciplinary Theme. The central idea of this unit is that food comes from many places and goes through many changes. As lines of inquiry the students researched the origins of the food they eat and the process of bringing food from harvest to the table. In order to stimulate the students interest and for them to make relevant connections, a trip to our local Al Fair was organized. In small groups the students walked to the supermarket to collect data on the price of fruits and vegetables. When analyzing this data later on in the classroom, the students discovered that fruits and vegetables that are grown far away are much more expensive than those grown locally. They also discussed how it is better for the Earth if we eat food that is locally grown because it does not have to be transported so far. The class also read and performed several versions of the story, The Little Red Hen. Students learned the process of turning a grain of wheat into a loaf of bread. They also learned how seeds need to grow into plants before they can produce the fruits and vegetables that we eat. Students learned about farms and started to understand that a lot of food comes from the animals and crops raised on farms. In addition to learning about how food changes and where it comes from, they have discussed traditional foods from a lot of different countries. The students created a Salalah cookbook with recipes from all of our students who represent many parts of the world. Food has different qualities and nutrients, and they have learned that eating fruits and vegetables in every color of the rainbow helps us stay healthy, grow, and learn. The next (and last) unit of investigation will be under the HOW WE EXPRESS OURSELVES Transdisciplinary Theme with a very powerful and engaging central idea: No matter where we live, celebrations unite people. Arabic 2nd language In the Arabic as a second language class, the students learnt a lot of vocabulary and songs about food. In the kitchen, they made lemon and orange juice, cucumber pickles, all kinds of different sandwiches, yogurt and cupcakes. The students planted cherry tomatoes in our vegetable garden and made fruits and vegetable out of recycle paper. Arabic 1st Language تعرفف االطفل خلالل االوحدةة على مصاددرر االغدااء االمتعدددةة االنباتيیة ووتشمل االخضرووااتت وواالفوااكهھ وواالحبوبب وواالحيیواانيیة ووتشمل االلحومم وواالحليیب وومشتقاتهھ. تمكن االطفل من معرفة ا أددااةة تناوولل االطعامم ووعلى كيیفيیة مسكهھا ووااستخداامهھا ووكيیفبة ااختيیارر االغذااء االسليیم كما ااتيیحت االفرصة للطفل االمشارركة في ا إعداادد بعض االا ططعمة ووتذووقهھا ووااتباعع ااررشاددااتت ططرقق ا إعدااددهھھھا ووكيیفيیة حفظهھا.ووتعرفف االطفل كذلك على بعض اانوااعع االتواابل وواالبهھاررااتت ووكيیفيیة ااستخداامهھا وواالفوااكهھ االطاززجة ووكيیفيیة حفظهھا ووااستعمالهھا جافة: كالتيین وواالمشمش وواالعنب ووااللوزز. 4
Nizwa Class English Class The KG1 AND KG2 students have just finished investigating a unit of Inquiry under the HOW WE EXPRESS OURSELVES Transdisciplinary Theme of the PYP. The central idea of this unit is that we use stories to communicate ideas and experiences. Through the unit they had a chance to present their favorite books to the class, they had class discussions about how and what we learn from stories, discovered wonderful stories from around the world and had many opportunities to be engaged in imaginative play and drama. As part of the unit, we had the pleasure of receiving the visit of Jane Jaffer, an Oman-based author of books for children and adults who is the driving force behind the Let s Read campaign for children in Oman. The students really enjoyed being read Dana and the Dolphin, a wonderful story about a young girl who lives in Oman and the help she gets from a friendly dolphin. At the end of the story, our students had a chance to share with Jane some of the stories that they had themselves created during the unit. The last unit of inquiry for the Nizwa class will be under the Trandisciplinary Theme SHARING THE PLANET and the central idea that the students will be exploring isthat marine life depend on the ocean for their survival. Arabic 2nd language In the Arabic as a second language class, the students learnt a lot of vocabulary about stories and their characters. They had the opportunity to be very creative, making masks and costumes, singing songs, dancing as well as being involved in many different drama activities. Arabic 1st Language االوحدةة : كيیفيیة ااستخداامم االقصة لتوصيیل االافكارر وواالخبرااتت. ااكتشف االطفل خلالل االوحدةة االسابقة قصصا ووحكايیاتت ررااي عة من جميیع ا أنحاء االعالم, مستمدةة من االوااقع وومنهھا ما يیغلب عليیهھا االخيیالل ووقد ا أتيیحت االفرصة للطفل للمشارركة في تقمص ا أددوواارر بعض من االشخصيیاتت االتي ا أحبهھا ووا أختاررهھھھا. كما ااكتشف االطفل من خلالل االمناقشة االجماعيیة ا إنن لكل قصة عبرةة ووقيیمة ا أخلاقيیة ووااجتماعيیة نستفيید منهھا وومن تجارربب ا أبطالهھا. 5
PHYSICAL EDUCATION The students have had an amazing time in P.E. (Physical Education) with learning a range of different abilities along with what fun things we can do outside and inside. The students have been practicing dancing, yoga, gymnastics, developing their own levels of fitness, balance, coordination, strength, endurance and flexibility. These lessons have benefited the students in promoting determination, courage and selfconfidence. Even when a student makes a mistake or can t complete the task, there is still the desire to keep trying. Outside the students have been building their teamwork abilities with playing football, kickball, and now baseball. The students have created an atmosphere of learning while having fun. The students use problem-solving approaches and motive one another to practice. MUSIC During our music sessions, our students have continued to learn a variety of different songs and practiced singing. They have played percussion instruments in time with a beat as well as accompanying music using a variety of sounds and instruments. All students lately had the opportunity to learn to explore the xylophones and the students in the Salalah class are starting to learn to use the recorders. 6