SEK International School Qatar

February 11^th was a special day as countries all over the world celebrated and continued to work toward a safer internet for our children -and for everybody! At SEK Qatar we took the occasion very seriously, for we know how the present times require all of us to be online at a certain degree. This online presence has a deep effect on our lives, which is why we want to truly educate our students, staff and families on this vital topic.

To join the global initiatives our ICT team prepared presentations for each year group. With these, PYP teachers held assemblies to expand on the topic, while MYP-DP students had the opportunity to share with their teachers discussions that sparked conversations on how to be free, respectful, responsible and careful online.

This year Safer Internet Day encouraged young people to explore how they manage their online identity and how the internet shapes how they think of themselves and others. The idea was, and continues to be, to use the internet to celebrate our differences all the while working towards creating a truly inclusive space where everybody feels free, welcome, included, represented and fairly treated.

Some of the queries students got to explore were: How do people express their identity online?​ Is the internet a safe and welcoming place for all?​ Do people feel free to be themselves online? Questions that, no doubt, you can expand at home!

If you’re wondering “What can we do?” here are some tips to become allies and fight for a safer internet for your kids and for your whole family:

• Report negative comments/posts you find online.​
• Reach out to your kids and loved ones when you see they’ve become isolated, sad, or are showing a distinct behavior -it might have something to do with online struggles.
• Broaden your feeds, trying to include positive representation of different types of bodies, abilities, nationalities, cultures -our brains understand ‘different’ better when exposed to positive images of that which is different to us.
• Think about what you share and how it might portray others.​
• Make use of campaign hashtags and graphics to raise awareness and support for others.​
• Tell your kids to come to you or a trusted adult when someone else online has worried or upset them, or has asked them for their personal information, photos or videos.

If you’d like to expand even more, you can visit https://www.saferinternetday.org/

Our grade 10 students have been working endlessly to complete their personal project, which represents the culmination of knowledge and skills gained throughout the MYP (Middle Years Programme), and this Wednesday, 12th February the students had the chance to display their hard work at the Personal Project Exhibition.

By sharing the steps taken to reach their goal, students and parents were enlightened by the achievements and learned about many topics such as first aid respondents, how to turn trash into treasure and developing more sustainable ways to use resources -all relevant to the global problematics the world is facing in the present.

It was a pleasure having parents and even siblings here supporting the students. We can say it was a time that really sparked everyone’s curiosity!

Today our MYP and DP students spent the day moving, cheering, playing and overall having tons of fun with their teachers and classmates during the 2020 MYP-DP Sports Day.

In total, the students had to go around nine stations to determine the winning house which, at the end, would go into the traditional battle with teachers playing tag of war. The nine sports stations were a 1km run, vortex throw, javelin, 100m run, vertical jump, high jump, shot put, broad jump and throw to win -a diverse and fun selection which made everything even more interesting and engaging.

A special recognition and thank you needs to go to our DP students, who organized this event with the mentorship of Ms. Canan as part of their CAS Programme; and to the teachers who gave their support and got involved in the activities: you are amazing!

And of course, a round of applause must go to the winning team, the Yellow Scorpions, who not only took the most points, but who also beat the teachers in the very anticipated tag of war.

We hope everyone had a great time today and that the Preschool, PYP, MYP and DP sporting events we celebrated the last two weeks serve as the perfect introduction to February 11^th, when the whole country will move to celebrate Qatar National Sports Day!

From Wednesday, January 22nd to Friday, January 24th a group of SEK Qatar MYP and DP students attended the 9^th annual THIMUN Qatar Model United Nations Conference, representing the delegation of Jamaica. It was our 3^rd appearance at the conference and we’re glad to share that each year our delegation is growing.

Our students collaborated with students from 165 nationalities to discuss various global issues in relation to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Health and Well Being. They vigorously negotiated solutions to topics such as achieving universal healthcare, measures to address drug control and crime prevention, and preventing contemporary forms of slavery.

We would like to congratulate students on their efforts towards building a cooperative community amongst today’s youth!

What an amazing and active morning! Today PYP students from Preschool 5 up to Grade 5 filled the school with enthusiasm thanks to the different sporting activities that were organized to celebrate Sports Day.

We had 5 different stations set up where students could practice their athletic skills. A penalty challenge, tail tag, tag of war, a race, long jump and basketball kept kids and their parents cheering on throughout the morning -the upbeat music and our wonderful teachers added on to the fun!

At the end of the day, these were the final positions for the 2020 PYP Sports Day:

• 1st place: Green Oryx
• 2nd place: Yellow Scorpions
• 3rd place: Orange Falcons
• 4th place: Blue Stingrays

Congratulations to all the houses for their great efforts and especially for having fun and working great as teams!

Last, but never least, we would like to thank the staff for the organization, and the parents who attended to support their children and witness this cheerful atmosphere. Keep on moving!

The SEK secondary boys Basketball team participated in the School Olympic Program (SOP) Basketball tournament this 13th January, and gave us all a reason to celebrate.

Marios, Ryota, Karim, Mark, Jorge and Dawood played really hard during every match and tried their very best to bring back a favorable result, which was indeed the case! We were so proud to see the boys’ optimistic and enthusiastic attitude throughout the whole tournament.

Take a look at these excellent results!

Philippine School Doha 18 – 25 SEK International School

Blyth Academy Qatar 5 – 26 SEK International School

Al Manar International School 16 – 47 SEK International School

A special congratulations to our players who represented our school during the SOP tournament; you showed great sportsmanship!

The SEK Qatar swimming team has just finished their participation in the Qatar Foundation Inter-School Invitational 2019 with great results!

Last Friday December 13^th at H2O Swim Club students Riad Harfouche (G10), Syed Hamza Salim (G9), Leonardo Bettoni (G8), Margherita Mino and Omar Salim (G6), Matilde Bettoni and Madison Smith (G5) competed in backstroke, freestyle and butterfly.

Our team conjunctly won 9 podium medals, including one first place medal for Margherita in 100m backstroke, along with other 17 medals that account for their team work and efforts.

A special congratulations and thank you to each swimmer who represented our school against 8 other school teams. We’re proud of you!

Surrounded by traditional music, sweets, flags and artwork from our students depicting iconic Qatari scenes, students, families and staff celebrated the most important day in the country at SEK Qatar.

Pupils from all grades were involved in making today special, and showcased their talents in a heartfelt way to really convey the love we all feel for Qatar as our home. Whether we were born here or live here as part of the expat community, we can all agree that we get excited every 18^th December -ever more so since we have the opportunity to fully enjoy it with our children!

The event gave a little bit of everything you can expect to truly experience a bit of the Qatari culture. Poems, traditional songs and dances that stated “I love you, Qatar!”, a play that helped understand Qatari customs and traditions, the folkloric and admired sword dance performed by PYP boys, and a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem with MYP students playing the music and grade 4 students singing it in sign language.

After the show, parents enjoyed the different exhibits from MYP and PYP students. Some of them had fun with face and henna painting, others admired the artwork in the main hall, and we can say almost everybody visited the traditional food stations.

We want to show our appreciation to the teachers that were in charge of putting everything together as part of the QND committee, thank you for your hard work! And of course a big praise to all the students that performed today and got our hearts filled with pride and gratefulness for living in this wonderful country.

Hour of Code  just finished in our school and we couldn’t be more excited about all the things our students, teachers and staff learned about the basics of coding. If you have never tried coding, we promise that through their easy-to-follow exercises you can understand the first steps of building a game, a program, a software or any other digital platform -which comes in really handy when your kids are so immersed in technology. You can visit their website anytime during the year and learn along with your children.

From December 9^th until the 15^th we got to demystify code through Hour of Code activities, which provide a simple, fun and creative introduction to computer science that shows anybody can learn the basics. It is accessible for all ages regardless of previous coding experience, and one of the best parts (aside from the good laughs you get with their activities) is the skills you gain while practicing: problem-solving skills, logic and creativity to mention just a few!

This worldwide event is an initiative created by Stephen Curry and code.org, and takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week, held annually in recognition of the birthday of computing pioneer Admiral Grace Murray Hopper.

We hope children and adults alike get involved in this great learning experience and discover how computer science can enrich life!