eBulletin - Dubai College

GCSE And A Level Options ReminderGCSE and A level Options Deadline – Wednesday 29th February 2012To access Options information, click on: https://mydc.dubaicollege.org and, when logged in, click on ‘mytools’.Students will then be able to access course outlines and make their option choices ‘online’.Students can access ‘mydc’ using their normal school login username and password.Hajj ExperienceOn 26th January, 2012 the BritishMuseum launched the 1st everHajj exhibition in the world whereroyalty and distinguished guestswere present. “Among manyintriguing exhibits was an exercisebook containing the Hajj diaryof a London schoolgirl.” – MarkHudson, The Daily Telegraph UK.At the age of 9 my parents tookmy sister and I for Hajj whichis a pilgrimage Muslims shouldundertake at least once in theirlifetime. My class teacher, MrEvans, asked me to keep a diaryas homework so that he couldexperience the journey through thewords I wrote.Upon returning to school I showedmy diary to our local mosque whoprinted it as a learning resource.Then the European Hajj Mission(one of the groups that takespilgrims for Hajj) decided topublish it. They saw it as a guideas well as inspiration for adultsand children alike. My diary wasdistributed at Hajj seminars inCanada, Africa and parts of Europe.In 2009 the British Museum wereplanning a Hajj Exhibition. I wasinterviewed by one of the curatorsand was asked to loan my originaldiary to the Museum. This wasfollowed by a short promotionalfilm that I took part in.Ironically, my journey started asa piece of homework and grew tobecome one of the exhibits in theBritish Museum.Saleena Nurmohamed 9RB

Request For Student AbsenceIf it is necessary for your child to be away from school, please ensure that you allow sufficient time to sendan email or letter to the Headmaster requesting permission for this absence. If permission is not sought, theabsence will be recorded as unauthorised on the student’s records.Kalba TripOn Thursday 12th January about 42Year 8 students took theopportunity to gain some newexperiences on a trip to Kalba,which we will remember for the restof our lives. We left by bus at 2pmand arrived at 4pm. On the bus wewere broken up into four groupsthat we would do our activities with.The first task we undertook, wassand boarding. Whilst everyonepretended they were pros and wereSki Dubai regulars, we all still fellover. After making complete foolsof ourselves we made our way to theorientation activity where we learnthow to find bearings and follow acompass. However, this just led usto getting lost! So after a hard day’swork, we all sat down for dinnerwhich was followed by toastedmarshmallows and some eveningactivities before a sandy night’ssleep.In the morning we packed up afterbreakfast and headed for the waterand a kayaking activity. This wasgreat fun and the first person to fallin the water was Mr Evans! Welater moved on to canoeing and raftbuilding and finally a good lunchbefore heading home!Rahul Samadhin 8ZB

F1 in Schools updateExcitement has started to mountwith the F1 in Schools teams as theschool finals draw near. All teamshave mastered the ComputerAided Design (CAD) software‘Solidworks’ and have now usedit to design their cars. Some havemoved on to computer simulatedair flow packages to improve theirdesigns by reducing drag.Team identities are well advancedand it is good to see teams movingaround after school in their teamuniforms. The school organiseda workshop by the F1 in Schoolsteam from Yas Marina F1 Circuitwho brought along a computeraided (CAM) router and explainedand demonstrated how to turntheir designs in the computer intoan actual three dimensional car.The UAE National Finals havebeen put back to Sunday, May6th. Consequently we have movedthe School finals back to Monday,March 19th. This will give ourteams more time to prepare andwill also extend the experiencefor all the students. We will besending four teams to the finals,two senior and two intermediate.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

FDC Spring FayreOn February 3rd the FDC held itsannual Spring Fayre. The weatherwas very kind to us, and thepreviously overcast conditions werereplaced by a warm sunny day.We had a fantastic turnout andover 60 students took part thatran 25 stalls. It was great to seethem so enthusiastic and therewere some wonderful ideas. Wehad students selling cakes, runninggames, guessing the number ofHaribos in a jar, and a number ofthem busked! As an incentive theteam that took the most money gotto keep half their profits. With anextremely entrepreneurial ventureand some hard selling, the tablerun by Mathieu Springuel, WilliamJones and Jonathan Mulligan tookDhs 2,800, closely followed bySophie Shams, Chloe Williams, andMaitha Price who took over Dhs1,300.In total, by themselves the studentsraised almost Dhs 12,000 – a fantasticperformance. Our biggestthanks must also go to Mona Gulamhuseinwho is the driving forcebehind the Spring Fayre. Alsothank you to the members of theFDC, the PE Dept. the caretakingstaff, the parents and the students– all of whom worked hard to makethis a success.After all our costs, the FDC made aprofit of Dhs 26,250. This will beused in support of “Project Pavilion”.This is still progressing andis planned to be the subject of anevent for the parents in the not toodistant future.Don’t forget that our next event –the 1980’s extravaganza “ThursdayNight Thriller” will take place at theMontgomerie on 1st March. Therewill be dinner, dancing and a raffle.The main focus is to enhance theschool community and for everyoneto enjoy themselves – like last yearwe are keeping costs to a minimumwithout compromising the quality.If you want to attend please seeDebra Harding (the Headmaster’sAssistant) for reservations.Year 7 Entrance AssessmentIt was a delight to see so many eager students on the sunny morning of Saturday, 14th January sitting our Year 7Entry Assessment. The numbers sitting the assessment this year were significantly increased on previous yearsand indeed were an all-time record. We must thank the parents for their prompt arrival and pick up at the endof the morning which greatly assisted the smooth running of the event.Students and parents now have the anxious wait for our offers which will go out on 29th February.

DC International 7’s Netball TournamentDC International 7’s Tournament U13 PlateWinners (DC3)Dubai College International 7’s TournamentU18 Cup WinnersWinners Runners UpU13 CUP EC DC 2U13 PLATE DC 3 COTTESMOREU15 CUP DC 1 JESSU15 PLATE JC DC 3U18 CUP DC 1 TRENT COLLEGEDC International 7’s Tournament U15 Cup WinnersU18 PLATE BSAK DC 2As the sun rose over Dubai College,22 teams consisting of 250 girlsfrom 3 different age groups tookto the netball courts to play in theCollege’s first ever InternationalNetball 7s tournament. We weredelighted to welcome two schoolsfrom the UK to the tournament,Trent College from Nottinghamand Cottesmore School fromSussex.The day began with the U13 andU18 competition. Dubai Collegehad 8 teams entered across thethree age groups and there weresome outstanding performancesand unusual results! The U13C-team beat the JC A-team (whohad beaten the DC A-team justthe week before!!) with a fantasticteam performance. Additionally,the U13 B-team beat the U13A-team in a brilliant semi-final toproceed in to the Cup Final againstEC. Unfortunately, they wereunable to continue this winningstreak, and finished runners up inthe Cup tournament.In the U18 category, the A-teammet their International rivals,Trent College, in the Cup Final.With a win against Trent in theirpool matches behind them, DCtook to the court confident – onlyto be bombarded with somefantastic defence and accurateshooting from a team who hadclearly warmed up and swept thejetlag away. The score was 10-10at the end of the game – extratime.After a truly nail-biting finalfew minutes, which saw Mrs Bellhopping about on the sidelineunable to watch the game withnerves, DC won the game 11-10. Afantastic final!Blessed with a large squad ofversatile players, the U15 A-teamwere able to add another trophyto the cabinet with a victory overJESS Ranches in the Cup Final.They continue to develop theirnetball and consistently produceoutstanding performances withreal creativity and flair.An event of this size requires alot of work! The Girls’ Gamesdepartment, along with TraceyKelly and Rod and Helene Smith(parents of Y7 DC students),worked tirelessly to make thisan event to remember and apermanent fixture in the College’ssporting calendar.

Hatta Run 2012Once again DC students boardedthe early morning bus for theannual schools cross country raceheld at the Hatta Fort hotel onSaturday 14th January. After adelayed start it was decided to runall the competitors together whichproved to be quite a challengefor the organisers, but led to avery competitive run with courserecords being set. Dubai Collegestudents repeated their teamsuccess from last year and werewell represented in the individualhonours. Julia MacKay 7EAachieved second place in the juniorgirls, but the senior girls stole theshow by taking the top six places.1st - Maisy Duncan 10DF2nd - Lidia Rzeplinska 10RA3rd - Pritika Mehra 11 PF4th - Sofi Zickerman White 10DF5th - Azmina Gulamhusein 11RG6th - Dorottya Nagy 11NBHalf TermWe wish all our students a restfulhalf term although we hope that,especially the examination students,will use the time wisely and effectivelyto balance their study time versus theall important relaxation period.A significant section of the College,however, will be involved in anumber of trips spanning the globethis holiday. Our skiers are visitingVerbier, the Historians are touringthe city that captures the essence of20th Century history – Berlin, andour rugby players are competingagainst the elite rugby playing schoolsof South East Asia in a series oftournaments based in Kuala Lumpur(Bintang International Rugby 10’s)and Singapore (United World CollegeSouth East Asia and Tanglin TrustSchool). We also wish our swimmersall the best in the BSME SwimmingChampionships in Muscat.UK teams visitDCIn the last week of this half termthe College has been delightedto welcome a number of teamsvisiting from the UK.Rugby: 1st XV v The OratorySchool and U12 v TrinitySchoolFootball: U12 v Trinity SchoolNetball: U13 v CottesmoreSchoolCricket: U14 v CottesmoreSchool and U14 v Clitheroe CC

Dubai College teams impress in Rugby 10sThe success of the DC Rugby10s as a major sporting eventin the MENA region continuedlast weekend with over fiftyteams taking part. Once againthe international flavour of thetournament was maintained by thepresence of schools from aroundthe Gulf and the UK. This yearwe were delighted to welcome theOratory School from Reading whoUnder 11:Plate Final – JAPS 12 – 7 BSAKCup Final – EC 15 -0 DESSUnder 12:Plate Final - DBS 5 – 19 WISCup Final - BSAK 22- -5 DESCUnder 13:Plate Final: Exiles 7 – 5 ECCup Final: DC 26 – 5 JCUnder 14:Plate Final – EC 24 – 0 JCCup Final – DC 32 – 7 BSAKUnder 16:Plate Final – BSAK 29 – 0 JCCup Final – DC 15 – 12 DESC(Extra Time)Under 18:Plate Final - AD Quins 12- 19HurricanesCup Final - DC 7 – 5 Oratory Aoffered some very stiff competitionin the Under 18 age group.Throughout the weekend theoverall standard of rugby provideda great spectacle with DubaiCollege sides enjoying considerablesuccess, winning four out of thefive senior age groups. A veryenthusiastic and competitive Under11 primary competition saw theEnglish College defeat DESS.The success of the weekendwas again due to the support ofseveral groups and individuals.Thanks go to Ashlee Middletonand the FDC for the refreshmentsand sponsorship of the medicalprovision; the referees of the UAEReferees’ Society and to Pepsicofor their wonderful generosity inproviding the water for all of thecompeting teams.

Alumni newsThe Dhow MagazineThis year’s Alumni Dhow Magazine has recently been published and youcan access it on http://www.dcalumni.org/dhow.htmOnce again we would like to acknowledge the efforts of Michael Deelmanfor putting together a magazine that clearly demonstrates how theAlumni Association is growing into an integral part of the Collegecommunity.If you know of alumni who would like to be added to the Dubai CollegeAlumni mailing list in order to be notified of future Dubai College Alumnievents and activities, please send them this linkalumni@dubaicollege.orgThey should provide details of details of name, years at Dubai College,and town/country of residence.FondlyrememberedJanuary 12th 2012 marked thefifth anniversary of the tragic lossof alumni Kimberlie Stols (classof 2004) and Stuart Vowles (classof 2002). Members of the Collegecommunity took the opportunityto visit Kimberlie and Stuart’smemorial in the College gardens topay their respects. We rememberthem fondly.JourneysThe latest talk in the alumni Journeys programme took place this weekwhen Simone Madigan talked to the sixth form about her relatively shortbut significant ‘journey’ since leaving DC last year.Despite her excellent A Level results Simone did not receive any offers todo medicine from her UK choices. Determined to explore other optionsto satisfy her passion, Simone is now studying medicine at the Universityof Prague. Simone gave a very interesting account of her first two termsin Prague and clearly opened the minds of some of the sixth form to thepossibilities of study beyond the traditional university choices.Sad lossAlumni offer supportThe College would like to acknowledge the wonderful support offeredby three former students and their families. Robert Norton, PeterZickerman and Anna Zickerman have generously agreed to sponsor theCollege’s rugby programme for the next academic year 2012/13. This willgo a long way towards ensuring the continued development and successof the programme.Should anyone wish to find out more about how they might becomeinvolved in similar initiatives please contact Graham Pensongraham.penson@dubaicollege.orgNews recently reached the Collegeof the tragic loss of formermember of staffDuncan Shaw (Head of Chemistry1981-90), who sadly passed awaydue toMalaria. Following his departurefrom the College Duncan taught invarious exotic places around theworld including Sri Lanka, LatinAmerica, Spain and Nigeria.He was a gentle and caringman who brought an engagingeccentricity to his teaching. Hepossessed a great intellect andpracticed a unique philosophy ofeducation.He will be remembered with greataffection by those who knew him.

Stop PressDubai Schools Cup ChampionsThe Dubai College 1st XI footballteam emerged once again as DubaiSchools’ Cup champions. For thefourth time this year DC were upagainst a strong and determinedJumeirah College team. Earlyheaded goals from the toweringNikhil Kanade and James Caponput the team in control. JC finishedstrongly in the first half and won apenalty for a clumsy challenge byJames Capon in the penalty area.Following the half time break DCwas out of the blocks faster thanthe opposition and once againSid Choudhary scored a timelygoal with a well worked run fromthe left wing and a calmly slottedfinish. With a little breathing spaceDC started to dominate possessionand ended up worthy winners 5-2.Great performances from LewisStreak in midfield and Matt Bakerbetween the posts.Christmas StockingsOn 5th January Miss John took 50Christmas Stockings put togetherby Year 8, the Charity Committeeand members of 10 DF to AddisAbaba. The stockings weredistributed to the children as partof their Christmas celebration andbrought tremendous happiness tothe children of RAEY who live inextreme poverty. In a message tothe DC Community the project coordinatorDr. Carolyn Roesler said:The DC students must becongratulated on their amazingefforts making beautiful XmasstockingsThese stockings were just amazingand the joy they brought thechildren is second to none.Their smiling faces apparent, manyjust held tightly on to the stockings,some too afraid to let go, some notwanting to open them and just holdthem for a while.I personally would like to thankyou sincerely for assistingand supporting the ChristmasCelebrations and for funding theSummer School from your last nonuniformday. This is an integralpart of their education now givingschooling that involves English,art, music and more delivered byvolunteers in the summer weeks.Thank you sincerelyDr Carolyn Roesler