Panther Voices

December 2019 - Official Elementary Newsletter GEMS United School

From the Principal

Aroma Pannu

Elementary School Principal

Dear Parents

November has been a buzzing month for us with celebrations of learning, parent teacher conferences, community sharing, sports day, movie night, Maker Morning and National day celebrations to name a few. In the midst of these events, the in-class learning has kept up at a staggering pace, and I hope you have been impressed with our Panthers as writers, readers, mathematicians, scientists, athletes and artists.

While short in terms of school days, December also packs a punch. I hope you will be able to attend the upcoming music concert on Dec 11th and enjoy the class festivities during the last week of school before winter break. At the start of the school year our Panthers set goals for themselves and the next few weeks will be devoted to pausing and reflecting on how they are doing towards meeting their aspirations.

As the festive season starts, I would like to convey my gratitude to our GEMS US community of students, educators and parents for your time, energy, partnership, and smiles in making our school a fantastic place to be at.

Happy thanksgiving to our families celebrating this weekend. Wishing everyone a restful, relaxing and safe National day holiday.

Kindly,

Ms. Aroma

Announcement and Upcoming Events

Professional Learning

November 28, 2019 Thursday

Professional Learning Day for teachers and no school for GUS students.

December 1, 2 & 3, 2019 Sunday, Monday & Tuesday

School is closed in recognition of Commemoration Day and the UAE National Day.

Winter Break

Break starts on December 15, 2019 till January 04, 2020. We return to a Week B on the 5th of January.

Popsicle Day for December B-day Celebrants

December birthday celebrants will be enjoying a Popsicle with the Principal on Monday, December 9th during snack time.

Grade 3 Trip to the Mangroves, Abu Dhabi

December 5, 2019 - Thursday, from 8:15 AM - 3:00 PM

Grade 4 Trip to Aventura, Mushrif Park

December 5, 2019 - Thursday, from 8:45 AM - 3:00 PM

KG2 Trip to OliOli

December 11, 2019 - Wednesday, from 10:00 AM - 3:30 PM

PREVENTING COLDS AND INFLUENZA

Cold and influenza season is here. The most effective treatment for a cold is rest and fluids. The influenza vaccine will protect against specific types of influenza. Antibiotics will not make a cold or other virus go away faster. However, more serious infections can start out as a cold. Call your doctor if your child has an earache, fever higher than 39o C (102o F), rash, is very sleepy, very cranky or fussy, has trouble breathing or a cough that will not go away.

Children need reminders to decrease the risk of colds and flu in your house by:

  • Washing hands often
  • Coughing and sneezing into their elbow
  • Not sharing facecloths or towels
  • Keeping hands away from nose and mouth
  • Not sharing food or drink with others

To help limit the spread of germs, please keep your child at home if he or she is feverish, coughing a lot, has a thick yellow or green discharge from the nose, or is otherwise obviously unwell. Children need to stay home until they are fever-free for 24 hours without medication.

Handwashing is the most effective way to stop the spread of germs that cause colds, influenza, diarrhea, and other illnesses. To wash hands properly:

  • Wet hands under warm running water
  • Scrub with plain soap for a count of 20, all over hands and between fingers
  • Rinse under running water for a count of 10
  • Dry hands with a clean paper towel
  • Turn off taps with a paper towel

Remember to wash hands:

w Before and after eating or handling food * After using the toilet, handling pets, coughing, sneezing, or wiping noses

Take care of yourself and others.

As the winter weather begins to settle-in, we are seeing more sweaters and jackets being worn at school. We want to keep our students warm and comfortable, but please be mindful of our dress code. Students are to wear the official GEMS US school jackets and sweaters available from Threads.

Lisa KhouryParent Relations Executive

Caught on Camera

Teddy Bear Picnic

Prospective families had an opportunity to meet our students, faculty and administration.

They read stories, played games and had some tasty treats. Thank you to the student ambassadors for their help during this event.

GEMS Jewels of Kindness

Ariannah Laurent: KG1A

Ariannah has demonstrated a high degree of understanding for her 4 years. This was highlighted when her mom was ill during the summer as well as recently. Ariannah demonstrated empathy towards her mother and an understanding towards what she needed to do to help during that time and to this day has continued demonstrating this attitude.

Joseph Schneider:

2A

Joseph is a kind hearted boy, always ready to help others, and he loves all his friends at school and outside the school. Despite his quietness, Joseph has a strong character inside and always sticks to his values. He has begun taking martial art classes and has learned so much from this. We hope he could shine and spread his kindness to others, as he does to us.

Panagiotis Kourlas: 4B

Panos has been showing a lot of empathy, thoughtfulness and compassion towards others. When a new student comes in the middle of the year to his class, he sympathizes his feelings with them. In two cases, he invited the new students to his birthday party saying: “I really think they will need a friend right now because they might feel lonely and sad.”

Pheonix Zmudzinski: 3A

We would like to recognize Pheonix for a Jewel of Kindness award. Every day Pheonix borrows and exchanges books from the library from the series “fly guy.” He does this so that he can read them to his little sister in the car on our way home from school.

UAE National Day Celebration

We celebrated the UAE's 48th National Day this week. There were lots of exciting activities such as face painting, henna, Arabic calligraphy, UAE storytelling, puzzles and much more.

Counselor Corner

Megan Richardson

ES Counselor

Why is My Child Refusing to Eat?

1. Limit Mealtime Distractions

Allowing devices during meals/snacks can cause a child to lose interest in eating. If they are used to having a device with food and are in a space such as school, where they do not have their device, they can feel as though something is missing and they do not enjoy their food without it.

2. Serve Appropriate Food Portions

It can sometimes be overwhelming to a small child when they open their lunch box and see so much food. Try to pay attention to how much they eat during mealtimes and mimic this in their lunch boxes. If they come home with everything gone, add one more snack for the next day and continue this until you find the right amount for them.

3. Eliminate Eating Stress

Although it can be frustrating and scary to have your child refusing to eat, pressuring or forcing them can bring anxiety around the idea of food for the child. While encouraging is okay, try to do so in a relaxed manner and remember that appetites in children can change all the time.

4. Involve your Child in Packing Lunches/Preparation

Start with the grocery store (or the online app). Have your child be involved in choosing snacks but give boundaries such as healthy snacks, quantity, etc. Even when packing lunch boxes, have the child place the snacks into the lunch box. This will give them more of a connection to the food and will possibly give them a sense of pride.

If you find the lack of eating continues, it is important to reach out to your child’s teacher and/or myself so we can address the issue together. There are many great resources you can find in relation to these topics. Here are a few that you may find helpful.

10 Reasons Why Your child isn’t Eating at Meals

By Sarah Remmer - Canada’s Child and Family Nutrition Expert
https://www.sarahremmer.com/10-reasons-why-your-child-isnt-eating-at-meals-and-what-to-do/#sthash.FGsx7AGs.dpbs

28 Healthy Snacks Your Kids Will Love

By Becky Ball – Healthline Parenthood Pediatrician
www.healthline.com/nutrition/healthy-snacks-for-kids.

Elementary Sports

Congratulations to our swimmers who competed in the final Aquathon series event on Monday. Our team demonstrated amazing team spirit all running together to make sure they all crossed the finish-line. Also a massive well done to Oliver Momme on coming 3rd and winning a bronze medal at the event. We are super proud of all of your efforts. #PantherProud!

We would like to thank all of our parents, coaches and student-athletes for an amazing season 1. Your dedication, enthusiasm and support always inspires US! Season 2 sports will begin in our first week back in January after the winter break. Full schedules will be posted before the holidays. Students wishing to participate in season 2 sports should attend the sessions in January and to register. Season 2 sports for elementary students are as follows;

Elementary Sports Day


WOW! What an amazingly fun day! Well done to all of our elementary students who participated in our annual elementary Sports day this Wednesday. Students demonstrated amazing team spirit and smiles were all round as students showcased their running, throwing and jumping skills while also competing in some fun team events.

We would like to say a huge thank you to our awesome United Parents group who volunteered on the day. We would also like to thank the many parents who came out to support and the teachers for their efforts running this event. It is so heart-warming to be part of such a supportive community.

This year our theme was following the ‘Year of Tolerance’ where we recognized one boy and one girl as sports persons of the day for exemplifying good sportsmanship, fair play and a positive attitude throughout the day. Congratulations to the following winners on being such positive role-models.

Students also competed to demonstrate their skill levels in two running, throwing and jumping events where they scored points individually. These students were awarded the Top Athlete for the day award. Congratulations to all of our top-athletes and hope you will continue to apply those skills in more activities.

Finally our over-all house winners. This year in our Elementary Sports Day Champions are the Green Hawks

Finals points tally are as follows;

4th Place – Blue Gazelles – 1447

3RD Place – Red Sharks – 1461

2nd Place – Yellow Sandcats – 1694 points

LETS GO PANTHERS LETS GO!

Student Corner

Maker Morning

ES Student Council Movie Night

Thanks Giving Lunch

Our United Parents reached beyond yet again and hosted a fabulous Thanksgiving lunch. Thank you to all the parents who were involved in making sure everyone enjoyed a tasty meal and the company of our friends. The creative decorations made it all the more festive.

Everyday needs

October Menus

Located on our GEMS US website under the Parents tab; you can also click here - November Menus

Slices Registration

Want to register for Slices canteen services? Click the parent Sign-Up link below.

Parent Signup

Absences

When your child is ill or will not be attending school, you will need to inform the school about your child's absence to the following GEMS US staff member:

Please include your child's name, grade & section along with a day of expected return (if known).

For extended absences , please complete the absence form and return to the appropriate staff member noted above for approval by the Principal.

To view your child's report cards, grades (Gr. 6-12), MAP results and CAT 4 (for applicable grades), visit our Plus Portals login page (Secondary). Elementary families need to login at Plus Portals login (Elementary)

Your user name is your registered email (each parent has a separate account) and your password is specific to your requirements.

You can select "can't access your account" to recover/reset your unique password. If you need assistance, please contact Suja at s.vijayakumari_gus@Gemsedu.com

The GEMS Advantage

Contact Mr. Mohamed Abdul Wajeed at 050-6167137 or Mr. Jijesh K 052-7575967 to learn more about the GEMS FAB credit card. Alternatively, you can email mohamed.faisal@bankfab.com

Don't miss the opportunity to save! Download the app today from the App store or Google Play and begin saving today.

There are many 2 for 1 deals on food, entertainment, beauty and attractions and you can apply for the GEMS FAB credit card to save on tuition and apply for the the GEMS Ambassador program at your fingertips.

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