Dear parents,

School extension news
We have now established a reputation as one of the leading schools in Dubai and, as a consequence, demand for places is high. Over the last three years our roll has risen significantly and the school is now very full. We are obviously delighted with our success but this has put a strain on our facilities.

Over the last year we have been planning for the development of an extension to the school’s accommodation to provide additional classrooms, more changing room space, offices and storage. Parents will be aware that at the present time we do not have a facility for school productions or performances and to address this we are also planning to build a multipurpose auditorium.

I am delighted to be able to inform you that we now have a design for the proposed extension and the build for this has been approved by the Taaleem Board. The plans are now being been submitted to KHDA and Dubai Municipality and we are hoping that we will get the go-ahead over the coming weeks. As you can imagine, we are all delighted by this news and excited by the proposed project.

We will keep you informed of further developments and will be hosting a forum in the coming weeks to share further details and answer any questions you may have.

Taaleem parent survey
You will receive the annual online parent survey from Taaleem shortly and we would be very grateful if you would take the time to complete it. A link to the survey will be sent directly to you. It is administered and analysed by an external organisation. Your feedback, as always, is really important for the school and Taaleem and provides valuable information to inform ongoing school improvement. Thank you for your support.

Car park & drop off
Please be vigilant, manoeuvre carefully and pay attention in the car park. One of our security guards was reversed into by a car one morning this week. He was badly bruised and shocked but is fine now and will be returning to work shortly.

Our security guards are here for you and your children’s safety. Please respect them accordingly.

A number of cars in the morning have started to turn left into the Year 1&2 car park in spite of the sign asking parents not to do this. The ‘no left turn’ policy has been implemented to keep the traffic moving at peak times, so please do adhere to it.

Work Experience contacts – we need your help

This year for the first time we're looking to run a comprehensive Work Experience programme for all year 10s, taking a week in June to encounter the realities of the workplace and the kind of opportunities available.

In order to generate as many, and as interesting a range of, placements as possible, we really need your help as parents. If you can either directly offer some kind of placement facilitate the process by providing a contact in HR / the appropriate person in order to discuss that possibility, please get in touch with Jackie Nicklin know jnicklin@dubaibritishschool.ae. [Apologies if you were unable to contact Jackie last week, there was a typo in her email address].

DBS Factor: Monday 13^th February 2012
The DBS Factor is back! This year the school talent show is taking place on Monday February 13th at 7.00pm at The Madinat Theatre. Tickets are open to all students and parents priced at 40 AED and are available from the school library. All proceeds will go to the Dubai Autism Centre.

Examinations timetable
Provisional GCE and GCSE calendars for Summer 2012 are now on the examinations area of our website: www.dubaibritishschool.ae/curriculum/examinations

Primary Sports Days
Primary sports days are taking place next week (Y1/2 Sunday, Y3/4 Monday, Y5/6 Tuesday, FS Wednesday). Pupils need to come to school in PE clothes (including house t-shirt for Years 1-6) and bring water bottles and hats.

The PFA will be selling tea/coffee/cakes at all events.

**Any donations of cakes would be greatly appreciated and should be left at reception.**

Book week is nearly here! (w/c 19^th February)
There will be lots of exciting activities during Book Week this year! The following is an outline of the main events but lots more will be happening during the week to highlight the pleasure of reading.

19^th Feb - Poem in my pocket: Children should write or find a poem and carry a copy in their pocket. The ‘Poetry Police’ will be on patrol stopping children to hear their poems. Students can hear each other’s poem at playtimes or in class.
20^th Feb - Storyteller Day: Students should bring in a favourite story book to read to others at break time or in class.
21^st Feb - Book in a day: During the day each class will produce a page for our whole school book. This will be read out to students during our assembly.
22^nd Feb - Dress up day: Students should dress up as a book character. Judges will visit classrooms in the morning and there will be a small prize per class.

Primary Swimming
The current PE blocks end this week and the new ones start Sunday 22nd January.
The following classes will be swimming:
1S- Sun, 2B- Thurs, 3D- Thurs, 4D- Sun, 4S- Mon, 5D- Sun, 5S- Mon, 6D- Tue, 6S- Wed
All pupils need to bring DBS swimsuit/shorts, DBS cap, goggles, towel and flip flops.
All other classes, including Foundation, will need PE kit for both lessons.

Ice cream sales
Caron on Reception is off to Ethiopia at half-term and we have agreed to sell ice creams to raise some funds. They are 2 AED each:

Year 1/2 Monday at 11.30
Year 5/6 Tuesday at 11.30
Year 3/4 Wednesday 11.30

Hope you have a lovely weekend.

Mark Ford,

Principal