Quotes of the issue:

“When the best things are not possible, the

best may be made of those that are.” -

Richard Hooker

“Nothing will ever be attempted if all possi-

ble objections must first be overcome.”

Samuel Johnson

Alssonian

Issue 8

November 2012

E l A l s s o n S c h o o l

Page 1

11-14 November: Primary/Elementary Sports Week

12 November: Years 11-13 Parents’ Meeting

14-15 November: Y8 Arabic Trip to Alexandria

14-17: G9 Trip to Sharm El Naga

15 November: Islamic New Year

19 November: EL ALSSON’s FIRST OPEN DAY

22-23 November: G7 Arabic Trip to Alexandria

25-29 November: Primary/Elementary Book Fair

28-29 November: G3 Overnight Trip

27-29 Y6 Desert Trip

6 December: Y4 Class Concert

6-7 December: Y9 Arabic Trip to Wadi Rayan

10 December: Open Day

12 December: Xmas Concert

16 December: Primary/Elementary Parents’ Day

17 December: Primary Lower School Production ‘Cinderella’

19 December: Graduation Ceremony for Class of 2012

19-22 December: Y11 Arabic Trip to Baharia

23 December-7 January: Xmas Break

13-17 January: International Week

17 January: Primary /Elementary Costume Day

20 January: Open Day

24 January: Prophet’s Birthday

31 January: Grade 5 Concerts

3 February: Open Day

El Alsson Turns 30 years old

El Alsson School is proud to turn 30 years this September. Estab-lished in 1982, El Alsson began by teaching the Egyptian Nation-al Curriculum from 1982 until 1992, then in response to numer-ous requests by parents for an alternative style of education, the 'English Academy' as it was called at the time was opened offering the British Curriculum. In 2002, El Alsson International School was approved as a centre for Edexcel GCSE, A/S and A-Level programmes. In 2006 parents were tired with the Sanawi ‘ama system and asked the school for one final change. Within a year, the American Section was introduced and a year later, accredited. We dropped the name English Academy and became El Alsson British and American International School. To date, although we only offer the British and American Education Sys-tems, all sections of the school teach the Ministry of Education Arabic and Religion programmes for Egyptian students. Students from expatriate families follow an Arabic as a Second Language course as part of their studies. As part of the celebration of our 30 years of providing quality education, we have launched our renovated website

www.alsson.com as well as a new mo-bile app. coming soon for our parents to keep up-to-date and stay informed with school news and events. We have introduced the online payment feature and lastly, we have managed to place our uniform online so that parents can have the uniform deliv-ered to their doorsteps without facing the hassle of driving long distances or searching for a rare parking place in Mohandessin.

“Developing Successful 21st Century Citizens” is our vision and indeed this is what we try and do. Looking back at the past 30 years we are proud that El Alsson has achieved in the field of education, has always tried to be ahead of the game in embrac-ing new educational developments and trends, and has strived to graduate citizens who are well equipped to succeed in the international market. We are extremely proud of all our alumni, many of whom have excelled in all walks of life.

El Alsson on Social Media

You can like us on Facebook / Page name: El Alsson School - Official Page. You can follow us on Twitter / Name: @elalsson Perhaps you might want to join our You Tube Channel or watch our pictures on Flickr. Or you can simply log onto www.alsson.com where we have integrated You Tube and flickr and enabled embedding the videos and photos on our website’s Media Centre di-rectly. You can find our Media Centre un-der ‘About’ on the home page.

Mark Your Calendars

Changes in the British Senior Section: Who‟s Who?

There have been a few changes in the management of the British Senior section. For effective communication between home and

school, it is worth knowing WHO’S WHO!

Mr Jamie Gurr (Vice Principal) is Head of the British Senior School and oversees the day to day running of this section of the school.

Mr Fasail Yassin and Madam Saida Hasni (Assistant Principals) continue to monitor KS3 and the Sixth Form respectively. They are

available to answer questions and resolve any issues you may have.

Mr Brian Sammons (Assistant Principal) is a new member of the team and will be working with KS4 students.

Our managers work very much as a team to ensure that your son / daughter gets the best possible education. We are always happy

to answer your questions and respond to your concerns.

0ne of the newest features that we would like to highlight is ‘online payments’, which is the first of its kind for any school in Egypt. The accounts department will email you an invoice with the requested fee installment and you can simply click "Pay Now" and get redirected to the secure Arab African Bank site and pay online. No one wants to drive around carrying large amounts of cash these days, so the on-line payment system takes away that problem. You can, of course, still come and pay in person, in cash or by credit card and you can still use the HSBC facility along with the new on-line payment feature . Please make sure your email is updated on our database.

If you have changed it, send a mail to preception@alsson.com

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2012, ANOTHER GREAT YEAR!

Congratulations to our Alssonians of Class of 2012 on their success in joining top universities from all over the world.

Besides the top Universities in Egypt (AUC, GUC, BUE, MSA and Nile University) Alssonians also went abroad to:

McGill University, Ryerson University , Concordia University and Gelph University in Canada.

Bath University, Brunel University, University of Arts London, Swansea University, Surrey University, University of Sussex and City University in the UK.

Maryland University, Pratt University and Tampa University in the USA.

Utrecht University in Holland, American College in Athens.

On line Payment.. Now @El Alsson

As part of our efforts to continuously improve and innovate services for our parents, we are proud to launch the ‘Online Uniform Service’. Now you can order all the summer and winter uniforms on-line from the comfort of your home and have it delivered to you the same day or a day later. El Alsson has partnered up with ‘Kids Avenues’ who are market leaders for online products. You can log onto Kids Avenues at www.kidsavenues.com and find us under schools. The uniform shop in Mohandeseen will continue to function as normal for those of you who opt to go there.

Get Your Uniform on line from Kids Avenues!

Parent School Association Update „PSA‟

As you know we tried to put together a Parent School Association

last year and but received only five applications, which was not

enough to form a committee. It’s time to work again on setting up

a Parent School Association where parents can get involved in

further enhancing student learning, welfare and various school

activities. With our current new website, all the details on the PSA

are available in the Parents’ section as well as the application for

parents who are interested to nominate themselves.

The applicants from last year are currently posted and we urge

more parents to nominate themselves so we can go ahead and

plan the elections process. http://www.alsson.com/parent/psa

Class of 2012, University Destinations...

As ever, El Alsson achieved excellent academic results across both sections of the school. In the British Section, students attained

exceptional GCSE , AS and A2 results and we are very proud of our students and staff.

Top GCSE results: Malak el Sherbiny: 6A*s 3As / Alia Fahmy: 2A*s 7As / Lana eman: 2A*s 6As

Top AS results: Mostafa El laithy: A A A A / Marwan el Nashar: A A A A / Ghalia Selim: A A A A

Top A2 results: Hassan Hamdy: A A B / Ramzy Loza: A A B / Mohamed Hagin: A A B

In the American section, the following students were placed on the Honor Roll for academic achievements in Grade 12;

Amira Selim / Camilia Nasr / Farida Ezzat / Nada Abou Radwan / Nadine Fahmy / Nardeen Fawzy / Nour Gohar / Rozan Hodroj / Ye

Rin Jeong, and particularly Aly Gouda’s superior achievement and academic excellence.

We congratulate all our students on their outstanding results and wish them all the best as they move onto universities both here

and abroad.

During the week the children were involved in a variety of activities from Friendship Flags to

re-writing the Anti-Bullying policy in child friendly language. Students visited the Sitara Thea-

tre and wrote, acted in and filmed their own plays about Anti-Bullying. The Sitara Theatre

Company involved the children in workshops based on “The Diary of a Wimpy Kid”, in which

the children watched a puppet show before they participated in drama workshops about

bullying and possible solutions. All the grade levels and year groups enjoyed this experience.

On October 8th, Year 6 visited the Om Kulthoum museum and learned about the historic importance of Om Kulthoum’s life. The children viewed artefacts and accessories that were owned by the legend-ary singer. They saw her diamond encrusted glasses, her handbags and dresses. They saw photo-graphs of Om Kulthoum with heads of state and the medals awarded to her by nations from the mid-dle-east and around the world. Afterwards, they watched a short movie of her life and career. Later on, the children visited the Nileometer and learned from the guide how in ancient times, the rise and fall of the Nile could be measured.

On Wednesday 10th October, KS2 organised a sponsored walk event during break time. We raised the amount of 18480 LE for the Food Bank in Cairo and the ACE Animal Shelter in Luxor. El Alsson School is an on-going supporter of both charities. This was an enjoyable event for all involved and the children felt proud that they had helped support these charities. On the other hand, in the Elementary School, the students organized a couple of bake and toy sales to raise money and awareness for our two community service projects this year. ACE (Animal Care in Egypt) and a school in the “Stabl Antar” area in Dar El Salam, which is a non-profit organization, which helps children who are less fortunate receive an education. Elementary students attended a presentation by the founder of this school Yasmina Abou Youssef and a former Alssonian, Amr El Tobgi.

Charity in the Primary / Elementary School

It was a busy summer for El Alsson workers and staff. The long awaited shipment of

brand new furniture for our Primary School had finally made it here!

Everyone was busy taking out all the old furniture; desks, chairs, shelving units and

drawers, which was stacked up in the Primary field waiting for their new owners.

Trucks from the Food Bank arrived and were loaded with everything to be donated to

underprivileged schools in Egypt.

Primary Students have NEW Furniture

Primary / Elementary Anti-Bullying Week

Year 6 pay a visit to Om Kulthoum

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Year 5 Coptic Cairo Visit

Page 4

Grade 1/ Year 2 Arabic Trip to “Rich Bake” Factory

Grade 1 / Year 2 students went on a an Arabic trip to visit “Rich Bake” Factory. The children were so excited and fascinated as they observed the different stages of bread making in a huge factory. They saw how a vital agricultural product turns into an industrial one (which is related to the current unit covered in their Arabic curriculum books). Their outstanding behaviour was rewarded at the end of the trip with plenty of giveaways for the children as a sign of gratitude from the Rich Bake staff members.

We were all quite excited on Monday, 8th October! A new experience – a school trip to Coptic (or Old) Cairo. Most of us had not been there before, and not visited a church, although we had heard of the Hanging Church.

5A, with Mr Williams and Mrs Reham went first to the Coptic Museum, taking in relics of Egypt in the Byzantine era and seeing old scriptures and vestments of the Christians of Egypt mainly before the Arab Invasion. They then went on to see the Hanging Church – so called because it was built suspended over two towers which we could see if we dared to stand on the glass floor and look down! 5E, with Miss Gonella and Mr Walid started by wandering through the old streets visiting the Church of St Barbara and the Roman Church, looking at alters, pulpits, pews and many depictions of Christian saints and holy people. This was all very different from experiences in a mosque, but there are some similarities that can be detect-ed. They then walked round to the Greek Orthodox Cemetery – fascinated by the tombs and crypts erected in memory of the dead – then on to the chapel, at the rear of which was the well that supposedly quenched the thirst of the Holy family during their flight through Egypt, hot, tired and hungry. Time for lunch, then continuing the trip by swapping over to do what the other class had done. To finish our day we were taken to the Mosque of Amr Ibn Al’as – the successful leader of the Arab Invasion that introduced Islam to Egypt in 641 AD – where the children were attentive and polite during a lesson from Mr Walid. School trips are fun and informative – they make lessons come alive. Here’s looking forward to the next one!

إيواا بأويت الشياراث الويذايت الزحالث فى دعن العوليت الخعليويت قام حالهيذ اللصف األل االبخذائى بشيارة هصع ) ريخش بيك ( كن كاج سعادة الخالهيذ كبيزة ن يشاذى هزاحل حصيع الوخبساث ، يخعزفى على كيفيت ححيل هخج سراعى إلى هخج صاعى حعخوذ علي حياحا سخخذه بصرة يهيت . خيجت لخويش حالهيذ الوذرست فى سلكياحن حاراحن هع العاهليي قذهج إدارة الوصع العذيذ هي الذايا اللطيفت حعبيزا عي اهخان لذ الشيارة الطيبت

All departments will be going to various trips this year. Further trips will be included in the March issue of ‘the Alssonian’.

Page 5

American Student Council As president of El Alsson American School Council of 2013, I am proud to present this year’s members. We are a group of 8 working together to make El Alsson a better place. Members are Sherifa Faizy, Amira Fawzy, Farida Galal, Sally Mamdouh and Mostafa Zaki from Grade 11 and Linda Azab, Mohamed Galal and myself from Grade 12. Our mission is to make our school a place were students want to be, where they feel comfortable, where they can have fun as well as learn. As student council, we organize events, raise money for charity, raise money for prom but most importantly, express student voice. We are the connection between the students and the School Board. To make the best of that position we are going to be assigning grade presidents who will deliver any concerns that their year groups have and we will in person, convey those concerns to the School Board. Previous councils have organized many successful events but this year we are focusing more on giving students what they want but can’t attain by themselves. Their concerns are being conveyed to the School Board to take action upon rules and regulations and also the quality of everything El Als-son offers. This year is guaranteed to be a year filled with change and student spirit. If anyone has any concerns that they would like to pass on, whether it be students, parents or teachers, we are honored to help. Angy Nour – President of El Alsson American Student Council.

British Student Council The role of a student council in any school is to provide the student body with a voice. The aim of this council is to communicate the needs of the students to the management, by improving this communication, we can improve life in school.

Conventionally, this would be lead by a Head and a Deputy Head, with oth-er roles such as treasurer and reporter being taken up by other students. This year however, the student council is being restructured to more close-ly resemble a parliament, creating a more democratic council. Currently being led by a board of 4; Rana Nassef, Aly Abouleinein, Shahd Osman and Marwan El Nashar. A single representative from each class from Year 7 to Year 12 will be elected by their class, each representative will then vote on which member of the board they would like to assume the role of Prime Minister; head of the Parliament. A change of this magnitude to the student council is unprecedented and will require a lot of work to set up. If successful however, this new parlia-ment will potentially bring forth a new era of democracy to El Alsson.

Student Councils‟ Reformation

Eid Celebration Galabeya Style

Page 6

El Alsson Sports Update

VARSITY BOYS FOOTBALL - CHAMPIONS AGAIN!!! On Saturday 13th October 2012, El Alsson became the CISSA Champions again. The boys beat BISC 2-1 in their first game, but lost 3-1 to the hosts ISC-C in the second group game, finishing 2nd in their group which meant they met MES in the semi-final. They beat MES 1-0 and met ISC-C again in the final. The game was a tie 1-1, but the boys kept their composure and with exceptional perfor-mances from our goalkeeper, Mostafa Omar, went on to win 4-3. VARSITY GIRLS FOOTBALL - 3rd PLACE!!! On Friday 12th October, El Alsson's Varsity Girls Football team played in 11-a-side tournament for the first time. It was always going to be a struggle for the 15 girls to play 5 games of football on a bigger pitch than they are used to against very tough opposition in 35 degrees heat, and each and every one of the girls deserves a medal for their display of stamina and strength. They drew their first match with MES 1-1 and then beat ISC-C 2-1 and NCBIS 1-0. Unfortunately they had to play the favourites CAC in the semi-final which they lost 5-0 but kept their heads up and went on to beat ISC - 6 in the 3rd and 4th place play-off. Well done to all of them. EL ALSSON WATERPOLO STARS El Alsson's waterpolo team have had 2 fixtures so far this term beating both ISC-6 and Hyatt School. Well done. EL ALSSON VARSITY VOLLEYBALL Our boys and girls teams have played fixtures against CAC and MES, and the Varsity Tournament at CAC. They’ve put in great effort, and are getting better all the time. Special congratulations to the girls who won 3rd place at the tournament.

The Lifestyle Committee, a group of Sixth Formers, aims at raising awareness within the school community with regards to healthy living. The committee has started making changes in the school canteen, healthier food has been introduced such as salads, healthier sandwiches and pasta. These have sold very well and reflect the initiative students at El Alsson have. The com-mittee's campaign aims first to raise awareness about the importance and effect of eating healthy and exercising on the body and brain. We have already given a presentation to KS3 students who showed enthusiasm and excitement at the prospect of becoming healthier. Our first step is to help students understand how the brain works and to make it as "productive" as possible through a healthy lifestyle. Students have been working on producing brain posters and 3D models. The best ones will receive prizes. The second stage will aim to change the lives of students and actually make a difference through changing their mentality and way of thought towards eating healthy and exercising. The Lifestyle Committee wishes to see Alssonians living a happier and healthier life while achieving the best grades possible and reaching their maximum potential. Omar El Refaie - Y12D - Head of Lifestyle Committee.

The Healthy Living Committee in Action...

This is the second year that El Alsson students have attended the

CAC Model United Nations and everyone agreed that it was a

successful event. Held on campus at CAC, students took part in a

variety of committees modeled on actual UN programs. Debates

covered topics on the right to build nuclear programs to ending

piracy or reducing debt problems globally. Students had to re-

search topics that were assigned, taking on the role of a UN am-

bassador for one country, then write resolutions aimed at finding

a real and sustainable solution to each issue. For most students it

was their first conference, but they all did a great job in both

preparing prior to CACMUN and during the conference our stu-

dents were involved in all negotiations and debates, assuming

the role of a diplomat. MUN is a great opportunity for any stu-

dent interested in international relations or political studies to

learn about international diplomacy. We are currently planning

for two upcoming conferences; one local in late February, and

hope to travel to SPIMUN in St Petersburg in late March. Any

interested students should contact Ms Helen Somerville at

hsomerville@alsson.com for more details.

CAC Model United Nations

Welcome to AS Level Politics

Now that Egypt has taken steps towards democracy with free and fair elections, we thought it was a good time to introduce AS Level Government and Politics. A number of Sixth Form students opted for this course and are now studying political systems. The addition of this course is part of our annual review of the curriculum. We work hard to ensure that we offer our students the very best to prepare them for university and beyond.

A-Level Art & Design Gallery visit

On Tuesday 16th October the British Art & Design department ran a very successful visit for our AS and A2 students to a series of galleries in Zamalek. Critical and contextual studies form an essential part of A-level coursework and this proved to be a valuable trip to help inspire ideas and assist with research. Ultimately this was a fantastic oppor-

tunity for the group to access a range of contempo-rary local and national artists’ work first hand. There was a variety of two dimensional and sculptural piec-es throughout all exhibition spaces -Ayman El Semary’s recycled wooden pieces encouraged stu-dents to think about the use of media and materials within their work at the Modern Egyptian Art Gallery. Students were equally in-spired by pieces in the Zamalek Art Gal-lery and were busy photographing and sketching from the pieces. The finale and impact of Ganzeer’s graffiti installation work at the Safra Khan proved unani-mously popular with all that visited. My thanks goes to Mr Jamie and Ms Bailey for their help and support on the day. Equally, the Year 12 & 13 students were a credit to our school. It was a produc-tive, inspiring and fun day. Miss Jenny Barrett (British Section Head of Art)

Page 7

Y7 & G6 Arabic Trips

Year 7 and Grade 6 went on trips with the Arabic Department to the Citadel and Hanging Church. The students received guided tours of both places and had a great day. At the Citadel, students learnt about its history and construction, and visited the Military Museum to gain knowledge about some of the exhibits held there. Also they visited the famous Mohamed Ali Mosque and learnt about the person who it is named after. By the time the students arrived at the Hanging Church they were a little tired and hungry but still appreciated the knowledge they gained from visiting it.

The best part of the day was when 52 students went together to Pizza Hut and shared a really en-joyable meal! As always our students were great and represented the school excellently. A big thank you to the Arabic Department for organising a great outing for our students.

“This trip has inspired me in

many ways. How our culture

can produce work that is

very expressive and

innovative” Hana Saleh (Y13)

Year 9 Zoo Project Challenge

Year 9 were challenged by Miss Julie and I to come up with an alternative to Giza Zoo. They were given two different locations, Helwan or 6th October City, to situate their zoo, and had to think about how to create a fantastic environ-ment for the animals as well as making the zoo sustainable. Security and facili-ties were also high on the agenda as well as transport issues and how they could be improved. The students were also given freedom to research other parks and incorporate these ideas into their parks. A field-trip to Giza Zoo enabled the students to see the current situation and why there is a need to build a new zoo/safari park in/close to Cairo. A promi-nent animal rights activist, Dina Zulfikar and a former vet from the Giza Zoo, Dr. Omar Tamam, were invited in to join Miss Julie and I in judging the presenta-tions. The whole of Year 9 had worked extremely hard and their presentations were absolutely outstanding. Miss Julie and I are so proud of the students and hopefully this is a step in the right direction for a new zoo and attitudes in Egypt. Thanks for all the hard work Year 9! Mr Iain and Miss Julie

Page 8

Senior Students Reach Out to the Local Community...

“In charity there is no excess” -Sir Francis Bacon. Words held with

great regard at El Alsson; truly the school that never stops giving.

Over the past years the school has taken on an incredible amount

of charitable endeavours, ranging from small

community work, to Operation Smile at the

international level. Recently the school has

broken new ground by setting up free English

lessons for the children and community sur-

rounding the school. These charitable lessons

were set up by Ms. Julie, also the head of the

A.C.E (Animal Care in Egypt) club in school.

Perhaps the most impressive fact of this initiative was the speed

at which it was set up and the sheer number of students willing to

give up their time to help these underprivileged children. Being a

part of this initiative from the beginning I was able to observe the

eagerness of all of the students and staff alike. Upon meeting the

children for the first time, the students quickly moved to intro-

duce themselves and help ease the childrenʼs apparent nerves.

After a few minutes the theatre was humming with animated

conversation, a truly beautiful sight. Class difference was not an

issue here, from 6-year olds to 14-year olds, all the children were

smiling and laughing after the first few minutes.

Once introductions were made, we began to as-

sess the children’s English, finding it far better

than we had expected. Even better, the children

displayed a desire to learn, they pushed them-

selves and had improved greatly in less than an

hour. However, no desire to learn surpassed that

of Farouk the security guard. Walking in shortly

after the start of the lesson and asking if he could join, which was

no small feat considering he would be taught with children, Fa-

rouk made it apparent to everyone that his desire for knowledge

was greater than his vanity.

Over the brief time we have had a chance to teach these great

children, I have seen nothing in them but a thirst for knowledge.

They pushed themselves and were reluctant to leave after we

were finished; they had enjoyed

their lesson. After walking them

out, the students quickly broke

into conversation boasting about

their childʼs knowledge or his

improvement. It is clear, that

with such ambitious students and

the support of the school and

staff, we can help change the

lives of these children, into a life

that they truly deserve. Written

by: Marwan El Nashar

Psychology Class Project: Anti Drugs Campaign

As El Alsson Psychology class of 2013, and with the help of Ms. Yasmine Youssef, we started an Anti-Drug Campaign. Our aim was to educate El Alsson students about psychoactive drugs and their physical and psychological effects. We were spreading awareness about all types of drugs ranging from alcohol to steroids to ecstasy. Our main focus was making awareness posters that were placed all around school. To grasp more attention we made Anti-Drug t-shirts, making us a walking campaign! It has been an eye-opener learning about drugs and their effects. Spreading awareness is important because drugs have become very apparent in our society. This is an attempt to build a safe environment for students that deserve a full and healthy life. As senior class of 2013 we are proud to say that we are Drug-Free. Written by: Angy Nour