Newsletter Issue 67 – Wednesday 29th November 2017

I am sure that you will have been aware that our school has been a flurry of excitement in the last couple of weeks as busy preparations have got underway to mark our own National Day activities today, ahead of the 46th National Day in the UAE. National Day is celebrated on 2nd December each year as it marks the UAE’s union between the seven emirates - it is a time of celebration, a coming together to mark the anniversary of the federal unification of the emirates which have combined to establish a modern, forward-thinking country. This concept of unity, of connecting and joining together led me to think about our values at DESS and serves as a reminder of how strong our community is and how important it is to collaborate and connect with each other. Research has shown that social connection improves physical health and mental and emotional wellbeing. Matthew Lieberman, a distinguished social psychologist and neuroscientist, draws on psychology and neuroscience research to confirm what Aristotle asserted a long ago in his Politics: “Man is by nature a social animal.” Just as human beings have a basic need for food and shelter, we also have a basic need to belong to a group and form relationships; the desire to fit in at school, to avoid rejection and loss, to see your friends do well and be cared for, to share good news with your family, to cheer on your sports team, all these things motivate an incredibly impressive array of our thoughts, actions and feelings. Recent studies have shown that a strong social connection can also lead to a 50% increased chance of longevity, can strengthen your immune system, can help you to recover from disease faster and may even lengthen your life. No wonder that in The United Arab Emirates Declaration of Happiness and Positivity, it states that “… the achievement of happiness is a fundamental human goal and aspiration of all people. Happiness represents a holistic approach for development, wellbeing and prosperity and it is the path towards a better world”.

So how timely it is that we all came together this morning to listen and learn from one of our Emirati families, the Almheiri family who brought their salukis and falcon to show to the children and to share information about Arabian animals during our National Day celebrations. Our special thanks and gratitude go to all of them for spending time with us today as the children were enthralled learning about how Bedouin and Emirati families have valued their hunting dogs for their intelligence, obedience and hunting skills. It was such an honour to spend time with these magnificent animals and to learn more about them.

And let us not forget that Thursday also marks the UAE’s own day of remembrance marked on 30th November, known as Commemoration Day. The act of remembrance rightly has a place in and an impact on our lives. It encourages us to take a step back and reflect on how fortunate we are and

reminds us to be grateful and cherish what we have. I encourage everyone to spend one minute tomorrow at 11.30am in unified reflection.

Please be reminded that we are currently sorting out large volumes of lost property and, whilst we return named articles to your children, there are still many items that are not claimed or returned. Please ensure that all articles are clearly named with your child’s name and class so that if they are misplaced, they can be returned to their rightful owner. Many congratulation to our staff ‘Stars of the Week’ this week –

Wael Abbas for this great work with the Arabic environment and being so willing to always help out with extra work and Matt Adams for his energy and euthasiasm in developing our Literacy Curriculum.

Stars of the Week

We are proud to announce that the following children each received this week’s Star of the Week. Each child received a certificate during assembly and a big round of applause from their teachers and fellow classmates. Well done to everyone!

Thursday 23rd November Vania Kakar FS2B Arhaan Bhojwani 3R Hope Lawrence FS2G Sanaa Nooruddin 3Y Sarah Al-Hashimi FS2O Liam Arnot 4B Isabella Joughin FS2R Zialla Simon 4G Ihsaan Alam FS2Y Gabriella Lombardi 4O Henry Milne 1B Mackenzie Bolger 4R Youssef Sultan 1G Freddie Tebbs 4Y Dylan Henry 1O Sophie Wingrove 5B Riaana Malhotra 1R Max Roberts 5G Cayden Clement 1Y Summayyah Nasibah 5O Alexander Grieve 2B Luci Pettit 5R Gabriella Dias 2G Daniel D'Souza 5Y Aman Manuel 2O Noah Vizzard 6B Florence Dando 2R Mustafa Munniwala 6G Maria Asghar 2Y Jasmine Quick 6O Mark Higgins 3B Ben Walton 6R Leon Wierling 3G Sean Freij 6Y Avneet Plahe 3O

Arabic Stars of the Week Dylan Henry Year 1 Frederick Liedtke Year 4 Mona Eldejani Year 2 Julia Kindstrad Year 5 Lochlan Keifer Y3 Year 3 Jame Treble Year 6

Save the Date

DESC 7s Netball Tournament

Our Year 5 (A+B) netball teams recently played in the DESC 7s Tournament. There were lots of schools from Dubai in attendance with both teams playing 5 games within their pool. The competition was tough and the girls played really well, supporting each other throughout and developing their skills each game. It was a fantastic tournament run by the DESC PE team and we look forward to the season ahead.

DESC 7s Football Tournament

A wonderful afternoon of football at DESC was enjoyed by multiple Dubai schools. DESS entered two teams who both played some exciting football. The B team had a terrific win against Repton A and Rashid A but narrowly missed out on the knock-out stages. The A team had 3 wins in the group stages and qualified for the Bowl Final where they met a strong Foremarke team. DESS came out on top winning the final 4-1. Well done to all the boys who competed.

BSME U11 Netball at Kings Dubai

Kings Dubai hosted the very first stand-alone BSME U11 Netball Tournament here in Dubai. The competition consisted of 14 schools across the Middle East from Muscat, Riyadh, Jeddah, Bahrain and Dubai. The tournament took place over the full weekend and it was a great opportunity for DESS to play a range of schools. The DESS girls played extremely well in every game and finished second in our pool at the end of Day 1. We therefore qualified to the Cup quarter finals against Kings School Dubai for Day 2. A 7-1 victory took us through to the Cup semi-finals against Nord Anglia School with the final score being 8-1 to DESS. The final was between DESS and Horizon School and it was a nail-biting and phenomenal game from start to finish. Full time score was 8-8 and therefore went into 10 minutes extra time. It was point for point with both teams showing incredible drive and determination throughout. At the end of full time the final score was 12-11 to Horizon. DESS were crowned runners up in the Cup Final of the BSME U11 Netball Tournament 2017. Huge congratulations to all our girls, we are very proud of every single one of them.

Squad: Rosie Lloyd, Caitlin Gowdy, Maisy Baker, Suraya Small, Tess Ayre, Alice McCann, Matilda

Mann, Daisy Mullane, Florence Ashcroft and Niamh Brennan Batory.

Repton Year 3 Boys Football Tournament

Repton's annual tournament attracted 14 Dubai schools taking part in 4 leagues on the day. With 2 extra places available, hosts Repton and DESS also had B teams playing in the event. Year 3A side have had a good run recently in the Dubai league and had high hopes of doing well on the day. In their league they gained 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss; in so doing progressing to the Cup quarter final as League runners-up. In their Quarter final against Foremarke neither team were able to score in the 10 minutes. DESS did demonstrate good spells of possession. Unfortunately, with a result being needed for the next knock out game, the match went to penalties with DESS losing out. The team should take heart from their performance as Foremarke went on to win the tournament. Year 3B side have been on great form and unbeaten in their Dubai Regional B league so this was a great opportunity to play against A sides. In their league games they managed to gain a draw and 2 narrow losses. Following these results, they progressed into the Plate competition. Coming up against Repton B side they won their quarter final and in so doing progressed into the Plate semi-final v Kings A team. Once again the team showed great character, having scored early and with Kings scoring late they held on to the draw. Like the A side they were unfortunately defeated in the penalty shootout. Great to see how well all the boys have progressed over the season!

Repton U9 Girls Football Tournament

A huge well done to all the girls who were selected to play in the Repton Football Tournament on Thursday in the A and B team. Each team did very well in the group stage – DESS A team won two games and DESS B team drew two which allowed both teams to progress into the knockout stages of the Cup competition. DESS A played a brilliant game in the quarter final beating Repton 5-0 and the B team pulled off a big shock defeating Jess Jumeirah 2-1 which meant both teams qualified for the semi-finals. Unfortunately, the way the draw worked out DESS A had to play DESS B in the semi- final! The girls had mixed feelings about playing each other in the semi-final as one team had to miss out on the final. In a very tight game the A team pulled ahead and secured victory with a 1-0 win. Both teams displayed great sportsmanship and finished the game with hugs.

DESS A would go on to play against a strong Foremarke team in the final. The girls were very determined and had a great attitude going into the game. Some great football and teamwork enabled them to win the game 2-0 and take the title! The tournament was a great display of the strength and depth we have in school with both the A and B teams qualifying for the cup competition. A fantastic afternoon of football; well done girls.

An Enchanted Tale

We are all very excited about DESPA Academy's show 'An Enchanted Tale' on Wednesday 6th December at 4pm and Thursday 7th December at 5pm in the Latifa Hall. With both DESS and DESC students performing together on stage from FS1 right up to Year 13 it's a fantastic way to help get in a festive mood for all the family. Please make sure to get your tickets from the school reception.

“An Enchanted Tale tells the story of Emily, a little girl who just can't find it in her heart to

believe. One night while trying to fall asleep, she is visited by the Blue Fairy and Peter Pan, who have a story to tell. Along with some of your favourite Disney Characters, and wondrous singing and

dancing, Emily - and all of us - are reminded of the power of dreams and positive thinking.”

DESS Library wishes you a Happy National Day!

Thank you to those parents and children who visited the Book Worm Book Fair last week. It was lovely to see how much the children enjoyed looking at the books It was a huge success enabling the library to acquire about 100 new books from the commission that Book Worm generously provides. In conjunction with the Literature festival, DESS library held their own writing competition. We had some fantastic entries from Years 3 to 6 on the topic of Memories. Winners will be announced soon… In honour of UAE National Day this week, we held a number of special events in the library. On Tuesday, the Foundation Stage children came for a special interactive storytelling session with the librarians. They also acted out the story, ‘Sand into Cities’, by Christina Fernandes, which highlights the formation of the UAE and its culture. On Wednesday, celebrated author Julia Johnson came in to speak to Years 1 and 2 in our DESS library. We loved hearing Julia read her stories and making them come alive. All this week, the children have been reading the story Two Great Leaders by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai). It has been entertaining to watch some of the boys hone their acting skills as Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum (Previous Ruler of Dubai) and Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan (Former President of the United Arab Emirates) to act out the story.

A Music Note…..

It has been a busy few weeks in the Performing Arts Department. Year Six auditions are well underway for their production later this year. This week we had the second round and next week we will complete the auditions and post the cast list. We have loved seeing the talent that is in the year group and well done to everyone for putting in so much effort. Dance auditions will also take place next week. Children who would like to audition need to go to the Dance Studio on Monday 4th December at 9.50 a.m. They do not need to prepare anything. Good luck to everyone. We have a lot of Festive events coming up over the next two weeks so here is a little summary of what you can expect. Daytime Festive Concerts

FS1 Sing-Along Monday 11th at 11.30 a.m. FS2 Concert Sunday 10th at 1.30 p.m. KS1 Concert Monday 11th at 1.30 p.m. Year 3 & 4 Concert Tuesday 12th at 1.30 p.m. Year 5 & 6 Concert Wednesday 13th at 1.30 p.m. These concerts will take place in Latifa Hall and doors will be open at 11.00 am for the FS1 concert and 1 p.m. for all others. Concerts will start promptly at the times above. Dubai Winter Festival

Our fantastic Key Stage One and Key Stage Two Choirs will be performing at the Winter Festival in the Media City Amphitheatre on Thursday 6th December at 5 p.m. If you had planned on attending this event over the weekend, why not come along and see the choirs perform on the Thursday. We would love to see you there! Carol Service

On Sunday 10th December at 3.00 p.m. we will have our annual carol service at the Holy Trinity Church. All parents and children are invited to attend. Key Stage Two children will be brought to the church at 2.30 p.m. by members of the teaching staff. Any Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 children who wish to attend will need to be collected from school by parents and brought directly to the church for the service. All children will need to be collected from the church at 3.30 p.m. after the service. Further information and an online registration form is now available on the Parent Portal and parents should register their interest for children to attend. DESS Winter Concert

On Monday 11th December we will have our evening concert at DESS. This event will take place at 6.00 p.m. in Latifa Hall. It will feature some magical performances from our Key Stage Two Choir and soloists, as well as a festive sing-along to get us all in the holiday mood. An online registration form is also available for this event and we would ask that anyone planning to attend should submit this so that we have an idea of numbers. We are very lucky in DESS to have such talented children and we are delighted to have so many events to showcase this talent. We would love to see you at some of these events, and if you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Mead on nmead@dessdubai.net

Junior Leadership Team

Last Wednesday, the Junior Leadership Team were invited to visit Saint Martin’s church in Sharjah for a memorial service and to learn a little about the history of the surrounding area and the British soldiers who served there. Their behaviour and levels of respect was exemplary and they were truly fantastic ambassadors for DESS.

Coding Enrichment League

DESS was represented by two teams at the recent Enrichment League which took place at JESS Jumeirah on Coding. The teams were all brilliant in terms of their behaviour and their creative coding. Both teams had to design, code a game and create a book of instructions (using Book Creator). The representatives of Year 3 and 4 were runners up and were only 4 points behind the winners. The representatives of Year 5 and 6 produced a great game. Both teams combined were 2nd place in a technology themed Kahoot quiz with over 20 questions. Well done to the following children who represented DESS!

Ali Nurani (3R), Oliver Swann (3R), Ryan Andrews (4Y), Ali Maszomedeh (4G) Aqsa Rajpoot (5G), Shawn Abrahimi (5O) Sam Hepworth (6Y) and Alex Kindstrand (6G)

Upcoming Events Please note that as the DESS Newsletter is biweekly, please refer to the Parent Portal in the first instance in case there is a date change.

Martyrs Day – School Closed Thursday 30th November National Day – School Closed Sunday 3rd December Year 7 Sept. 2018 DESS–DESC Application Deadline Monday 4th December DESStive Day Wednesday 6th December 2pm to 4pm DESPA Show – An Enchanted Tale Wednesday 6th December 4pm DESPA Show – An Enchanted Tale Thursday 7th December 5pm U11s Festive Football & Netball Tournament Thursday 7th December DESS Choir at Media City Thursday 7th December at 5pm Foundation 2 Concert Sunday 10th December at 1.15pm Latifa Hall Church Service Sunday 10th December 3.00pm – 4.00pm FS1 Concert Monday 11th December 11.30pm – 12pm Year 1 & 2 Concert Monday 11th December 1.15pm – 2.15pm Festive Concert with KS2 Choir Monday 11th December 6pm in the Latifa Hall Year 3 & 4 Concert Tuesday 12th December 1.15pm – 2.15pm Year 5 & 6 Concert Wednesday 13th December 1.15pm – 2.15pm Last Day of Term 1 Thursday 14th December

Enjoy the weekend break!

Jane Shaddick-Brady

Deputy Headteacher