PRIMARY NEWS
From The Head of Primary  
Dear Parents,
I can hardly believe that three years has passed and this will be my last contribution to the Newsletter. The Sultan’s School, here in Oman has been a wonderful place to be. The Elementary School is going from strength to strength and there are further initiatives in hand for next year. As you know, Subject coordinators have been appointed for English - Larissa Ryan, Maths – Jodi Ingersoll and Science – Laura Griffin, to ensure progression and continuity from K1 through to Grade 7. A Pastoral Coordinator – Fatmeh Taraweneh has also been appointed for Grades 4 – 6 and her role will be as a first point of contact for students and parents with non-academic concerns. There is also an additional position of Upper Elementary Coordinator, All these posts will ensure the progress and development of each individual student. The Elementary School now has four classes in each grade, and new classrooms are being developed in the music block, whilst Music will now take place in the former Kindergarten block, which is being completely refurbished. In addition the new Kindergarten will be in use.

I am very pleased that my successor Mr. Ian Jones, an experienced Headteacher from the UK, will inherit such and exciting, vibrant school and I wish him Good luck and happiness.
I am sad to be leaving, but excited too, as I look forward to spending much time sailing my boat in the UK and beyond.
Thank you all for your support and friendship. Have a wonderful holiday with your families and return refreshed for another Academic year.

Cordie Giffen.
Head of Elementary.


From the Head of Lower Primary  
It has being a busy last few weeks and the children and staff have worked very hard and enjoyed the various activities planned within each grade. As the year draws to a close we are sorry to have to say goodbye to Mrs Cordie Giffen who has led the Elementary staff and the children so expertly in such a friendly positive way. We thank her for all her hard work and effort. We say goodbye to Ms Melinda Conn who has taught our Grade 1 children for the last 4 years. Children presently throughout Grades 2-4 remember the many exciting things learnt in her lessons. We also say goodbye to Mrs Safa Abdullah and thank her for her IT skills and Mr Andy Sutton who is leaving the PE department and thank him for his fun, humour and varied lessons. We thank Mr Keith and Mrs Lisa Price for their creative and enjoyable music lessons.

Grade 1 have taken part in Science and Maths activities developing their estimation and prediction skills. They have enjoyed weighing, measuring and pouring during their weight and capacity activities. In Arabic they have been developing reading of sentences of 5 words. They have been writing about their time at the weekends. They can write words into sentences. They have been improving their spellings.


In Grade 2 in Arabic they have been reading and developing their grammar. They have being learning their new spellings. There have been opportunities for revision in readiness for Grade 3. They also have had Islamic Education Koran. They have developed their poetry both in Arabic and Islam. Grade 2 certainly enjoyed it. They have played with many games and activities that have supported the Arabic Curriculum. In English Grade 2 they have developed their ideas about fair testing discussing and planning for an experiment. They have written their own story, creating characters and settings. In Arabic they have developed their Arabic grammar and their reading. They have continued to practice their new words. They have built on their knowledge in Islamic Education. They have enjoyed their social studies with new words about Oman. They also have participated in complimentary activities and games that have reinforced their studies. In English Grade 3 they have been taking part in experiments improving their planning and making fair tests and developing their recording skills. They have shared their written creative stories and taken part in shared reading activities with Grades 1 and 2.

It has been a very productive year with many activities taking place both in and out of school. Thank you for all you support from home and we wish you all a very happy holiday, best wishes from the Lower Elementary team.

Kath Simpson
Head of Lower Elementary