INDUCTION INFORMATION
Message from the Principal and the Deputy Head of School
Dear Parents and Students,
Welcome, Bienvenue, Willkommen, Marhaba Firstly, we would like to extend a very warm welcome to you and your family as you join our vibrant and cosmopolitan community here at SISD. We are delighted that you have chosen SISD for the education of your child(ren), and really cannot wait to get started for another exciting year ahead.
As you may be aware we are one of only a few IB Continuum schools in the world, and the IB permeates every aspect of what we do – our approach to learning, our educational philosophies, and our overriding desire to educate the children of tomorrow to be 21st century global and responsible citizens. We also pride ourselves on ensuring the values of the IB, and the principles of the IB Learner Profile are inherent in every day school life and certainly part of the DNA of the school.
We also believe our educational approach to languages is unique here at SISD – our bilingual and language acquisition programmes are innovative, and certainly one of a kind in the UAE – we think it is one of the most immersive and enjoyable way to learn and maintain languages. We hope that you and your children enjoy it too!
We have high expectations of our students - but equally it is important that they are happy, fulfilled and challenged at school, and have opportunities to take part in lots of different activities. We offer an array of enrichment and after-school clubs, and subject to KHDA guidelines, we will be running as many options as possible in the new academic year. We also have our four Houses – Bern, Geneva, Lugano and Zurich, and your child(ren) will be allocated a House on joining the school. We hope to be able to resume all our House events, challenges and competitions as soon as possible in the new academic year too.
Our team at SISD are also unique – native English, French, German and Arabic speaking teachers, who are highly dedicated and who work tirelessly to support the progress and development of every student. Their work is supported by an excellent administrative team, world-class facilities and excellent curriculum resources.
At SISD, we pride ourselves in providing a warm and caring environment for our students and developing well-rounded young people, who will be the changemakers, the leaders and the global citizens of the future.
We are privileged to welcome your family to our community and we are all looking forward to working alongside you and your child(ren) as they embark on their educational journey with us. We will see you very soon.
Kind regards,
Arlene Samia, PA to Principal & Deputy Head
Rania Hussein, Deputy Head of School
www.sisd.ae + 971 (0)4 375 0600 info@sisd.ae
Meet our Team!
Carolyn SiklosCharles Cjeka
Deputy Head of Primary / IB PYP Coordinator
Deputy Head of Secondary (Academic)
EY PYP Coordinator
EY Secretary
our community!
Useful Induction Information
School Uniform: Our school uniform is available from Zaks, Jumeirah. The store is in The Beach Centre, Jumeriah Beach Road (near Mercato Mall). Orders can also be placed online at ZAKS. Our uniform list is available to view online here
School Bus Transport: The school buses are operated by Maverick Transport. They can be contacted on: Email: transportsisd@maverickrental.com Telephone: 052 911 8831 / 04 375 0624 More information is available here
School Lunches: Lunches are provided by Swiss Canonica. The team can be contacted on inquiry@swisscanonica.ae More information is available on our website and at Swiss Canonica
Stryx After School Activities: At SISD, we offer a large number of after school clubs and activities. Some are internally run, and some are run by our sports partner, Stryx. The calendar of After School Activities is available to view on our website here. Stryx can be contacted on jhag@stryxsports.com and asa@sisd.ae.
Parent Forum Committee: We have a very active Parent Forum Committee – they organize social events, theme days and activities at the school. They also operate a used school uniform shop. More information is available here. The PFC team can be contacted on pfc.sisd@gmail.com.
Useful Induction Information
Additional information: 1. Security Badges
To ensure a safe environment for our school community all parents, students and others authorized to collect students are required to have an official SISD photo identification card. We will need you to complete and submit the Security Badge form. Please follow the Guidelines here. NOTE: For parents with older siblings already at SISD, please re-submit the Security Badge Form as we will issue new parent badges mentioning all children at SISD.If you have not yet submitted a photo of your child, please send an individual portrait photo (JPEG format) clearly showing your child’s face to admissions@sisd.ae.
2. School Calendar – Academic Year 2021/22 The school calendar is available to view online here.
3. School Timings Early Years (PreKG – KG2): The Early Years Schedule is available to view here Primary (Grades 1-5): The Primary Years Schedule is available to view here Secondary (Grades 6-11): The Secondary Years Schedule is available to view here
Communication: 4. School Parent Portal
Please ensure that you login to the school parent portal – more information will be provided on here, and you can also access your child’s reports and communication for the school. You should have already received your parent portal login details.
5. Weekly newsletters Classes in EY and Primary issue a weekly newsletter. These are bespoke to each class, and prepared by the individual teachers.
6. Parent Bulletin The school issues a fortnightly parent bulletin, which contains some of the latest school news and events, and information from the leadership team.
7. Social Media The school has a number of social media channels of communication – please do follow them to stay up to date on the latest school news and activities: Facebook – www.facebook.com/mysisd Instagram – http://www.instagram.com/sisdubai and www. instagram.com/sisdsport and www.instagram.com/sisdboarding
Useful Induction Information
Devices: For students in Grade 6 and above, a laptop is essential. Please see the specification details below: Guideline Laptop Specifications The following chart should help you in selecting and purchasing a laptop for your child to use. While there are many options, there are minimum specifications the students should have in order to effectively support your child’s learning.
Machine Type Laptop
Processor Intel corei3 or Higher AMD Athlon II or Higher
RAM 4 GB or Higher
Hard Drive 160 GB or Higher
Operating System Windows 7 Professional or Higher, Vista Professional or Higher, Mac OSX or Higher Must support English
Wireless 802.11g or Higher
Ports 2 USB ports, Audio in/out, In-built microphone, VGA, DVD reader
Battery Life +4 hours (+6 cell or higher)
www.sisd.ae + 971 (0)4 375 0600 info@sisd.ae