04 407 3000 admissions@clarionschool.com
Dear Parents and Friends of Clarion,
This has been a week of mixed emotions as we continue to celebrate the wonderful
things occurring at our school in the shadow of the devastating earthquake in Turkey
and Syria.
1. Turkey and Syria Earthquake Relief Drive –
The recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria were devastating and tragic. Our Clarion
community continues to amaze me with their level of compassion and readiness to
assist those in need. We extend a heartfelt thank you to our amazing community, who
shared their time and generosity with us. We raised 25K and have been able to buy 950
blankets for Turkey and Syria. In addition, a large amount of diapers, kids/women/men
clothing, canned/dry food, hygienic products, sleeping bags, baby food and much more
for donation of both countries. Thank you again for your unwavering support. Words
cannot express our appreciation for this effort.
Special thanks to our parents, Ms. Burcin, Ms. Rida, Ms. Maia and Ms. Nada for
coordinating this effort in addition to the many other parents who were onsite on
Wednesday, February 8, for this purpose. This truly was a school community effort.
2. Jane Goodall’s Root and Shoots Program –
Clarion school has recently joined Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots community. Roots &
Shoots encourages children to implement practical positive change for people, animals
and the environment. It is a platform where schools and groups can post and celebrate
their success stories and initiatives as well as a resource where schools can learn what
others are doing. The link to our first posting features the wonderful work our school
has done with our Bokashi Bins led by our parents, Ms. Geovanna and Ms. Nina.
We would also like to recognize Ms. Roisin (our K1A teacher) for her leadership in
establishing our relationship with the Roots and Shoots program.
Below is the link to our first post:
https://uae.rootsandshoots.community/clarion/2023/02/09/bokashi-bins-at-clarion-
k1-transforming-waste-into-treasure/
3. Parent ID Cards –
The safety of our students is of utmost importance to us. I must insist that parents
wear their ID cards when entering the school grounds. Please appreciate that this is for
the safety of all our children.
4. Student Attendance and Lates –
I would like to thank our parents for their efforts and commitment to improve our
student attendance and tardiness. If your child is ill, I would ask that you contact Ms.
Poonam by telephone or email us at admin@clarionschool.com. We understand and
appreciate that our students will be occasionally ill and such absences will not
negatively affect our attendance statistics. Ms. Poonam is the individual that can enter
absences due to illness as an excused absence. I am pleased to state that our
attendance for the month of January was 91% which is showing improvement and
getting closer to our target of 95%. Please appreciate that if a student is absent 1 day
during a month that has 20 school days, their attendance is 95%. Should they be absent
2 days that percentage drops to 90%. We continue to have a significant number of
students arriving late each day. We also need to improve in this area.
I have reached out to parents of students who are attending 90% or less and am very impressed and thankful for the positive conversations.
Student absence for the reason of holiday travel is not considered an excused absence as per KHDA guidelines. Please note that all extended student leaves in excess of 3 days require the submission of a request form. The form is available from our Atrium area or email: admin@clarionschool.com.
5. Student Early Pickup –
A friendly reminder that we ask parents to come to Atrium if they wish to pick their child up early from school. At this point, our staff will contact the teacher to have the child brought down to the Atrium. We ask parents not to go directly to the classroom to pick the children up for this purpose.
6. Mid-Term Break –
Just a friendly reminder that our school will have a mid-term break on Thursday, February 16 and Friday, February 17. There will be no school on these days.
7. International Day –
We are very excited that we can celebrate a post COVID International Day this year. The event will be held on Monday, March 6 and promises to be fabulous. The CPC will connect parents who sign up for the same country table. Please click the link below to register your interest by Monday, February 13.
https: www.surveymonkey.com/r/PXH9WP9
8. Student Individual and Class Photos –
Our student photos were taken this week. We will be arranging an additional session for those students who were absent during this time. Info on this will be shared shortly.
9. Clarion Sports Days –
Our sports days will occur from Monday, February 13 – Wednesday, February 15.
Monday, February 13 (8:00 AM – 10:00 AM) – PreK, K1 and K2
Tuesday, February 14 (8:00 AM – 10:00 AM) – Grades 1 – 3
Wednesday February 15 (8:00 AM – 10:00 AM) – Grades 4 – 7
All students may wear their favorite sports jersey this week based on the following themes –
Monday – Favorite Football Jersey
Tuesday – Favorite sweat of workout attire
Wednesday – Favorite Sports Jersey
Parents are welcome to attend and enjoy these fun activities with their children.
10. Clarion Sports –
Well done to the U9 Girls Football team who took part at their second Dassa Tournament v Kings and Raffles. Fantastic progress with their defending skills.
Also, great job to Aryan (Grade 7) who took part in his second Golf Dassa competition in Dubai Hills.
Next Week
We are looking forward to our Sports Days next week!
11. Student Council –
The Clarion Stuco (Student Council) is running a clothing drive in partnership with the local thrift store Thrift for Good. Working together to promote sustainable clothing use, the Stuco is collecting clothing in any condition. What is sellable will be directly donated to Thrift for Good which donates 100% of its profits; clothing in any other state will be repurposed into items such as dog toys or stuffing for couches. This clothing drive is also done in connection with the third-grade culmination projects, which tackles the question, “Where does our stuff come from?” Students are working on understanding the impact of our buying choices and how we can encourage more sustainable shopping practices in our communities.
The Stuco clothing drive started on Monday, January 30 and will run until Monday, February 20 when the Stuco and third-grade classes will have their field trip to donate and volunteer in the thrift store. Please look through your homes to find any clothing no longer in use in any condition and bring it to school! Clothing items can be dropped off in our reception area.
In March, the Stuco members will run assemblies for all grades to give students an overview of the Clarion Community Garden. I would like to thank our parents, Ms. Geovanna, Ms. Nina and Ms. Nada for their wonderful support with this group. They are planning assemblies that present the information in an engaging and meaningful way for different age groups.
12. Sibling Enrollment at Clarion –
If you have a younger sibling in your family who you are planning to enroll in September 2023, please reach out to Emily from our admissions team at admissions@clarionschool.com.
13. Student Field Trips –
Field trips are an important aspect of the educational program at Clarion school. Just a friendly reminder that field trips are not meant to be optional and that students are asked to participate unless they are home ill on the day of the trip.
Next week, we have the following Field Trip –
Tuesday, February 14 – The Buhais Geology Park - Grade 4 A and B.
Tuesday, February 14 – Emirates Bio Farm - Grade K2 A,B,C & D.
Wednesday, February 15 – David Croiser Pâtisserie-Boulangerie (Al Quoz) - Grade 6.
In closing, I wish everyone a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing everyone on Monday, February 13, 2023!
Sincerely,
Larry