THE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER3 1 T H J A N 2 0 1 9

Little Red Riding Hood

The latest news and updates from the RGSGQwww.rgsgq.com

RGS Dates For Your

Diary

2nd February: Spring Fair

6th February: Parents’ Monthly Coffee Morning

(outside on the field for Sports Day)

3rd -7th February: Health Week

On Wednesday morning the Early Years children wowed parents with their spectacular performance of Little Red Riding Hood. Over the past few weeks, children in Nursery and Reception have been busy making costumes, practising songs and learning lines. Their hard work certainly paid off as our young performers sang and danced their way through this well-known story. I am sure that everyone who watched the performance was incredibly impressed at the confidence the children showed and parents were no doubt bursting with pride at how well the children did. Well done to all the children and thank you to Miss Matthews and her Early Years team, as well as Miss Martindale and Mr Woodhouse for all their hard work.

31TH JAN 2019

31TH JAN 2019

Nursery Farmers!

During Term 2.1, Nursery have been learning all about plants and growing. It has been an amazing topic with lots of great learning opportunities focused on how plants grow, where food comes from and the importance of a healthy balanced diet, as well as incorporating well known stories such as ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and ‘The Enormous Turnip.’ This week Nursery pupils held a ‘Farming Day’ which provided children with an opportunity to explore their topic further. I was lucky enough to be invited to Farming Day and so ‘Farmer Downs’ spoke to the children about different fruits and vegetables and discussed their likes and dislikes. A group of Year 6 farmers also came along to help and they sold vegetables at the market, as well as supporting the Nursery children with a range of great activities which included vegetable printing and fruit tasting. It was a great day of learning for the children and I would like to thank Miss McConville, Miss Wooley and the Nursery team for planning such a beneficial day for the children.

31TH JAN 2019

Hamonde Charity Day

This year we have introduced a series of ‘House Charity Days’ which are being planned and led by our Senior School House Captains. The House Captains are responsible for selecting a chosen charity, as well as organising, promoting and running the event. So far this year we have had highly successful Charity Days for Nettles and Valpy and on Thursday Talya, (Hamonde House Captain) organised a Colour Run in aid of QAWS, an animal shelter in Qatar. Pupils and staff arrived at school in colourful clothing and took part in a colour run over obstacles on the school field. It was a great event combining exercise and enjoyment whilst also raising money for a good cause. Congratulations to Talya for organising this event and thank you to Mrs Fletcher for her support. I look forward to the next Charity Day on Thursday 28th February which will be organised by Austen.

31TH JAN 2019

First Aid Training

At the RGS we believe that the happiness and safety of the pupils should be our number one priority. In addition to a full time school nurse we also have a large number of staff members who are fully trained in first aid. Last weekend all remaining academic and administrative staff who had not previously completed such training took part in a first aid and lifesaving course. This helps to ensure that if an incident was to arise at the RGS, any staff member would be able to attend to the pupils.

31TH JAN 2019

Sports DayAs part of Health Week, which takes place next week, we will be holding Sports Days on Wednesday 6th February (Early Years and Key Stage 1) and Thursday 7th February (Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3). Parents are invited to come along to cheer on the children and wear the same colour as their child’s House. For example, if your child is in Hamonde House then you could wear an item of blue clothing. There will also be some parent’s races so don’t forget to wear your trainers! And don’t think it’s only the parents who will be asked to get involved, the teachers will race for their Houses as well, with Miss Keay (Nettles) and Mr Walsh (Valpy) looking to defend the titles they won last year! It’s going to be a great few days!

Parents’ Monthly Coffee Morning

Please note that this month’s ‘Parents’ Monthly Coffee Morning’ will take place outside in the School Council garden on Wednesday 6th February. This is due to the Early Years and Key Stage 1 Sports Day. Please come along to meet other parents, enjoy a coffee and cheer on the children.

Spring Fair

Don’t forget that our Spring Fair is this Saturday! This event is being organised by the Parents’ Association with support from the RGS, and it is sure to be one of the highlights of the academic year. The Spring Fair will provide an opportunity for our school community to gather together with the wider Doha community and enjoy a fun filled day of activities. There will be musical performances by RGS pupils, games, stalls, live music, tasty food and lots of prizes to be won. It is sure to be a great day so please come along! Have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Mr. Downs

31TH JAN 2019

Year 3 and 4 Collaboration with SherborneThe children in Year 3 and Year 4 visited Sherborne for an inter-school maths quiz. The children were split into groups and placed with pupils from Sherborne Primary, Kings College and Doha English Speaking School. As a team, the children worked through three very difficult tasks and had to complete each one correctly in order to gain access to the next! The competition was intense; some of our pupils were included in the teams which were awarded 1st, 2nd and 3rd place! All of the children were congratulated for taking part and they all left with a certificate. Miss Moore

Year 1 WorkshopYear 1 have been learning all about buildings and different areas to live in their ‘Bright Lights, Big City’ topic this term. Today, they began their day by making their own builders tool belts for the day. They also had the opportunity to join in a LEGO workshop in which they had to build their own tower and give it a name! They experimented with food colouring too to make their very own butterflies, which they loved doing! Finally, Year 1 had the challenge of using the building blocks outside to make their own house. I think you’ll agree that they did a great job making a house fit for all of Year 1!

31TH JAN 2019

Each week RGS Superstar certificates are awarded to pupils from each class in the Primary School who have excelled in an area of school life during the week. Pupils receive these awards for demonstrating one of the RGS Learning Habits and becoming a member of our RGS Super Squad! These pupils each receive 25 additional House points. This week the following pupils received one of these special awards: Nursery Seahorses: SamuelNursery Starfish: NouraReception Dolphins: MariamReception Turtles: HusseinReception Sharks: All of the sharksYear 1 Meerkats: FatimahYear 1 Giraffes: QuinishaaYear 2 Lions: LilyYear 2 Tigers: ReemYear 3M: FatmaYear 4H: MunainYear 5K: TameemYear 6W: Nadeen AhmedYear 7T: OmarYear 8P: Marwan

Weekly Awards

RGS Superstars

31TH JAN 2019

Maintaining high levels of attendance and punctuality at school are essential for pupils to ensure they maximise their learning time in school and reach their full potential; academically, socially and emotionally. Each week Class of the Week trophies are awarded to the classes in Early Years, Key Stage One and Key Stage Two, who achieve the highest weekly attendance, and who achieve the highest percentage of punctual pupils arriving by 7.45am. Pupils in these classes are also rewarded with an additional two House points each. The winners this week can be seen below: Early YearsAttendance: Reception Turtles Punctuality: Reception Turtles Key Stage 1Attendance: Year 1 Giraffes Punctuality: Year 1 Giraffes Key Stage 2Attendance: Year 4Punctuality: Year 3 Thank you very much for ensuring your children arrive at school on time each day and do not miss school unnecessarily.

Class of the Week

31TH JAN 2019

To promote healthy eating and good table manners, pupils who demonstrate excellent behaviour, eating habits and manners during snack time and lunch time throughout the week, are invited to eat snack on the ‘Top Table’ at the end of the week. These pupils also receive 25 additional House points each. On Thursday I enjoyed eating snack with the following pupils from Reception, Key Stage 1 and 2: Reception Turtles: ZahraReception Sharks: DareenReception Dolphins: LikhitYear 1 Meerkats: AbrahamYear 2 Lions: CeylinYear 2 Tigers: AminahYear 3M: NadaYear 4H: Adam ZYear 5K: KhalifaYear 6W: Aldana Alshammari

Top Table

31TH JAN 2019

Community Events

Below is a list of upcoming events in Doha that our parent community have shared: Syria Matters Exhibition: 18th November – 30th April at the Museum of Islamic Art DFI Cinema Under the Stars - ‘Coco’: 31st January – 2nd February at the Museum of Islamic Art Peter and the Wolf Family Concert: 1st February at Katara Drama Theatre Al Samriya Riding School Family Fun Day: 1st February Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum Doha Triathlon: 8th February at the Museum if Islamic Art Russian Ballet “Anna Karenina” by Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg: 12th and 13th February at QNCC - Al Mayassa Theatre If you know of any events planned for the future, please let us know so we can pass this information to our school community.

31TH JAN 2019

RGS Diary Dates

2nd February: Spring Fair 6th February: Parents’ Monthly Coffee Morning (outside on the field for Sports Day) 3rd -7th February: Health Week 6th February: Early Years and Key Stage 1 Sports Day 7th February: Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 Sports Day 7th February: Last day of Term 2.1 17th February: First day of Term 2.2 21st February: Mother Language Day 21st February: Year 2 Tigers Class Assembly 28th February: Austen Charity Day 3rd March – 7th March: Book Week 9th March – 14th March: Year 7 and 8 Residential to Sri Lanka 17th March – 21st March: Year 5 and 6 Residential to Oman 24th March – 28th March: Arts Week