New Learning Journeys

New Learning Journeys

New Learning Journeys

As we returned for our second year of operation, we have been impressed with the commitment and enthusiasm shown by all our students, both those who have returned to us after the summer break and those we welcomed into the NLCS family for the first time.

The Junior School started the year with over 90 new students joining our community. Pre-KG is usually the loudest grade on the ground floor in First School, but for the past two weeks, they have been heard in the classrooms above, with the addition of Dubai Drums joining them in lessons. This has been part of their Unit of Inquiry, ‘Music can be used to express feelings and to learn.’ In which the students have been learning about rhythm, beat and movement through their sessions, which are loud, frenetic and most importantly, fun!

This term, across all grades, the students have settled wonderfully into their new classes. Our younger students have been examining the ways in which we can express ourselves via their PYP units of inquiry. They have been learning about the different forms that can be used, such as storytelling, the Arts and how people can create their own messages for different audiences. To assist their Unit of Inquiry through the Arts, Grade 3 students visited ‘The Jam Jar’ where they created their own canvas that contained items personal to them. They then explored the Alserkal Art galleries, considering why people create art and what role it has to play in culture and society. Finally, they presented a wonderful exhibition of all this art-work in the gallery space at the front of the School, for parents and their fellow students.

In the Senior School, we welcomed many new friends in all grades and we also welcomed last year’s Grade 5s onto the third floor, and our first cohort of IB Diploma students to Grade 11. All have settled into their lessons well and have made an excellent start to their MYP and Diploma studies. The amount of wonderful work produced is impossible to include in a newsletter but here are some of this term’s highlights.
Biology students across all grades have been busy learning about the natural science of living organisms. Grade 6 have been learning about the structure inside cells and how tissues and organs are formed. To illustrate their learning, students created some brilliant models, using various materials of their choice!

This task enabled the students to use their creativity to demonstrate their learning. In Grade 9, they were able to practise their writing skills by producing a newspaper article on how to classify living organisms using the taxonomic system, which is a topic that was embraced and enjoyed by all.

Creativity has also been evident in Grade 7 Geography, with students making incredibly detailed models of distinctive landscapes to accompany their mini projects on the processes of erosion and deposition.

Staying in the Humanities faculty, students have also enjoyed taking a step back in time by delving into the history of many ancient civilizations, including China, India, Greece, Phoenicia and Egypt.  The study of these past civilisations and their systems are all part of the wider topic of human evolution, and will culminate in the Grade 6 students creating a small exhibition on their learning later in the year. Grade 7 and 8 have been learning about the origins of slavery and its abolition.