DHA News & Updates
Thursday 3rd June 2021
Term 3 - Week 8
Here we are at the end of a very hot Week 8. A week where the students have continued to take internal and external assessments alongside new learning and practising for the summer concert. They have been using tea and coffee to make maps, learning about famous landmarks in the UAE, understanding how animals are affected by the seasons, measuring volume in milliliters, creating packaging for a chocolate bar, developing questions for a survey, discovering French musicians, experimenting with acids and alkalis and translating 2D shapes through combinations of rotations, reflections and transformations.
Next week is the last week of internal and external assessments and in addition we will be recognising World Oceans Day on Tuesday.
With the increase in temperatures it's time to remember the healthy summer habits of using a sunscreen, seeking shade, covering up with hats and sunglasses and staying hydrated.
Please continue to stay safe and keep well. We wish you a pleasant and relaxing weekend and look forward to seeing you on Sunday.
Dates for your diary
June
Sunday 6th - Thursday 10th June - Assessment Week
Tuesday 8th June - World Oceans Day
Monday 21st June - International Yoga Day
Wednesday 23rd June - Olympics Day
Thursday 24th June - This is Me Day
Monday 28th June - PST Zoom Meetings - SCHOOL CLOSED
Wednesday 30th June - Summer Show - students only
Wednesday 30th June - Term 3 Reports published to parents
July
July 1st - Graduations FS2/Year 6 - students only
July 1st - After school virtual disco
July 5th - Last day / End of Term 3
Don't forget you can keep up to date and access our calendar online via our website or by using the following link and adding it to your own calendar:
Infinite Sports Summer Holiday Programme
Infinite Sports is running a Summer holiday programme here Dubai Heights Academy.
The fun multi-activity sessions are a combination of sports and creative activities, such as dodgeball, tennis, football, basketball, team building, obstacle courses, arts & crafts and more!
Dates:
- 11th to 15th July
- 18th to 22nd July
- 25th to 29th July
- 1st to 5th August
- 8th to the 12 August
- 15th to 19th August
Times:
Drop off: 8:00am - 8:45am
Pick Up: 2:15pm - 3:00pm
Price:
Full price: AED 800
DHA student discount 25% : AED 600 - Using the discount code DHA25
Early bird discount
30% - for 1 to 3 weeks booked on or before 19th June
35% - for 4 to 6 weeks booked on or before 19th June
Bookings:
Please contact the team for further information and bookings:
Email: sports@infinitesportsuae.com
Phone: 058 102 6548
Parent Annual Questionnaire - Part II - Results
As you are aware, we are continuing to share the results of our annual parent questionnaire in stages. This week's results reflect parent feedback on Standard 4 - Curriculum.
We are delighted to share with you that almost all parents (greater than 90%) are satisfied or more than satisfied with curriculum design, implementation and adaption at Dubai Heights Academy. Please take a look at the poster attached with a summary of the feedback we received.
Please also see what our parents say we are doing well and what our next steps for improvement will need to focus on.
Please click below to download the findings of Standard 4.
Library Book Summer Procedures
As our academic year is coming to an end, we would like to remind all our DHA families to ensure that all books have been returned to school by Thursday 24th June.
This includes library and guided reading books.
If you would like to check on any outstanding books, please email Mrs Cook dhalibrary@dubaiheightsacademy.com
Recognising student achievements and successes
Our students take part in many different activities, sports, hobbies and pastimes outside of DHA. Whilst we sometimes hear about their successes and achievements, this is not always the case.
We want to share our student's external accolades, certificate and achievements with our community through our newsletters and social media channels showcasing our students abilities, skills and talents.
You can email your pictures and content to Miss Naomi on: communications@dubaiheightsacademy.com
Staff Leaving
We hope you have enjoyed the introductions over the last few weeks to the new staff who are joining us for next year. Many of these are for new positions at the school as we grow, however sadly some are to replace colleagues who are leaving Dubai Heights Academy.
Mrs. Natalie Hutchison began her maternity leave recently and will be taking some time to spend with her family and the new arrival, due in July. At the end of term we will be saying goodbye to Ms. Nada Ghazi Al Masri, Ms. Chloe Blake and Mme. Priscilla Cook.
Ms. Nada has been with Dubai Heights Academy since 2017 as the Head of the Arabic Department and is leaving us to take up a new opportunity to add to her professional growth and development. Ms. Blake is also leaving to take up a new teaching position and Mme. Cook is relocating to the UK with her family.
We also say farewell to two of the Admin team members, Mrs. Jackie and Mrs. Rachel who are both leaving Dubai.
We thank all of our leavers for their contributions to Dubai Heights Academy; and we wish each of them every success and happiness in their future ventures.
Assessments
Next week sees the last week of our end of year external and internal assessments.
Our external assessment benchmarks are the GL Progress Test assessments. Our internal assessment measures range from teacher assessment to the PIRA (Reading) and GAPS (Grammer, Punctuation and Spelling) assessments.
Please see the End of Year Assessment Schedule below.
If your child is distance learning, you should have received information regarding your child coming to school to take their assessments. We appreciate your support with this.
Inclusion & Well-Being at DHA
As the weeks are flying by we wanted to take a moment to say a huge well done to our students participating in the ASDAN program at DHA. ASDAN is an alternative curriculum pathway and our students have been busily preparing for their first module to be certified. We are incredibly proud of our ASDAN students and all they have achieved this year. Have a look at their amazing craft creations and some of the yummy snacks they prepared at school. Well done Mrs Thornton and the ASDAN team.
PE & Sport at DHA
This week we focussed on improving our passing in basketball. The students worked hard and enjoyed themselves. We look forward to forming our basketball squads in preparation for next year.
New to Dubai?
We were delighted to take part in the British Mums event 'New to Dubai' this week as we got to meet lots of new families that have just arrived to Dubai and are looking for new communities to join. We look forward to welcoming lots of new families and staff to DHA in September and it's great to see our school growing.
If you know anyone that is new to Dubai and looking for a school community we would be delighted to speak with them. Don't forget about our Refer A Friend scheme that is running at the moment. #ittakesacommunity
Admissions for 2021-2022 - NOW OPEN
Applications are now open for Academic year 2021-2022.
If you had given your child/ren reregistration intention as unsure and your situation has changed, please update us at the earliest so we can update our records accordingly.
If you would like to enroll a sibling, let us know as soon as possible since there may be limited spaces available in some year groups and even though we give priority to existing families, we can not guarantee a space if an application is received late.
Don't forget our refer a friend scheme for any family that you recommend to DHA.
For any registration enquires and questions please contact our registrar, Faith at registrar@dubaiheightsacademy.com.
Throwback Thursday #throwbackthursday
Taking a look back to March 2018 when we had our official Ghaf Tree planting ceremony. Can you recognise anyone? We are happy to report the tree is still growing strong.
FS1 - Pirate fun
Year 2 - Stop Motion Animation
FS2 - Buried treasure - Maths and Phonics
FS2 - Making eye patches and telescopes
FS2 - Maths - sharing
FS2 - Writing a message in a bottle
Year 1 - Learning about Christopher Columbus
Y2 Maths - Comparing Volume
Year 2 - Stop Motion Animation
Year 2 - Creative Drawing during break
Year 2 - Arabic A - writing why I like my Mum and Dad
Year 4 - Arabic Assessment
Year 4 - Science - The Big Build
Year 6 - Science
SIGN UP STILL OPEN - After School Activities with Infinite Sports
Don't delay, click the link below today!
These sports are led by professional instructors and coaches supplied by external providers.
Please click the link below to download the Infinite Sports Activity Brochure and sign up.