News from our Secondary Vice Principal, Derek Lea
Dear Parents
The month of September has been very busy at GAA. Start-up in any school, in any year, can be hectic. But with a week off to celebrate the Eid holiday, the first month of this school year has slipped by even faster. Timetables have been finalized, the first session of After School Activities (ASAs) and athletics seasons are in full swing, our clubs have begun, and students are well into their courses. We have worked very hard to welcome our new staff, our new students, and our incoming Grade 6 class – helping them navigate the new and wonderful world of the Secondary School.
Every student begins the school year with high expectations and goals for success. Most have developed plans to help them organize, study and stay on task in their course work. However, as we get deeper into the semester, the volume and complexity of the work students receive increases. In many cases, this increased intensity begins to ‘chip away’ at the well intentioned plans for success. While it can be easy to fall away from these plans, now is the time to re-commit to them, intensify the success plans to match the increase in pressure, and use them to help keep the workload manageable.
Parents can help their children with these success plans:
The more students stay on top of their work-load, stick to their plan for success and communicate openly with their parents and teachers, the more they will achieve (both academically and in life-skill development), the less stressed and anxious they will be about school, and the happier they will feel. We all want our kids to be happy – especially when those feelings come from the confidence and pride of a difficult task well done.
Happy Islamic New Year.
Derek Lea
Vice-Principal, Secondary
The month of September has been very busy at GAA. Start-up in any school, in any year, can be hectic. But with a week off to celebrate the Eid holiday, the first month of this school year has slipped by even faster. Timetables have been finalized, the first session of After School Activities (ASAs) and athletics seasons are in full swing, our clubs have begun, and students are well into their courses. We have worked very hard to welcome our new staff, our new students, and our incoming Grade 6 class – helping them navigate the new and wonderful world of the Secondary School.
Every student begins the school year with high expectations and goals for success. Most have developed plans to help them organize, study and stay on task in their course work. However, as we get deeper into the semester, the volume and complexity of the work students receive increases. In many cases, this increased intensity begins to ‘chip away’ at the well intentioned plans for success. While it can be easy to fall away from these plans, now is the time to re-commit to them, intensify the success plans to match the increase in pressure, and use them to help keep the workload manageable.
Parents can help their children with these success plans:
- First, and most importantly, talk to them about it. Ask them specific, open-ended questions about the plan such as “How do you plan to keep track of all of your due dates?” “What can you do to break this project into manageable pieces?” Helping your children to solve their own self-management dilemmas is an important part of allowing them to develop their independence and responsibility.
- Make sure your child has a quiet, focused space to work on their homework. Again, ask them what they need to stay focused. Some students really do focus better with music. Some need quiet. Very few can focus with screens (video games, TV, or social media) – despite what they may tell you!
- Encourage your child to talk to their teachers about their work-load and projects BEFORE they are due. Often students’ panic happens because of very solvable problems that have been left unsolved until it is too late. Of course we always encourage parents to communicate with teachers as well, but the more you encourage your child to advocate for themselves, the better they will feel about the solutions and the stronger their resiliency and self-advocacy skills will become.
- Encourage your child to take breaks. A quick walk around the neighborhood, a snack, some stretching, or even switching subjects can reset the thinking, allows the brain processing time to assimilate the information that they’ve been working on, and often makes the task at hand seem more manageable when they return to it.
- Allow them to make mistakes, and don’t dwell on them. Talk to them about how they can fix their mistakes, but always remind them that mistakes are one of the most important steps in new learning.
- Lastly, and most importantly, talk to them about it. (I know I said this twice – but it’s that important!)
The more students stay on top of their work-load, stick to their plan for success and communicate openly with their parents and teachers, the more they will achieve (both academically and in life-skill development), the less stressed and anxious they will be about school, and the happier they will feel. We all want our kids to be happy – especially when those feelings come from the confidence and pride of a difficult task well done.
Happy Islamic New Year.
Derek Lea
Vice-Principal, Secondary
Secondary Parental Engagement Coordinator, Aida Elhalwagy
Dear Parents of GAA
My name is Aida Elhalwagy. I’d like to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about this year’s Parental Engagement program. I’m a Secondary Science teacher and the Secondary Parental Engagement Coordinator. I’ve been at GAA for 5 years now and both my daughters attend GAA; my eldest is in grade 7 and the little one is in grade 1.
I’m excited about my role as Parental Engagement rep for Secondary because as a mom with kids in both segments of the school, I often feel that there tends to be more school involvement with our younger kids. Research has shown that a major indicator of student success is the sustained engagement and involvement in our kids’ social, emotional, and academic life.
I value and know the importance of engaging with our middle and high schooler and also know that it’s not always that easy. We will be creating more opportunities for parents to become more knowledgeable about their adolescent’s life here at GAA and we’ll provide ideas of ways to strengthen your connection and involvement with your teenager.
I’m excited about this year’s Parental Engagement workshop week that will be held from October 16-20, during the school day. The sessions will be led by teachers about various topics that will help parents understand their teenager a little bit more. Workshop sessions will address topics such as: the digital age and our secondary student, making math more relevant, the IBDP CAS program, choosing an extended essay topic, ways to strengthen native language at home, improving our student’s self esteem and confidence, and helping our senior student make college/university and career choices.
Please be on the lookout for a more detailed invitation via email that will also allow you to sign up to the specific workshop(s) that you will be attending. Here at GEMS we encourage 3 a day - talk about learning, share learning experiences, and encourage learning - so please remember to implement ‘3aday’ at home. For more information on activity ideas about 3aday you can install the ‘3aday’ app available for iOS and Androids.
Please feel free to contact me if you would like to share successful ways in which you engage with your children or for any questions or comments.
Aida Elhalwagy
Secondary Science Teacher
Parental Engagement Coordinator - Secondary
GEMS American Academy
[email protected]
My name is Aida Elhalwagy. I’d like to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about this year’s Parental Engagement program. I’m a Secondary Science teacher and the Secondary Parental Engagement Coordinator. I’ve been at GAA for 5 years now and both my daughters attend GAA; my eldest is in grade 7 and the little one is in grade 1.
I’m excited about my role as Parental Engagement rep for Secondary because as a mom with kids in both segments of the school, I often feel that there tends to be more school involvement with our younger kids. Research has shown that a major indicator of student success is the sustained engagement and involvement in our kids’ social, emotional, and academic life.
I value and know the importance of engaging with our middle and high schooler and also know that it’s not always that easy. We will be creating more opportunities for parents to become more knowledgeable about their adolescent’s life here at GAA and we’ll provide ideas of ways to strengthen your connection and involvement with your teenager.
I’m excited about this year’s Parental Engagement workshop week that will be held from October 16-20, during the school day. The sessions will be led by teachers about various topics that will help parents understand their teenager a little bit more. Workshop sessions will address topics such as: the digital age and our secondary student, making math more relevant, the IBDP CAS program, choosing an extended essay topic, ways to strengthen native language at home, improving our student’s self esteem and confidence, and helping our senior student make college/university and career choices.
Please be on the lookout for a more detailed invitation via email that will also allow you to sign up to the specific workshop(s) that you will be attending. Here at GEMS we encourage 3 a day - talk about learning, share learning experiences, and encourage learning - so please remember to implement ‘3aday’ at home. For more information on activity ideas about 3aday you can install the ‘3aday’ app available for iOS and Androids.
Please feel free to contact me if you would like to share successful ways in which you engage with your children or for any questions or comments.
Aida Elhalwagy
Secondary Science Teacher
Parental Engagement Coordinator - Secondary
GEMS American Academy
[email protected]
Islamic Department
Here is our Community and Secondary School Calendar - Scroll through the months to see what's planned for this year at GAA
Please make sure you check this calendar regularly for updates and new events.