Preparations are well underway for our recognition of National Day, which will be celebrated at RVIS on Thursday, 13th December. The PTP and teacher events committee have decided on a theme of, ‘Bahrain- The Pearl of the Gulf’ for this year’s celebration. We would warmly welcome further parent support for this special event as we continue to prepare decorations, food, activities, and special presenters. Please contact Ms. Hanadi Rustam hrustam@rvis.edu.bh if you are interested in supporting this event.

Please join us on November 22 to learn more about our Service Learning Trips scheduled for March. This year, we are offering three trips.

• The Compassion Summit in Amman, Jordan allows students to connect with schools across the region to design a Compassionate Action Plan for their own school. Students will participate in Keynote sessions, Workshop sessions and Community session where they will host students from refugee camps in Jordan. Students in grades 7-11 are welcome.

• The Compassion in Action - Berlin experience will educate, challenge and inspire students to become global-minded, conscientious young people by exploring and engaging with real global issues in real-life situations. The experience will involve students in volunteer projects inspired by Creativity, Activity, and Service. The UN’s Global Goals (SDGs) are integrated into the experience. Students will focus on making a genuine, sustainable impact as they explore issues prevalent in Berlin and applicable globally, including here in Bahrain. Students in grades 6-12 are welcome.

• Compassion Trip to Sri Lanka - During this trip students will have the opportunity to work with a local community to help rebuild classrooms in a local school. Through compassion, and the opportunity to be responsible, caring, and participating members of society, RVIS students will grow as individuals and help represent RVIS in the international community.

Information sessions will be held on November 22 at 8:00am and 2:00pm in the Green Presentation Room. In case you cannot attend a presentation, we will also have informational flyers set up at the Literacy Book Fair. For more information about the trips, please see Tara Waudby (Compassion Summit), Callie Bushmiller (CAS Berlin Trip), or Salman Meshaal (Sri Lanka trip).

Ms. Wang's IB Business Management class is always looking for guest speakers or business visits for the students to have real life application opportunities. Currently, we have studied organizational objectives and an introduction to business management; now we are transitioning into human resources and marketing for the remainder of the school year.

Please email mwang@rvis.edu.bh to discuss about potential opportunities and more details!

As we continue to ensure a safe and secure environment for our students, we will shift our front gate access in the New Year. For those who regularly visit the school, we would kindly like to remind you to ensure you carry your ID badges when gaining entry onto school premises. If you do not have a school ID badge, please see Nuha in reception as a matter of urgency. Beginning of January, visitors without an RVIS badge will need to enter the security office to get a visitor pass.

Last weekend at RVIS, we concluded the very successful hosting of the 2018 OASIS JV Volleyball Championship. We were again able to welcome our visitors into our community with Parents, Teachers and Students coming together to make everyone feel at home. Visiting teams and coaches commented on how warm and welcoming RVIS has been over the past three days and everyone has expressed a desire to return to RVIS and participate in events in the near future. Our thanks go out to all members of the community who had a part in this success.

Our JV Boys did exceedingly well, and finished in a well deserved 4th Place, only missing out by two points on a Semi place showing real improvement over the weekend. Our JV Girls showed great spirit and effort, walking away with the Sportsmanship award, and a number of very close games. Our Varsity Girls playing at St. Christopher's had a tough weekend but kept on pushing to improve on both days of the event. I would like to congratulate all our players and coaches for a great weekend, and look forward to seeing improvement as the program grows and these students learn from this experience.

Kindergarten students are learning all about about trees, roots, compost, and leaves through their science unit. As an extension, they learned about clay and created beautifully painted ceramic coil pots in art class. Once their pots were complete, we headed outside to plant some sunflower seeds. We are all excited to watch them grow!

Check out what's happening in the Arabic Department here.