school
Have you had the Arcadia experience yet?
Register now for The Arcadia Experience on Saturday 7th October. Email (info @ arcadia.sch.ae)
See details on flyer below:
After school classes in JVT. Let’s get moving!
It’s that time again – summer vacation is over and we are dressing children in their school uniforms. The regular routine is starting again. I expect many parents are thinking about how to keep their kids busy after school and expose them to new ideas and build new skills. Rest assured, once again there are a great number of fun activities to try right here in JVT thanks to an excellent line up at Sunmarke school. Kudos to Elaine Baille for her great line up of after school activities!
I am happy to share my favorites below for which you can find all the details on the JVT community website by clicking here! There are many more activities as well that are hosted by residents. You can find these by browsing the same Activities page.
Energy expending classes top my list as youngsters really need to get out some pent up energy before bed! Why not try the new soccer classes on offer by FCBEscola or the AC Milan Academy. Not only will your kids learn the skill of the game, they also gain many great life skills by participating in an organized team sport.
For individual sports, Judo and Taekwondo are amazing ways to get fit, increase flexibility and build mental strength as well. Get in touch with our great friends at Budo Juku who are running classes again this year at Sunmarke.
Shotokan Karate is also on offer right here in JVT with expert Sensei and former UK champion, Alex Gardner. Karate is another great means of self-defense and teaches respect, builds self-esteem and fosters confidence. Here is a short article on the difference between the three disciplines. Visit the Gulf Star website for more info.
If dancing is your thing, you are in luck! The Shiamak Dance Workshop is now starting in JVT on Tuesdays – Thursday for children, juniors and adults. Their classes are a great means of self expression and a fun way to expend a lot of energy. You might find me at their Bollywood dance class! Check out their website to know more.
And there’s more to come. Swim classes, chess club and language classes in French, Spanish and Russian from qualifed teachers are all available right here in JVT. Details will be posted on the JVT website in the coming days. You can also get take many different home exercise classes on offer by some local residents. Check out the listing to view all the options.
PS – If you’ve got a home or group activity going that is not listed, get in touch! We are happy to mention any activities hosted by residents for free. Let’s get moving JVT!
Children’s Entrpreneur Workshop is back in JVT by popular demand!
After a resounding success, 7 billion ideas is back with their unique children’s entreprenuer workshop at The Arcadia Preparatory School. Don’t miss it; sign up now for this complimentary session to get you kids thinking outside of the box!
Book Fair today and tomorrow in JVT
If you love reading, this is for you.
In preparation for World Book Day, the Arcadia Preparatory School is holding a book fair on Tuesday February 28 and Wednesday March 1.
All JVT residents are welcome to visit from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm.
English and Arabic language books will be for sale at good prices direct from the distributor.
There will be books for all ages, including adults!
World Book Day is celebrated annually on 2nd March to encourage reading.
For the last twenty years, World Book Day has been going strong across the UK to share the joy and value of books and reading.
So, be sure to pop in to Arcadia school today or tomorrow and grab yourself a new book for the weekend!
Secondary school student brings speedcubing rage to JVT
Francisco Hamlin, a Year 12 student at Sunmarke school, was the brains behind the recent Emirates Open Speedcubing competition hosted by the World Cube Association. Not only did he instigate and organize the day long event, he was an avid competitor himself.
Our local restaurants, Noa’s Delices and Forni, were on hand to keep everyone’s thirst quenched and bellies full as they went through both lunch and dinner in the school gymnasium. The winners out of 102 registered participants were crowned late in the day on Saturday, 14th January.
The winners of the each category were:
- 3x3x3: Fransisco Hamlin (Sunmarke School) Best Overall score – 9.4 secs
- 2x2x2: Fransisco Hamlin (Sunmarke School) Best Overall Score – 2.26
- 4x4x4: Fransisco Hamlin (Sunmarke School) Best Overall Score – 8.79
- 5x5x5: Fransisco Hamlin (Sunmarke School) Best Overall Score – 8.79
- 3x3x3 One-handed: Fransisco Hamlin (Sunmarke School) Best Overall Score – 13.15
- 3x3x3 Blind-folded:Mayur Ukey Best (Dubai based School) Overall Score – 02.32.2
The action-packed day was concluded with an awards ceremony where all participants received an official certificate from the Emirates Open 2017 sponsors.
Have a look at some pictures I took on the day:
Check out all the amazing videos on the Sunmarke school’s Facebook page. Here is one that demonstrates all the skill and dexterity needed to become a master at speedcubing.
Get the ‘Arcadia Experience’ this weekend and meet your JVT neighbors
Do you want to know what’s happening at Arcadia? This coming weekend you can find out first-hand. Teachers and administrators will be on hand this Saturday, 19th November from 9am – 12pm to take you around.
Get a tour of the beautiful facilities and sample their after-school offering as well this weekend. There is lots happening, particulary for the little tots, from gymnastics to music & movement classes. I loved Arcadia’s spring carnival in the park and surely this will be another great morning of fun!
Did you know that it’s also possible for community groups to rent out a space at the school? Find out more on Saturday.
By the way, today is the International Day of Tolerance. What better way to mark the day than putting this community event on your weekend calendar. The best way to promote tolerance is getting to know others, learning about different cultures and embracing the fact that we are not all the same.
Let’s aim to make JVT the most welcoming community in Dubai!
Be sure to sign up to join the fun!
Praise for the Teacher on World Teachers’ Day
Today is the day to shower your children’s teachers with love and praise as they offer the same to your kids day after day! UNESCO proclaimed 5 October to be World Teachers’ Day in 1994.
To honor teachers, I reached out to the schools in JVT to find out what’s been going on in their classrooms since the start of the year. I chose to share the story of Miss O’Neill, Year One Teacher, at The Arcadia Prepatory School.
My wonderful pupils are bags of energy and enthusiasm – keen to explore every aspect of their learning in the most creative of ways. I have therefore adopted a very kinesthetic approach to my teaching and I have noticed the excellent progress each child has made through this multi-sensory approach, says Miss O’Neill.
In maths, her little ones are getting to grips with numbers and have recently started to explore the concept of adding and subtracting along a number line. Her children adore guiding ‘Fred The Frog’ along their number lines to embed this method.
To celebrate Roald Dahl’s 100th birthday and to promote their use of interesting adjectives, Miss O’Neill held a ‘Gruesome Feast’ in honour of The Twits (an activity the children dived into through touch, taste and a bit of imagination…). For this, they made dream jars, like those featured in The BFG (Big Friendly Giant). I think they turned out great !
It was amazing to hear the range of descriptive language that was unlocked in the children through a more exciting approach to learning!, said Miss O’Neill.
Thanks to teachers like Miss O’Neill all across Dubai and around the world, children today are being inspired to reach high, be creative and make full use of their potential. Goodness knows our world needs it.
Hats off to my favorite teacher Miss Grappi, now retired, and to my treasured sister-in-law, Miss Conrad, who is taking a break from teaching to recover from illness after dedicating a lifetime to making others smart.
Be sure to thank a teacher today !
Looking to keep kids busy afterschool? Here are the options right here in JVT.
Now that kids are back in school yet again after the one-week Eid holidays, most parents are scheduling their after school activities to keep them occupied and fit. The choices across Dubai are overwhelming. You can keep your kids intellectually challenged with Maths, get them twirling or balancing with dance or gymnastics, teach them to swim or learn synchronized swimming, indulge in music, theatre or more. The list seems endless.
The biggest challenge for me has always been getting them there. I’m sure I’m not alone. ‘After school’ means that you will undoubtedly get stuck in rush hour traffic on your way there or back. For this reason alone, I suspect that many parents living in the neighbourhood will be happy to learn that a slew of fun pasttimes await your kids right here in JVT.
I’ve compiled some information about what’s on offer:
Ballet, Gymnastics and Karate Classes at Arcadia Prepatory School with Gulf Star Sports should be starting from 9th October. Free trial lessons will be available so contact them now to get your spot. Tel: 052-9078179.
Furthermore, community groups can rent out the school facilities either at Arcadia through Gulf Star Sports by contacting Matthew Ralton on mattr@gulfstarsports.com or at Sunmarke by contacting the school manager Elaine Baillie on activitiesmanager@forteseducation.com
Sunmarke has already started with a broad array of options offered through a host of external vendors listed below. The times/dates indicated are those communicated on the school website. I’ve given the time/date slots to make it easy to see if the offering fits within your schedule but please note these are consolidated timings of the different age specific classes on offer. Kindly contact the vendor directly for more information.
Badminton
5-6pm (Sun & Tues), 6-7pm (Thurs & Sat) Contact PSA Tel: 052-9078179.
Exercise class ‘Born to Move’
4-5pm (Mon) Contact: Stryx Gulf Tel: 0529007550
Swimming
4-6pm (Sun & Tues), 1-5pm (Sat) Contact M&S Sports Tel.: + 971 (0)4 457 2933
3-4:15 (Mon& Thurs) AquaTots and Beginner lessons with Swimming Warriors Tel: 055-880-3040
Football
4-7pm (Mon) & 8-11am (Sat) Contact M&S Sports Tel: 050-4405921
4-6pm (Sun) & 5-6pm (Tues) & 2:15 – 3:15pm (Thurs) Contact Elite FC Tel: 045-545-916
4-5pm (Sun) Contact FC Barcelona Tel: 055-8872426
Basketball
4-8pm (Sun), 4-9pm (Tues) Contact MPAC sports 04-385177
5-8pm (Mon & Wed), 9-1pm (Sat) Contact Basic Ball Tel: +056-167-0009
Gymnastics
3-6pm (Thurs) Contact Simply Gymnastics on 055 601 6095
Rythmic Gymnastics
5-7pm (Mon), 10-12pm (Sat) Contact Stryx Gymnastics Tel: +0529007550
Wado Ryu karate lessons conducted in Japanese!
4:45 – 7pm (Mon), 9am-12pm (Sat) Contact Budo Juko Tel: +971 50 2110 3981
Dance classes for ages 5 to adult are being offered by Step Up Academy every day of the week in the following styles:
- Street Dance
- RAD Ballet
- IDTA Tap & Modern
- Cheerleading
- Musical Theatre
- Lyrical Contemporary
Contact them for the complete schedule on Mobile: 971 55 855 2797 or info@stepup.ae
Robotics
2:45 – 4:45pm (Wed) Contact Premier Genie Tel: 0526656440
Art Appreciation
3:30 – 4:45pm (Sat) Contact Little Masterpieces Tel: 055-3877091
Math Whizz Kids
2:45 – 3:45pm (Sun & Mon), 3 – 5pm (Tues), 9:30 – 2pm (Sat) Contact Brain O Brain Tel: 055-1355747
Innovators & Entreprenuers
2:45 – 3:45 (Wed) & 2:15 – 3:15pm (Thurs) Contact I&E Academy Tel: 055-8622464
Russian Language Classes
1:30 – 5:30 (Sun/Mon) Contact Headway Institute Tel: +971 4 362 53 13
Let the fun begin !
School starts at Sunmarke & Jumeirah International Nurseries too!
Last week we were at Arcadia Prepatory for opening day. This week, two more wonderful schools threw open their doors to new students in JVT. We are delighted to share with you some photos of opening day at Sunmarke and Jumeirah International Nurseries, conveniently located within the campus of Sunmarke School.
Nursery school section:
We are getting details on the extracurricular programs at both Arcadia and Sunmarke which we will share with you next week. There will be plenty to keep all the neighborhood kids busy very soon!
Jumeirah Village Triangle 