WEDNESDAY, 18 FEBRUARY 2015
GENERAL
PRIMARY
SCHOOL NEWS
SECONDARY
SCHOOL NEWS
COMPETITIVE
SPORTS NEWS
YEAR 5 AND 6 SPORTS DAY
YEAR 3 AND 4 SPORTS DAY
YEAR 1 AND 2 SPORTS DAY
P S S P O R T S D AY S
Issue 180
ACADEMIC YEAR 2014 - 2015
FEBRUARY 2015
Thursday, 19 February - Saturday, 21 February
Sunday, 22 February - Tuesday, 24 February
Monday, 23 February
Monday, 23 February
Tuesday, 24 February
Tuesday, 24 February
Wednesday, 25 February
Thursday, 26 February
Thursday, 26 February
Thursday, 26 February
Thursday, 26 February
Thursday, 26 February - Saturday, 28 February
DIA Holiday (Mid Term)
Year 5 Camp (LE, MH & NO)
SS Sports Day
DIA Open House for Secondary School
ASAs 2 Start
Personal Project Exhibition
MYP/DP Mid Year Awards
Library guest speaker - Nicolas Forzy
Mini Olympics KG1 & KG 2
PADIA Movie Night
Year 12 Geography Trip
International Young Leaders Conference
MARCH 2015
Sunday, 1 March - Thursday, 5 March
Monday, 2 March
Tuesday, 3 March
Tuesday, 3 March
Tuesday, 3 March - Saturday, 7 March
Thursday, 5 March
Thursday, 5 March
Friday, 6 March - Saturday, 7 March
Friday, 6 March - Sunday, 8 March
Tuesday, 10 March
Thursday, 12 March - Tuesday, 17 March
Thursday, 12 March
Thursday, 12 March - Friday, 13 March
Friday, 13 March - Tuesday, 17 March
Friday, 13 March - Thursday, 19 March
Friday, 13 March - Saturday, 14 March
Wednesday, 18 March
Wednesday, 18 March
Thursday, 19 March
Thursday, 19 March - Saturday, 21 March
Monday, 23 March
Monday, 23 March - Wednesday, 25 March
Tuesday, 24 March - Thursday, 26 March
Thursday, 26 March - Monday, 30 March
Tuesday, 24 March
Wednesday, 25 March
Thursday, 26 March
Friday, 27 March - Monday, 30 March
Sunday, 29 March - Thursday, 9 April
Book Week - PS
SS Parent Teacher Conference - No school for SS students
SS Parent Teacher Conference - Day 2 - 3:00pm-6:00pm
Library guest speaker - Liz Fenwick
Emirates Festival of Literature
PS bedtime story themed day
DP1 retreat
IA Bronze Trip to Fossil Rock
ISTA High School Festival
ISN University visit
Year 13 Art Exhibition
International Evening
IA Gold Trip to RAK
ISMTF Math Competition in Vienna
Year 6 Cyprus Trip
Rd 1 World Scholars Cup
PS Art Exhibition
DIAMUN Opening Ceremony
Staff PD. No school for SS & PS students
DIAMUN
US Educational Group University visit
Bookworm Book Fair
Education Without Borders
ISMTF Math Competition in France
Year 9 Science Fair
PP Awards Ceremony
Early dismissal at 12:30pm
Year 10-11 Maths Comp France
Spring Break
GENERAL
PRIMARY
SCHOOL NEWS
SECONDARY
SCHOOL NEWS
COMPETITIVE
SPORTS NEWS
PRIMARY SCHOOL NEWS
Dear Parents,
Over the last few weeks, we have been focusing on Cyber Safety in the Primary School. Starting with an excellent
assembly by the students from 3LE and including awareness posters shared by Ms. Huda and the Tech Ninjas, we
have been working hard to ensure all students at DIA use the internet safely and responsibly. In Year 1 and 2
assembly last week, we talked about what to do if messages appear on your screen while you are using the computer
and we watched this short animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5kW4pI_VQw which is suitable for all
children.
We have also been busy pursuing sporting excellence in track and field with our Sports Days. The organisation of
these allows each child to compete against their own best previous performance and have the opportunity to see the
progress they have made throughout our athletics unit. Parent support and encouragement during the competition
has been appreciated by students and teachers. Thank you.
As I write, our first group of Year 5 students are away on Camp for 2 nights with North Star. The children will be
mountain biking, abseiling, team building and generally learning to become more self-confident, more aware of their
surroundings, to understand and push their limits and to support their peers in being successful together.
Finally, we are looking forward to several big events. Book Week starts on 1 March and involves everyone in the
Primary School. There are special events and a classroom focus on reading during that week. Please try to read more
at home particularly during that week. We are also starting our preparations for International Evening, held on 12
March. There will be current information on national displays shared in the main entrance foyer starting this week.
So far, the PADIA organisers have had a positive response from many areas however there are some notable ‘gaps’,
including Australia and the UK at the moment. If you can, please register your interest in helping with PADIA.
Tim Richardson
Head of Primary School
SCIENCE IN 4SS
4SS students have been working hard on developing questions and working on science experiments to see if their
hypothesis was correct or not. Students are learning to draw conclusions and better their experiments and questions
for the year 4 science fair, keep up the great work 4SS.
YEAR 4SS CAMP
4SS students had a wonderful time on camp. They showed they were true risk takers by participating in all the
activities. Our open minded students worked together and participated in all the team building activities on camp.
Well done 4SS I am very proud of all of you on your first camp experience!
2MQ EXPERIMENTS WITH ELECTRICITY AS WE L IGHT UP DIA!
The students in 2MQ have been learning all about electricity and how light affects what we see and how we see it.
We have been very busy doing experiments in light and dark, using flashlights, electrical circuits, light bulbs,
batteries, wires and glass jars. We learned what big words such as prediction, refraction, reflection, and shadows
mean! We also joined efforts with year 5NO and did some investigation into which materials carry electricity and
energy. We made predictions and proved our predictions with experiments on which materials are insulators and
which are conductors of electricity. Some material we used were steel wool, spoons, cotton wool, wooden
chopsticks, rulers and pencils. Our very own scientist, Javier, took action, inquired into making a light bulb and
presented it to the class! Science has never been so much fun...and electrifying!
6CC AND 1SH BUDDY LESSON
GENERAL
PRIMARY
SCHOOL NEWS
SECONDARY
SCHOOL NEWS
COMPETITIVE
SPORTS NEWS
SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWS
Dear Parents
It’s good to be addressing you again, as we move through the half-way point of the Academic Year. There are so many
wonderful experiences that the students here in the Secondary School have already participated in and benefitted
from, and plenty more to come as the weather takes a turn for the warmer. Of particular attention this week is the
Secondary Sports Day on Monday 23rd February. As I mentioned to you a few weeks ago, this year we would like all
students to compete to try and score points for their house team; so please encourage your little (and not so little)
ones to sign up with their house captains in the quad. A reminder that, as ever, we are expecting full attendance from
all students and parents are most welcome to come along and offer their support!
In the evening on Monday 23rd we have the DP Open Evening starting at 6pm. This is mainly geared towards the
parents of students who are not currently studying at DIA and interested in enrolling their child to follow the Diploma
Programme with us. We do also welcome parents of our existing students from all year groups who would like to find
out more about what this programme entails - there is the opportunity to speak to teachers about subject-specific
matters, and also to speak to existing students about their perspective on the DP. There will be brief presentations at
6:30 from both myself and Ms Desai, followed by the opportunity to partake of some refreshments. Do feel free to
come along and find out why we are consistently the highest performing school offering the IB Diploma Programme
in the UAE.
As ever, a few small reminders to finish off. The Bring Your Own Device tablet pilot scheme in Year 7 is continuing and
starting to really gather momentum. Students and parents will be surveyed in the next few weeks to provide
feedback that will help us to shape our decision-making on extending this scheme out to other year groups. Secondly,
there are a number of other reviews that we will be conducting over the coming months, and similarly seeking your
feedback on. I will be in contact about these in due course.
And finally, we are still looking for some parent volunteers to support our Careers Information and Guidance
programme. If you have some available time and would like to provide some information about your line of work to
our students, then please email us at [email protected], placing “SS Careers” in the subject line.
Kind regards
James Roberts
Head of Secondary School
PADIA PRESENTATION OF YEAR 11 POLO SHIRTS
On 8 February PADIA President Shabana Aism and PADIA representative Sandra Fechner presented the Year 11
students with their year level polo shirts. The shirts were generously paid for by PADIA fundraising efforts.
Responsible for the design of the shirts were Year 11 students Renessa Tahilramani and Ashish Tharoor who put in a
lot of work in finalizing the design and getting the correct sizes for the students. The Year 11 students would like to
thank PADIA for the shirts and in particular Mrs. Fechner for her time and effort in in working as a liaison between the
students and the supplier.
Left to Right: Renessa Tahilramani, Ashish Tharoor, HOY Mr. Luce, Shabana Aism, and Sandra Fechner
Guneet and Ashish displaying their new shirts.
THE HAGUE INTERNATIONAL MODEL UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE
As the excitement builds our hearts beat faster, with hands clenched into fists and the nervousness
rising we take a step into the conference centre with high hopes and dreams of achieving feats
that can only be accomplished in these halls. This year the delegation of Columbia, formerly
represented by Dubai International Academy embarked on their journey to the prestigious MUN
conference held at the World Ground, The Hague. THIMUN XLVII had begun.
With great preliminary success this year’s delegation had been given a variety of critically acclaimed committees and
positions ranging from Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to SPC (Special Conference). With the largest granted to
any delegation, this year we achieved 3 student officer positions and one MUNITY position. These being Zohan Barkur
as Deputy President of ECOSOC, Sparsh Jain as President of Special Conference (Dubai International Academy’s first
even presidential position), Suhail Mayor as Assistant President of Environmental Sub – Commission 2 and Ahana
Nanda as Reporter.
For a lot of avid MUN fanatics, Hague is an escape from the daily mundane lives that we have become so used too. A
week filled with intense debates on a variety of international issues that demand immediate attention, creating long
lasting friendships and exploring a wonderful city in order to create infinite memories. To put it simply The Hague is a
Shangri La for passionate debaters.
Whether it was the question of protecting the riparian eco system from the havoc caused by dams or outcomes of the
Millennium Development Goals set to be achieved by the year 2015, our DIA delegation was steadfast in their
approach. Making sure to counteract ever possible root cause of the problem and come up with comprehensive and
cohesive solutions that were sustainable in the long term, we excelled throughout the set form of debate. With many
of our delegates grabbing main submitter and main co-submitter positions it was an eventful one.
Asides from the conference itself, the key essentials that really brought this trip together were the nights out.
Whether it be walking around the city in the cold minus degree air unlike Dubai’s hot desert winds or exploring the
various shops and historical sites along the way, The Hague and the main city Amsterdam never failed to surprise us.
In general, the trip was a great success with many of the students coming back with refreshed and open minds. Not
only have we learnt a variety of skills to be used potentially in the future, we have learned characteristics that have
helped us grow as people, whether it be the skills of social networking, a global thinker or being a leader. No words
could sum up the full effect of the trip but one that does come to mind is “Euphoric”.
Quotes from some of our student officers:
“MUN is the chance for thousands of
individuals, around the world, to come
together due to one passion: debate.
While beginning friendships like no
other, it paves the way for a future that
aims to establish universal peace.”
Ahana
“THIMUN allowed me to experience one
of the most integral concepts in the
world, the cohesion of different
cultures, ethics, and most importantly
views. I sincerely believe that MUN is
not just about the issues discussed but
the people you meet, it's the people
that shape and change you for the
better or worse”
Zohan
“MUN is a medium that I believe is
centered around not only bringing
cultures together but building personal
characteristics and making genuine
lifelong friendships that seek to
broaden our views of the world.
THIMUN has taught me to commit and
be a leader in order to inspire others to
make a difference. It is the
culmination of a 100 years of
human morality.”
“After presidency at THIMUN 2015, I feel
that the honor of being able to develop
other people, and helping them grow
with this journey, turns you into the best
version of yourself. DIAMUN and
THIMUN has helped shaped my
personality and has infused in me a
sense of empathy. It has broadened my
horizons and I hope it benefits each one
of the delegates in more ways than one.”
Suhail
Sparsh
By: Suhail Mayor, Year 11E
FRIENDSHIP DAY
On the 12th of February, the students of DIA celebrated “Friendship Day” to
commemorate the awe-inspiring beauty of friendship. The event was an initiative of
the SS Student Council, and the day was dedicated solely towards fortifying the bonds
of friendship that hold the DIA community together.
Flowers and chocolates were chosen to represent friendship, and students were given
the opportunity to purchase them for their friends three days prior to the event. For a
nominal fee, the students could dedicate these gifts to their friends, which would be
handed to them during the day by the respective Student Council representative. And
the sale of over 600 flowers and chocolates, by the Student Council, is a testament of
the sociability within the DIA community.
During lunchtime, the musicians of DIA were given the opportunity to showcase their
talents and revel the day by performing live in front of an audience. The event was
spectacular. It was opened by a performance by Olivia Simoni and Marta Ortega, followed by a wonderful
performance by Suhail Mayor. The next performers were Fedja Bulajic and Omar Hafez, with the event being brought
to a close by Dhruv Karthik. The music brightened the mood and lifted the spirits of the audience, enhancing the
atmosphere.
The concert concluded the wonderful day, instilling the uplifting spirit of friendship within the hearts of the audience.
The event was truly remarkable and highly successful, as it genuinely displayed the DIA Student’s international
mindedness and their ability to connect with people of different beliefs and perspectives.
Junior Sundar 12 D
GENERAL
PRIMARY
SCHOOL NEWS
SECONDARY
SCHOOL NEWS
COMPETITIVE
SPORTS NEWS
COMPETITIVE SPORTS NEWS
JV GIRLS FOOTBALL
History is made as the JV girls storm to the League Championship in division two. The record
breaking team beat their great rivals GWA 3-0 in Abu Dhabi to clinch the crown for the first time
ever. Not even the effects of an early morning 2 hour bus trip to the capital could stop the record
breakers from completing a magnificent seasons work.
Goals from Emma van de Kreke, Selma Mezqueldi and an own goal was a fair reflection on the
balance of play, with DIA dominating throughout.
In red hot temperatures the Wolves started brightly and after a GWA own goal, Emma struck with a simply brilliant
free kick from 30 yards. The ball lasered into the top right hand corner for an absolute stunner which prompted wild
celebrations from her teammates and parents for what was truly a breathtaking goal. If Christiano Ronaldo had scored
one like it for Real Madrid they would be talking about if for years to come.
Selma's goal was a beauty in its own right. Picking up
the ball in her own half, she dazzled the GWA
defense down the right by taking on defender after
defender before lashing in an unstoppable finish to
give daylight to the Wolves. What a goal and what a
performance from a player who along with Emma,
was picked out as the outstanding performers of the
match.
In between the brilliant goals, Wolves keeper Andjela
produced a fantastic penalty save, springing to the
right to magnificently block the shot that was
destined for the back of the net.
All season, all the girls have been truly outstanding
not just in their play, but in their attitude to training.
They have always played the game in a terrific spirit,
showing respect to their opponents .They are a credit
to the school and deserve all their historic success.
The celebrations were raucous and hilarious on the way back to Dubai after coach Beata had been presented with a
signed football from all the squad and a beautiful bouquet of flowers.
The victory meant entry to a play off and a one off winner take all promotion shoot out with AISA school from Abu
Dhabi.
EAC CROSS COUNTRY MEET
The biggest inter-school running event which DIA takes part in is the Emirates Athletic Conference Cross Country race.
DIA’s team was assembled in November and trained until the race which happened on the 30th January 2015. On the
day of the race we met at school at 8 o’clock and set off towards the Meydan Racecourse where the race was being
held. We arrived about an hour later and got to warm up and absorb the atmosphere at the event for another hour
before we had to move towards the starting line.
Schools from Dubai, Abu Dhabi and even Doha had all assembled to participate in this event. Needless to say we were
a little intimidated by all the big teams who seemed to be very coordinated and professional. We gathered and
headed towards the starting line 10 minutes before the race started and followed suit and coordinated ourselves and
prepared ourselves for the race.
The first race to start was the Varsity boys which I was competing in along with three other DIA students. The pace was
very fast to start off with and I struggled to maintain it. The first half of the race was challenging due to this. However, I
eventually managed to slip to the front of the front pack. I then set about staying in front which I managed to do for
about two kilometers. I then slipped back into second and, with much frustration, effort, and cheers from fellow DIA
athletes who were running on the other side of the racecourse,
managed to slip back into first. I had almost won the race when,
out of nowhere, another athlete from another school overtook me
sprinting and crossed the finish line 1 second before I could. This
was a little crushing initially however after a while I realized that
the fact that I managed to get the silver medal is an incredible
achievement which I should be very proud of. Moreover, the
winner
deserved
his
achievement and was
even
gracious enough to apologize
to me for winning! Overall an
excellent sportsman
who
earned his gold medal without
a doubt.
The rest of the team finished the race in great times. None of DIA’s athletes had to be
brought back by a support vehicle which is in itself an achievement. Even our coach Mr. Adler
managed to complete the course! All of the participants can be pleased of their
achievements as they set out and accomplished the goals which we, as a team, set out to do
at the beginning of the race. Best of luck to next year’s team and to the teams in the years to
come, to keep up DIA’s good record!
Thomas Bartlome 13E
THE DUBAI STANDARD CHARTERED MARATHON 10K RUN
The Dubai Standard Chartered Marathon is one of the biggest running spectacles which happen in Dubai every year. The top
professional marathon runners from around the world gather to participate in the marathon. The 10K run is less competitive,
however, is still run by many. This year there were over 25,000 people who took part in the event. Many people go to the race to
represent a company or a cause. This is what we did. A collection of students from DIA represented the charity PCRF (Palestine
Children’s Relief Fund) and ran the race to raise money for the foundation. The students who took part for PCRF were Jack
Langnes, Hala Darwish, Noor Darwish, Hannah Gemei, Zein Jallad, Sabine Elleswijk and Youssef Ghazzawy, Edoardo Cantoni and
myself, Thomas Bartlome all of whom are Year 13 students at DIA.
The Race started at 7:15 on a Friday morning just in front of the Madinat
Jumeirah. As you can imagine we were extremely happy about getting up at
dawn on a Friday morning to run a 10K Race! We assembled, slowly but
surely, at the starting line all ready to go. The starting line began to fill and
fill until it was packed full of people. We finally started to move when the
whistle eventually went off to signal the start of the race but some of the
students were delayed and couldn’t start immediately. However, they
caught up during the race and finished with a good time.
Due to the massive congestion of people at the race several of the students
and I spent our time in the race darting between people. This was to try and
finish the race as quickly as possible. However, it caused us to split up and
therefore, we all ran the race at our own pace. In an attempt to better my
own time I switched sides of the road which many people started to do. To
my horror a marathon runner who was on his way back to the finishing line
ran towards me and we collided. Fortunately, neither of us was hurt and we managed to set off again almost immediately after
the incident. I powered on and pushed myself to finish the race in 41 minutes and 52 seconds. This was 3 seconds slower than my
personal best which at the time really annoyed me, as I knew I could have pushed harder. However, I was quite pleased with my
overall performance.
The rest of the students also did incredibly well and can be proud of their achievements and their dedication towards a good
cause. Once all of the students crossed the finish line we gathered once again to congratulate each other and to pose for the
compulsory after-race photos. We then went our separate ways and most of us spent the rest of the day at home exhausted from
the effort which we had put into the race but with the feeling of satisfaction.
Overall, the students who competed in the Standard Chartered 10K Race can be proud of themselves, regardless of the cause
they were representing. The students who ran the race for PCRF can be proud of the money which they have raised for the less
fortunate and those students who simply ran it for pleasure can be proud of themselves for being an active and healthy
individual, a trait which is vital in the modern world.
Thomas Bartlome 13E