News from our Secondary Principal, Kathrine Banner
Dear parents,
I would like to bring a safety concern to your attention:
It has been brought to our attention that some of our secondary school students have been seen crossing 3rd Street near the back of the school in an unsafe manner.
3rd Street is a very busy thoroughfare with heavy traffic, particularly in the afternoon when our school day comes to an end. Some students are leaving the back gate of the school and running across 3rd Street. We believe these students are heading to the Al Raha Gardens Mall. These students are not using the crosswalk or respecting the traffic control signals provided at the intersection of 16th Street and 3rd Street and are making an unsafe choice to run across the street in the middle of the block.
This is a serious safety concern – we obviously do not want our students to put themselves in danger of oncoming traffic. Teachers addressed this safety concern with all our students this week through our advisory classes and assembly program. We ask for your support and assistance in also delivering this message to your children. If you allow your children to go to the Al Raha Gardens Mall after school, please direct them to use the crosswalk.
We have also added some additional supervision after school near the school gate. As this is happening after school, off school grounds, it is difficult for us to supervise directly. Through safety education and your support, students will make safer choices by crossing at the controlled crosswalk.
Sincerely,
Katherine Banner
I would like to bring a safety concern to your attention:
It has been brought to our attention that some of our secondary school students have been seen crossing 3rd Street near the back of the school in an unsafe manner.
3rd Street is a very busy thoroughfare with heavy traffic, particularly in the afternoon when our school day comes to an end. Some students are leaving the back gate of the school and running across 3rd Street. We believe these students are heading to the Al Raha Gardens Mall. These students are not using the crosswalk or respecting the traffic control signals provided at the intersection of 16th Street and 3rd Street and are making an unsafe choice to run across the street in the middle of the block.
This is a serious safety concern – we obviously do not want our students to put themselves in danger of oncoming traffic. Teachers addressed this safety concern with all our students this week through our advisory classes and assembly program. We ask for your support and assistance in also delivering this message to your children. If you allow your children to go to the Al Raha Gardens Mall after school, please direct them to use the crosswalk.
We have also added some additional supervision after school near the school gate. As this is happening after school, off school grounds, it is difficult for us to supervise directly. Through safety education and your support, students will make safer choices by crossing at the controlled crosswalk.
Sincerely,
Katherine Banner
News from our IB Diploma coordinator, Patrick Lyons
Visit from Joyce Halsey 26th September 2016
Dear parents,
It’s the time of year when we at GAA look to share with parents the many exciting things happening at school and to inform parents about the pathways ahead. Following our ‘Back to School’ nights, we are seeking to focus on specific areas of the school’s programmes including the IB Diploma. As part of this,Joyce Halsey from OSC will visit GAA to speak with and present to our top three grades and also prospective and new DP. Her itinerary is as follows.
Dear parents,
It’s the time of year when we at GAA look to share with parents the many exciting things happening at school and to inform parents about the pathways ahead. Following our ‘Back to School’ nights, we are seeking to focus on specific areas of the school’s programmes including the IB Diploma. As part of this,Joyce Halsey from OSC will visit GAA to speak with and present to our top three grades and also prospective and new DP. Her itinerary is as follows.
Joyce is an experienced teacher/examiner/coordinator/school leader who is returning to us after having delivered workshops very successfully last year. She will also talk about study courses run by OSC that some of our students may wish to take. I would encourage all grade 10 parents who can to attend the after school session although other parents would benefit too from hearing what she has to say. There will be other opportunities to hear from and interact with myself and the University Counsellors the following day but I would draw your attention to Joyce’s visit too which has not been on the calendar until now.
See you next week.
Paddy Lyons
IB Diploma Coordinator
See you next week.
Paddy Lyons
IB Diploma Coordinator
September has just about reached its end and many of us are already longing for summer vacation. We have barely completed a month of school and we are knee deep in lab reports, research projects, extended essays and after school activities. The idea of free time may seem outlandish for many of us, however, we need to make time for things that we enjoy whether it be baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies, cycling around Yas Marina Circuit or reading a book for pleasure.
GAA’s English Department can certainly make a strong argument for the importance of reading for pleasure, but numerous researchers have done the work for us and their findings are comparable. The academic benefits of reading for pleasure are clear, but recent studies have discovered additional benefits. A collaborative project funded by the Peter Sowerby Foundation found that reading for pleasure can result in, “increased empathy, improved relationships with others, reductions in the symptoms of depression and dementia, and improved wellbeing.”
It’s not too late to grab a book that interests you and take time out of your busy day to relax and read!
http://modernmrsdarcy.com/9-books-you-should-have-read-in-high-school-that-are-totally-worth-reading-now/
GAA’s English Department can certainly make a strong argument for the importance of reading for pleasure, but numerous researchers have done the work for us and their findings are comparable. The academic benefits of reading for pleasure are clear, but recent studies have discovered additional benefits. A collaborative project funded by the Peter Sowerby Foundation found that reading for pleasure can result in, “increased empathy, improved relationships with others, reductions in the symptoms of depression and dementia, and improved wellbeing.”
It’s not too late to grab a book that interests you and take time out of your busy day to relax and read!
http://modernmrsdarcy.com/9-books-you-should-have-read-in-high-school-that-are-totally-worth-reading-now/
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.