Dear Parents,
Mathematics worried me when I was a small child. The night before a mathematics test, I would lose sleep and panic. From an early age I developed a fixed mindset and a fear of maths as I always expected to fail.
On Thursday, Hannah Brown, Year 6 teacher and Mathematics Coordinator led a fun ‘Maths Rocks’ day, when the children and staff arrived at school dressed as rock stars. The day was designed by Ms Brown as a way to celebrate Maths and encourage and develop an open mindset. In Thursday’s assembly, I asked for a show of hands from the children to find out how many enjoy Maths. It was wonderful to observe a sea of hands raised with only a small handful of children worrying about the subject. It was a slightly different story with the adults as a few more hands were raised at the point when I asked who had worried about Maths as a child. Following this, Ms Brown presented mathematical problems to children, parents and teachers who were placed under tremendous pressure, completing tasks accompanied by a rock music backing track. Hopefully, all our children left the assembly with an open mindset, believing that Maths is fun. Thank you to Ms Brown for organising the day.
Also in last week’s assembly we presented bronze and silver medals to our Year 5 boys Basketball team. Well done to all the boys.
Last week, Ms Reid, the school’s Deputy Headteacher led an IPC (International Primary Curriculum) workshop for parents. Hopefully, parents found the session useful and have developed a deeper understand of the IPC curriculum and pedagogy.
Year 1 thoroughly enjoyed their visit to Roza Hassad garden centre last week. The visit was linked to the children’s IPC unit ‘Flowers and Plants’. The teachers arrived back at school with cucumbers and tomatoes plus lots of smiling children.
Yesterday, Year 6 departed for their ‘Blue Pearl’ camp. The children will be spending two nights under the stars. During the day the children will take part in many activities which include kayaking, climbing and mountain biking. This should be a memorable experience.
Parents, a quick reminder that tickets are now on sale for the FCS (Friends of Compass) Pizza and Movie afternoon. Please ensure that if you sign up for this event that your child is accompanied by an adult. Parents whose children are not attending ECAs will need to supervise children prior to the pizza and movie which starts at 2.30pm.
At the weekend, our production team met for a rehearsal. Our production of ‘The Piper’ will be performed to parents on Monday 18 March. The school is very much looking forward to the show.
Please remember to check your ‘Whats on’ calendar this month. The school has many forthcoming events which include trips, a musical ensemble and on Friday the Dutch community King’s day, followed by the Compass Madinat Khalifa spring fair on Saturday.
As the weather is warming up, please remember that your child must bring a cap to school as this will protect them from the sun.
Have a good week.
Karen Wilson
Head of Gharaffa campus