A standing ovation for HAIRSPRAY! eBulletin - Dubai College

DUBAI COLLEGEA tradition of quality in educationeBulletinDUBAI COLLEGEU.A.E.Summer Term dates: Sunday 22nd April - Thursday 28th June 2012News Sport House Events Issue No. 22 5th April 2012A standing ovation for HAIRSPRAY!The standing ovation given to theperformers and musicians foreach of their four performancesof this year’s school productionof ‘Hairspray’ was no more thanthey deserved. Over two thousandpeople saw a production thatwill be remembered as one of themost exciting, colourful and trulyentertaining ever performed at theCollege; a fitting testament to thehard work and commitment thatwent into a rehearsal programmewhich began last October.The Drama and MusicDepartments would like to thankeveryone connected with theproduction for their support.

Headmaster’s ForewordAnd so we come to the end ofanother long, but highly successfulterm. You will see from oure-bulletin that a great deal oflearning has occurred both in andoutside of the classroom and inreality it is difficult to separate thetwo. It is a real pleasure to watchstudents grow in confidence as newtechniques, skills and knowledgeare effectively mastered.Tragically, some of our studentshave had to come to terms withdealing with sudden bereavementover the last two weeks. It is heartwrenching to see our older pupilshaving to endure the personalF1 in SchoolsIt has been a successful andexciting year for F1 in Schoolsthis year and 8 teams enteredthe school competition inMarch. Team Neutrino (Year 11)comprising of Anuradha Malik,Pritika Mehra, Karan Talreja,Parth Rajwade, Ziyan Kassam andArya Narasimhan, came 1st in theSenior Category, closely followedby Team Torque (V1 form) Theteam members are Sahas Singh,Simran Dhillon, Suprojit Paul,Ashwin Gupta, Neill Shurvilleand Tushaar Nadkarni. ArjunDave, Tom Murphy, CameronMackay, Tom Webster, JamesHoad and Libby Johson make upSlipstream (Year 9), who werethe winners of the IntermediateCategory with Supernova (Year8) taking second place. (RahulLopez, Shahmeer Samee, MaxLovett and Jordan Russell). Allthe teams demonstrated a wealthof enthusiasm and energy and setvery high standards for themselvesin every aspect of the competition,which was a huge success. Theauditorium was buzzing as SaniyaMediratta challenged teachers andpupils alike to test their reactiontimes on the track.All 4 winning teams will competein the National Competitionagony of grieving as they embarkon their own independent lives.Our thoughts are with HarryHarling’s family and friends at thisawful time.May I thank all those involved withDC for their tremendous effortsthis term. Many of our studentswill be involved with revision overthe holiday, but I hope everyonefinds time for some rest andrecuperation before the start of thefinal crucial term.Peter HillHeadmasterin Abu Dhabi, in the hopeof qualifying for the WorldChampionships next term. CanDubai College do it again for thefifth year running? We have everyfaith in our teams and we wishthem luck!BAMaastrichtUniversityFollowing the presentationfrom Maastricht University,The Netherlands, earlier thisterm we have now receivedmore information from them.Maastricht is becoming anincreasingly popular optionfrom the UK as it is seen asproviding quality along withreduced costs. The tuitioncosts for European Union (EU)students is 1,713 euros and fornon EU students it is 8,500euros. It is claimed that livingcosts are low when compared tothe UK or USA. Maastricht wasranked 109th according to the QSWorld University table. Furtherinformation about Maastricht andcontact details can be found under‘Information for Parents’ Lettersfor Parents on our website.DC MasterchefThe finals of this term’s DCMasterchef competition tookplace this week with participantsproducing some ‘mouth watering’culinary delights. On the podiumwere runners up Tristan Ebdonand Ali Chassebi who were pippedto the post by winners ShivajiMaru and Giorgia Maccini-Hill.

Music, Charity, LoveThis year’s Music, Charity, Lovewas a huge success. With over400 people attending and over 40performers it was bigger than ever.A massive 15,900 AED was raisedfor the Maria Cristina Foundation,a charity helping children fromthe slums in Dhaka. The guestof honour for the evening wasBilkis Akther; a student hostedby a family in Dubai. Bilkis isable to live and study in Dubaiwith help from funding by theMaria Cristina Foundation. Bilkisattended with her sister Carmeland sang ‘Never Say Never’ and‘Forever Young’. She then thankedeveryone for their support of thecharity before giving one of themost special performances of theevening, singing a Bangladeshisong unaccompanied.At the very heart of the evening’ssuccess was Year 13 student KateBurns who also proved to be a‘rapper’ of some repute! Thanksgo to Captain Higgins and hisfantastic team of caretakers whohelped set up the event on theday, to Mr. Shuker who donatedthe beanbags for the event; to MrZambonini for holding auditionsand organising the sound; toMr. Dennis for his help in theorganisation; to the members ofthe DC Charities Committee whomade an astounding amount offood that was sold at the bakesale, and who were also integralin the organisation of the event.Finally, a big thank you goes to theperformers without whom therewould have been no show!

World Food DayWorld Food Day this year tookplace on the 29th February, and forthe second year running, the eventwas combined with InternationalDay so that students had theopportunity to wear national dress,as well as bring in food from theircountries. World Food Day, as wellas being a charitable endeavour, isa celebration of different cultures,as well as a chance for students totry other cuisines and, above all, toenjoy themselves. With most of theschool dressed in national outfits,food stalls set up and culturalmusic playing in the background,the canteen area of the school wastransformed for lunchtime. Thecontribution of the students and, inparticular, the efforts of those whobrought in food or helped out atstands was integral to the successof the event. Although money isstill being counted, so far, around11,500 dirhams has been raised,with more still to come. This moneywill soon be distributed amongstthe charities of MSF, Dubai Centrefor Special Needs, and the RAEYSchool in Ethiopia. The CharityCommittee would like to thankthose students of the school whoparticipated in the event, and hopethat it was as enjoyable for thoseparticipating as it was for thosewho organised it.

Cambridge Choir visits Dubai CollegeThe Music Department wasdelighted to welcome the awardwinningchoir of Sidney SussexCollege, University of Cambridgeto perform at Dubai College. Aspart of a middle-eastern tour thechoir sang at a number of events,still finding time to join us hereto present a range of music fromtheir weekly chapel services, aswell as works by Eric Whitaker,the composer-in-residence for theCollege. Students from the choiralso took some time to meet with6th formers and discuss what lifeat Cambridge is like and answerquestions about the entranceprocess.The choir’s director, Dr DavidSkinner, presented the Collegewith a copy of their latestrecording which features themusic of Thomas Weelkes. Ourthanks go to the choir and to JoMarsh who organised their visit.FDC Presents:Re-live the 80’s and dance the night away to your favourite musicDress to impress – Don’t stop till you’ve had enough!8.00pm - 1.00am………………………Donation Dhs250 per ticket

Friends of Dubai CollegeFDC Year 8 Fun DayThe FDC ran its first Year 8 fun dayon the 22nd March. Postponedfrom earlier in the year it wasattended by most of the Year 8students – approximately 120 intotal. There were a series of eventswith the intention of includingas many as possible. The teamsstarted with a session in the pool– an obstacle/relay course endingup with everyone in the pool. Wethen fed everyone with burgers (beefand vegetarian, kindly donated byGlobal Foods) hot dogs and ices –some of them even managed to addsome lettuce and tomato to theirsandwiches!After the barbeque they were all offto the field where the teams tookpart in the “run across the soapytarpaulin with a tray of water” race.Despite attempts at tightening therules it is always amazing to seewhat solutions inventive mindscan create! After picking everyoneup it was off to the courtyard forthe doughnut relay. After a slowstart most teams worked out howto eat a doughnut tied to a piece ofstring with their hands behind theirbacks – unfortunately, this did meannot everyone was able to eat it allas pieces of doughnut were flyingeverywhere! The winner of theinaugural Year 8 fun day was 8DR– congratulations to them all! Theywill keep the cup for the rest of theyear before having to hand it overnext year!The day would not have beenanywhere as successful without thesupport of the school, the parentsand the FDC members who turnedup to help – my thanks to everyone.Andrew LavenFDC Chairman

Alumni newsAlumni visitorA recent visitor to College wasTanya Pinto. After Tanya left DCshe moved to Perth, WesternAustralia. In 1998 Tanya gained aFirst Class Honours degree fromCurtin University. In 1999, Tanyajoined The RichardsGroup, a$1 billion Dallas-based nationaladvertising agency. Her fasttrackcareer has seen her working on suchdiverse accounts as Travelocity,Nokia and Children’s MedicalCenter.Today, Tanya divides her timebetween the advertising industryand Baal Dan, the charity shefounded in 2006. Tanya has almostsingle-handedly run Baal Danwith no staff and while workingfull-time. Tanya's reputation as aninnovative and dedicated socialHigherEducationClinicsThe first Sixth Form HigherEducation (HE) clinics tookplace recently. Supporting theprogramme were two formerstudents Donna Anderson andNikki Fletcher. Donna who studiedModern Languages and Nikkiwho studied Physiotherapy, gavesome of the Sixth Form students avaluable insight into the nature ofthe courses they studied and thepotential for career choices. Wewere also delighted to welcomeDr. Keith Nicholl, a parent of theschool who addressed studentslooking to follow a course of studyin medicine.The College is very grateful toDonna, Nikki and Dr. Nicholl forgiving their time so generously.entrepreneur has received bothlocal and national attention.Among her awards and pressare: Curtin University Australia’sprestigious “John Curtin Medal,”Harvard University’s Women'sEmpowerment Conference andConvention “Women of theYear” 2010 and the Sri-Sri RaviShankar Award for dss"UpliftingHuman Values 2007.” She hasdelivered speeches at Harvard,TEDxSMU and been featured on:NBC 5 Dallas, Voice of America,Washington, D.C., Tonic Magazine,and in several other articles.Tanya’s work in India isremarkable; her charity now helpsto take care of 2000 children. Ifyou are interested in finding outmore about her work go towww.baaldan.comAlumni visitorAnother alumni visitor this weekwas Daniel Smith. Daniel gainedhis law degree at Bristol and hisMasters in Commercial Law at thesame institution. Following thecompletion of his LLB, he will takeup his position with the firm ofClyde and Co in the UK.Tanya with one of her orphanedbabiesJourneysAlumni member Maria Siddiquientertained an audience of SixthFormers when she deliveredher ‘journeys’ talk recently.Maria graduated from KingsCollege London and is currentlyconsidering a choice between aPGCE and a Masters course tostudy infectious diseases.Maria is pictured talking to Year 13student Sophie Middleton.Surprise visitFormer Head of Music MrSteve Griffiths was a surprisevisitor to the College this week.Accompanied by his wife Maggieand daughter Jane, Steve poppedin to bid a fond farewell to Mrand Mrs Jones and Mr Penson,with whom he collaborated on anumber of productions in the late80s and early 90s.

The AlumniWebsiteMike Deelman continues to workvery hard on setting up the websiteand it is hoped that we can startinviting people to test things outby the end of April. Assumingthere are no major issues withit, it can then be made publiclyaccessible to all the alumni shortlyafterwards.Mike’s idea is to have a useful andcoherent set of features in placeby the time it is launched andthen progressively add a few morefeatures, as time allows (and thedemand for them arises).Y12 & Y13 Arttrip to DIFCThis has been a busy term forour Art students! The Year 11trip to the galleries in DIFC wassuch a hit that we decided to takeYear 12 and 13 artists there too.A great time was had by all andpupils were engrossed in drawingthe spectacular art, but they alsomade characterful drawings overlunch on their restaurant napkinsand enjoyed the impressivearchitecture. We can thoroughlyrecommend a visit to the Cuadro,Sawa, Ayyam and XVA galleries inDIFC to those who are interested.Verbier SkiTrip48 students and 4 teachers,great snow, a fair amount ofsunshine and evenings filledwith activities sums up theDC ski trip which travelled toSwitzerland over the half termbreak. Everyone improved in theirskiing or snowboarding and hada great time in Verbier where westayed at the Les Elfes campus.Congratulations to the fasteststudent through the slalom racecourse, Max Lovett, 8DR.SchoolPhotographsThe School Class photographsare now available for viewingand ordering online. Please goto www.pret-a-portrait.netUnder ‘View my pictures’ enterthe Sitting ID DCD210312P.Year 9 HistoryCompetitionOver the last few weeks the Year9 History Competition has beentaking place with more than40 initial entrants. An arduouspreparation period saw studentsprepare for the first round ofcompetition where they gavea presentation on a significanthistorical figure of their choice.This then enabled a select group ofnine finalists to emerge (pictured).Each finalist then prepared apresentation on ‘A Day ThatShook the World’ delivered to apanel of judges that included MrHill. The standard in the finaland throughout the competitionwas outstanding and Mr Hillcommented on the intellectualrigour and professional presentingskills of all the pupils that bodeswell for the future. Having stunnedjudges with her brilliant analysisof Gamal Abdel Nasser in thefirst round, the eventual winnerwas Antara Jaidev, 9MB, who inthe final, eloquently discussedthe controversy surrounding the‘Birth of Israel in 1948’. Severalof the finalists have been invitedto perform their presentations tothe Sixth Form History Societyand to the GCSE and AdvancedLevel History cohorts, such is theirquality.Tragic lossThe recent tragic loss of JumeirahCollege student Harry Harling hashad the most profound impactupon the Dubai College community,particularly those students whoknew Harry as a friend. We wish toextend our deepest sympathies toHarry's family Nicholas, Beverleyand Rebecca.

Silver Duke of Edinburgh International AwardOn Thursday morning, 8th March,43 students left school and begantheir Duke of Edinburgh’s AwardSilver expedition. This tookplace in the mountains of Ras AlKhaimah, where the students hadthe exciting task of carrying alltheir food and accommodationon their backs for the next 3days. They were accompaniedby a few supervising teachers,but essentially the students wererequired to operate independently,and take responsibility forcoping with the navigation, andcamping challenges that theyfaced. Altogether they walkedapproximately 50 km throughsandy and rocky desert, up anddown steep hills and throughseemingly perpetual Wadis.Unsurprisingly, the main ailmentby the end of Day One was sorefeet and blisters, but the studentsmanaged to stay positive andshowed considerable determinationthroughout the weekend.On the final day the studentsfaced the additional challenge ofa sand storm, and the prospect ofa solar flare that was threateningto interfere with their compassbearings!Despite all of these hardships, allthe students made it back to thefinal checkpoint, well within theexpected time, and completed theexpedition. Congratulations aredue to the whole group, and theyare now close to completing thefull Silver Award, and simply needto finish the Skill, Service andPhysical sections in order to earntheir badge and certificate.Students set off for Nepal Expedition…26 of the Sixth Form set off tothe foothills of the Himalayason Wednesday, to complete theexpedition section of their GoldDuke of Edinburgh’s Award.They will aim to complete atough 4-day, 80km trek throughforests and mountains, reachingan altitude of over 2500metres.Along the way they will passthrough isolated villages and willget to learn about the fascinatingculture of the Sherpa people wholive in the Helambu valley.Additionally, the students willspend a couple of days at aprimary school on the outskirtsof Kathmandu, working onthe renovation of classrooms,donating much-neededschool supplies and taking theopportunity to teach some English.For many of these students, thistrip represents the culminationof a 4-year involvement in theDuke of Edinburgh’s Award, andwe wish them the best of luckfor a successful and inspiringexpedition!

Dubai Desert Classic February 2012Dubai College was once againasked to provide the scoringservices for the Dubai DesertClassic at the Emirates Golf Club.The team consisted of almost 200students and staff many of whomattended the three days of trainingsessions the weekend prior to theevent. Our roles involved workingthe many scoreboards aroundthe venue, carrying the mobilescoreboards that accompany thematches and watching the golfersand entering the scores into thepalm computers that our scorerscarry.On the Sunday it was worldnumber three Lee Westwoodwho led by one shot going intothe final round, but it was he andScotland’s Stephen Gallacher thatshared the second place. Both hadtheir chances to force a playoff,but missed their respective birdieputts on the closing hole. RafaelCabrera-Bello found an extraspring in his step when it matteredmost and went on to win theOmega Dubai Desert Classic byone shot.

Darren Shan VisitOn Wednesday 7th March, Years7, 8 and 9 students, and visitorsfrom 11 other schools in the city,were both thrilled and chilled tothe bone by the modern master ofhorror Darren Shan.As part of the Emirates AirlineFestival of Literature, Darrenvisited the DC Auditorium andtreated us to readings from hismost popular books as well as ataste of his new Zom-B series.He spoke about life as a writer,Tom Rob Smith visitGCSE and A Level Historystudents were fortunate to be theaudience for Tom Rob Smith’srecent visit to Dubai College. Heinspired all with his recount ofhow he became an author andscreen-play writer which includedan interesting bout in Pnomh Penhpenning Cambodia’s first everTV soap! However of particularinterest was his explanation ofhow he integrated his historicalresearch on Soviet Russia withhis storylines in his bestsellingnovels, Child 44, Secret Speechand Agent 6. Reading extractsfrom his stories alongside factualrecounts and you-tube clips,Tom showed how he created hisfictional characters and settingswith the authenticity of the periodin question.answered numerous questionsfrom the audience and stayedbehind for three hours to signhundreds of books clutched by avidfans.Find him on Twitter to see thecomments he made about his visitand, if you’re really eagle-eyed,you might be able to spot a pieceof graffiti he left on his tour of theschool!ProfessorGrayling visitOn Thursday 8th March,Professor A.C. Grayling visitedthe College. Professor Graylingis Master of New College ofthe Humanities, London andpreviously was Professor ofPhilosophy at Birkbeck College,University of London. He is alsoa Supernumerary Fellow of StAnne’s College, Oxford, Fellowof the Royal Society of the Artsand Royal Society of Literature.He has written over twenty booksincluding The Good Book andLiberty in the Age of Terror,contributes regular columns toThe Guardian and Times and canbe heard on numerous radio andTV programmes in the UK.He was therefore very wellqualified to speak to some ofour Y12 and Y13 students onthe topic of ‘The Importance ofthe Humanities’. His hour longlecture was thought provoking,learned and well balanced.Professor Grayling devoted aconsiderable amount of his busyschedule to his visit to DC andwe are very appreciative of this.We look forward to strengtheningour ties with New College of theHumanities in the near future.

Last Night of The Promspresented by one of Britain’s foremost military bandsThe Band of Her Majesty’s Royal MarinesDubai St George’s Society is delighted to have once again secured the services ofThe Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines to perform during St George’s week.Make sure you don’t Miss this spectacular event.The Band will perform under the direction of Capt Richard Harvey MMus BMus(Hons) LRSM AMusTCL RM• Dubai College Auditorium• Thursday, April 26 2012, 8pm• Entrance by donation: Dh100 – students Dh50Book now: events@dsgs.orgDress Proms style– anything goes!Flags provided!

Dubai College Spring Concert 2012In the final week of what hasbeen an exceptionally busy termfor the Music Department, theAnnual Spring Concert tookplace on Tuesday 3rd April in theAuditorium. As an important eventin the calendar, this provides aperformance opportunity for mostof the key ensembles within thecollege as well as being the finalconcert for our Year 13 Musicians.The evening began with tworousing performances by theBeginner Band, showing muchconfidence and a markedimprovement in their instrumentalskills. Other highlights of the firsthalf included the Brass Ensemble,‘Beauty and the Beast’, performedby the gigantic IntermediateBand, a choreographed versionon ‘Earth Song’ by the JuniorChoir, a selection of music theatrerepertoire by the Concert Band andending in two pieces by the guitargroup.The second half featuredperformances from many of themore experienced ensemblesincluding the Jazz Band, SeniorFlute Choir, Senior Guitars, SeniorChoir and Senior Clarinet Choir.The penultimate piece on theprogramme ‘Paalam’ (‘farewell’in Tagalog) was written by Year13 student Charles Barsaga andperformed by himself on the pianoand Laura Worger on the flute.The concert ended with a dramaticperformance of the Music from‘Gladiator’ by the Senior Orchestra.Many thanks to all the studentsinvolved and in particular to thosewho have contributed so faithfullyto the music department over thelast seven years.

Staff v Sixth Form OlympicsThe final week of term was markedby a series of sporting contestsof epic proportions. The SixthForm challenged the staff (ratherfoolishly some might say ) to asporting Olympics.Day 1 Netball - a truly titanicstruggle with the staff clinchingvictory by just two points.Day 2 Badminton – a sportingcocktail of power, athleticism andvelvet touch ensured a comfortablewin for the staffDay 3 Volleyball – a never saydie attitude resulted in the sixthForm’s first victory 2 – 1. Allcomplaints against the umpiringwere later found to be groundless)Day 4 Basketball – the largestcrowd of the week saw the staffcome back from the dead to win bysix points. ‘Magic’ McIIveen wasthe hero turning the game with athree pointer from at least 65 feet!Woolcock dominated the midfieldthe staff side looked very much incontrol at 2-1. However followingher departure the school scoreda deserved equaliser to take thegame to penalties. At 5-5 it wassudden death with Saffy Sarwarstepping up to test the cat likeresponses of Patrick (They thinkit’s all over ) Flower. And therest is history as they say - a staffvictory to round off a week ofsporting dominance!Better luck next year guys!(Clearly a moral victory for thestudents - The Headmaster)Bell and Adamson – dynamism andguile!Day 4 Football – Given that theCollege 1st X1 has been unbeatenfor four seasons and they hadno wish to put that record underthreat it was left to the 2ndX1 to take on the might of thestaff football team. Whilst MissAction from the Badminton - Flower and Agent – power and subtly.

Success across the board for DC teams!The spring term is traditionallythe busiest of the year for theco-curricular programme andthis has certainly been the casefor everyone involved in the DCsporting calendar. Despite theincreased competition from agrowing number of Dubai schoolsthere is much evidence to suggestthat our teams have had theirmost successful year ever withNetballThis year DC has fielded four sidesin the Dubai Ladies’ Netball Leagueand an astonishing 17 teams inthe DASSA netball league (DubaiSchools). In addition to leaguesuccess they have also won anumber of weekend tournamentsduring the season. Listed belowindividuals and teams excellingacross the whole range of the DubaiSchools’ competitive programme.In addition the College continuesto welcome overseas visitors andin the last week of this term andinto the Spring break, DC rugby,netball, cricket and tennis teamswill compete against schools fromthe UK and South Africa.The prestige we gain as a result ofare some of their successes in theDASSA League:U13 C –Winners Div 3U15 A –Winners Div 1U15B – Winners Div 2U15E – Winners Div 5this unprecedented success adds agreat deal to the growing regionaland international reputation ofDubai College as an ‘outstanding’school!Below are some of our recenthighlightsU18A – winners Div 1U18C – Winners Div 3U13 B – runners up Div 2U15 D – runners up Div 4U18 E – runners up Div 4Gabby Guscott – Kittens Iwinners divison 3Emma Britnor – Kittnes II –winnersdivision 4Kittens winning captains from the Dubai Ladies leagueU15B – Winners Div 2 U15 A –Winners Div 1

Successful tour for Under 16s and 1stXVBoth the Under 16 and 1st XVrugby sides enjoyed successon their tour of Malaysia andSingapore during the half termbreak. Both teams played in theBintang Tens in Kuala Lumpur ,the largest youth rugby tournamentin South East Asia. The 1st XVwon the tournament whilst theUnder 16s made the semi - finalstage losing by one try to eventualwinners, the Bintang Rugby Club.The teams then travelled toSingapore to play 15 a’ sidematches against UWCSEA (UnitedWorld College) enjoying convincingvictories. The final game of the tourwas a 1st XV match against TanglinTrust School, last year’s SouthEast Asian Champions. HoweverDC proved too strong for theopposition and ended the tour witha comfortable win.Success for Under 13 football teamThe U13 boys football team playedin the local qualifying tournamentin this year’s VW Junior Masterscompetition. This is a Worldwideinvitational competition whichDC is taking part in for the thirdyear running. The local eventwas played at the Dubai ModernAthleticsAfter losing the Dubai Schools’championships for the first timein eleven years last year both thegirls’ and boys’ teams regainedtheir titles with some outstandingindividual performances in boththe track and field events.High School and comprised eightteams. DC won their group withwins against Winchester School,The Desert Rangers Club and anarrow defeat to Rashid School(Hatta). In the semi-final DC beatRegent International School beforelosing out to the Jebel Ali Academyteam in the final. However, DChave qualified to play in the GulfRegional Final on May 5th to beplayed at the Jebel Ali Centre ofExcellence. The winner from thiscompetition will represent the Gulfin the World Finals in Poland laterin the year.RugbyOnce again DC rugby teams havereached each of the age group playoff finals of the Dubai Schools’League. During the final week ofterm, two of the finals were playedat The Sevens. In both the Under12 and Under 14 age groups DCplayed teams from JESS Ranches.In the younger age group a goodcontest saw a rapidly improving DCteam beat their opponents by 35-15. The Under 14 contest provedto be a little one sided. A clinicaldisplay from the DC boys gavethem a convincing victory 51 -5.The Under 16 and Under 18 finalswill be played on the Monday ofour first week back against DESCand BSAK respectively.Earlier in the week a combinedDC/DESC Under 15 team beatPrince Henry’s Grammar Schoolfrom Yorkshire 28 -7.

CricketDC cricket teams at all age groupshave experienced considerablesuccess this season producingperformances of the very highestlevel. The 1st X1 are currentlyplaying in the ARCH Trophy, aninternational competition thatattracts some of the very best‘cricket’ schools from the UKand South Africa. It is thereforewonderful to report that our 1stX1 has to date in the competitionbeaten Kings School, Grantham,Bradfield College and SherborneSchool. They will also play gamesagainst Haileybury School, UK ,Clifton College from Johannesburgand Benoni School, Durban.SwimmingHaving comfortably retainedthe Dubai Schools’ League titleearlier in the term the DC swimsquad confirmed their quality asthe top school in the Gulf whenit competed in the 4th annualBSME Swimming Championships,attracting schools from across theGulf region.27 DC Swimmers won 62Medals between them and set 10Championship records.TennisIn 1987 the first ever DC tennisteam travelled to Wimbledon tocompete in the Thomas Bowl. Theteam successfully won their groupto reach the quarter finals wherethey narrowly lost to Harrow. Thisweek we saw the return of tennisas a competitive sport at DC withthe very first international tenniscompetition to be held at theCollege. The College was delightedto welcome Shiplake School fromHenley on Thames. Shiplake’steam contained several countyrepresentatives. This made thescore line of 8 matches to 1 in DC’sfavour all the more impressive.Off to the NouCampCongratulations go to Year 7student Craig Lough who hasbeen selected to represent theBarcelona Soccer School in theUnder 12 Soccer Tournamentto be held at the Nou Camp thismonth. Hopefully Craig’s Year 7Spanish lessons will prove to beworthwhile.RoundersAfter a splendid season the Girls’Under 18 rounders team defeatedJumeirah College in the final ofthe final of the Dubai Schools’League.The score line wasDC 10 1/2 – JC 6 1/2(DC had an innings in hand)

House round-upWith just this term’s merits (girlsand boys) to factor into the system,we seem to be heading into term 3with all to play for. All of the Seniorevents have been completed andYears 11 to 13 can now concentrateon their public examinations(perhaps we could somehow workthe GCSE and A Level results intothe House Programme!). The lasttwo Senior events, Boys BasketballBattle of the Bandsand Public Speaking proved fruitfulfor Barbarossa who were victoriousin both. With honours evenlyshared through the rest of theterm, Heyerdahl have maintaineda healthy lead with 118 points,but Barbarossa (109½), Cousteau(107½) and Chichester (105) haveall to play for and cannot yet beruled out of the race.The last assembly of the term concluded with the final of the Battle ofthe Bands between the Channel 4 News Team and Rainhouse. Bothbands ‘rocked’ a packed auditorium. However Mr Tate’s ‘Clapometer’gave victory to Channel 4 News Team by the smallest of margins.Congratulations go to both bands. Pictured is the winning band playing‘Teachers Pet’Request forabsenceIf it is necessary for your childto be away from school, pleaseensure that you allow sufficienttime to send an email or letterto the Headmaster requestingpermission for this absence. Ifpermission is not sought, theabsence will be recorded asunauthorised on the student’srecords.to the Headmasterrequesting permission for thisabsence. If permission is notsought, absence will be recorded.Notice ofstudentwithdrawalPlease note that a full term’s noticein writing is required for studentwithdrawal otherwise a term’s feeswill be charged in lieu of notice.Change ofcontact detailsPlease ensure that the schooloffice are advised of any change incontact details.

SPRING HOLIDAY 2012THE SCHOOL OFFICE WILL BE OPEN FROM 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.ON THE FOLLOWING DAYSApril6thFridayGood Friday - CLOSED7thSaturdayCLOSED8thSundayEaster Sunday - CLOSED9thMondayOPEN10thTuesdayOPEN11thWednesdayOPEN12thThursdayCLOSED13thFridayCLOSED14thSaturdayCLOSED15thSundayCLOSED16thMondayOPEN17thTuesdayOPEN18thWednesdayOPEN19thThursdayOPEN20thFridayCLOSED21stSaturdayCLOSED