A Note from the Headteacher.....

Welcome back to the start of another Academic Year. May I extend warmest wishes to our new families joining this term.

Already the summer holiday seems a distant memory and the children are well settled into the term. This year hopes to be successful year with some new and exciting ventures coming on board.

Over the summer the teachers and myself have been engaged in work to redesign the curriculum. Taking the latest initiatives and current educational thinking, the curriculum has been revamped to best consider the children at Kings' and their needs.  These changes were highlighted at the recent ‘Meet the Teacher' evening. As a staff we are very excited about the changes and feel they will further heighten the teaching standards at Kings'. We begin the year with the Whole School theme of

"It's Good to be Me!"

Congratulations to the children nominated as House Captains and School Council representatives. I am delighted also to welcome Eloise Bolt and Rory Quick to the position of Head Boy and Head Girl.  I am sure they will all excel in their respective roles.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to the new members of staff jofining Kings' this term.

Miss Bates  - Year 6; Mr McGarry-Year 5; Miss Fallon-Year 3; Miss McFarlane-Year 2; Mr Rowles-PE Specialist Teacher; Miss Nicki Thorpe Swim Coach for FS and KS1, Mrs Hannah Pearce Swim Coach for KS2, Mrs Claire Ellis, Teaching Assistant Y5 and Mrs Dania Jbeily, Arabic Secretary. I am sure they will all be an excellent addition to the Kings' Team.

Please refer to the website for full staffing details.

It is with tremendous sadness that we have to say good bye to Mrs Ola Al Imam, our Arabic Secretary. Ola has been with Kings' Dubai since it opened in September 2004. She has worked tirelessly to ensure all licensing, approvals and Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Education registrations are maintained smoothly and efficiently. We have an excellent relationship with the Ministry and the KHDA and this is purely down to the efforts of Ola. She will be leaving to Egypt at the end of the month and we wish her every success and happiness.

Over the summer holiday period major repairs and refurbishments took place around school including a full re-paint of both inside and outside, re-surfacing and polishing of the hall floor and a brand new sports field! The field has been levelled and re-turfed. To enable the grass to deep root the field will be out of use until week beginning 4^th October but then we look forward to being able to use it at break times and lunchtimes. Along the back of the field a mural company: "Mural and Special Finishes Division", have created playscapes which will be used in conjunction with the toy box scheme. These are fantastic and offer further opportunities for structured play.

Photographs of these in use will be posted on the website.

I am delighted to present the new Kings' Dubai Website. This is now being managed by our owning company and can be updated by staff at Kings'. This is terrific news and means that the website can now be used as our main vehicle of communication. The Newsletters will only appear on here. THIS WILL BE THE LAST PRINTED NEWSLETTER. Parents are requested to check the website regularly for information and news. All important dates, announcements and news will be conveyed through the Newsflash section of the site. Reminders and updates will also be displayed on the notice board to the front of school each morning and afternoon. This will dramatically reduce the need for paper letters to be sent home and thus support the Kings' Environmentally friendly approach. I would ask all parents to register on the website - you will then be notified of key changes and updates by email. Also you can subscribe to RSS which will allow you to receive the updates directly to your PC/ laptop or mobile browser. Simply click on the RSS sign to the left of the Home page

The website will be developed further over the forthcoming weeks so please keep checking it!

The start to the term has been exceptionally positive and the children should be commended for their efforts and approach to the new academic year. I look forward to an exciting 2009/10.

Best wishes

Debbie Watson

Headteacher.

SWIMMING AT KINGS         

Kings' Dubai is teamed with Desert Sport Services to offer high level of expert swim coaching. We have two coaches who will work directly in school with the children: Nicki Thorpe will teach the younger children and Hannah Pearce will take Key Stage 2.  Lisa Hancox, Director of the company will oversee the work of the two coaches and will train the Kings' Dubai swim squad. We look forward to another very successful swimming year at Kings' Dubai.

Congratulations to all who tried out for the Swim Squad.

SUN SAFETY

A reminder please to all parents to ensure children have hats and water bottles in school every day and that sun cream is applied in the morning before coming to school.

SATS RESULTS

Congratulations to the Year 6 class of 2008/09. The end of Key Stage 2 Standard Assessment Test results were very pleasing and reflected the hard work and effort of the cohort. We wish them well as they embark on their secondary school careers. The results are shared below.

32 students took the UK Statutory Assessment Tests in Mathematics, Reading, Writing and Science.  There was one absentee.

We had the papers marked externally by UKESS.  All the pupils were informed of their individual success.

Level 4 is the UK National expectation of achievement  for children at the end of  Key Stage 2 .

DRESSING UP CLOTHES

As part of the role play and drama aspect of the curriculum we are seeking donations of any items of clothing representing professional uniforms e.g. nurses, doctors, policemen, firemen etc. If you have any good quality items that would enhance our dressing up resource stock we would be extremely grateful.

AFTER SCHOOL CLUBS

Our after school activity programme has commenced this week with lots of children taking part. The first choice of activities can not be guaranteed and it is unfortunately inevitable that some children will not have all of the activities that they selected. Kings' tries exceptionally hard to make the process of club selection as fair as possible and considers all aspects when finalising places. It does take a tremendous amount of time and hard work to co-ordinate the programme. Thank you to Mrs Dale, Mrs Mansell and Mr Whitehead for their dedication in securing and  offering such a wide range of activities. Please be reminded that all children taking part in after school activities are to be collected from the Key Stage 1 outdoor area at 3.30pm. Unfortunately we can not accommodate any parents waiting between 2.30pm - 3.30pm in the school building.

DSIB INSPECTION

As posted on the website, Kings' Dubai will undergo it's second inspection by the Dubai Inspection Bureau on the 26^th 27^th and 28^th October. As part of the process parents are invited to complete an online questionnaire. Details are provided with this Newsletter. We encourage all families to support Kings' by taking time to complete the survey. The DSIB regard responses from parents as positive. Even if you don't have anything specific to comment, please complete the questionnaire so your response can be counted. Last year the chief inspector reported that Kings' Dubai had the highest parental return of questionnaire that he had ever known! The school will be visited by 5 inspectors for a total of three days. During this time the inspectors will spend time observing lessons, auditing paper work, meeting with pupils,teachers, and some parents and interviewing managers . We very much welcome the inspection process which aims to raise the standard of education offered in Dubai. With the support of all, Kings' is hopeful it can retain the "outstanding" status achieved last year.

JUTEBAGS

As part of the Kings' Dubai Green Initiative, we are delighted to have on sale our Jute Bag. The Jute bag boasts the winning design by Esther Thompson and is available for just 10DHS from reception. It was made available through kind sponsorship from Prosperity, a locally based offshore investment consultancy. Please visit their website for more details: http://www.prosperity-uae.com.

Thank you to Mrs Bennett and the Green Group team in school for organising the production of the bag. Special thanks go to parent Mrs Juliet Lane who coordinated the production of the bags over the summer holidays to ensure they were available for the start of the new year.

All proceeds of the bag will go back into the Green Group Fund which is hoping to develop further initiatives, initially securing new recycling bins to be used by the Kings' community.

SWIMATHON

In June pupils from Kings Dubai took part in a Swimathon. The money from this has now been collected and a staggering 38,684DHS was raised. This money has been used to install diving blocks with the remainder being given to the 2008/09 charity fund for Water Aid and Red crescent. The final figure donated to charity  will be given once the all pending works to install the diving blocks have been completed.

UNIFORM

Uniform changes are afoot over the next academic year with a phasing in of some new items. A selected parental group are in consultation regarding the changes. We will be seeking further views of parents and children on some of the pending decisions. Please check the website for updates about this where you will be able to be part of the discussion.

INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL PHOTOGRAPHS

Kings' are proud to introduce Pret a Portrait who will be the official school photographers from this year. Children will be photographed individually and with siblings, in school on 13^th and 14^th October. Parents will have a choice of images and will be invited to process orders online. The photographs are unique and contemporary and provide a beautiful keepsake of your child's year in school. Samples of the photographs can be seen by visiting the website at http://www.pret-a-portrait.ae

SWINE FLU UPDATE

Staff at Kings' Dubai have been on regular training and updates provided by the Ministry of Health regarding Swine Flu. We are fully briefed on protocol and procedure should a suspected case develop in school. To minimise risk of the virus spreading parents are reminded to be vigilant and look out for the symptoms of Swine Flu. If your child is symptomatic please keep them at home for 7 days or until symptoms subside. General health education and hand washing advice is being given to pupils in school.

All classes have been fitted with Hand Sanitizer dispensers. The sanitizer used is provided by Cool & Cool and children will be encouraged to use the sanitizer as part of their hygiene routines in school. The Cool & Cool Sanitizer is a Ministry of Health recommended brand and comes with approved lab test reports. It does have a very small alcohol content. Any parents NOT wishing their children to use the provided sanitizer are asked to put their request in writing to the Headteacher and are advised to provide their child with their own Hand Sanitizer.

With the support of all families, Kings' can continue to follow the best practice to avoid the spread of viruses.

CONGRATULATIONS

HEAD BOY: Rory Quick Y6JW

HEAD GIRL: Eloise Bolt Y6LBa

HOUSE CAPTAINS

Tudor:Hannah Jones; Jamal Ollier

Stuart: Molly Taylor; Adam Osbourne

Hanover:Rose Haysom; James Dale

Windsor: Becky Edwards; Alec Bandy

SCHOOL COUNCIL

Y2NC Trent Alexander & Ebba Zickerman

Y2HM Amelia Pearce & Connor Morrall

Y2LBe Jake Mustard & Eloise Stewart- Richardson

Y3VF Yasmin Jawed & Mitchell Davies

Y3JF Robert Stumbles & Isobel Thompson

Y3CH Joe Taylor & Ella Jenkins

Y4CF Alma Zickerman & Joseph Walton

Y4KH Harriet Edwards & Arthur Lewis

Y4RC Naima Khan & Finlay Crawford

Y5IM Angus Thompson & Lucy Bird

Y5LN Ethan Pearce & Georgina Stumbles

Y6LBa Luke Swanepoel; Natasha Barkman

Y6JW Oisin Morgan; Ellie Armitrano

GOLD BOOK

Congratulations to Khalil Sharif. The first pupil to be entered into the Gold Book this new academic Year.