Teach Middle East Magazine Jan - Mar 2020 Issue 2 Volume 7 | Page 6

PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE “ The older I get, I'm really reminded how important the arts are to our wellbeing as a society . ” M I D D L E RHYS IFANS Teach Middle East Magazine ® Welcome to a new decade! If you live and work in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), you might have heard that the year 2020 has been named as ‘2020 towards the next 50’. It will be a year of planning and setting big and bold goals for the country, for the next 50 years. I am inspired by the vision and leadership of the government of the UAE and other countries in the GCC. They set and achieve goals that would at first seem impossible to achieve. Take a moment to research the history of the UAE and see how far the country has come in a very short space of time. I am in no doubt that the goals that they are setting for the next 50 years will be achieved. It is no secret that at the start of a new year, people tend to set goals or make resolutions, which I believe with the high rate of failure, this is now becoming a dying trend. People have realised that setting numerous goals with no clear plan of action, will more than likely lead to certain failure. I do not believe that setting goals or making resolutions is bad, I however believe that what makes them fail or succeed is the reason behind the goal setting and the clear steps that will be taken to ensure that the goals are successfully achieved. What are you hoping to achieve in 2020? In 2020, we here at Teach Middle East Magazine and Moftah Education, hope to continue serving you by bringing you the best education content and events in the region. This is a goal that we have had for the past seven years and one that we hope to continue to achieve for many years to come. We have a lot for you to look forward to, in the year 2020, starting with the Middle East Maths Teachers Conference on February 22, 2020, at Le Meridien Dubai Hotel and Conference Centre (www.middleeastmaths.com). This will be followed by The Finnish Education Expo on February 24, 2020, at the Radisson Blu Hotel Dubai Waterfront 06 Term 2 Jan - Mar 2020 (https://www.finnisheducationexpo. com/). The week continues with GESS Dubai from 25 - 27 February 2020 at the Dubai World Trade Centre (https:// www.gessdubai.com/). Stay tuned as we have even more events to announce around that week in Dubai. Later in the year, we also have the Middle East School Leadership Conference taking place on October 6-7, 2020 in Dubai. This will be year three of this wonderful event which brings together school leaders from the Middle East and even further afield, to learn, network and grow as school leaders. If you would like to take part in any of our events, please email [email protected]. The quote above gives you a clue to what we will be covering in this issue. There has been a lot of emphasis, regionally on; Science, Engineering and Mathematics and rightly so, but we believe that the arts are also equally valuable and also key to student development. In fact, the arts can help to improve our well being. In this issue, we visit Al Dhafra Private School, Abu Dhabi, a school which has given the arts pride of place in their institution. Keep turning the pages as there is so much packed into this issue for everyone. As we always say, the best conversations take place online with like-minded, connected educators, so let’s get connected on twitter @teachmiddleeast, facebook @ teachmiddleeastmagazine, Linkedin @TeachMiddleEastMagazine and on Instagram @teachmiddleeast. Remember to download the Teach Middle East app for free on all major app stores. All the best for the new year and the new decade! Leisa Grace Wilson Editorial Director. Class Time E A S T EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Leisa Grace Wilson [email protected] [phone] ART DIRECTOR Pandian [email protected] [phone] HEAD OF ADVERTISING Richard Simapili Business Development Manager [email protected] [phone] PUBLISHED BY Moftah Publishing FZ LLC (Registered at Fujairah Creative City) ADVERTISING [email protected] GENERAL ENQUIRIES [email protected] WEBSITE www.teachmiddleeastmag.com www.facebook.com/ TeachMiddleEastMagazine Copyright 2020 Moftah Publishing FZ LLC. All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the permission of Moftah Publishing FZ LLC. Where opinion is expressed, it is that of the author and does not necessarily reflect the editorial views of the publisher or Teach Middle East Magazine. All information in Teach Middle East Magazine is checked and verified to the best of the publisher’s ability, however, the publisher cannot be held responsible for any mistake or omission enclosed in the publication.