News from our Secondary Principal, Katherine Banner
REMINDER : Final Exams
Our final exam schedule for students in Grades 9-11 have been set. They will take place in the Auditorium between May 28th and June 8th as per the schedule below. It is important to note:
Attendance in these exams is MANDATORY.
IB exams start Monday, May 1st
Our final exam schedule for students in Grades 9-11 have been set. They will take place in the Auditorium between May 28th and June 8th as per the schedule below. It is important to note:
Attendance in these exams is MANDATORY.
- Students who miss an exam for illness must produce a medical certificate and will be required to write the exam in the earliest Make-Up session.
- Students who miss an exam without just cause will be given a 0 score for the exam, which will significantly impact their final grade.
- Classes for Grades 6-8 will continue as usual (on our Ramadan timings). Final assessments for Grades 6-8 will be done in class.
- Classes for non-IB Grades 9-11 will NOT be in session during these two weeks.
- Students in these grades are not required to be in school outside of their exam times, but may choose to stay at school to study in designated study areas.
- Classes for IBDP1 (Grade 11) students will continue as usual (on our Ramadan timings) through May 31st.
- Students are expected to attend in full uniform and abide by our student code of conduct at all times when on campus.
IB exams start Monday, May 1st
Senior Walk
GAA students had an exciting time celebrating the class of 2017 last week on our first annual Senior Walk. Seniors gathered in the IB Lounge in full cap and gown and made a walk through the entire school. Students from all grade levels, K-11, lined the hallways to cheer them on and parents were in the lobby snapping pictures and feeling proud! It was a brilliant celebration of accomplishment and an inspiration for students from KG to grade 11. I overheard one senior say, “Wow--I feel like a celebrity!” We look forward to many more Senior Walks as we establish this momentous tradition at our school!
Thank you to our School Culture Committee, Alex Fatu and Kamila Shakarchi, Dave Holland and the band and GAAPA parent volunteers for all of your work in organizing this fun event.
Student Spotlight
Khaled Al Mutawa (Grade 9) was selected for the UAE National Golf Team that won first place in the Under-15 GCC Golf Championship.The event took place in Saudi Arabia and it seems that Khaled’s hard work and dedication has paid off with a winning performance. Khaled achieved all of this while maintaining his excellent grades; go Khaled!
GAA students had an exciting time celebrating the class of 2017 last week on our first annual Senior Walk. Seniors gathered in the IB Lounge in full cap and gown and made a walk through the entire school. Students from all grade levels, K-11, lined the hallways to cheer them on and parents were in the lobby snapping pictures and feeling proud! It was a brilliant celebration of accomplishment and an inspiration for students from KG to grade 11. I overheard one senior say, “Wow--I feel like a celebrity!” We look forward to many more Senior Walks as we establish this momentous tradition at our school!
Thank you to our School Culture Committee, Alex Fatu and Kamila Shakarchi, Dave Holland and the band and GAAPA parent volunteers for all of your work in organizing this fun event.
Student Spotlight
Khaled Al Mutawa (Grade 9) was selected for the UAE National Golf Team that won first place in the Under-15 GCC Golf Championship.The event took place in Saudi Arabia and it seems that Khaled’s hard work and dedication has paid off with a winning performance. Khaled achieved all of this while maintaining his excellent grades; go Khaled!
Mr. Kirby’s Grade 9 Biology Class
In Mr. Kirby’s grade 9 Biology class, the students were involved with an innovative assessment technique. This is from Harvard University’s Project Zero initiative. In GAA a small group of teachers are exploring and inquiring into assessment methods that allow students to use their strengths when demonstrating their knowledge of the unit standards. The class used the Circulatory System as a way of using this assessment technique. The standards were explained at the start of the unit and the students provided input when creating the criteria based rubric. After this, each student then decided on a method of representing their knowledge based on the criteria they created.
The students did a great job and were extremely creative with their products! There were a range of posters, board games, novels, digital textbooks, presentations, reports, movies, and more, all showing the relationships of form and function within the circulatory system. The students were able to tap into a creative side of themselves which allowed them to be more interested and engaged with their own work. The idea is that when students are provided with choice, they will often have more interest in achieving well. Overall, the grade 9 Biology students were able to successfully complete this summative assessment in a variety of ways while achieving the standards that were selected. Congratulations to Mr. Kirby’s grade 9 Biology class!
French Students Enjoy French Cuisine!
Last Tuesday, Mrs Newman and Mrs Broderick took around 30 Grade 7 and 8 students to La Brioche in Khalifa City as a summary of the unit ‘Au Café’. They read the French menu, spoke about the food they had eaten with their teachers and learned how to pay for a bill themselves. The students ate foods like Croque-Monsieur, Crêpes, salade niçoise and quiche for their lunch and experienced a French café environment here in Abu Dhabi. Lots of them ordered extra pâtisseries and gâteux to take back to school and everyone seemed to enjoy the occasion. This brings to a close our unit on food and drink and ordering in French cafes and restaurants and we are now moving on to health and conversations at the doctors. Mrs Newman and Mrs Broderick were very impressed with the student behavior on this trip; they were polite, respectful and an excellent example of how GAA students are in our community. La Brioche may have been a little noisy for a little while but the staff were very grateful for the business and the French department aim to make this an annual event for the MS12 class.