In The News

With everyone coming together to celebrate the spirit of sport, GEMS Metropole School – Motor City launched its annual sports week, themed “Gender Equality and Equity,” in the presence of three prominent athletes from Kenya, New Zealand, and the United Arab Emirates.

The guests of honour were Philadelphia Orlando OLY, Apollo Perelini, and Fatima Saeed, and they provided valuable insights and inspiration to the students, who participates in various activities such as basketball, football, netball, rugby, volleyball, and athletics for the students and parents.

The school's sports teams played against local schools, and the standard was high, with some great goals scored by talented players. The girls’ football tournament was particularly special as it was a great opportunity to show that girls are just as capable as boys when it comes to playing the beautiful game. The Metropole Athletics Day was a display of athleticism, determination, and sportsmanship. The relay races were particularly exciting, and it was amazing to see the students’ teamwork in action.

The primary school students also participated in a fun run. They had a blast as they ran around the sports field, cheered on by their classmates and teachers.

As a community, Metropole believes that sport plays a vital role in a student’s education and personal development. The sports week provides an opportunity for students to showcase their skills, work together as a team, and learn important values such as respect, perseverance, and fair play. With this year's focus on Gender Equality and Equity, students have learned the importance of promoting gender balance in sports.

Sixteen-year-old karate champ Omar Hassan from GEMS Metropole School – Motor City has won first place for his age range in the under 68kg category of the UAE National Karate Championship 2022. Omar also ranks in the global top 60 for karate after achieving six medals throughout a season; two gold, one silver and three bronze.

Hassan credits his school's support, rich sports programme and state-of-the-art facilities including a gym and CrossFit area for enabling him to excel in his sport. He believes that karate has taught him discipline and determination, as well as built his physical strength and mental courage. He emphasises the importance of learning from mistakes and organising oneself to balance both studies and sporting passion.

Shedding light on the need to plan and organise oneself while juggling between his studies and sporting passion, Hassan underlines that he strives to be organised both in his studies and karate, which he says has helped him to excel in both throughout the year.

The MTSMUN delegation spend another successful weekend networking with peers from all over the UAE, discussing and resolving critical global issues at the American University of Sharjah – Model United Nations (AUSMUN).

We had 30 students participate coming back 7 great awards namely Best Speaker, Best Outstanding Delegate and the most coveted  - the Best Delegate award. Congratulations to these wonderful students for all their hard-work and dedication towards this conference.

Congratulations to our students who competed in the Language Championships in March 2022.

The students did tremendously well, with one Year 9 student performing in the top three across the whole of the Middle East - Gio Chader. Metropole School finished in 6^th place globally and achieved 4^th overall in the UAE out of 12 schools entered.

On Monday 7^th March to Sunday 13^th March 2022, a selection of Metropole students competed in the World School Games at Sports City.

The students took part in swimming, athletics and football, with all of them giving 110% in their sports. Metropole Mustangs achieved 3rd over all in swimming and 2nd overall in the girls’ football, narrowly missing out to JESS on penalties. 

On Saturday 26th February 2022, our student leaders attended the LEADherSHIP Conference.

Our students delivered a workshop on resilience, which they pitched to other students from across GEMS schools. They really did us proud and enabled Metropole to shine in the process. The students who took part were: Ananya Viswanath 8E, Aleks Antonijevic 9A, Ameera Sulaimian 9A, Jewel Teves 9A, Eeman Hussain 10C, Ashwin Viswanath 11D, Syed Qasim 11D, Marvellous Olushola 11 and Nickolas Kash 11E.

Congratulations to Mariam Joseph Kotikela in Year 13 who won the British Sociology Association Young Sociologist of the Year Competition 2021-22.

The competition question was “How can sociology help us understand the causes and/or consequences of the global pandemic?” The judges (Dr Sarah Cant and Dr Richard Waller) reviewed the entries and commented that Mariam’s essay was impressive and that it “weaved theory and empirical data to produce an informed and careful discussion of the ways that inequality was reinforced during the pandemic”. As the winner, Mariam, won an Apple iPad mini for herself and £500 for the school.

Metropole School was very lucky to be given the opportunity for a group of students in Year 11 to participate in the final educational event in the Italian Pavilion at EXPO 2020 during the final week of Term 3 (March, 2022).

This was a ‘water hack’ three-day international marathon where students were exchanging ideas and collaborated with students from other schools on the main challenges of water to contribute towards World Water Day (22nd March 2022). Wafa Jundi (11A), Shameer Khan (11A), Hayden Smith (11D), Yusef Mockbil (11C) and Uliana Fomina (11D) did Metropole School incredibly proud, particularly at the closing ceremony where they presented what they have been working on. This was a fantastic experience which the students will never forget.

Omar Hassan (Year 11) participated in the Karate 1 Youth League Fujairah, organized by the World Karate Federation during in January 2023. The competition gathered the top 100 internationally ranked players from across the world in Omar’s under-18 age category. Omar won three matches which helped him reach the quarterfinals, where he has ranked number five in the world in his age group; a massive stepping stone for Omar!

Congratulations to Omar who has performed exceptionally well in Karate! The school is incredibly proud of his determination, perseverance and overall success in the Sport. Omar talks about his experience of Karate in the Khaleej Times during an interview. Take a read here: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/every-time-i-stood-on-the-mat-it-inspired-me-uae-teen-karate-champ-talks-trials-triumphs