Volume 1, Issue 1
December 2012
Al Hekma International School—Maamoura Branch
Monthly Newsletter—Qatar
December Activities
Principal’s Note
• 3 Sports Day Grades 1-6
• 6 Parent / Teacher Conferences
Dear Parents,
• 2 - 6 Technology Week
(Grades PS - 8)
With a very dedicated and
experienced staff, your
child has an excellent
opportunity to reach his
potential this school year.
We are confident that
with your support your
child will excel here at
AHIS. All students can
learn and will when
school and home work
together as a team.
There are many ways you
can help in your child’s
education.
Provide a quiet place in
your home for your child
to complete his homework. Make sure that
your child get enough
sleep every night, even on
weekends. Ensure that
your child maintains good
school attendance. However, you should not send
your child to school if he
is sick. Call the Academic
• 9 Math Activity (Gr. 1-8)
• 10 Sports Day (KGs)
•
17 Qatar National Day
Celebration
• 18 Qatar National Day
• 18 - January 1, 2013 Winter
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Principal’s Note
1
Reading Books Over the
Winter Break
1
Report Card Advice for
Parents
2
US Embassy Visit
2
Diabetes Walk
2
How to Raise a Curious
Reader
3
Friendship Day
3
In the classroom
3
Health and Safety Week
4
Explore the Past
4
AHIS - First PTA Meeting
5
Picture Gallery
6
Controller/Principal, if you
have any school related
concerns. Ensure that
your child is wearing complete uniform everyday .
Qatar National Day celebration will be held on
December 17, from 911:00 am. Students from
PS—Grade 8 have been
practicing and preparing
for this special day. We
invite all parents and their
families to come and enjoy this day with their
children.
Reading Books Over the Winter Break
AHIS provides their students with access to an elibrary. Check out the following sites over the winter
break and have your children read a book over the
vacation.
www.pebblego.com
Username: alhekma
Password:school
www.tumblebooklibrary.com
Username: alhekma
Password: login
www.tumblereadables.com
Username: alhekma
Password: login
The school will be closed
from December 18,
2012—January 1, 2013
for the winter break. We
wish all of you a happy
and restful vacation with
your family and friends.
Sincerely,
Sahar Riad Alkhatib
Principal
PAGE 2
MONTHL Y NEWSLETTER—QATAR
Report Cards: Advice for Parents
A child's report card can bring feelings of joy, excitement, and pride; it
can also cause concern, frustration, and uncertainty. In either case, the
reporting period marks a new beginning to set goals and reflect on past
work habits, achievements, and hardships. Most important, it is a time
for you to communicate with your children and determine a path for
future academic enrichment and social-emotional growth.
study habits. Determine whether
or not your child is recording all
assignments and bringing home
all materials necessary to complete them. Does your child have
a specific nightly homework time
(Sunday through Thursday) when
he cannot be disturbed? If not,
Focus on the Positive: Regardless of the grades your child brings
this would be a great time to
home, you must first focus on positive aspects of the report. This is not establish one! If so, is it long
always an easy task. For some, this might mean highlighting a strong
enough? Does your child have a
effort or citizenship grade, or praising an academic accomplishment or specific place to study where
a perfect attendance record. Starting on a positive note shows your
resources (including someone to
child that you truly care about the accomplishments, not only areas that answer questions) are available
need improvement.
and distractions are minimized? Is
your child completing all homeAsk the Right Questions: Be careful not to overreact to low grades, work on a nightly basis, or are
or grades you view to be unsatisfactory. Instead, use this time to look at assignments being turned in late,
or not at all? Once you have deterpast performance and plan for the future. Talk to your child, asking
mined the problem, you can begin
questions to understand how a particular grade was earned:
to create a solution.
well as rewards and consequences if they are not. Type the
"official plan" and post one copy
in a prominent household location, another in your child's
binder, and forward another to
her teacher. Involving your child
gives her ownership and importance in this process, and this
makes the report card important
not only to you, but also to your
child. As parents and teachers,
we want the best for children, but
in too many cases this is measured only by the number of A's
and B's brought home. Emphasize
to your child the importance of
doing the very best job that he
can. Encourage him to succeed,
and measure his progress in
realistic terms, letting him know
that you care and are available to
help. Break tasks into small
• Was the work too difficult?
The Next Step
steps, so that even the youngest
Creating a plan to maximize fu• Could the pace of the class be inappropriate (too fast, so that your ture academic success is an im- child can measure her growth,
child feels "lost," or too slow, causing your child to feel "bored")?
and the most advanced child can
portant part of every child's eduher progress. By review• Does your child complete all homework and ask questions when cation. Help your child set realistic monitor
ing the report card, and developand attainable goals for the next
problems arise?
ing a plan for the future, you will
reporting period. Outline ways in
which these goals can be met, as help your child find the road to
The answers you receive might indicate a need to review your child's
success.
U.S. Embassy Visits Al Hekma Students
An education isn’t how
much you have committed
to memory, or even how
much you know. It’s being
able to differentiate between
what you do know and what
you don’t.
Anatole France
Mrs. Julia Kirby and Mr. John
Luke from the US Embassy
paid a visit to the students
on November 27. They read
the story “The Lorax” to 4th,
5th , and 6th grade students. The spoke to the
children about the importance of taking care of their
environment and the different things they can do to
help in their daily lives.
AHIS Participates in Diabetes Walk
Students and Family Members of AHIS participated in
the Diabetes Walk-a-thon
on Friday, 16th November,
2011. It was held by the
Qatar Diabetes Association
in the Doha Cornice. This is
to celebrate the World Diabetes Day and to shed light
on the importance of prevention. The celebration
was filmed live on State of
Qatar Channel.
VOLUM E 1, ISSUE 1
PAGE 3
How to Raise a Curious Reader
Begin reading to your child at
birth. Let your baby play with
the book. If the baby sometimes doesn’t seem interested, put the book away
and try again another time.
Raising a reader takes time
and patience. Be animated.
Use different voices and
facial expressions as you
read. Make it fun!
Choose books that use word
repetition, rhymes, and predictable text. Decide on a
regular time to read each
day; even five or ten minutes
gets children ready to read
on their own.
Before reading the book
together, have your child
take a “picture walk”
through the book and make
predictions about the story.
Let your child turn the pages
and point to words as you
read.
Encourage a love of words by
playing rhyming and word
games, singing silly songs, or
writing stories together.
Satisfy Your Child’s Curiosity
Choose books that support your child’s interests, from dinosaurs
to wizards. Reread your child’s favorite books whenever asked.
After several retellings, ask your child to tell you the story.
Involve your child in the reading by asking questions! Ask “what”
questions; avoid questions that require a simple “yes” or “no”
answer. You might ask, “What do you think will happen next?”
Remember to give your child time to think about the question and
respond. Take your child to the book store to buy books and explore the many resources available to them. Encourage your child
to visit the school library and check out books to take home. Ask
your child to show you what they checked out
and take time to ask them why they chose this
particular book and learn about what interests
them. Read the book to your child or have
them read to you.
If your child shows an interest in a picture either by talking about it or pointing to it, follow
up immediately by asking questions and letting
your child answer.
Most important, have fun reading to
your child!
Friendship Day
Friendship Day is dedicated to
the bond of friendship and
companionship and was celebrated by AHIS – Maamoura
students on Monday 12 November, 2012. The occasion
began as a small event, to
commemorate the relation
shared by friends and then,
has taken the shape of a
grand festival.
Students exchanged of gifts,
flowers, friendship bands and
handmade greeting cards on
that special day.
It is the perfect occasion to
show your friends that you
care and to recollect sweet
memories of the time spent
together. True friends are
hard to find, so if you have
one, make sure that you let
your friend know on this day
how much they mean to you.
A true friend is
someone who thinks
that you are a good
egg even though he
knows that you are
slightly cracked
.
In the Classroom - 6th Grade Students - The Mongol Empire
Genghis Khan, a warrior that
had united the Mongols
under his rule. It was reported that he was born with
a blood clot grasped in his
fist, a traditional sign that he
was destined to become a
great leader. Grade 6 studied the Mongol Empire and
their various attacks; they
also enjoyed playing a crossword puzzle to check their
understanding of the lesson.
VOLUM E 1, ISSUE 1
PAGE 4
Health and Safety Week
Health Week was a weeklong health observance that
took place from Sunday,
November 18, 2012 until
Thursday, November 21,
2012 coordinated by the
science Department. It encouraged students to take
the steps to improve their
physical and mental health
and lower their risks of certain diseases:
• Visit a health care professional to receive regular
checkups. • Get active by exercising. • Eat healthy. • Pay attention to mental
health, including getting
enough sleep and managing
stress. •
Avoid unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking
and not wearing a seatbelt or bicycle helmet.
Students applied what they
learned by working on the
following activities:
In Arabic: Did Research
about health.
In Math: Played treasure
hunt and bingo games.
In Science: Drew their own
logos about health and
safety and performed a play
about Healthy and Unhealthy
foods.
In English and Social Studies: Wrote letters to their
friends about incidents they
had.
In PE: Played fitness games,
gymnastic moves, and dis-
cussed the importance of exercise.
In Computer: Prepared a power point presentation about the topic. The best presentation was displayed on the school screens.
In Arts: Did some art crafts related to health,
and their work was hung on the bulletin
boards of the school.
Mr. and Mrs. Health explained how we can
keep a healthy body and distributed healthy
snacks to everyone and the nurse explained
to PS-3rd grade, how to take care of themselves, stay clean, hygienic, and avoid diseases.
Students went to the Civil Defense and
learned how they should react in case of fire.
They also attended a “First Aid” training
done by a trainee from “Hamad International
Training Center”.
This week helped in bringing students together in an effort to promote Student’s
health. Health Week empowered students to
make their health a top priority.
Thank you Mrs. Jamal for all your hard work
and efforts in organizing this special week.
Few things help an
individual more: to place
responsibility upon him,
and to let him know that
you trust him.
Booker T. Washington
Explore the Past to Inspire the Future
Students from grade 1
through grade 8 went on the
7th and 8th of November,
2012 to the “1001 Inventions” and “Arabic Roots’
that took place at the Museum of Islamic Art.
The latter shows 1001 inventions and Arabic Roots
that look at the 'Golden Age'
of Muslim Civilisation. Focusing on both the innovations
that originated in the Middle
East and how these were
later adopted by the west.
These dual exhibitions combine interactive displays with
ancient manuscripts and
artefacts.
The students were so excited
having an interactive exhibition with movies, live shows,
cultural events and educational seminars.
“These two exhibitions will
encourage Qatar’s younger
generation to innovate and
contribute towards a better
future”
School Timings
R is for Respect
School Year 2012/2013
If children are to show respect for others, they
need to understand what it is to be respected.
Author Michelle Borba emphasizes these parent
practices that nurture respect:
• Treat your child as the most important
person in the world.
• Encourage children to have high—but
achievable—expectations of themselves.
• Give love with no strings attached.
• Listen attentively and respectfully.
• Enjoy being together.
• Tell kids often why you love them.
Preschool to KG2
Sunday to Wednesday
Assembly : 7:10
Classes : 7:20 – 12:50
Thursday
Assembly : 7:10
Classes: 7:20 – 12:10
Grades 1 –8 Sunday to Wednesday Assembly : 7:10 Classes : 7:20—1:30 Thursday Assembly : 7:10 Classes : 7:20‐12:50 Important :
Attendance is a critical factor in any child’s school success.
Children should attend school everyday, except in cases of
illness or emergency. It is impossible to replace the
learning that happens on any school day with make-up work.
Regular attendance and promptness are good habits that
are expected and appreciated at all levels of schooling and
in the workplace. This year make school a priority in your
home. Commit to excellence in attendance. Your child’s
future depends on it!
No one has yet fully realized
the wealth of sympathy, kindness and generosity hidden in
the soul of a child. The effort
of every true educator should
be to unlock that treasure.
Emma Goldman
First PTA Meeting for the 2012/2013 Academic Year
On November 20, AHIS - Maamoura Branch held its first successful PTA meeting for the 2012/2013 academic year. One of the
topics discussed was the upcoming accreditation visits by QNSA
and NSA. The AHIS Maamoura campus will be working on acquiring accreditation from both institutions. It was discussed that
parents and community members play a vital role in the preparation of as well as the whole accreditation process. Elections were also held for the main positions of the PTA Board. The results were as follows: President : Talaat Abu Allan, Vice President: Arwa Salem, Communication Officer: Mohammed Al Shinawi, Treasurer: Rita Claase, Secretary: Rania Salem. The PTA Board will be meeting regularly to discuss the many important topics pertaining to the welfare of the students as well as the school. More information about the accreditation process and how parents can get involved will be sent home in the near future. Thank you to the following teachers: Ms. Jean Kwaasi, Ms. Lyndel Jonker, Ms. Faten Hussein, and Ms. Rania Meccaoui and accountant Ms. Batool Haj Hassan for also joining the PTA.