Clarion Newsletter, October 21, 2022

Dear Parents and Friends of Clarion,

As we move into the last week of October, we are beginning to appreciate the cooler temperatures. Clarion School continues to be a very busy and dynamic place.

1. KHDA Inspection – Our school will be inspected by KHDA next week. We will have 7 inspectors visiting our school from Monday, October 24 – 27. The inspectors will be visiting and observing classrooms and also meeting with a number of people including some parents and students. This is a great opportunity for our school to receive some objective feedback on our program.

2. Festival of Lights – Our school will be recognizing Diwali on Monday, October 24.

Diwali symbolizes the spiritual "victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance" and as a school, I think it is very appropriate for us to emphasize this latter part of the symbolism of Diwali, while also paying respect to the former as well. ‘The five- day celebration observed every year in early autumn after the conclusion of the summer harvest and coincides with the new moon, known as the Amavasya – the darkest night of the Hindu lunisolar calendar. Tales shared on Diwali vary widely depending on region and even within Hindu tradition, yet all share a common focus on righteousness, self-inquiry and the importance of knowledge.’

As an international school, we have over 50 nationalities represented in our student body and even more in our parent population as many of our school families are bi-cultural. Therefore, our goal is to respect and recognize international and intercultural events, even if they have religious underpinnings, while retaining an appropriate secular feel to the everyday operation of the school.

3. Halloween Dress-up Day – Given that we have a KHDA inspection next week, the dress- up day for students will be on Monday, October 31.

4. Trunk or Treat Event – This wonderful event is co-hosted by our CPC and the American Moms Dubai group. This will occur on Saturday from 5:00 PM – 7:30 PM in our schools parking lot. We are asking parents to sign up on the attached link indicating if they will be decorating their trunk or not.

Link to sign up: https://forms.office.com/r/HkjLp3CUEG

Please see the attached poster in the newsletter for more information.

5. Halloween Costume Swap – The Eco Committee of the CPC would like to invite the Clarion community to participate in the Halloween Costume Swap. You can drop off your pre-loved and clean costumes at the rack in the Atrium next week and take a free one. Let’s reduce waste this Halloween!

Please see the attached poster in the newsletter for more information.

6. CPC Desert BBQ – The CPC would like to invite the entire Parent Community for a fun day out in the desert on Saturday, November 12. There will be activities for the whole family, a buffet dinner, a campfire and more! Please see the attached poster in the newsletter for more information.

The cost is AED 50 per person. Spaces are limited, please sign up using the following link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4caaa822aafcc61-clarion

7. Breast Cancer Awareness – We would like to thank Dr. Dana Haddad, Breast Radiologist from HealthBay and Ms. Aparna Verma, CEO at Scholars International Group for their very interesting and informative presentation and discussion concerning breast cancer that was held on Wednesday, October 19.

8. Tune in Tuesdays – Please come and see our students share their musical talents on Tuesday, October 25 at 7:40 AM in the Atrium.

9. First Book Fair of the Year! – Magrudy’s Book Fair is coming to Clarion school, and you are invited to come and share in this celebration of literacy with us!

Reading is an important skill that all students need and is vital to a child’s success. Like most skills, the more they practice the better they will get. As a parent you can help your child become a better reader by helping encourage a love for reading.

The Clarion School Book Fair will be held: Tuesday 25 October through to Thursday 27 October 2022 from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM in the school atrium.

Students will be going with their class teacher to the book fair and will be able to purchase books during this time. Book purchases can be made with cash sent in a sealed envelope (provided by school) with your child’s name and total amount included.

Parents are welcome to visit the book fair before and after school.

10. Clarion Athletics – We are very pleased to inform you that our athletics program for this school year has started. We are competing as a member of DASSA which is in the UAE.

This weeks athletic events included:

• Dubai School Games Golf Championships – Congratulations to Aryan Siddharth, our Grade 7 student, who came second in the Dubai Schools Games Par 3 Golf Championships.

Next weeks athletic events are as follows:

• Monday, October 24 – Under 9 Football team travels to Kings Nad Al Sheba School.
• Wednesday, October 26 – Under 10 Football team travel to Gems Royal School.
• Wednesday, October 26 – Under 11 Football team will play Star International School at Clarion.
• Thursday 27, October 12 – DASSA Cross Country Meet for our Grades 2, 3, 4, and 5 team.

11. 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.

This week, our students participated in the following field trips:

• Wednesday, October 19 – K1A and 2B went to Burj Park
• Thursday, October 20 – Grades 4A and 4B went to Al Quoz Park 6
• Thursday, October 20 – K1C went to Tribe Studio

Next week, the following field trips are scheduled:

• Thursday, October 27 – K2A, K2B and K2C will go to Al Bastakiya/Al Fahidi

12. CPC Fundraiser – Our CPC have an exciting schedule of events ahead including, Breast Cancer Awareness, Halloween, Sustainability Initiatives, a desert trip and much more.

Please continue to send in your voluntary donation of AED 300 per student for CPC activities this year. There has been good effort overall to gather funds that the CPC can use to support all of its events and activities for us as a community.

Contributions can be submitted as follows:

• Hand your contribution any CPC member or to your child’s homeroom parent.
• Submit your contribution to your child’s teacher by hand or email them if it is your child’s backpack for collection.
• Hand your contribution to Jafar, Finance Manager, in the accounting office.

13. Parents Clarion ID Card – Just a friendly reminder to our parents to ensure they wear their parent ID cards when on campus. Our staff will be monitoring that parents are wearing their cards at the gates. Please understand that this is asked for safety reasons.

14. Student Illness – Just a friendly reminder to our parents to not send their children to school if they are ill.

15. Student Drop-off – Parents are reminded that students cannot be dropped off prior to 7:30 AM. We do not have staff to provide supervision prior to this time.

In closing, I wish everyone a wonderful weekend and look forward to seeing you on Monday morning!

Sincerely,

Larry