Esprit De Corps VOLUME 10, ISSUE 3 APRIL 2017 From the ... · PDF fileEsprit De Corps VOLUME...

1

From the Editor’s Desk

Esprit De Corps A P R I L 2 0 1 7 V O L U M E 1 0 , I S S U E 3

Dear readers,

Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmutullahi Wa Barakatuhu!

Working with your classmates is always a joy...and to work with your seniors and other students whom you have never known, is even better. The satisfaction and accom-plishment realized by working as a team to achieve the same goal is indescribable. With all minds focused towards achieving one goal, the stress and pressure is all shared. Collaboration is at its best and is evident in every single event of Al-Waha - whether it is a curricular, co-curricular or even an extra curricular activity, teaching and instilling teamwork in all its students.

Collaboration with a mixed age-group allows a bond of trust and friendship to be created amongst peers of different levels. It gives the students the opportunity to socialize and communicate with their seniors whom they otherise would not interact with. For the senior students it is an opportunity to com-municate and inspire their juniors, giving them tips while leading them with example and learning too along the way.

The sports day was a major event wherein teamwork echoed from every corner of the ground. The races and sports are an obvi-ous display of teamwork, but the work that goes unnoticed is the one done behind-the-scenes. The countless hours of training with your teammates, the long hours spent de-signing the Sports day banner and the co-ordination done with the P.E teacher, all lead to the successful execution of the most an-ticipated event of the year.

The student council election is yet another example of the same. What teamwork could

possibly be there, you ask? The whole pro-cess! Sure, the candidates are the ones do-ing most of the work but how could one voice possibly influence the whole school population? How could one person possibly fill the school grounds with large, colourful posters, promoting their ideas and cam-paign? It is the linking of efforts and spirit of the peers that makes it possible. I won’t get into much detail of the whole process though as that is for you to enjoy as you read the newsletter.

Finally, the last and most important example I could give to describe the teamwork present in Al-Waha is of course, the work of my colleagues and juniors in the making of the newsletter. Every event, every competition, every guest that was invited to Al-Waha; it is all swiftly and smoothly covered by the editorial team. Pictures are collected, interviews taken, articles written and edited and pages meticulously de-signed, the end product of which comes to you in time to inform you of the details of the next set of events taking place in Al-Waha. Hats off to you, guys! This mere paragraph does not fully do justice to the effort that goes into the newsletter, you deserve much more!

Its your turn to flip through the pages to en-joy the reporting of the many enriching co-curricular activities of Al – Waha, where teamwork that I have tried to highlight here, plays a vital, yet often, a silent and unno-ticed role.

-Sana Taha (12G), Editor-in-chief.

Poetry Writing

Annual Sports

Student Council

Shallal Field Trip

Urdu Debate

2

The best cam‐

paigning comes

from smiling,

talking to vot‐

ers and proving

yourself worth

their votes.

S cking posters

and campaign

materials are

great at le ng

voters know

your name but nothing beats walking up to your peers, engaging

them in a conversa on and convincing them to vote for you.

The students of grade 7 to 9 and 11 nominated 4 classmates they

deemed responsible enough for this job. Following this, the manage‐

ment shortlisted two to three candidates from each grade. There

was a lot of enthusiasm on campus for three consecu ve days. Eve‐

ryone was exhilarated with ebullience and excitement, persuading

their fellow school mates to vote for them; s cking banners on pil‐

lars, walls, doors etc. However, none of the candidates were le ng

the others down and were, in fact, vo ng for each other; sportsman‐

ship was in the air!

The candidates were allowed to campaign for three days, allowing

them to con‐

nect with

their peers

and share

campaign

points and

aims with

them.

During the

lunch break

there were

indefa gable crowds at different spots of the ground, endeavouring

to help us get a en on. Loud chants of “Vote For….” could be heard

with claps and a rhythm created by the students themselves.

Huge banners

roamed the

ground along

with us! Our

ground was a

prepossessing

mess.

However, the

campaigning

wasn’t con‐

fined to the 20

minutes of the break; candidates

visited classrooms and gave short

speeches with a few supporters.

Worry not, as no classes were

skipped or disturbed during these

days. Studies are important too!

The candidates strived to disap‐

point none while sincerely de‐

vo ng their me to bring forth

the best version of themselves.

Behind the worthwhile triumph,

was the strong hand of unity.

They had support from class ma‐

tes who assisted and shared cre‐

a ve ideas to make innova ve

li le badges for the voters. It was

an experience of a life me and

one that truly connected the

students together.

‐Nimra Rashid Siddiqui ‐9G1

CAMPAIGNING

Who acts as a bridge be‐

tween the students and

the management? That’s

right, it’s none other

than the student council

members.

On 16th February 2017,

the results were an‐

nounced, declaring the

next leaders of the

school: the president,

the vice president, and

the secretary. As their

names were summoned,

they proudly took their

steps towards the stage with beaming faces to take the oath

to embark on their new journey and fulfil their duty whole

heartedly. A er the responsibility was handed over to them by

the old student council, they were pinned with new, pres g‐

ious badges. A de‐

ligh ul sight, indeed!

Before a aining this

honoured posi on,

lots of arduous work

was completed be‐

hind the scenes by

the other candidates

as well. Soon, the day

arrived when the vot‐

ers from grades 7‐12

had to make their

decision and the can‐

didates were given

the last opportuni‐

ty to give their final speeches and

wrap up the occasion one last

me. Everyone was wai ng anx‐

iously to take a verdict for their

school's be erment while the can‐

didates had their fingers crossed

to get the most votes.

Finally, when the new student

council was publicized, the former

student council body was invited

on stage to share their expe‐

riences and brief the fresh body

regarding significant guidelines.

The whole school burst into a loud

round of applause and cheers

when the new student council was called up on stage: Sanee-ya Khadeejah Nazir as the President, Saima Taha Nadwi as the Vice President and Nimra Rashid Sid-diqui as the Secretary.

We hope they have a wonderful me, undertaking their job

sincerely and

may Allah ease

their responsibili‐

es over their

fellow mates.

Aameen!

‐Nimra Rashid

Siddiqui 9G1

STUDENT COUNCIL-

2017-18

4

Learning a new language takes lots of me and dedica‐

on, but being fluent in a second language offers nu‐

merous benefits and opportuni es. Studying a sec‐

ond language is exci ng and beneficial at all ages as it

offers prac cal and intellectual benefits.

Learning a second language will open up our mind and

change our perspec ve towards the different cultures

of the world.

Al Waha students are prepared from a young age to do

well in studies, score good marks and overcome any

challenge that they may encounter in life, and learning

a second language can assist them in overcoming

some of those trials.

The essay wri ng compe on is another extracurricu‐

lar ac vity which is related to second languages at Al

Waha and it is held every year. The Students of Saudi

and non‐Saudi Arabic, French, Hindi and Urdu, were

given three topics selected by their teachers according

to their grade level and they were asked to write an es‐

say on either one of those topics.

The result of these compe ons is men‐

oned on the next page.

‐Jawairiya Nadeem 7G2.

Second Language Essay Writing Competition

5

Competition Results

Hindi Grade Name Posi on

4G1 Nuboogh Hassan 1st

4B1 Aman Khan 1st

4G1 Ariba Zaima 2nd

4B2 Farhan Momin 2nd

5G1 Hajar Aslam 1st

5B1 Fawaz Kamali 1st

5G1 Aafia Naushad 2nd

6G1 Yusra Raihan 1st

6B2 Qayad 2nd

7B1 Syed Faraz 2nd

8G1 Nourain Inam 1st

8B1 Masir Zaved 2nd

Urdu

Grade Name Posi on

4G3 Ayesha A ab 1st

4G2 Zona Saad 2nd

4B3 Saim 2nd

5B3 Maazan Zaheer 1st

5B1 M Shaheer 2nd

5G2 Fathima Asim 2nd

6B1 Aashir 1st

6G2

Khadija Abdul

Rauf 2nd

7G2 Aaina Yousuf 1st

7B2 Ahmed Sheikh 2nd

8B2 Najaf Ahmed 1st

8G1 Mahrukh Khan 2nd

9G1 Rania Ahmed 1st

9B2 Ahmed Itefaq 2nd

Arabic Grade Name Posi on

5 Tala fathi 1st

6 Areej Mamdouh Khaleefa 2nd

7 Arwa Mamdouh 1st

8 Samah AbdulMunem 1st

9 Noura Jafar 1st

French Grade Name Posi on

6 Abeer Asif 1st

7 Sifana M. Abdullah 1st

8 Nimra Im az 1st

9 Anusha Rizvi 1st

Abdul Rahman Zubair 2nd

Ahmeduddin Siddiqui 2nd

6

ESSAY WRITING: AN AVENUE FOR

THOUGHTS

All around the school year, the students of Al Waha

enjoy a mul tude of extracurricular ac vi es; the

majority of which encourage teamwork and foster a

sense of community and partnership. However, Al Waha

also provides a way for students to display their prowess

at individual work, and the biggest opportunity for them

to do this is offered by the annual English essay wri ng

compe on.

Not only does essay wri ng improve general English

skills, but it also harnesses one's cri cal thinking abili‐

es. In order to improve their research skills, the stu‐

dents were given three topics to research on before‐

hand, and on the day of the compe on, they were

assigned one out of these three topics to write an essay

on. For once, silence reigned supreme in the classrooms

as students struggled to ar culate their thoughts into a

comprehensive format, and eventually came up with

eloquently‐expressed essays at the end of the designat‐

ed me period. A er the teachers me culously correct‐

ed and filtered the best essays, there could only be a

handful of winners from each grade level, however, the

names of whom are listed below:

‐Injila Jawaid, 9G2

GRADE POSITION

4

1. Nuboogh Hasan Chand (4G1) 2. Yusra Inam Amjad (4G2)

3. Zain Hassan(4B1), Faizan Babar (4B2)

5

1. Aabidh Abdul Cader(5B2) 2. Hajar Aslam (5G1) 3. Huda Jahangir (5G2)

6

1. Ahmed Abrar (6B2) 2. Zainab Mahmood (6G2) 3. Maniha Im az (6G1)

7

1. Ahmed Sheikh (7B2) 2. Maria Yousuf (7G3)

3. Jawwariya Nadeem (7G2)

8

1. Nourain Khan (8G1) 2. Omar Aslam (8B1) 3. Laiba Ijaz (8G1)

9

1. Injila Jawaid (9G2), Anusha Rizvi (9G2) 2. Ahmeduddin Siddiqui (9B1)

3. Rania Ahmed (9G1)

Annual Sports Day

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”.

The atmosphere was tense. Cold sweat running

down our faces and trickling along our chins; our

spines could feel the shivers. Yes, you guessed it

right, it was all because of the most awaited event

of the year – The Sports Day. It was that me of the

year that is the culmina on of all the efforts of stu‐

dents and teachers throughout the past few

months.

This even ul day began with a mo va onal speech

by the newly elected President and the very thrilling

torch relay performed by the enthusias c members

of the school management. Next, on the agenda

was the solo march of the Captain and Vice Captains

of all houses accompanied with their respec ve

flags to recite the na onal anthem.

Then, it was me for the teams’ March pass led by

the President and Vice President which was

immediately followed by the cheerleading drill of

our middle school’s youngest members. Once these

were done, the countless races had officially begun.

This year’s races had a variety planned the dedicat‐

ed team of educators at Al Waha, which took the

sports day to a whole new level. During all these

races, roars of the house members echoed through‐

out the ground to show their support for their fel‐

low house members compe ng in the respec ve

games.

A er the races had been successfully held, the

sports day was coming close to the end but

everyone was s ll wai ng for our tradi onal game –

Tug of War. First, our brave captains and vice cap‐

tains had to compete with each other un l finally,

the Green house captains stood as the victors. What

followed next was loud cheering and laughter, for it

was me for none other than our teachers to give

the Tug of War a hand! The students couldn’t help

but jump off their seats with excitement as they wit‐

nessed their teachers line up for the game!

Once the amusing game of Tug of War ended, the

students were sent back to their classes to replenish

their energy with goodies arranged by the school

and the best snack the school could offer in the

warm weather – Ice Cream!

Lastly, the day came to an end with the ceremony of medal distribu on and announcement of the champions of the Sports Day 2016 ‐ 2017. Adrenaline rushed through our veins and everyone eagerly eyed the coloured ribbons in Mrs. Farah’s hands un l she finally li ed the Green ribbon, declaring them the winners. Once again, the Green house had become champions, and even though it had been a long, ring day, the ground echoed with the cheers of Wahaites ll the end! I hereby conclude with the famous saying,

“Winners win, winners lose, but winners play”.

‐Rania Ahmed, 9G1

8

An

nu

al S

po

rts

Day

201

6-17

On your Marks… Get set… Go!

Middle School’s Cheerleading Drill...

Game plan in the works...

The teams March!

House Captains and Vice Captains

Victory for Green House!

10

Poetry Writing Competition

At Its Hilt!

William Wordsworth quoted:

“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.”

This was exactly what the students of Al‐Waha had done

for the Poetry Wri ng Compe on, which was held on

the 27th of February, 2017. The crea ve minds of the

students were given a chance to pour out their philo‐

sophical and deep thoughts as they beheld their pens

and sat alone with their storm of thoughts and a lined

piece of paper; nothing but their sheer crea vity was

shown.

To aid our poet’s rhythm, the faculty of English planned

the students to be sent out of their classrooms where

they were seated on the grounds under the open sky

with the pleasant breeze ckling their crea ve cells.

This fuelled their imagina on allowing them to recall

their long list of vocabulary to help them excel in the po‐

etry they were composing. Hence, the result was such

that le all including the judge Mrs. Bushra Nadwi

awestruck and I’m sure reading these pieces of art, even

Wordsworth would be proud of!

Congratula ons to all the winners!

‐Asmaa Mohammed 8G2

11

Grade 4

1. Yusra Inam ‐4G2 2. Nawal Jahanzaib‐ 4G2 3. Farhan Momin ‐4B2

Grade 5

1a .Huda Jahangir‐ 5G2 1b. Eman Tarar 5G2 2 .Aabidh Cader‐ 5B2

3. Dawud Sulaiman ‐ 5B2

Grade 6 1.Zain wasim ‐ 6B3 2. Raeed Amhar ‐ 6B1 3.Rida Shamim ‐ 6G3

Grade 7 1.Zoha Altaf ‐7G1 2. Mai Ahmed ‐ 7G3 3. Maria Yusuf ‐ 7G3

Grade 8 1. Nourain Khan ‐ 8G1 2. Asmaa Mohammed – 8G2 3.Zara Fa mah Ahmed – 8G1

Grade 9 1.Bushra Abdul Rahman – 9G1 2. Ahsan Yusuf ‐ 9B2 3.Injila Jawaid ‐ 9G2

Grade 10 1.Amtul Noor ‐10G1 2. Ibrahim Moazzam ‐10B2 3.Ossama Khalid ‐10B1

Grade 11

1. Yara Alaudine 2. Mariam Rani 3. Yara Ahmed

Grade12 1. Sana Minhaj ‐ 12G 2. Jawahir Kamal ‐12G 3.Almas Rizvi‐ 12G

The Winners

12

مسابقة القرآن الكریم

Quran Competition

“The Quran is the word of the Almighty God, the Originator of everything and the One Who encompasses everything with His

knowledge.”

Al Waha held its annual Quran Recita on Compe on on Wednesday, 1st of March, 2017. The Quran Compe on is held every year in or‐der to enhance the love of Allah and to inculcate in them a desire and habit to read the Quran. These beau ful verses were recited to us by the students of grade 4‐8. Each grade was allo ed a different surah and two students were selected from each sec on as finalists. They had to recite the surah on stage with proper tajweed and its transla on.

Some girls of grade 4‐6 also recited a beau ful nasheed for all of us. It was a wonderful experience to see and hear the students reci ng verses from the Holy Quran with such respect, enthusiasm and perfec on. A lot of hard work, determina on and effort was put into this event by the Quran department.

At the end, the winners and par cipants were all congratulated by Mrs. Oula Fawwal and were given gi s and cer ficates by Mrs. Eman

Samman and the Judges. ‐ Nourain Khan, 8G1

Grade Winner Runner‐up

4G1 Ariba Zaima Nuboogh Hassan

4G2 Yusra Inam Nawal Jahanzaib

4G3 Ayesha A ab Amal Aziz

5G1 Hajar Aslam Saleha Tahir

5G2 Nabiha Irfan Syeda Amal

5G3 Lujain Helmi Tala Fathi

6G1 Manal Hussien Raneem Anwar

6G2 Mariam Tamer Afiya Sarfaraz

6G3 Nida Khan Naurah Nazir

7G1 Sefana Abdullah Hamayel Mashkoor

7G2 Aina Yusuf Nur Syarafana

7G3 Mukarram Zahid Dana Mohamed

8G1 Asmathul Nuha Wajeeha Farhan

8G2 Shaza Beshara Shahd Ayman

13

Tuesday, the 21st of March was the day the Urdu debate was

held in order to incul‐

cate in the students

the ability to reason

analy cally and ex‐

press their ideas and

opinions in their be‐

loved mother tongue:

Urdu. The purpose

of this debate is to

enhance the speaking

and thinking skills of

the students, and to

bring a change in their

perspec ve, broaden‐

ing their minds.

The students of grade 7‐9 were given a month as they passed

from the first round to the second, and a selected few, went to

the final round. The par cipants had to prepare scripts on

their respec ve topics and were scru nized by Mrs. Beena

Saad (senior sec on Urdu teacher).

The judges this year were Mrs. Shabana Iqbal and Mrs. Seema

Qureshi (senior sec on chemistry teacher). We started the

event with the beau ful verses of the Holy Quran. The mothers

of the contestants were also invited on this occasion. The topic

this year was:

“Who is responsible for the moral downfall of children-

the parents’ upbringing or the education system?”

Each team had 4 members and there were three rounds. In the

first round, the contest‐

ants were given three to

four minutes to deliver

their speeches. Then, in

the second round,

the students would en‐

counter the claims of

the opponent team.

Finally, in the third

round, also known as

the cri cal thinking

round, they faced the

tricky ques ons posed

by the judges.

The event was concluded by an emo onal and inspiring speech

given by Mrs.Beena. Therea er, the results were announced

by our headmistress, Mrs. Seema Anis.

Best Speaker: Rania Ahmad 9G1

Second best speaker: Asma Arshad 9G1

Best cri cal thinker: Rania Ahmad 9G1

Winning team: “Parents’ Upbringing Is Responsible for the

Moral Downfall of Children”

‐Nourain Khan 8G1

Urdu Debate

14

Al Waha’s young entrepreneurs’ reward:

A Trip to Shallal

Tuesday, 21st February, 2017. As a frui ul reward to compensate for all the

hardships and struggles endured by the par cipants of the Annual Bake Sale

(both students and teachers alike), the Management though ully arranged

a fun trip to Al‐Shallal amusement park.

The expenses of the trip were funded by the money

earned via the mega event, therefore, the par ci‐

pants were not required to pay for the trip. Every‐

one on the trip was allowed to wear beau ful, yet

decent, casual clothes that met Al‐Waha's norms of

acceptability. Overjoyed, amazed, excited, the

students and teachers boarded their respec ve

buses and, one long drive later (which had been

filled with offering prayers for a safe trip, sharing

snacks, playing games, amusing sing‐alongs and

heated cha ering), they finally arrived at their an c‐

ipated des na on. Without further ado, eve‐

ryone entered the park and proceeded to

make the most out of the joyous, fun‐filled

trip.

For the next five or so hours, everybody had

loads of fun at the amusement park. There

were countless rides to choose from: the

rollercoaster, the teacups, the pirate ship, the

swings, the bumper cars, the Amazon‐ as well

as other a rac ons, like the 5D cinema!

There was also a large ice‐ska ng rink inside,

which students and teachers courageously

tried their hand ‐ or rather feet

‐ at.

A er a delicious lunch, they

were free to roam around the

park and visit the shops. Later

on, a er lingering around in

the theatre for a while, the

buses came and whisked them

back to the campus.

We thank the Management,

from the bo om of our hearts,

for having organized this won‐

derful trip for us and for gi ing the par cipants of the Bake Sale with the

trendy backpacks that we'd taken along with us for the special day! Hats off

to you, JazakAllahu Khairan. ‐Anusha Rizvi (9G2)

Riding on our heads!!

15

The students of grades 6, 7 and 8 em-

barked on an outing to Al Shallal Theme

Park on Tuesday, 7th of March, 2017. The

students were transported in comfortable

buses to their destination. As soon as they

set foot in the theme park, they wasted no

time, running to the closest ride.

Some girls decided to play it safe and hit

the bumper cars and swing ride. Some had

their sights set on the rollercoaster with its

loop-de-loops and corkscrew spins. Un-

fortunately, for the safety of the students

the school had decided to restrict the roller-

coaster and the dangerous ‘Slingshot’ ride,

but there were plenty of other equally sensational and

spine tingling rides to make up for.

The air was filled with the aroma of food, sounds of thick

clanking of rides moving, alarms indicating the start of

rides going off, the shuddering of rails and tracks, and the

screams of their passengers as they were whipped

around. Despite the heat, the girls rushed around happily,

some shrieking while atop various frightening rides, some

skating around in the freezing indoor ice rink and some

bumping about in motion in the 5D movie ride.

The day with adrena-

line rushing conclud-

ed with all the students munching on burgers and

fries along with a drink and the departure of the students

from the park a bit overdue the allotted time period. The

trip came to an end with students rushing off home having

had the time of their lives and having made life long mem-

ories to hold on to.

- Amani Azhar, 8G2

A Fun Trip to Shallal

16

There is no doubt‐ for some senior school students‐ that choos‐ing a career could be one of the hardest decisions to make, and a visit from a prospec ve college or university is one of the best ways to either open their eyes to new opportuni es or make them sincerely plan their path in life. Some mes, it may even be a li le bit of both. Nevertheless, in both cases, a universi‐ty visi ng has the poten al to be one of the most important

and influen‐al factors in

deciding a student's career and future.

In the final week of Feb‐ruary, 2017, Grades 10 to 12 of Al Waha were given the monumental chance to

a end a short introductory session held in the auditorium by a few representa ves from various universi es in the UK. The session consisted of the distribu on of brochures, fol‐lowed by a general explana on on how the different univer‐si es operated among these were the pres gious University of Glasgow, the University of North Umbria and the University of Roehampton.

During this period, introduc ons were made, ques ons regard‐ing the admission procedures were asked, and answers were given; it was, in general, a thoroughly produc ve and enlighten‐ing experience for everyone involved.

Ul mately, this event helped them, as young adults, to recog‐nize the importance of prudence, hard work and good decision‐making skills. Lastly, we pray to Allah to help us all pursue our aspira ons and give us the poten al to not go astray. Ameen.

— Injila Jawaid, 9G2

“A great teacher takes a

hand, opens a mind, touches

a heart and shapes the fu‐

ture.”

We o en disregard how im‐

mensely blessed we are to be

constantly surrounded by

faithful servants of Allah, who

dedicate their me and life in

spreading knowledge and

wisdom. However, the 10th

graders composed a beau ful assembly of two parts in order to remind us

and to show gra tude and respect to our sublime teachers for all their hard

work and effort.

Each student of 10G1 and 10G2 honoured a teacher and gi ed her with a

tribute and a flower. Every teacher was followed by the other, wearing similar

exuberant smiles, knowing that they’ve been successful in shaping us for the

be er.

Every single speech was branched from the heart and connected to the audi‐

ence as a whole.

Our teachers are the cra ers of our heart and soul. From them we learn to be

kinder, wiser and more responsible. Even if we're blind to this fact at the mo‐

ment, a few years from now we will acknowledge that the people whom we

have become boils down to the atmosphere and the knowledge our teachers

have provided us with, and we will understand that whatever they’ve done

for us was for our be erment.

Overall, the assemblies were wonderfully conducted as they got us laugh‐

ing, tearing up and smiling all through the day, and for that we

wish the teachers (who are just as stressed as their students)

and the students of grade 10 all the best for the upcoming CIE

exams.

‐ Leena Rayees Ahmed [9G2]

A VISIT FROM THE UK:

UNIVERSITY REPRESENTATIVES COME TO WAHA

10 G’s Special Assembly - A Tribute to the Teachers

Esprit De Corps VOLUME 10, ISSUE 3 APRIL 2017 From the ... · PDF fileEsprit De Corps VOLUME...

Documents

Transcript of Esprit De Corps VOLUME 10, ISSUE 3 APRIL 2017 From the ... · PDF fileEsprit De Corps VOLUME...