JPS Weekly

January 16th 2014 Jumeirah Primary School, Dubai Issue No. 17 - 13/14 Dear Parents, During this term, the Parents and Teachers Association have organised fantastic activities for the JPS community: MOVIE NIGHT (23/1) Thursday, 5pm-7:30pm, watch Despicable Me2 under the stars. You can even come dressed as a MINION!! Tickets @20aed/person. Tickets are on sale on Sunday at pickup time until they are sold out hurry and book your tickets! TRASH FOR CASH (31/1) Friday, 8am-11am. Book your table @ 60aed/table. Your trash is someone elses treasure!! Forms at reception . SPRING FAIR (28/2) Friday, 3pm-7pm, our biggest event of the year! Class reps have been assigned their game stalls and will be in contact with you very shortly in order for you to book your time slot during the fair. This year, the House Captains will be running a house competition that will include 2 elements: - The largest representation of house colour on the day. Please support your childrens house by encouraging the wearing of the corresponding house colour. - The game stall with the most tickets. All children who are part of the school council (in years 3,4,5 and 6), the leadership team, Head Boy/Girl and deputies and the sports council will demonstrate their leadership skills by volunteering on the different stalls.

PLEASE SAVE THE DATE

Terrific Tombola: The Spring Fair team are in desperate need of any new or unused prizes for the tombola to help make the fair a success. Please have a good post-holiday clear out of any unwanted items and leave them in the tombola box in the reception. Please note we do not need soft toys and would appreciate good quality gifts only.

So your New Years resolution is to be more involved in the school and PTA?? We WANT you We NEED you!
Please follow through on that New Year resolution!

Speak to Lamya the Parent Relations Executive l.gabr_jps@gemsedu.com , or Sally Dewhurst PTA Chair supersallydubai@gmail.com about what aspect you'd like to help with.

DATE Sun 19 January

IMPORTANT DATES FOR TERM 2 FS2 Curriculum Preview Meeting 7.45am to 8.30am Year 5 Curriculum Preview Meeting 1.30pm to 2.00pm

Mon 20 January

Ruth Miskin /Guided Reading and Math Passports FS2/KS1/KS2 NEW PARENTS ONLY 7.45am to 8.30am Anti-Bullying Talk to parents 1pm to 2pm Year 5 CAMP Discussion at 6pm Anti-Bullying Talk to parents 7.45am to 8.45am Introduction to JPS Weebly 1pm to 2pm Vision and Mission Statement Parental Council Members only Introduction to JPS Weebly 7.45am to 8.45am Year 6 Curriculum Preview Meeting 1.30pm to 2.00pm

Tue 21 January Wed 22 January Thurs 23 January

RUTH MISKIN PHONICS WORKSHOP KS1 (Years 1 and 2 only)

Parents of all children in KS1 are welcome to a Phonics Workshop to be held on: Monday 20th January 7.45 to 8.30am This is a great opportunity to see how we teach the early stages of reading, and to get ideas on how you can help your child at home. Please email me e.deans_jps@gemsedu.com to confirm your attendance. The session will contain practical examples of how you can help your child(ren) at home. Audience participation will be required! I will look forward to seeing you there! As this is a repeat of last terms workshop, it is for new parents only. Emma Deans Year 1 Class Teacher and FS/KS1 Literacy Leader

KEY STAGE 2 (Year 3-6) MATHS PASSPORTS/GUIDED READING WORKSHOP

Parents of all children in Year 3-Year 6 are welcome to a Maths Passports/Guided Reading Workshop to be held: Monday 20TH January 7.45 to 8.30am This workshop is for those parents who are keen on helping out in class with Maths Passports. There will also be a presentation on Key Stage 2 Guided Reading and how you can help your child at home. We look forward to seeing you there! As this is a repeat of last terms workshop, it is for new parents only Leia Bremmer KS2 Maths Leader Hilary Sinclair/Jenny Barratt KS2 Literacy Leaders

JPS SPORTS
The athletics squad has now been selected based on the performances by children at the athletics enrichment days and during lesson time. All selected students have now received a letter. The PE department has been very impressed with the standards of effort and ability from all children during enrichment days and in lessons.

SHEIKH ZAYED MOSQUE TRIP

On Wednesday 15th January, Mr. Hazem, Ms. Oum and members of the Arabic teaching team took some Islamic students from Years 4 and 5 to visit Sheikh Zayed mosque in Abu Dhabi. The trip was a great success with students learning a great deal about how the mosque was built, who designed it, where the materials came from and how popular it is with visitors from all over the world. Special interest was shown in the beautiful handmade carpet that covers the prayer area and also the enormous chandeliers that light the mosque. The trip was a wonderful event that not only enriched our Islamic knowledge, but also supported our cultural studies

PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT WEEK

Sunday 19th January 2014

We are delighted to announce our fifth annual Parental Engagement week commencing Sunday 19th January. This was a tremendous success last year and a highlight in the calendar for parents, children and staff. Below is a brief overview of some of the events you can expect from the week and overleaf is a timetable of all events for your reference. Next week more detailed letters will be emailed about all events including how to take part. Our key foci this year are Creative Curriculum Assessments, Anti-Bullying, Introduction to our new Website JPS Weebly, revising the school Vision and Helping your childs class produce an amazing stall for the Spring Fair! Pupil-Parent Conferences. The idea of these sessions this year is for your child to engage with you and share their assessments of themselves in their Creative Curriculum sessions. They will share with you the ways in which they work, how they learn best and what they need to do to develop in certain areas. Your class teacher will send you two slot options and then reply to let them know when you would like to came and share your childrens experiences. Spring Fair Involvement .. Each class has a stall that is shared for the Annual Spring Fair and this year we would like the children to link their stall in with their Maths, DT, ICT and Art learning. They will need your help! The classteachers will let you know which session/s you can come in and support the production of their stall. Please let your teachers know of your interest to support and involve yourselves in this exciting opportunity! Talks in School During the week we will be holding talks here at JPS that aim to support engagement The Wellbeing Team will lead workshops aimed at understanding and implementing techniques for your children.

Anti-Bullying

BULLYING: recognizing it, preventing it, treating it Bullying is when a child repeatedly and on purpose says or does mean or hurtful things to another child. As much as we condemn bullying at JPS, unfortunately it can still happen with social, emotional and academic consequences for our pupils. We therefore all need to be aware of what bullying symptoms look like, how to prevent it and what we can do if our child is confronted to this situation, either as a bully, a victim or a bystander. JPS students will also be learning and discussing this important topic during assemblies as well as in class throughout the week. The Workshops will be held on Monday 20th January at 1pm and then repeated on Tuesday 21st January at 8am. There is allocation for 60 people per workshop and sign up for badges must be through Lamya Gabr in reception from Monday 14th January.

The JPS Weebly Workshop

Join Mr. Kris Powell in this workshop designed to introduce you to our resource website: The JPS Weebly. We will tour the school site, exploring the Student and Parent sections. You will be able to locate the Home Learning and Newsletters amongst a plethora of other resources that will support your family to engage with learning. The JPS Weebly Workshop will be held on Tuesday 21st January 1pm and repeated on Thursday 23rd January 8am. There is allocation for 60 people per workshop and sign up for badges must be through Lamya Gabr in reception from Monday 14th January. After School Activities All ASAs will continue as normal throughout the week.

Rachel Higgins School Improvement Leader

Parental Engagement Week Sunday 19th January to Thursday 23rd January

SUNDAY 19th

MONDAY 20th

TUESDAY 21st

WEDNESDAY 22nd

THURSDAY 23rd PAPERLESS DAY

Events Taking Place in the School Day

Pupil-Parent Conferences reviewing the Creative Curriculum Assessment Files Times to be allocated and sent out from Year Groups Return slips to book your slots Class Spring Fair Stall Projects Times to be allocated and sent out from Classes Ruth Miskin / Guided Reading and Maths Passports FS2/KS1/KS2 NEW PARENTS ONLY (7.45-8.30am) The Vision and Mission Statement PARENTAL COUNCIL MEMBERS ONLY Introduction to the JPS Weebly 60 places register with PRE Lamya Gabr (7.45-8.45am)

FS2 Curriculum Preview FS2 PARENTS ONLY (7.45-8.30am

Anti-Bullying Talk to Parents 60 places register with PRE Lamya Gabr (7.45-8.45am)

Y5 Curriculum Preview Y5 PARENTS ONLY (1.30-2pm)

Anti-Bullying Talk to Parents 60 places register with PRE Lamya Gabr (1pm-2pm)

Introduction to the JPS Weebly 60 places register with PRE Lamya Gabr (1pm -2pm)

Y6 Curriculum Preview Y6 PARENTS ONLY (12.30-1pm)

Evening Activities

PTA Movie Night Ticket sales start on 16th January

MOVIE NIGHT
Come and watch Despicable Me 2 under the stars on the JPS astroturf! 5:00 - 7:30pm Bring your bean bags/chairs/mats. Food and drinks will be available for purchase. Ticket Sales on 19th January!!

Parents Association SPRING FAIR

Donations Wanted

The JPS Spring Fair Organising Committee needs your help in finding prizes for the Terrific Tombola stall and second-hand books for the upcoming Spring Fair
Do you have any unused/ unopened toys or gifts in very good condition? If so, they will make excellent tombola prizes get sorting and donate those gifts and items!

JPS Spring Fair 28th February 2014

Books Do you have any you dont want anymore? Pass them on!

Corporate Gifts If you know anyone or any companies that can offer lovely corporate gifts, e.g. hampers/ vouchers for our Terrific Tombola please let us know.

Your donations are vital for the success of our Spring Fair. If you have any items that are in excellent condition please deliver directly to the school and place in the boxes in the school foyer. In case of doubt feel free to call Nilam (0551432174), Buzzy (0554612992) or Bernadette (0553507077) (Spring Fair Committee members)

GEMS TRIATHLON - YOU NEVER KNOW UNTIL YOU TRI!

This is a unique event organized especially for GEMS Students, Parents and Staff to create awareness about the sport, offering all in the GEMS Community the opportunity to become active in a multi-sport event, either as individuals or in a relay team, and to enhance what GEMS has to offer all sport wise - in their Community.

The event is only open to all GEMS related students, parents and staff of all ages and abilities and will be hosted by GEMS World Academy (GWA), Al Barsha, Dubai. To register please open the link provided below and click on ONLINE ENTRY http://www.supersportsdubai.com/event-registration-article-forms/gems-juniortriathlon.html

JPS Car Boot Sale Friday 31st January 2014

Gates Open to Public At 8am!!

Everyone is welcome - parents, teachers, children and friends. If you have anything you would like to sell - your unused or unwanted treasures - its time to book a table. Cost is Dhs60 per table and registration forms are available at JPS Reception. Tables are booking fast so reserve yours today! Set up for vendors from 7am.
If youre interested in booking a table please email info_jps@gemsedu.com or pick up your booking form at the JPS school reception