16th May/Issue Number 2

Dear Parents,

Ramadan Kareem from all the GEMS Founders Al Mizhar team. Welcome to the second edition of our pre-opening newsletter.

In this edition you will find out more about the completion of the building, the National Curriculum for England and our Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) programme.

The building is now 92% complete and still ahead of schedule. On Wednesday 9th May myself and colleagues from GEMS education visited the site once again. The school is looking fantastic as you can see from the photographs.

Latest Photographs of the site.

The multi purpose hall

One of the many almost completed corridors

Outside play area with shades play equipment will be installed next

The FS indoor play area Library completed just needs shelves and books.

16th May/Issue Number 2

Uniform updates

Uniform updates –We are still awaiting final pricing from the suppliers but I am delighted to share the images below of the newly designed GEMS Founders uniform.

16th May/Issue Number 2

National Curriculum for GEMS Founders Al Mizhar

For some it is the tough, rigorous and flexible nature of the National Curriculum.

For others it is the international recognition and world class standards that it

offers. For us at GEMS Founders Al Mizhar, it is all the above and how the

curriculum matches perfectly to our four pillars of; inclusivity, computational

thinking, social/emotional learning and mindfulness.

At GEMS Founders Al Mizhar for students in Year 1 to 6 we have used the breadth

of subjects that the National Curriculum of England offers and personalised it for

our context. We have achieved this by selecting the most talented authors and

genres that the United Kingdom has to offer. I am now going to introduce you to

some of the authors who we have selected to form the foundations of our

thematic approach to teaching the National Curriculum.

Michael Rosen

Michael Rosen

After graduating from Oxford University in 1969 Michael has had a hugely successful career writing and publishing stories and poetry. His achievements have included being appointed the British Children's Laureate for three consecutive years from 2007 until 2009.He has also been awarded honorary doctorate and master’s degree from multiple universities within the UK and abroadOne of Michael’s most recognise story’s is ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt’ that won a

range of awards including Smarties Book Prize in 1989 and on it’s 25th anniversary

broke a World Record for the 'Largest Reading Lesson'

16th May/Issue Number 2

Michael Rosen

Ted Hughes

Ted, born in 1930, was an English poet and children's writer. Critics

frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of

the twentieth century's greatest writers. He served as Poet Laureate

from 1984 until his death. In 2008 The Times newspaper ranked Ted

fourth on their list of ‘The 50 greatest British writers since 1945’. One of

Ted’s most famous books is ‘The Iron Man’ which he wrote in 1968 and

more recently has been adapted and transformed into an animated film

named ‘The Iron Giant’ by Warner Bros.

16th May/Issue Number 2

Michael Rosen

Sir Michael Morpurgo

Michael is currently one of, if not the most famous British authors and playwrights, know best for children's novels such as the Butterfly Lion. His work is noted for its magical storytelling, for recurring themes such as the triumph of an outsider or survival, for characters' relationships with nature, and for vivid settings such as the Cornish coast. Michael became the third Children's Laureate, from 2003 to 2005. In 2018 Michael was Knighted by the Queen for his services to literature and charity.

It gives us great pleasure to share with you that these three incredible authors alongside many others will form the foundations of the thematic curriculum your children will study. In the coming newsletters we will tell you all about the exciting curriculum that we will be offering your children in FS1/FS2 and from Year 7 upwards.

16th May/Issue Number 2

Social and Emotional Learning

Why do we send our children to school ?

‘To Learn’ - We all want our children to be confident, responsible successful young adults. Intelligence Quotient(IQ) plays a role in it, however, what about Emotional Quotient (EQ)? In jobs requiring a high IQ people who are outstanding in their field are the people who have soft skills like empathy, determination, ability to work with others, manage their own self and make responsible decisions.Why are we talking about it ? Because GFM is going to deliver a Social and Emotional Learning Programme which will help your child develop these key competencies:1) Self Awareness2) Self Management3) Social Awareness4) Relationship skills5) Responsible Decision Making

Research says that children participating in SEL programmes perform better academically and have fewer behaviour issues, have more positive relationships with friends and family and become life long learners. After all, education the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.

“We carry with us, as human beings, not just the capacity to be kind, but the very choice of kindness.”-

R.J. Palacio, Wonder

16th May/Issue Number 2