The 45^th National Day was celebrated with much splendor, the school (Grade 1 – 8 students) shared the spirit of patriotism. It was a combination of dance, music and culture of UAE. The programme commenced with the recitation of the Holy Quran. This was followed by a ‘thought for the day’ expressed in Arabic which was then translated in English. Then vital news about UAE, international and sports news was read by one of the students.

Students put up a presentation about the significance of UAE National Day. This enlightened the students on various features of UAE, its history and implication in shaping the country. A patriotic song was sung by Grade 1 and 2 students with a lot of gusto. This was followed by a Power Point Presentation on the new discoveries, landmarks and achievements of UAE. Grade 4, 5 and 8 students danced swaying smoothly to a foot tapping Arabic number. The wits of the students was tested by a question round. Students of every grade were asked questions on UAE depending on their learning level. This kept the children guessing and helped in healthy interaction.  After this, students took a solemn oath and pledged to live in peace and harmony. This was followed by a one minute silent prayer in honor of Emirati Martyrs for their supreme courage and spirit of sacrifice. Then the programme was concluded with everyone present singing the UAE National Anthem. KG 1 and KG 2 students had activities in class that represented values of patriotism.

Children conducted the entire programme all by themselves. Their knowledge of the history and heritage of the land was expressed in the native tongue. It wholly embodied the essence, vision and spirit of the land we live in.  It was a tribute to the nation, which we are all proud of. 

Our children need to be safe. That is the primary and top most concern of every parent. We want them to be safe in our houses, outdoors as well as schools. At Credence High School we care about the safety of our students and staff, hence a mock drill was conducted with the help of Dubai Police and Civil Defence. It is an initiative to help our students not to panic, but do the right thing as taught in times of emergencies. At times, what we teach our students is conveniently forgotten, but if they are a part of a live demonstration it is hard to forget. Hence, we had a mock fire drill, with instructions, step-to-step procedures to be followed and safety guidelines.

To begin with, a staff member rang the alarm by operating the nearest fire alarm call point. On hearing the fire alarm, students were instructed to leave the building in a single line and in a calm, orderly manner. Exit route was indicated by teachers and students were lead to a predetermined assembly point. Running was not allowed, as it leads to panic. Everyone descended by the stairs, lifts were not used. Children who were not in class were directed to the assembly point. No one was allowed to re-enter the building until told to do so.

An area outside the school premises was designated as an assembly point. It is far away from the school premises to give protection from the heat and smoke given off by a fire. Teachers took a roll call of their individual classes and one teacher was nominated to have the overall responsibility that all students are safe outside. The count at the assembly point was checked by our Principal with the attendance registers and visitors book to verify that everyone was out of the building.

After this we had an ambulance drive in and some medical persons who demonstrated what they will do in case a child in injured. One of our students volunteered to be the child who needed to be treated. After which we had the fire men demonstrate how to put off fire with the help of hose and then fire extinguisher. Also told our students when and how they need to be used.

All children and staff were shown the primary escape routes of the school. They were also informed of the school fire evacuation routine. All members of staff received instructions and training appropriate to their responsibilities in the event of any emergency. By the end of the drill our students were well aware of what to do and what not to incase they face a fire emergency. 

Students turn our world around by their creativity, caliber and zest. Adarsh Satish from Class 4B had not just added a feather on his cap but has made us proud too.   Adarsh Satish has won the Gold Topper Award in the recently concluded BrainoBrain International Abacus Championship - 2016.

It’s not his first time. He has won the National Championship the last two years as well. Hard work and dedication have paid off, he has outshined the rest. Credence High School is very proud of our student Adarsh, just like his parents Satish and Deepa. We wish you the best in all your future endeavors, Credence High School will always be there to support and encourage you.

All grown-ups dream of going back to school - listening to stories, dancing to the tune of music, enacting, being carefree and happy. Thinking of school, brings back happy childhood memories. The parents of our Kindergarten students were delightedto live up this dream through their children as they celebrated the Annual Day at Credence High School. The theme of the programme was ‘TALE SPIN- stories with a difference’.

The programme began with our CEO - Principal, Madam Deepika Thapar Singh addressing the gathering. Then our little folks took all the parents to the land of fairy tales- stories of Peter pan and tinker bell, of the little dwarves and snow white, of Alice who chased a rabbit into a wonderland, of Jack who slayed a giant monster, of the gentle giant and pesky squirrels. Children were dressed as dwarves, fairies, giants, elves, mermaids and witches. What a sight it was to see them dressed so beautifully.

This was followed by a Grand Finale which was breathtaking. Parents were thrilled to see them laugh, dance, enact and speak. They began to look through the eyes of our little ones and experience what the world is like for them. Children looked like little angels on stage. It was an exciting and impressive performance by 295 students.

The chief guest Mrs. RoshiTandon, CEO of Chubby Cheeks Nursery addressed the gathering and told the parents that they need to spend more and more time with their children. Mrs. Shaheen Basheer too graced the occasion with her presence. She was overjoyed to be a part of this event. As the Annual Day came to an end and parents were leaving to collect their children, the making of the entire programme was showcased. Parents got a sneak peek into what went into making this show a remarkable one. This day is going to go down the memory of all our children and their parents as an astounding one.

Here are a few pictures of the event. More pictures will be uploaded soon. 

In a constantly changing environment, life skills are an essential part of being able to meet the challenges of everyday life. And the children of today need new life skills to deal with challenging situations. Hence a workshop on life skills for students of Grade 6 to 8 was conducted by the School Counsellor and Special Educator, and the topic was leadership and teamwork.

The main objective of this workshop was to familiarize students with each other and to make them recognise the roles of an effective leader and teamwork. Students interacted with each other and they got to know new information about everyone. For example, whether they hate pizza or like broccoli, or love reading books, the kind of music they like. For leadership and team building activity the students choose their own leaders based on the traits that leaders possess like someone who is honest, caring, respects others, good listener. The leaders guided their groups to depict traits of a leader. The outcome was beautiful, one team painted a vision they had in mind about honesty, another showcased the character of a caring leader through a portrait of a mother with a child, and another team depicted friendship through a poem.

It was a learning experience for the students as well as the teachers involved in the workshop. Students had an entertaining session while gaining insight into life skills.v 

Our students suggested that we clean up, fix up and converse the environment starting with our own school. Students of Grade 3 to 8 wanted to make a difference and hence they took part in the ‘Clean up the World 2016 Campaign’ on 21 November 2016 from 9.30 am to 10.00 am.

The objective of the campaign was to demonstrate our commitment to creating a healthy and sustainable world. Students were taken outdoors to pick up litter in and around the school grounds guided by the teachers. Each student was given gloves and cap, ensuring their personal safety and hygiene along with T-shirts and garbage bags. All this was provided by the Dubai Municipality, they backed us in our mission to keep the surrounding clean. Students were informed of safe and proper procedures for collecting and disposing of litter.

The whole drive was inspiring and motivating for the staff and students. Students realized that if they want the environment to be clean, we all need to take responsibility for our own actions. The event witnessed 100% participation of students. In the end students accumulated all the garbage bags and were surprised to see the amount of garbage collected. Our dear Principal Mrs. Deepika Thapar Singh appreciated the sincere efforts of the students for making this drive a successful event.

We all are familiar with the word ‘finance’, even our students. But if we ask them what are ‘shares’, what is ‘retail’ they all look at each other for answers. Hence, the students of Grades 6, 7 and 8 we given a 40 minute talk by Mrs. Arathi Anand who has been a teacher of Mass Media Studies and Marketing on the various aspects of finance.

She explained to the students gathered the basic terms related to Finance like Cost, Profit, Retail, VAT, Bills, Shares, Dividend, Warehouse, Goods, WOM (Word of Mouth), Marketing, etc. It was an interactive session, she lead the talk by given varied examples. Students were asked and allowed to ask variety of questions on different topics and current affairs like ‘demonetization’ in India. The workshop ended with a lateral thinking question and students were encouraged to think Out of the Box!

Students participated actively and enjoyed the workshop thoroughly. 

Parent engagement in schools is a shared responsibility and at Credence High School, we truly value this. We make an effort to reach out to parents in meaningful ways so they can contribute to learning and development of their children.

This program was one such effort by us; it was sprouted with our key partners in education, our very own distinguished parents. The purpose was to better engage a child in learning and to develop him/her holistically and to involve our key partners in education.

We aim to make our children independent learners, who are able to apply their knowledge and take it a step further, thereby innovate. Parents were welcomed to this new collaborative learning system through a speech given by Mrs. Priya Arjun who is a certified Holistic Health Coach on ‘Healthy Food Habits’. She gave new insights to the parents on healthy food habits and on how to deal with eating disorders.

The department heads introduced their learning system. Mr. Shyam (Head of English Department) provided insights on ‘Good Parenting System’. Mr. Dinesh (Head of Math Department) presented on ‘4 C’s of learning’. Mr. Sourjya (Head of Science Department) had a presentation on ‘project based learning’.

These presentations gave all the parents a holistic view of the learning module we follow in school. Parents were involved in experiential learning as they attended English, Math and Science classes just like students and understood the learning process at a micro level.

To conclude the Principal addressed the parents in the classroom and we could see the aura of learning syncing with the parents. Parents were thrilled to be students for a day, and were happy that with time the methods have changed for the better. 

Are the students of Credence High School happy? This question wanders in the minds of all educators here. And we don’t take no for an answer. The answer is yes and a definite yes!

On this day we specially wanted to emphasize on how important children are for us in school and their happy spirits make us all happy. It was a vibrant day filled with lots of happiness around. Children were dressed colorfully and a special program was organized by the teachers. All the teachers from KG to Grade 8 came together to put up a special show for our children.

The program began with an energetic dance by KG teachers to make the children happy. A wonderful musical skit was put up by Grade 1 & 2 teachers showcasing a happy classroom environment through music followed. Grade 3 to 5 teachers presented a fashion show using old newspapers and creative models.

Teachers also sang songs and gave special solo dance performances, children laughed, clapped and were filled with joy. The programme was concluded by a prized message by our Principal and distribution of chocolates. 

Parenting is a challenge, we all struggle each day to be good parents. To do a perfect job, to try and raise a perfect child. But at the end of day we all end up asking ourselves ‘did I do it right?’ So at Credence High School we thought we would get the parents of KG1 and KG 2 together to help them parent the child they have and not the child they wish they had.

We hosted an interactive session with parents, Principal and the Counsellor. We came together, discussed and reflected upon different parenting styles. This provided a platform for parents to learn and share their concerns and achievements of their beautiful journey of parenthood.

The Principal addressed the parents sighting her own experience as a parent. Parenting from a child’s perspective was taken up by the Counsellor in an attempt to guide parents about the outcome of different parenting styles, about a child’s reactions and expectations. Parents discussed how they deal with the challenges they face, and how they have succeeded in guiding their children on the right path. All parents took something valuable when they left our premises – a few tips, suggestions, corrections that would help them be better parents. 

The images that flash our minds when we think of UAE are of diverse people, peaceful country, great infrastructure and grand visions of the future. All these images depict happiness, progress and harmony. We are proud to reside in a country that has given students a platform to educate themselves into future innovative visions. At Credence High School we conducted an awareness programme for our students in order to value this country even more.

Students undoubtedly love UAE. Hence we had students from Grade 4 – 8 participate in a quiz competition that revolved around UAE. Our students were enthusiastic and eager to answer the questions. The school launched a flip book called ‘Our Pride, Our Joy, Our UAE’. Students can access this book through the school’s website and acquaint themselves with the facts of UAE. Children of Grade 1 -3 also participated in this program answering questions through this flip book.  In the end students shared bounteous facts about the country, each and every child participated and added value to this program.

Students got to know of things they didn’t. This session also helped them increase their IQ’s while appreciating and getting to know UAE, the country they live in, even better. 

"For Love of the Written Word"

Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) is one of the largest book fairs in the world, the most prestigious in the Arab world and home to the most exciting literary event in the region.

Learning Objective: To get awareness of different kinds of books and to encourage children to read more books as the national agenda emphasizes on reading.

It was held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, who strives to promote literacy, reading, and the preservation of culture in the emirate.

Students from Grade 4 -8 visited the book fair on 8^th and 9^th November 2016. They enjoyed a wide range of activities during the fair with many events geared specifically to children. This ranges from writing workshops to poetry readings, book signings and local author sessions.

Students were enthusiastic in knowing the different kinds of books and they were so happy to see some old writings of Arabic and Islamic antique books.

Learning Outcome: Students enjoyed purchasing their favourite books and now they are occupied in reading those books with a lot of interest.

“Learning is something students do, NOT something done to students.”
                                                                                                                                                           -         Alfie Kohn

Learning enclaves are “niches” in the ecosystem of the learning environment of Credence High School.

Learning enclaves allow learners to engage in purposeful discoveries that match their individual interests. These learning enclaves are meaningfully designed keeping in mind the skill sets required to direct learners to the areas through which they can strengthen and enhance their own core competencies; to understand, apply and transfer learning to real life context. The enclaves are set up in classrooms; with learners engaging in their own selection of activities.

At Credence, one of our main focus areas is reading in order to inculcate good reading habits in our children.  

As part of this reading programme, parents of our school visited the classrooms and surprised the students with a story telling session on Thursday, 3^rd November 2016. Parents made props, flash cards and read the story and made it interactive for the kids by posing questions and asking them to share their views and the moral of the story. They even connected the story to healthy living and eating.

Thank you dear parents for making this day such a memorable one for our little ones.

The morning of 3^rd November 2016, witnessed a large-scale celebration across the country to mark UAE Flag Day, an occasion which coincides with the anniversary of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s assumption of office as the leader of the country.

Our students from Grade 3 to 5, attended Flag Day celebration in Zabeel Park with the presence of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. All the students across Dubai, were present in this event, each group represented one of the colours in the flag. We Credenians represented the colour green.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai hoisted the UAE flag in the presence of 20,000 students representing 120 nationalities. All the students present, lifted the coloured boards up to the sky as His Highness hoisted the flag. Students were excited and happy to be a part of this tradition of Flag Day.

The national occasion of UAE Flag Day is a moment of pride and joy for everyone as they raise the flag to show their appreciation for the UAE.

Credence High School, Dubai, celebrated the National Flag Day on its sprawling campus on Thursday, 3^rd November 2016. Reflecting the spirit of “Awesomeness Year” as envisaged by KHDA, the Principal, along with the Dean of Studies hoisted the UAE Flag at 11.00 am to coincide with the nationwide hoisting of the Flag at the same time. The occasion also coincides with the anniversary of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s assumption to office as the leader of the country.

The Principal was accompanied by the school’s Head Boy and Head Girl as well as the youngest members of our school - the Kindergarten children.

The students from KG1, KG2, grades 1,2,6,7 and 8 took part in the Human Flag formation in the school grounds while students from grades 3, 4, and 5 took part in the hoisting ceremony organized by KHDA at the Zabeel Park. The students were dressed in the colours of the UAE Flag.

Speaking on the occasion, the Principal, Mrs. Deepika Thakur Singh, spoke at length on the importance of the four colours, Red, Green, White and Black namely, courage, hope, peace and defeat of enemies respectively. She also spoke about the many opportunities that UAE gives to its residents and citizens and espoused the feeling of pride for the country, which has given so much to so many.

The ceremony concluded with the rendition of the UAE National Anthem and the release of the red, black, white and green balloons. The ceremony concluded with the vote of thanks.