DESC Newsletter 15

The passing of time is of constant fascination to me, in fact, I probably waste quite a lot of time thinking about it. When heating up my morning porridge I often find myself watching the timer tick down on the microwave oven and then I feel guilty that one of those minutes, of which we only ever have a finite, albeit unknown, number, has been wasted by just waiting. I hope that in my older years I don’t regret my prodigal approach towards my morning oats.

“There’s not many things less important than the score at half-time.”  (Bill Self)

I find it easier sometimes to look back at an event to get some sort of perspective of how much time has passed and, while thinking about what to write in this week’s newsletter, I opened up my last one which was written at the beginning of the academic year, just after the College was hit by that vicious storm. Unbelievably, that event was 145 days ago. This got me thinking about our position in the academic year now so I typed into Google, “145 days from today,” and got the result that we are exactly half-way between the day of that storm and June 15^th 2020.

‘Talk about wasting time,’ you are probably thinking.

By 15^th June 2020, most of our Year 11 students would have taken their last GCSE examination, those Year 9 students who are preparing for their Arabic GCSE would have completed all of the components of the exam and our Year 13 students will be coming to the end of their A level examinations. It seems unthinkable to me that we are, effectively, at the half-way point of this academic year already. It seems that as soon as one year begins, we rapidly find ourselves in its second half with no power to prevent the inevitable passing of that time.

Returning to the quote above, it is important for our students to remember that it is not about the quality of the start of the race but how strong we finish it. Year 11 students are just coming to the end of their mock examinations and Year 13 students will soon be starting theirs, so the preparations for the second half of the year are well under way. Our students will have a very good idea of what they need to do to fill in any gaps in their understanding or how to tackle particular questions or problems. As Mr Vizzard mentioned in his newsletter last week, this year has been themed as the year of preparation for both the 50^th anniversary of the UAE and the next 50 years of progress and development of this nation. Those ideas of preparation, thought, planning and taking action are mirrored in the behaviour of our students who are themselves getting ready for these major events in their young lives.

“The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

I suppose, then, that the best advice that I can give at this point in time is to always be doing something that takes you closer to your goals. Standing still while the time rushes past us will do us no favours at all in our preparations for those summer exams. Of course, it is important sometimes to do just that, to stop, to look around, to assess the situation, to watch the timer if only briefly, before we get back onto the tasks that need doing that will bring success in 145 days (or thereabouts) time.

A particular word of congratulations to the Year 11 students who have conducted themselves so well during this mock examination period. Considering that for many of them it was their first time of being in an exam hall with the rest of their year group, they followed the important instructions from the invigilators with maturity and good manners.

Also, I would like to thank all 948 of you who took the valuable time to complete our Parental Survey for our forthcoming BSO Inspection that takes place next week. It has been truly fascinating reading your comments and it has made us all feel so proud to see that such an overwhelming majority of our parents are so happy with the experiences that we provide for our students here at DESC.

I hope that you don’t feel that you have wasted any of your time by reading this week’s introduction.

Wishing you an enjoyable weekend.

Matthew Cotgrove
Deputy Headteacher

Performing at the Market Outside The Box Event at Burj Park

The Performing Arts Faculty had a busy start to the week as we travelled to Burj Park with over 100 students to perform at the Market Outside The Box event. The event allows visitors to see local, regional and international musicians perform, along with a range of food vendors and boutique stalls that celebrate local artists. DESC were invited to perform a two-hour showcase of our extremely talented students encompassing Dance, Drama and Music. Winners of Desc’s Got Talent, ‘Society’ opened the show with a debut of their original song ‘Basement Days’ that got the crowd going in front of the Burj Khalifa backdrop. Next came the turn of Senior Choir and their beautiful performances of ‘Rhythm of Life’ and ‘Adiemus’. In contrast Shivam Bakhda took to the stage for his exceptional drum solo performance followed by outstanding vocal performances from Louisa Burns and Ben Tkaczuk, both of whom can also been seen later on in the year at DESC’s whole school musical of West Side Story. DESC Dance Company then made a welcome return to the stage following their success at their Desert Dance Competition with their piece based on the changing opportunities of the last century. Reese O’Connell and Laura Farah were next to the stage performing the pieces for the upcoming Trinity examinations, both performances were worthy of a West End stage. A change in pace saw the extremely talented Snowy Wang and Anthony Faddul perform their complex piano solos whilst the crowd were mesmerised by their beautiful renditions. Following in the footsteps of our Senior Band our Junior Rock Band, ‘Broken Seal’ took to the stage and we look forward to welcoming them to our new state of the art Recording Studio in the coming weeks. Chamber Choir were next to grace the stage, sounding angelic during their performance of ‘Ave Verum’ and the equally powerful ‘You Raise Me Up’. Our final solo singers of the event were Sylvie Nesbit and Sofia Vasylyeva, both of whom provided show stopping performances of professional levels. To finish we welcomed the cast of this year’s whole school musical to the stage to perform a sneak preview of ‘West Side Story’ with tickets going on sale after half term.

The event was a huge success and we are so pleased that our students are being provided with opportunities to perform within these public forums across Dubai and receiving the positive audience feedback that they so deserve. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of the members of staff within the Performing Arts Faculty who continue to support, nurture and drive our student’s passion forward. We look forward to seeing you all at our second DESC FEST performance taking place on Thursday, 27^th February, where there will be further opportunities to see our wonderfully talented students perform.

Careers in the News…… Food for Thought

How is it 23rd January already? With time flying by at uber-fast-speed, the DESCareers hub has been buzzing with action all month. Spotlights, workshops, parent information sessions and career community meetings are only touching the surface of a usual month at the best careers service in the region! With career guidance and career empowerment at the forefront of everything that we offer for our students, we are always keeping in touch with the theories of career discovery. Ms Vitoratos is using Psychology and Sociology theories to enrich the service here at DESC, which sums up how we can merge the individual support and the community generosity to ensure that our DESC youth are being prepared for the world of work. We want them to be competitive candidates who not only get the interview, but more importantly, land the job! Once again, Elisa and Maiesha have put together the newsletter to share all the amazing opportunities that celebrates the work in the first month of the new decade!

It’s the start of the New Year 2020 and DESCareers has started anew. Technology is evolving faster than ever, and our future is becoming more and more unclear. Work used to be predictable. It was linear; you could expect your employer to do a lot of the groundwork in creating a path for you to advance in the organisation. The language of careers was about climbing ladders and staircases. The processes we followed were based around promotions and career plans. Especially for teenagers, it was following their roots and careers paths of family. Technology is rapidly affecting how, when, where and what we work on and more and more people are reassessing the role of work in their lives.

At DESCareers last week, a Spotlight Speaker came to talk about Branding; Stefania Brunori. “Your next business card is Google” is how she began her workshop. A shocking opening which drew the crowd in. When introduced into the world of work your employer is searching for you on main web pages to make a decision on whether to interview or even to hire you. The next question to ask would be; How do we build our image? Stefania went on to explain that to keep up with the modern world, we had to be on social media; LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram for starters. This allows for the public to understand your digital profile. To present an example of a working platform doing this would be DESCareers itself; keeping posted and updated with the employee’s views and the service’s hard work and events.

One of the common themes that we hear from our Spotlighters is that the future professionals will need to be careful risk-takers, add value to things they do and of course, as we are Generation Z, we want to be memorable in society; in-between the billions. DESCareers is constantly restyling to the needs of the students and aims to enhance the service and connect to the community with the exciting changes that continue to develop in the world of work. This month we are sharing views about the future of careers and aspirations which teenagers hope to achieve. Teenagers need to involve themselves in the world of work, use their passion, skills and expertise to generate new jobs and change the world before us.

The DESC student experience is always at the centre of what we offer at DESCareers, and we believe that our students deserve a stress-free career discovery experience, where they are being prepared for the world of work and the skills, habits and job-hunting techniques that will ensure that they stand out in a competitive future job market.

Upcoming Projects

With the new DESCareers team filled with Senior Interns, Interns and Assistant Crew, new ideas are flowing from every direction to make every experience with every person memorable and special, and make them look forward to the life-changing choices they will have to make in their future. Ideas such as more senior student engagement and the co-ordination between DESCareers and the younger students, we aim to enhance the spotlight speaker experience so that students feel the talks are interesting and they enjoy learning about career journeys. Additionally, with our innovative career stalls and other upcoming DESCareers branded goodies, we hope to instill the careers buzz that shouts out our message of empowerment for future career knowledge and information for the this new era being in the hands of the young and that with this buzzing New Year and wonderful list of new speakers, to attract attention of people to come and join the workshops

Monthly Career Community Meeting

With enhancing the DESCareers experience for our students always the focus, Ms Vitoratos has been leading the first and only Careers Community monthly meetings that bring together Career Development Professionals from Secondary Schools and Universities in the UAE. This month, DESCareers and the group of career practitioners discussed ‘Emiratisation & Future Careers for National Youth’. Guest speaker Emma Blakemore from the Higher Colleges of Technology came to discuss their strategies for ensuring the youth are ready for work when they graduate.

Career Opportunities This Month

Buzzing with new Spotlight Speakers week after week it would seem the Careers Hub does not stop to rest, we are excited to include our parents with speakers as well. This month our parents enjoyed a fantastic information session when the team from the British Royal Air Force came to discuss RAF careers.

Establishing our brimming month with a bang, Term Two was set in motion with Ahmad Fouad. This games developer came to speak to not only video game enthusiasts themselves, but also budding computer scientists. This was followed by Daniel Adkins, who spoke to students about changing your career path, as he himself made the change from pilot to Business CEO. Mahwash Ajaz, editor at Masala magazine also came to join us to explain a bit closer, the depth of the digital publication industry, along with the challenges and successes it can bring.

Recently we commenced a new chapter in the DESCareers book, our international Spotlight Speaker series. From Athens, Greece, Stathis Theocharidis video called into DESCareers via Skype to share the ins and outs of being a biomedical engineer. He spoke to students about how closely he works with some doctors, and how important his job can be seen to be, emphasising the need to be updating technology in the medical industry at the same pace that the medicine itself develops. Not only did he prepare students for the future of this industry, stating the foreseeable demand on updated technology in this sector in upcoming years, but assured students on subject choices and internship opportunities.

But the month is not yet over, and as we know DESCareers never leaves a moment dull. We still hope to welcome Nouri Alenzi, Co-Founder and managing director of her company Just clean, a revolutionary online laundry service, the first of its kind in the middle east. Hassam Gardezi, employed business consultant turned freelance consultant, will be coming to talk to students about making the switch to becoming self-employed. Still to come, CEO of Zurich Insurance, Walter Jopp wants to proceed to not only inspire students, but also prepare them for the world of work, reflected in his stance that “The local community has to be prepared for what life has in store. We want them to be protected against unforeseen circumstances and to be able to achieve their life goals.”

This is the message we wish to convey with our Spotlights, anticipating to not only stimulate and motivate students, but to prepare them for the realities of the world from which most are sheltered. We believe in developing our students to ensure our own future CEO’s and freelance workers can manage and tackle this world of work, equipped with the information and qualities that they need, which we hope to bring.

Careers Sessions

If your son or daughter would like to schedule a session with Ms Vitoratos to discuss career interests, discover how subjects can become skill builders or to simply have that initial first conversation about their career aspirations, please ask them to pop by the Careers Hub to schedule their appointment. Sessions are on an appointment-only basis during regular school lesson timings and drop-in sessions at break-times and after school on Mondays.

DESCareers Parents as Spotlighter Series

We are always excited to invite our parents to share their career journey with our students. Spotlight Speakers that are parents are always our most popular speakers. With the launch of the ‘Employment Visa Spotlights’ we are looking for immigration lawyers from the U.S.A, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. If you would like to participate in any of our Spotlight Series, please contact Ms Vitoratos ([email protected]).

More to come in February!

DESC Dance Company at the Desert Dance Competition

Last week, DESC Dance Company performed at the notorious Desert Dance. The annual competition was held at Dubai College where 13 schools showcased their talent in front of a full audience. DESC Dance Company consisted of 30 mixed ability students who had spent months rehearsing tirelessly to produce a highly technical performance piece. Each school was given an award in an area they excelled in and DESC won Best Stage Performance which clearly displays how all of their hard work had paid off. Students really impressed the judges and other schools and we are so proud of them, they are a real credit to DESC. One of our Year 13 students, Niamh Stewart was also picked out by the judges and received a dance scholarship for a term which we are thrilled about!

The theme for this year was ‘2020’ and our performance piece was titled Opportunities are Endless.  The year 2020 is a year filled with opportunity. Expo 2020 demonstrates the UAE’s progress and achievements while ensuring Dubai’s citizens are happy and make the most of opportunities available. Likewise, around the world, opportunity is something that is utilised or is being strived for. Our piece focuses on the 100 years prior to 2020 and the struggle and strife many have gone through to gain the opportunities available. The baton of hope and opportunity has been passed on from the 1920s to 2020 and we celebrate this in our piece. At DESC we are thankful for all that we have the chance to do and will go forward and strive to ensure we utilise these opportunities and strive for others. We hope to pass this baton on and have made a difference by 2120. 

Sixth Form News

The students have started the new decade well and are back in the routines of work in spite of the vagaries of the weather. We are very pleased that they have returned to the College rested and ready for the challenges of the term ahead. It will be a busy time with Mock Exams for Year 13 and the election of Student Leaders from Year 12. In addition, Year 13 EPQ students are also coming to the end of the course and the compilation of the project is demanding.

The Higher Education Team is breathing a sigh of relief now that the UCAS deadline has passed: over 190 UCAS applications have been sent the to the UK and over 20 students have applied to the United States via the CommonApp. We also continue to see interest in Holland, Canada and Australia, which are our only ongoing applications at present.

Many of our Year 13 students are receiving offers, often from prestigious universities. We are proud of the quality of our applications and are making further changes at present to ensure that students in Year 12 begin the application process sooner. To this end, we strongly encourage all Year 12 students to log on to Unifrog regularly. This outstanding platform offers a number of features including;

• Help with the preparation of personal statements
• The ability to research universities and courses
• Insights into students’ perspectives
• Life in a number of countries

Post-DESC Evening Monday, 3rd February 5:00-6:00pm

We encourage all parents to have these conversations concerning university applications with your children as they will begin to make their choices next term. To help you become better informed, the Sixth Form will be running the annual Post-DESC Evening which deals with numerous aspects of applying to university. This evening will focus on the applications process to universities in the UK. Transition Manager, Mr Burke, will be leading this event which takes place on Monday, 3rd February beginning at 5:00pm and ending at 6:00pm. In addition to the presentation, you will have the opportunity to discuss matters in person with him and/or members of the Sixth Form Team.

Next week, Mr Burke will be launching a specialist group for Medicine and Oxbridge candidates as this a highly specialist process. Further details will follow shortly.

Year 12 Life Skills Programme

Year 12 students are continuing with the Life Skills programme and are currently looking at issues of finance, including bank accounts, debts and loans. In the following weeks we will be exploring more sensitive areas including:

• Consent
• Harassment
• Keeping yourself safe

We have already written to parents in advance and, once again, would like to remind you that you have the option of withdrawing your child from these individual lessons. At the same time, it is our duty to provide students with adequate knowledge of the world to ensure that they protect themselves when they are overseas. After all, not everywhere is as safe as Dubai.

Please email [email protected] if you have any concerns.

Sports Festival Wednesday, 12th February

The annual Sports Festival takes place on Wednesday, 12th February. On this day all students will be off timetable with the Year 12 students acting as “Games Makers”. We are very pleased with this as it gives them a wonderful opportunity to exhibit leadership as they organise their younger peers. During period 6, Year 12 students will also have the opportunity to compete in the games as athletes.

Year 13 Mock Exams Sunday 23rd February – Thursday 5th March

A reminder that Mock Exams begin on Sunday, 23rd February. These are a very important part of the revision process and students should prepare for them thoroughly. Revision should now be part of the daily routine of all students and we urge parents to ensure that their children are working hard at home.

In between exams students who remain on site are expected to study quietly or to see their teachers. Please refer to the letter on the Parent Portal for further details.

Students Calling Home and Signing Out

We very much want students to remain at College unless they are sick and need to leave. In the event that a student is sick, they should first see the nurse before calling their parents. The nurse will then contact you if your child needs to leave the campus. Study lessons are a vital part of the Sixth Form and we do not want students to miss them unnecessarily.

Year 13 EPQ

This is a critical time for students who are completing the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). The 5000 word report should now be in the final stages and the last day for the report is Wednesday, 12th February. Thereafter students need to complete the Production Log and carefully compile the various sections of the project.

The entire project needs to be handed into supervisors before Thursday, 12th March 2020.

The second and final EPQ Presentation Evening will take place on 7th March 5:30-7:00pm. All students and teachers are warmly invited to attend.

Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions concerning the EPQ.

Year 12 Parent-Teacher Evening Tuesday 28th January 3:30:6:30

A reminder that there is a letter on The Parent Portal concerning this important event. As ever, sign up via the Parent Booking System https://desc.parentseveningsystem.co.uk/

In conclusion, the Sixth Form Team are pleased by the fact that students have returned with a positive attitude. So many of our students contribute to the sporting and cultural life of the College in addition to applying themselves to their academic work. There are many challenges ahead for both Year 12 and 13 but we are confident that, with proper planning and application, they can meet these and thrive.

“Broken Wings’ – Dubai Opera Trip

The Year 12 Creative & Performing Arts (CAPA) class took a trip to Dubai Opera this weekend to see the musical adaptation of Kahlil Gibran’s “Broken Wings” – a story that captures the spirit and heartbreak of two forbidden lovers in 1915 Beirut.

The musical raises some of the key issues of the time, yet the storyline remained topical and universal in its themes, which certainly resonated with the present audience. With debates about the fight for gender equality, the freedom to love who we love, tradition versus modernity, wealth versus happiness, immigration and the importance of ‘home’, this story has remained relevant even to this day, a century after the story was written.

The CAPA group thoroughly enjoyed the performance, in particular the music and beautiful harmonies produced by the entire cast. Very moving at times, the class have been inspired with their own units and future performances as part of their very practical course.

The class are already looking forward to their next live theatre trip in April, to see Hitchcock’s thriller, “Dial M for Murder”.