The WellSpring Private School

Dear Parents,

As we come to the end of week 3, we feel like the year is off to a great start. Overall, our students are engaged in their lessons and they’re set up well with procedures and expectations for the year.

Our Athletics teams will be competing in the EISSA tournaments in a few weeks, and our after-school Clubs begin on Monday with many offerings – make sure to sign up your children by tomorrow, Friday!

Please read the information below carefully and diarize upcoming dates and events. Enjoy the highlights of the week at the end of the newsletter.

Co-curriculars:

Clubs and Athletics

We are delighted to offer an exciting range of co-curricular activities (Athletics and Clubs) for your children to participate in.

Clubs: will begin Monday, 16 September. For Club descriptions, please look in the ‘Lunch’ course on Canvas. Find the programs or activities that your children would like to join, and sign up using this form.
For more information regarding Clubs please contact Mrs. Rachel at rachel.graeff@tws-rak.org.

Athletics: Due to changes in the EISSA tournament schedule we have formed two shorter sub terms for Term 1 Athletics: Term 1A and Term 1B. Below are the upcoming EISSA tournament dates and venues for Term 1A:

7 October: U14-U16 Netball @ RAK Academy
9 October: U14 Boys basketball @ Victoria International School (Sharjah)
21 October: Xcountry @ Australian International School (Sharjah)
25 November: U14-U16 Girls Basketball @ Victoria International School (Sharjah)
26 November: U18 Boys and Girls Basketball @ Victoria International School (Sharjah)

Here are dates for our “Friendlies” (friendly/non-tournament matches against neighboring schools):

26 September: U14 Boys Basketball vs RAK American Academy
1 October: U14-U16 Netball vs RAK Academy
2 October: U14 Boys Basketball vs RAK Academy
30 October: U14-U16 Girls Basketball vs RAK Academy

Come and support our athletes! For more information on Athletics please contact Mr. Luke at luke.johnson@tws-rak.org.

Elementary news

This year we are updating how we communicate your Elementary child's learning each week. We will no longer post weekly grades on PowerSchool; instead, they can be viewed on Canvas through the subject pages.

We understand that this will be a shift, but we believe it will provide more detail about their learning and progress towards meeting the learning objectives of their grade.

To assist you during this transition, we will have parent trainings next week to help you learn how to read and view the grades on Canvas.
Two options:
Thursday, September 19th at 2pm or Friday, September 20th at 8am.
Please RSVP for the training using this link: Elementary Parent Canvas - Grades Training

Thank you for your understanding and support.

MAP testing - Fall round

The first of our three MAP testing weeks is coming up soon. From 23rd – 27th September, all our students from KG2 to Grade 10 will take MAP tests. These tests help us to understand what our students already know and are ready to learn.
There will be more details to follow, but here is a link to a parent letter in English and Arabic from NWEA (the MAP test site) that provides some more background information.

Canvas: our Learning Management System

All parents have a Canvas account that has been created for you to observe your children’s classes and to communicate with their teachers. If you haven’t yet, please follow the link below for instructions on how to set up your Canvas account:
Canvas for Parents

Please contact our IT team if you have any questions at IT@tws-rak.org

A message for our Arabic parents: Please note that parents are welcome to message teachers in Arabic on Canvas. We will translate the message on our side.

Parent/Student Handbook signature

We have a signature page for ALL parents (Pre-K to G12) and Secondary students to sign. The signature page is an acknowledgement that you have read and agree to the guidelines laid out in the Parent/Student handbook, including the Attendance Policy, the Acceptable Computer Use policy and the Code of Conduct. This page should be signed and returned as soon as possible. Thank you to all parents who have already done so.

We also have a Media Consent form – if you have an objection to your child’s picture being used in our social media or marketing, then please sign the Media Consent form. If you have no objection, there is no need to sign.

New Students

All new students should please bring their Emirates IDs to our registrar, Ms. Marwa, so they can be entered into the MOE system.

All new students’ attested transfer letters can be emailed to Ms. Marwa at registrar@tws-rak.org. You are also welcome to email Ms. Marwa with any questions related to documents.

School fees due

First Installment Tuition and Fees were due by September 1st. We understand that there can be financial challenges at times, if so, please contact finance@tws-rak.org or call 0544614640 to find a mutually acceptable payment arrangement.
We appreciate those who already paid and thank you for helping the school have a great start to the new school year.

Have a look at the highlights of the week here.

Have a wonderful weekend!

WellSpring Administration

WellSpring Weekly