Remember, education should never be limited to just school hours. The valuable time spent time at home working with your child will help them meet his/her potential. Your child’s progress will depend upon the quality of the partnership between the home and school.

Student Forms

It is essential that each year parents complete the following documents:

• Early pickup slips
• Signed consent to photograph and videotape students for educational purposes
• Medical forms with a listing of all immunization
• Discipline code letter
• Emergency cards

Emergency Cards

Emergency contact information must be kept up to date. In the event of a medical or national emergency or school closing, we must be able to reach you or a family member. Please be sure to notify the school of any changes in address, phone number or emergency contact.

Birthday Treats:

Children’s birthdays can be celebrated at school with a simple party. Parents can contact the classroom teacher a few days before their child’s birthday to arrange for the celebration.  Please note that no adults will be permitted into the classroom.  The party will be no longer than 20 minutes due to the break of instruction.

 Homework

Homework has always been recognized by the school community as an important medium to foster the academic achievement of students and extend school activities into the home and community. Homework assignments are given on a daily basis.

1. Value of homework:

• Increase time spent on academic tasks, thus enhancing the academic
  growth of students.
• Enable parents and other family members to become familiar with the education program and to be aware of homework assignments.
• Meet the needs of individual students through use of varied assignments.
• Help to prepare students for class participation and to reorganize material studied, so that new insights are developed.
• Reinforce concepts taught in areas of academic need.

2. Objectives of Homework

• Reinforce, extend and enrich skills and knowledge learned in school
• Stimulate and further individual interest, thus forming a basis for
  productive use of leisure time
• Develop independent study skills to foster initiative, responsibility and self-direction

3. Characteristics of Effective Homework Assignments

• Be an outgrowth of classroom instruction
• Be clear and definite
• Be graded in line with a system that is understood by the class

Promotional Criteria:

There are several criteria areas used to determine whether a student will be promoted to the next grade:

• A student’s attendance record.
• A student must perform at or above grade level in school and external standardized assessment.
• A student must pass the core curriculum subjects appropriate to his/her level.

 Report Cards:

Students receive report cards three (3) times a year. The cards/reports are part of your child’s permanent record.

You are urged to make comments in the space provided on the cards/reports. If you desire further explanation, call the school to arrange a meeting with your child’s teacher(s). Please use this as an opportunity to discuss your child’s progress.

In addition to these reports, your child’s teacher may contact or write to you in order to maintain a closer alliance between the home and school.

Academic Intervention Services (AIS):Remediation

Your child may be receiving AIS Remedial services throughout the school year. AIS are provided to children who have received a score of below 60% in assessment.  They are based on teacher recommendations. You will receive notification if your child will be benefiting from these services.

Attendance:

Regular school attendance is extremely important and will be closely monitored. However, if your child is ill, he/she should remain at home until well. If the child comes to the school ill, the school nurse will contact you. In some instances, you may be required to come to the school to pick up your child.

Information pertaining to school absence should be provided to the school in the form of a note after each absence, including a doctor’s note if appropriate. You may also call the school when you know your child will be absent. You will be required to notify the school of the date your child is expected to return to school.

 General Health

Before your child leaves for school each morning, check to see that your child is feeling well. What might only appear to be a little “sniffle” may be the sign of some infectious disease?  Keep your child home from school if you notice the following: flushed face, running nose, sneezing, coughing, red throat, pink eyes, skin rash, sores or blisters on the skin. By keeping him/her home, you are not only helping him/her to recuperate faster, but you are preventing the illness from spreading to other members of the class. Let the teacher know as soon as possible that your child is ill. When your child returns to school, provide a note for the teacher explaining the absence.

Every child should have a check-up annually. Also, every child should have his/her teeth examined by a dentist once a year. After each of these visits, please send in the doctor or dentist’s note.

Good hearing and good vision are both essential to a child’s comfort and progress in school. The child who cannot see well or hear well becomes restless and bored and will fall behind in the schoolwork. In general, he/she will feel insecure. Tests for vision and hearing are administered at the school once each year. You will be notified if there is an indication that your child requires further testing. In the meantime, you can help by making sure that there is good lighting at home and by checking with your physician during annual check-ups.

Immunization:

The UAE Department of Education and the Board of Health require that documentation be secured proving that all students who come to school are fully immunized. We are required to exclude students if they are not immunized and do not have documentation from an  authentic physician indicating that they have received all required immunization.