Parents’ Weekly Memo - Dar Al Marefa Private School

1 parents Weekly memo I S S U E 1 3 12 June BYODP arents Weekly memo I S S U E 1 3 12 June of RTA. Our School will collect the registration forms and manage the invoice and payment of bus fees on their behalf. Further information can be collected from the School Opera-tions Manager. 2015/2016 Registration If you have not yet re-enrolled your child it is urgent that you read and act on the following information please. The deadline for re-enrolment has now passed. The School office will close for the summer break on Thursday 2 July. If you are unsure of anything, or need further guidance, please con-tact the School registrar as soon as possible. School Portal Don t forget to visit the School s por-tal regularly during the summer break for updates. If you haven t downloaded the School app yet, the directions can be found on the por-tal. School Uniform Please support the School when pur-chasing School uniform items to begin the next academic year.

2 Black shoes are to be worn with the School uniform. We want to instill pride in wearing the Dar Al Marefa uniform and need parents to enforce the cor-rect attire. Dear parents , Mabrook! We have made it to the final day of the academic year for the stu-dents of Dar Al Marefa . On behalf of the staff can I thank you for your on-going support and loyalty to our School . 2015 has been a great year for Dar Al Marefa . In addition to our annual School celebrations and activities, we maintained our good rating with the KHDA; increased our interschool aca-demic and sporting competitions; re-written the English, Maths and Science syllabi; increased our student attend-ance rate while decreasing late to School students; upgraded our car park; provided both English and Arabic booster lessons; increased our focus on instructional learning through changes in School timetable and the introduc-tion of the Dar Al Marefa 8 Elements of an Effective Lesson.

3 We have increased our attainment levels in English and Science and introduced a School app for our smart phones. Starting in September, our partnership with the Dubai Government has seen an agreement for the RTA to provide safe and secure School bus transport with on board CCTV cameras and using up to date technology to track bus movements. Such achievements, over the year, shared by parents with other families and friends have seen an overwhelm-ing interest in our School . This term we have had over 237 applications for positions at our School for next year. Such interest illustrates what you par-ents already know; Dar Al Marefa is an excellent School that is making a differ-ence to the lives of our students. We are being true to the vision of our School . Next year, to help increase the aca-demic rigor, each of the Heads of de-partment will be teaching a grade 6 subject; and after a long summer break we will be running a week of work-shops in the MYP to begin the School year aimed at activating their minds and focus-ing the students on learning; the intro-duced of an optional BYOD for 6-12 will support the inquiry learning approach as well as increasing student collaboration; we will attempt to create a separate boys and girls wing on the first floor and we will be introducing an economics/business strand for the first time into the MYP.

4 I think my point is clear; we at Dar Al Marefa are serious about learning. We are not resting on our reputation and this year s achievements; we are continually working to create the opportunities that will help build tomorrow s leaders. Dar Al Marefa is a wonderful place to learn in and with the ongoing commitment of our staff and parents we will continue to build a world class School for our stu-dents. I congratulate all our parents on reaching the end of the academic year. You should be proud of your child s jour-ney. I look forward to your continued support as we continue the great work for Dar Al Marefa into 2015/2016. To all our staff and families who are not returning to our School will continue to be in our prayers as you make your journey on to new places. Have a safe and restful summer break. Ramadan Kareem! Jake Report Cards Reports will be issued on Thursday 25 June between 10:00 am and 12 noon.

5 parents can collect the reports from the KG Library. RTA Information With the new partnership with the Dubai Government and RTA for 2015/2016, changes to student bus transport to and from School will now be the responsibility