Qatar International School

At Q.I.S., we recognise the importance of reading, and the positive impact it has on a child’s success in education. In celebration of the readers that we have at school, the English Department, along with the charity committee, arranged a series of activities and events over the course of a week, culminating in World Book Day on March 4th.

At the beginning of the week, we set off with three house competitions: to write a short story set in Qatar; to draw a fictional character; to guess the character from a series or clues. Some of the best artwork came from Marc Galang, 12RM, Pratiwi Hastinia 8KB, Amna Khan 8KB, Nada Hassan 8KB and Khalid Syahfullah 10RC. Great effort! Some of the best examples have been displayed on the House notice board.

The winners of the short story competition were;

1st place – Ardianty Nadhira Dharmawan 8KB
2nd place – Ahmed Soliman 7MS

All entries received 10 House Points, and winners have been awarded an additional 20 House Points. Well done for some imaginative and effective writing. Also, many thanks to Mr Bonnar and Mrs Copley for organising these competitions and making such a tough decision!

Throughout the week, the English department ran a competition design a bookmark. The winners, chosen by our librarian Mrs Smith are: Pradite Adi 7LSC, Ragha Amer year 8,Layla Jasim 9DF, Nada Errayes 10GBA and Haunan Damar 11KP. Well done to you all!

Throughout the week, pupils generously donated their read and unused books, and on Thursday after school the charity committee organised a second hand book stall. Many pupils and parents left with fantastic bargains of paperback and hardback books! On the same day, our pupils and teachers impressed us with their imaginative fancy dress, arriving to school in costumes to represent authors, characters and novels. Our favourites have been photographed and published for everyone to appreciate, including some very convincing James Bonds, various ‘Jokers’, the Madhatter and the Hare, Sweeney Todd, Jacqueline Wilson, Dracula, Red Riding Hood, The Hardy Boys and characters from favourites such as Twilight and 1001 Arabian Nights.

All of the money raised (more than QR3,500) went to the charity ‘BookAid’ which provides money and support for educational facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa, Tsunami hit Sri Lanka and Palestine, which we are sure you will agree is a worthwhile cause.

Encouraging reading from a young age has many significant benefits, helping children to become imaginative, inquisitive and articulate. These important skills are essential for living a productive, happy and successful life.

To develop the reading skills of your child please take time out to read with them on a regular basis: discussing and asking questions about setting, character and possible outcomes encourages children to feel involved and that reading is an important activity that has a special status in family life.

Equally, recent research has shown that children who see their parents reading are more likely to develop a love of books and form reading habits that can last a lifetime. Let your child see you reading a good book and invite him or her to settle down with a good book too.

Children who read have a confidence with language, are able to express themselves meaningfully and generally, have a larger vocabulary to draw from than a child who doesn’t read on a regular basis.

In these increasingly competitive times, it’s very important to give children a head start in any way that we can.

Remember, a child who reads is a child who succeeds!

We wish you and your child many hours of happy reading.