DUBAI COLLEGE eBulletin A tradition of quality in education News Sport House Events



Issue No. 32 10th November 2013

30th Anniversary Doha Sports Exchange The 30th anniversary of the Doha Sports Exchange took place over the final weekend in October with 50 students from Doha College visiting DC for a weekend of diverse and highly competitive sporting competition. Games were eagerly contested in a number of sports at four different categories; junior boys, junior girls, senior boys & senior girls. Following two days of competition, the sporting competition finished with a Swimming gala and a barbecue for all participants. We would like to thank our host families for their generosity in billeting the Doha students in order to make the weekend a success. We would also like to extend our gratitude to FDC for the barbecue at the end of the two days of competition and finally to all of the DC students and staff who contributed to making the whole weekend such a special occasion.

DUBAI COLLEGE U.A.E.

Overseas School Trips

You may remember that we published in June’s e bulletin a list of planned overseas school trips for this academic year. An updated version can be found below. Term 1 Drama Art DofE Silver and Gold

UK Italy UAE

28 Nov - 4 Dec 26 Nov-2 Dec 12-15 Dec

Confirmed Confirmed Confirmed

Y12-13 Y12-13 Y11-13

Term 2 DofE Bronze Y8 Dibba Trip DofE Bronze YMoG Maths Debating DofE Bronze DofE Gold History * DofE Silver * Netball/Rugby * Skiing * Y7 Dibba Trip Rugby BSME Swimming DofE Gold * Spanish *

UAE UAE UAE Bahrain Belgium Holland UAE UAE Germany Oman Singapore Switzerland UAE UK Oman Nepal Spain

10-11 Jan 16-17 Jan 24-25 Jan 27-30 Jan 31st Jan-2nd Feb 6-10 Feb 7-8 Feb 7-8 Feb 12-17 Feb 14-17 Feb 13-21 Feb 15-22 Feb 28 Feb-1 March 22-29 March 27-28 March 4-11 April 12-19 April

Confirmed Confirmed Confirmed Provisional Confirmed Provisional Confirmed Confirmed Confirmed Confirmed Confirmed Confirmed Confirmed Confirmed Confirmed Confirmed Confirmed

Y10 Y8 Y11 Y7-13 Y13 Y11-12 Y10 Y12-13 Y13 Y11-13 Y9/Y13 Y8-10 Y7 Y8/11 Y7-13 Y12-13 Y10

Term 3 Space Camp French World Challenge *

Turkey France Vietnam

6-12 June 10-17 June 20 June - 10 July

Confirmed Confirmed Confirmed

Y8 Y9 Y10

Italy

July

Dates to be confirmed Music * over holiday periods

Morrisby and Y11 Careers

Y10-13

Over 80 of our Y11s recently participated in the Morrisby Careers Profile session. Students will soon be receiving individual feedback and all of Y11 will have an opportunity to discuss their A Level, university and career aspirations with a senior member of staff over the coming months. Those receiving the Morrisby feedback will have an opportunity to log-on to the Independent School’s Career Services (ISCO) website (Futurewise) to view their profile, background information on thousands of careers and courses as well as the financial implications. Parents also have an opportunity to log on to the site and further details will be provided at the Y11 Consultation Evening. On Tuesday 21st January we will be holding our Annual Alumni Y11 Careers Convention when our alumni spend an evening discussing various career options with the Y11 students. At the start of the evening Martin Minshall, ISCO Middle East Representative, will address the students as a whole to provide some general guidance on selecting the most appropriate career routeway. This whole process culminates in the A Level option process which is finalised in February.

Reminder to parents If you have not already returned a copy of your son/daughter’s Emirates ID card, could you please do this as a matter of urgency as we are required to register these with the KHDA by 15th November latest.

Happy Snapper Kara King from 8PS has recently been short listed in a photography competition. She visited Vietnam and Cambodia over the summer holidays and a picture that she took at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, has been chosen as one of 8 pictures to be short listed. The competition is with The Adventure Company. Well done Kara!

Marathon sucess number one

Kristen De Sousa 11AD takes part in the Hamilton Road to Hope Marathon, Ontario, Canada. Kristen left Dubai in 36 degree heat and ran the Marathon in -1 degree Celsius. Despite having 3 damaged toenails and 2 hours of sleep, she managed to pull off a very respectable time of 4:34:42! Well done Kristen!

Cameron Matthews pool victories Cameron from 8DV recently had a run of success at the UK Nationals Swimming meet: Gold 100m Breaststroke (New S A age group record) Gold 200m Breaststroke (New SA age group record) Gold 200m Individual Melody (New SA age group record) Silver 400m Individual Melody Cameron also received a shield for the top boy in 11/12 years age group. Congratulations Cameron!

Teachers' Triumph at FDC Family Quiz Night FDC’s social calendar for 2013-2014 kicked off on 9th October with a laughter-filled family quiz night that saw the auditorium heave with 22 aspiring quiz teams totalling over 140 contestants. Parents, teachers and students competed fiercely over five rounds of brain-teasing questions including a hilarious round of “headless celebrities” and numerous “soft-drink blind tasting” and chocolate-tasting challenges. The fun evening culminated in the triumph of the only teachers’ team – the deftly alliterated “Ken Dodd’s Dad’s Dog’s Dead!” – taking home the trophy with a whopping 46.5 points. Coming second and losing by only half a point to the teachers’ team was an all-students’ team “The Secret Seven” --comprising mostly of senior year students. Ironically, team “Mastermind” unceremoniously scooped the loser award after the minds in the team mastered only a dismal 28 points. “It was a fantastic event that brought together the Dubai College community. I am delighted that FDC’s first social event this year was well attended by parents, teachers and students alike,” said Mona Gulamhusein, the newly-elected Chairlady of FDC. She said the high turnout was a credit to the FDC’s increased use of emails and the DC Communicator to share information within the DC community. If you would like to challenge the teachers from their current tenuous grip on the Quiz Cup, make sure you check the DC Communicator or your emails for our next Quiz Night.

New activity proves to be very popular with animal lovers! One of the most oversubscribed extra-curricular activities is the Friday morning visit to the Posh Paws animal sanctuary. Posh Paws is already well known as the place where dogs and cats can “go on holiday”, while their owners take time out of Dubai. What many of us didn’t realise, though, is that it also is a rescue centre for abandoned or donated animals. These include terrapins, Ostriches, a skunk, a ferret and a small herd of Shetland ponies! Since October, a team of 20 students, lead by Mrs Maclaren and Miss York, have been helping to care for the animals and renovate the site. After just two visits they succeeded in grooming and cleaning up dozens of grateful creatures, as well as rebuilding the dog exercise paddock, plaiting the manes of the ponies and tidying up the store rooms. The project has only just begun and many more weeks of dedicated cleaning and shovelling lie ahead. If any students are interested in finding out more about the Posh Paws project, and perhaps getting involved in physically demanding, yet rewarding work, please see Mrs Maclaren for further details. The website for Posh Paws sanctuary is: http://www.poshpawsdubai. com/AnimalSanctuary.aspx

Sewing, Crocheting and Knitting Classes arrive at Dubai College Since September, responding to popular request, Dubai College has started a new Craft Club, with Mrs Davies and Miss Tragett showing students how to sew and cross stitch. Apparently, after just 6 weeks, the students have been learning rapidly and have almost finished sewing decorative coasters! They are now ready to discover how to knit and crochet. Their target, we understand, is to make unique woollen toys and fridge magnets in time for Christmas. The Craft Club meets every Monday, after school, in the Library. If you are interested in joining in, please see Mrs Davies for further details.

UIPM XV Biathle & Triathle World Championships in Limassol Two of our Year 8 students recently took part in the UIPM XV Biathle & Triathle World Championships in Limassol, Cyprus. Siena Gordon and Etienne Tillon joined a small team of around 7/8 to represent the UAE. There were over 25 countries competing and students came from across the globe including Italy, Costa Rica, Korea, Japan, France, Spain and UK to name a few. It is a run, swim, run sprint event and although they didn't make it onto the podium they did fantastically well and enjoyed the experience. However, the UAE team did manage to bring a medal home with Etienne’s sister Sophie winning a bronze medal for the 10 and under race, so at least the UAE did have their flag raised and a medal to celebrate.

FINA World Swimming Championships

The FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) is a five-day competition held every 2 years. As the hosting nation for this leg, the U.A.E. could enter club swimmers for the event, held over the October half-term break. Many of these competitors were from Dubai College, including Matthew Dunne, Sarah McKinney, Martha Gregory, Maisy Duncan, Mathias Falzon-Young and Jo Shams - an excellent opportunity for them to swim alongside champions on a world stage. Teams from 42 countries, including Australia, the USA and Poland competed for honours with Olympic and World Champion, Chad le Clos returning to the Emirate for the first time since he eclipsed Michael Phelps in the 200m butterfly at the London Olympics last year.

House Round Up

The House competition is now just six weeks (and 35 years!) old, and already the long standing rivalries are beginning to re-establish themselves. The tradition of last year's "Champion House" starting the new year with a convincing defeat certainly continues, with Heyerdahl registering a memorable fourth place in the senior Volleyball Competition. Since then, however, Heyerdahl have made a strong recovery and all four houses have

fielded strong teams in Basketball, Water polo, Badminton, Football and Netball competitions, and have had their fair share of victories and defeats. The most recent event, the Year 7 Quiz, was a departure from tradition in that it involved the entire year group pitting their combined house's intellect against each other. The most gifted and talented Year 7's this year appear to be the Cousteau Girls, at least in terms of their knowledge of pop music!

Another innovation this year has been the introduction of the "epraise" system, to record house points. Teachers are now able to award House points online, and students can easily see how many they have been awarded and can compare their house and their tutor groups to all the others, as well as keep a check on their own progress. This seems to have been a big success so far, not least because over 4500 house points have been earned in just a few weeks.

So, at time of going to print, the current House standings are:

1st - CHICHESTER - 23½ Pts

2nd - BARBAROSSA - 21 Pts

3rd - HEYERDAHL - 18½ Pts

4th - COUSTEAU - 17 Pts

Ballroom & Latin Workshop

VIVA Dance Company are top professionals & world champions within the Ballroom & Latin dance style. The company visited Dubai College on 24th September to deliver a Ballroom & Latin dance workshop for all DC students. This was a really different yet fun & exciting workshop for DC. All students, both boys & girls, involved from Year 7 to Year 13 thoroughly enjoyed the session. Following this workshop the students have been offered the opportunity to participate in a Ballroom & Latin dance squad to represent Dubai College & enter the first ever Dubai Ballroom & Latin National Championship in March 2014. Their training takes place on Sundays after school, with the aim to enter at least 2 teams into the 2014 Championships. We hope you will be there to support them. Please see Mrs. Williams for more information.

Dubai Desert Dance Workshop

Dubai Desert Dance held their second dance workshop this term and lots of DC students enjoyed the professional dance artists that came to work with them. DC students along with DIS, Uptown, Green Community & many more are just some of the schools that enjoyed the sessions. The theme of the workshops this term was based on ‘Our Global Community’ which is the focus for January 2014’s performance event at the Dubai College Auditorium. Students had a variety of dance styles offered to them, including; African, Latin & Ballroom and Traditional Arabic dancing. A great afternoon enjoyed by all!

There they hoist us, to cry to th’sea that ROARED to us

William Shakespeare

The Tempest The Auditorium, Dubai College 11, 12, 13 November 2013 6:30pm The Tempest

Our middle and lower school dramatists have been working tremendously hard on a very ambitious staging of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Students and their teachers have spent many a long weekend and evening perfecting

their performances. A glimpse of the quality of the production can be gained by viewing the Tempest Trailer through the link available on our website. I would urge as many members of the DC community as possible to support the production – seats are now only available for

Maastricht University visit

The College has once again this term hosted a presentation from Maastricht University in The Netherlands. The evening session covered the quality of the education provision (Maasstricht is rated above many well-known UK universities), the tremendous value for money of both tuition costs (approximately 1,800 EUROS compared with £9,000 for many UK universities) and living expenses, the cosmopolitan lifestyle and the fact that more and more UK students are choosing to study there. Nearly all courses are taught in English. We are well aware of an emerging trend identified in the UK of students looking beyond the shores of Britain for higher education. Certainly Maastricht and North American universities are attractive alternatives.

the evenings of Monday 11th and Tuesday 12th November. Students can purchase tickets from the box office open at lunchtime outside the Sixth Form office. Alumni and other members of the community should contact [email protected] for ticket information.

Enrichment Day

The first of our three annual Enrichment Days took place on Tuesday October 22nd. Students were off timetable for the day to provide an opportunity to explore issues and skills outside of the traditional academic curriculum. For Year 10 and upwards the day started with a presentation from the British Vice Consul Sam Hayes who informed us of the social constraints we should be aware of when living in Dubai. During the rest of the day all students were engaged with a whole host of events provided by both our own staff and outside speakers. Topics were age appropriate and ranged from Computer Programming, Cyber Safety and ‘Where does our Food come from’ for the younger students to ‘Nicotine and Alcohol’, Online Safety, Handling Money, Lateral Thinking, Remembering Techniques, Team Building, ‘What The Papers Say’ and Citizenship discussions with our older students. The list simply provides a taste of the wide ranging activities provided on the day.

Oxbridge, who cares?

On September 12th 1962 John F Kennedy justified a huge investment of time, money and energy into landing a man on the moon by proclaiming, “We choose to go the moon in this decade and to do the other things, not because they are easy but because they are hard”. This year a third of our departing Sixth Formers have chosen to apply for the world’s most competitive courses and institutions for much the same reasons. With a meagre 29% success rate for Oxford and only a slightly higher one (33%) for Cambridge compared to a 97% chance of receiving at least one offer from the rest of their UK choices, candidates know their application is a long shot. Eight of these students are also applying for Medicine or Veterinary Science and they only have around a 50/50 chance of achieving one offer from all four of their choices. Not only are the odds stacked against them, however, the amount of time and effort required to prepare for these applications is disproportionately large: the perfect personal statement, AS grades that average 95%, interview preparation, admissions tests and submitted work all take up a lot of time in addition the normal day to day pressures of A2 study. As such, the question of whether or not to even apply to Oxbridge is a divisive one among staff, students and parents. Suspicions that the institutions are elitist, dated and not necessarily the best destination for certain courses, in addition to concerns that the emotional investment that these applications demand does not promise a secure enough yield to justify the time spent on them, rightly surface on annual basis. A recent article in the New York Daily News, however, neatly surmises why the best students from our outstanding school should be applying. A new review shows that among the top brass in the Obama administration, more

have graduate degrees from Oxford University than from public graduate schools in the US. The National Journal reviewed the CVs from 250 officials working for Obama, discovering that Oxford was attended by 11 top bureaucrats. "We've been sending Americans to Oxford since 1904," Elliot Gerson, the American Secretary of the Rhodes Trust that runs the Rhodes Scholarship, told the Daily News. Gerson said he isn't surprised by the preponderance of Oxford grads among American politicians but said, "It's a mistake to say they represent a socioeconomic elite . . .The majority (of American Oxford grads) attend on merit scholarships — representing an intellectual elite." Whilst your chances of getting in may be slim, your life chances thereafter are high. In a recent inspection report it was remarked that Dubai College has the potential to produce future world leaders and these applications mark another step in that direction. Best of luck to all concerned.

Sixth Form Update

The first six weeks of term have been delightfully busy (if that does not make me sound like an oxymoron). We are in the thick of university applications, with over half already submitted and the rest on course for a late November finish. Over 30 have applied in the first wave for Oxbridge, Veterinary and Medical courses, a further 30 are in the process of applying to the USA and the remainder are demonstrating the truly eclectic range of interests our students have; courses applied to range from professional drumming via anthropology to digital design. There are, of course, one or two who want to apply for Economics as well. Three weeks ago we had a visit from Royal Holloway who asked us ‘What is strategy?’; their answer was simply to Google it. We also hosted an important event for those interested in applying to the USA by inviting UCLA to visit at the end of half term – a meeting brokered by ex-DC parents the Talwars. Last weekend we provided board and lodging to the company Oxbridge Applications who support almost 50% of all UK applicants to these two universities and the Tuesday prior to that we learned en masse to ‘walk active’ and produce a 200 man version of Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean using only sounds emitted from our bodies as part of Enrichment Day One. Our ‘Meet the Tutors’ event for Year 12s and their parents preceded the Higher Education Evening a week ago on Wednesday, itself hot on the heels of a reciprocal mock interview day which we run with the British School Al Khubairat. We will be hosting the return leg of this event on Saturday November 16th and are still seeking parent volunteers to help with the Engineering interviews. If you can help please email dcsixthform@ dubaicollege.org. One final event taking place before we collapse in a heap is an evening of Extended Project Qualification presentations on Wednesday, November 27th. If you or your child are interested in pursuing an EPQ in the Sixth Form or simply want to know what one is then do please email to receive further details.

Walk this way: Walk Active, Joanna Hall puts Dubai College Sixth Form through their paces

Enrichment Day One, Sixth Form ‘What The Papers Say’

University and Careers Bulletin

A new monthly bulletin aimed at Sixth Formers and their parents is now available on the Sixth Form section of the Dubai College website. Covering university application and careers information, it aims to keep students and parents informed of relevant events at Dubai College and in Dubai as well as supplying information about summer events that will be invaluable for future university applications. Whilst primarily aimed at Year 12 and 13, parents and students in Year 11 may also find this resource useful for advance planning and should contact Annie Kirkaldy at [email protected] if they wish to attend any events. Please follow this link to the November University and Careers Bulletin: http://www.dubaicollege.org/media/sixthform/Bulletin%20 November.pdf

University Practice Interview Day

We are in the final stages of organising our practice interview day on Saturday 16 November for those of our Year 13 students that may be called for interview as part of their university entrance procedure. We have been inundated with offers of help with interviews from Dubai College parents and alumni - thank you to those of you who have already responded. However, we are still looking for offers of help from Engineering and Physics graduates - please get in touch if you or someone you know has relevant experience and may be able to assist on this date. For more information, please contact dcsixthform@ dubaicollege.org

World Challenge

The Lecture Theatre was packed on the evening of Wednesday 30th October with students and parents eager to hear about the latest World Challenge Adventure. Dubai College was one of the first schools in the Middle East to become involved with World Challenge five years ago. Since that time successful expeditions have taken place to Malaysia, India, Ethiopia and Mongolia. Phil Durrell, Regional Programme Manager stressed the fact that students play a key role in decision making during the expedition and it most definitely is a collaborative learning experience – indeed it is this student engagement that differentiates World Challenge from many other trips. Certainly speaking to those involved in previous expeditions it is obvious that the students benefit enormously from the experience. I am sure the newest set of adventurers – this time visiting the north of Vietnam – will return having learned a great deal about the country and, crucially, themselves.

Uniform

The newly designed swim kit is now available for sale from our uniform suppliers Magrudys and Stitches. Already compulsory for Year 7, it will also be compulsory for ALL other year groups at Dubai College from September 2014. Uniform suppliers are selling old kit while stocks last but parents should please note that the previous

designs will not be accepted as permitted swim kit after the end of this school year. Dubai College uniform skirts now have a pleat at the back rather than a split as this was deemed to be a more conservative style. Magrudys and Stitches are now reinforcing the stitching at the top of the pleat as we have received some complaints

about the skirts tearing in this area. However, it has been suggested that some girls may be rolling up their skirts to make them shorter which may be the cause of the tearing problems. Both Magrudys and Stitches are happy to repair any faulty uniform items free of charge.

Overseas Teams visiting U14, U15 v St Dunstan's College, Netball We took to the courts for our first netball fixture of the new season with real enthusiasm and excitement. Plenty of our parents lined the courts to support and cheer the girls on. The U14 team started strong and didn't take their foot off the pedal for the whole match. Using all substitutes to display our versatility, the girls produced a great performance. The U15 team performed no differently. Speed, agility and powerful passing all contributed to a well-deserved win. The experience of playing ladies netball at the Sevens was very apparent. Well done girls! U15 A 22 - 15 St Dunstans U14 A 29 - 2 St Dunstans U15A, B, C v Caterham School, Netball For the second match of the week the girls kitted up with no less enthusiasm....just a few less players. A clash with the swim gala left us a little short of our starting VII, but the first whistle went and the girls got stuck in. The A-team battled well, but was unable to put as many points on the scoresheet. The score however, did not reflect the effort the girls put in. The B-team powered their way to victory with a convincing win along with the C-team who played some fantastic netball to secure their win too. Congratulations to all. U15 A 6 - 19 Caterham U15 B 14 - 2 Caterham U15 C 12 - 9 Caterham

A number of DC Sports teams played schools from the UK during October in a variety of sports. These included the likes of Millfield School, Somerset and Buckinghamshire County Cricket Club. The week produced some outstanding games with closely

fought encounters in all fixtures. The results were: Rugby: U13s 22-29 Caldicott Prep School Rugby: U13s 12-27 Millfield Prep School Football: U17s 0-4 Lady Manners School Cricket: U15s lost by 7 runs to Bucks CCC Cricket: U15s Beat SRKCC by 7 wickets

Alumni News Silver Jubilee London Alumni Reunion Saturday 30th November Please do try to keep an hour or two free on Saturday 30th November 2013 to attend the 25th Anniversary of the London reunion. To reach the 25th anniversary event is a huge accomplishment – and certainly something worth celebrating. This is a great opportunity to meet with ex DC students from the 80s, 90s and right up to our Y13 leavers from last year as well as ex DC staff in the very informal setting of The Slug and Lettuce, Leicester Square (upstairs). Please do note it is the Leicester Square outlet and not the many others of the same name scattered around. The event starts at 1pm and runs throughout the afternoon but often alumni stay until much later. Family and friends are cordially invited (with children welcomed up to 6pm). As you may know, the College has worked hard over the last few years to really develop the alumni association - especially within the UAE. The local alumni now

Alumni Involvement

contribute hugely to our annual Careers Convention, Journeys Programme, Careers Dinners, Work Shadowing and hopefully the planned internship programme. We would now like to, with your co-operation, focus on developing, still further, the worldwide alumni association. We are especially interested in developing ‘a post DC service’ involving internships, careers advice, networking opportunities and employment possibilities. We also hope that our worldwide alumni will assist us in promoting the name of the school within education and with key decision makers at all levels – so benefitting our present students and alumni in the long run.

with as many of our ex-students as possible (Inspections permitting needless to say) on Saturday 30th. More importantly though it is a great opportunity to meet, relax and enjoy an hour or two in central London. A map and further details on The Slug and Lettuce Leicester Square can be found by visiting their website. As always, my sincere thanks to Mike Deelman for organising this event – as he has done tirelessly over the decades.

Calling All DC Oxbridge Alumni Our Head of Sixth Form is provisionally planning an exciting event which will involve past and present Oxbridge students. If you attended one of the Oxbridge colleges during the last 30 years we would love to hear from you so that we can pass on further details in due course. Could you please provide your contact details to Debra Harding headassist@ dubaicollege.org

I hope to attend the London reunion during Saturday afternoon and I know quite a few other ‘celebrities’ will be making an appearance (long serving ex members of staff!). Around 2pm I would like to briefly talk about our provisional ideas for the future (yep, I know this paragraph might well send potential alumni rushing to the hills of Scotland rather than London, but I promise I will talk for Peter Hill & Debra Harding no more than 5 minutes!!) I really do look forward to meeting

invaluable and will be taken on Our Careers Convention for Y11 will board when we organise the next programme in June. be held on Tuesday 21st January and I do hope that as many of you as possible can find the time Internships to support us again. We are also Due to your fantastic support, the launching a new initiative for our alumni involvement in supporting Sixth Form students in the form our current cohort of students of a ‘business focused’ dinner has grown enormously over the which will be held on Wednesday last few years. Our next focus for 5th February and we hope that development will be internships some of you will be able to support for both our senior students and this. The ‘business’ areas will be those at university. We already selected from student feedback have a growing list of alumni who and further details will follow. A have potentially offered their huge thank you for your help and services. As well as continuing to time in making last June’s pilot Y12 hear from UAE based alumni we Work Shadowing initiative such a would also like to hear from alumni great success. Your feedback was in the UK and North America who

may be interested in supporting this venture. Please contact either myself or Debra Harding [email protected] if you are interested in this mutually beneficial venture.

Website reminder

A reminder that the Alumni website http://www.dcalumni.org is now up and running and I strongly encourage you to register with the Alumni Association via the website so that we can keep you up to date with upcoming events and news.

Alumni Events Calendar Date 11th, 12th & 13th November Thursday 21st November 2-4pm

Event Production – The Tempest DC Open Day

Saturday 30th November

London reunion

Wednesday 4th December Wednesday 11th December Wednesday 18th December Tuesday 21st January 2014 Wednesday 5th February 2014 June 2014

Location Dubai College Auditorium Dubai College grounds

Slug & Lettuce, Leicester Square, London Dubai Social To be confirmed Music & Mince Pies Dubai College Auditorium Past v Present & Staff v Alumni Sports Fixture Dubai College Field Y11 Alumni Careers Convention Dubai College ‘B’ Block ‘Business Focused’ Dinner for Sixth Form To be confirmed students supported by Alumni Y12 Work Shadowing Dubai based business

Charity Committee Update So far, in just a few short weeks, the Charity Committee have done a great job in raising funds and awareness. At time of going to print their Pink Campaign has raised over AED 9000for Breast Cancer Awareness, and the “Purple Day” added another AED 7500, which will

be donated to pancreatic Cancer Research. A dodge-competition has also helped to support the MSF and bake sales have provided much needed funds for Harmony House and the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. The sixth formers who are leading

Witches and Wizards raise money for WWF!

On the 24th of October the Charity Committee hosted a creepy “Halloween party” for the Year 7’s. As well as provding pizza and fizzy drinks and organising various ghostly games, the sixth formers also showed the Year 7’s how to dance like zombies and awarded prizes for the best costume. All of this took place in the previously out of bounds sixth form centre – giving the party an added sense of excitement for the hordes of year 7’s. Altogether, the party raised over AED 2000 for the WWF charity and the year 7’s are looking forward to the next opportunity to demonstrate their outstanding dancing skills!

the Charity campaigns this year are also making plans to hold movie nights and bake sales in the near future, and next term they will be continuing with the traditions of organising a World Food Day and the Music Charity Love Concert.

DUBAI COLLEGE

A tradition of quality in education

Academic

Sporting

Creative

Philanthropic

We wish to invite prospective parents and students to our Open Afternoon on Thursday 21st November from 2pm until 4pm www.dubaicollege.org

Please see website for details

Dubai College Provisional Term Dates for 2014-2015 2014 New Pupils and Year 12 only Term 1 Starts Eid Al Adha Islamic New Year Half Term National Day Holiday Term Ends

Sunday, 7th September Monday, 8th September Saturday, 4th October – Monday, 6th October (tbc) Saturday, 25th October (tbc) Sunday, 26th October – Thursday, 30th October Tuesday, 2nd December Thursday, 18th December

2015 Term 2 Starts Half Term Term Ends

Sunday, 4th January Sunday, 15th February – Thursday, 19th February Thursday, 2nd April

Term 3 Starts Ascension of the Prophet Staff Training Day Ramadan commences Term Ends

Sunday, 19th April Friday, 15th May (tbc) Sunday, 24th May Thursday, 18th June (tbc) Thursday, 25th June

This calendar is provisional and subject to approval from the KHDA.

Stop Press

Year 7 Barbecue

The annual and much anticipated Year 7 BBQ took place on Thursday 7th. This event is a true DC tradition having taken place for many years and the sixth form who help to organise the event, have many happy memories of their own Year 7 BBQ! The six Year 7 forms took part in six games during the first part of the afternoon. The competition was intense with each group trying hard to swim faster, score more goals, eat more doughnuts or throw more water balloons! 120 Year 7 students, 50 sixth formers and 12 staff members then made their way to the BBQ area to fill their boots with burgers and sausages. The afternoon finished in the sixth form common room with each form performing their prepared dance routines. Mr Woolley was amazed at the singing and dancing talent on show!! 7RG were deserved competition winners and collected the cup from the Head boy and Head girl.

RAEY Of Sunshine During the half term break two Year 12 students, Emily Dunne and Jenna Pfeifer visited RAEY in Addis Ababa accompanied by Miss John and Jenna’s mum. Both girls have been involved in fundraising for RAEY since Year 9 and the visit enabled them to see the results of their hard work and commitment. During the visit Emma and Jenna played with children, helped serve lunch, taught the Grade 4 students

a song and helped with Art and Maths classes. The visit was also an opportunity for them to meet Meheret and Nebeyu two of the students sponsored by Dubai College. We also managed to interview and photograph all the pupils. The trip enabled us to bring down much needed milk supplies, vitamins, stationery and uniforms for the children. Thanks must go to Mr Tim Clark of Emirates for his

assistance in this. Jenna and Emily were fantastic ambassadors for Dubai College and to see more of their trip please visit http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=8KBPj6On1k&feature=youtu.be Liz John