I am sure that parents, teachers, and learners are curious about the foundations being prepared at the location of the old jungle gym. Alhamdulillah, we are installing 2 new padel tennis courts. We are hopeful that the courts will serve two purposes: a sporting option for our children and also create an income stream for the College through after-hours hiring of the facility, insha ALLAH.
What is Padel Tennis?

Not quite tennis and not quite squash but a beautiful hybrid of the two, the sport is known as Padel, and it’s universally referred to as the fastest-growing sport in the world, with more than 10 million people participating in over 60 countries. Now Al Falaah Padel is giving Durbanites and visitors the opportunity to be part of the global phenomenon.
Padel is a sport that is a cross between “tennis with walls” and “squash in the sun”. Padel is currently most popular in Spain, Sweden, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Argentina and Mexico.
The most important skill in a game of padel is not strength or speed but match-craft, as points are won through strategic play. Padel is played predominantly in a doubles format on an enclosed court, boxed in by walls of glass and metallic mash about a third of the size of a tennis court. The rules are mostly the same as tennis, although you serve underhand and the walls are used as part of the game like with squash.
 
More details to follow regarding the opening dates and booking options.

Abdullah Abisola, a Grade 10 learner from Al Falaah College was recently placed First in the 2022 South African National Science Olympiad.

The National Science Olympiad is in its 57th year and the project offers learners an exciting opportunity to compete in science with fellow learners from all nine provinces as well as SADC countries such as Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The main aim of the competition is to identify talent, encourage excellence in science education and to stimulate interest in the sciences. It seeks to inspire young people to consider careers in science and technology. 

Abdullah will now be a part of a group of 6 learners from schools across the country who will represent South Africa at the 18th IJSO (International Junior Science Olympiad) in Bogota, Columbia this December.

Congratulations to Aisha Asif Memon from Grade 9 for being placed First in KZN at the first ever DANKie Junior Afrikaans Olympus which took place in September. 581 learners from 35 schools across South Africa participated in the Olympus.

Haile Gebreselassie once said: “No race begins at the starting line”.  And, in pure cliché fashion, mine was no different.  
On the 18^th of July 2022, I was hospitalised due to excruciating leg, knee, back and neck pain. Buzz words, such as “meningitis”, “lumber punctures, “ankylosing spondylitis” and the likes thereof struck me with enormous fear and anxiety.  My anchor was, this is from the Decree of Allah and everything from Allah is Goodness.  With Allah’s grace, I returned to school a week later, with renewed hope and trust in Allah - fresh, determined and focused. 
Three weeks later, on the 13th of August 2022, Allah guided me to Mr Abdullah Sujee, who presented me with his detailed autobiography entitled “Teach and Lead” as a gift for my participation in the Grade 10 AMS Speech Contest.  Mr Sujee was incredibly accessible, kind, motivating and allowed me the privilege to rely on him for assistance and advice. This interaction together with reading his autobiography left me with a somewhat indelible mark.  So, when I realised that Mr Sujee was participating in the Tour Durban Cycling Race, I was immediately inspired to believe that this is doable. 
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Al Falaah College hosted staff and students from the DUT Department of Information Technology, who showcased what their Department had to offer. Our learners were enthralled by the display of drones and robots and other hi-tech equipment.
 
Mr Ebrahim Asmal – Senior Lecturer, at the Department of Information Technology shared some enlightening information on how you would need a pilot’s licence to fly a drone. It is actually illegal to fly a drone without having this licence. Their department also has a humanoid robot that speaks English and French and is now being programmed to speak the 11 official languages of South Africa.
Learners entered the world of Virtual Reality by walking through the inside of the Kabaah , using the Virtual Reality Googles.  Mr Asmal pointed out that our world is moving towards the 5^th Industrial Revolution and we have to embrace this new future.

A few members of the Al Falaah College management team attended the inaugural meeting of the Global Association of Islamic Schools in Istanbul, Turkey during the school holidays.

 
This Global enterprise (to unite Islamic School Associations from around the world under a single banner) is the initiative of the High School Principal, Mr Zaffar Ahmed. A year ago he conceived the idea and launched the Global Association of Islamic Schools that currently has over 210 members from over 26 countries.
 
Under the able leadership of Mr Zaffar Ahmed, the gathering of school leaders and researchers from Islamic schools from around the world focussed on crafting a Strategic Plan for the Global Islamic Schooling sector, and also started planning for the next Global Conference on Islamic Education which is planned for 2025.
 
For Al Falaah College, it is particularly gratifying that Mr Zaffar Ahmed continues to be Ameer of the Steering Committee of the Global Association of Islamic Schools. Mr Zaffar Ahmed was also honoured with a Special Global Leadership Award at a Special Gala Dinner attended by GAIS delegates and many Turkish dignitaries, including the Turkish Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Nazif Yilmaz.
 
We pray for the continued success of GAIS and are humbled that our Principal is leading this Global initiative.

To encourage acts of kindness, we have introduced a reward each week for the most outstanding act of kindness in each class. Learners observe their peers during the week and nominate one learner they feel has displayed an extraordinary act of kindness. Thereafter one learner is chosen from the class and a “badge of kindness” is presented to that learner on a Friday to be worn for a week. An acknowledgment of the act of kindness is a great way to encourage learners to be kind. Learners are also engaged in building a “Kindness wall” with kind messages to friends, family and peers. 

The Al Falaah College girls’ soccer teams participated in a local soccer tournament that was hosted and held at Orient Islamic School. The event featured teams from around Kwazulu Natal and was split into 5 divisions: U9, U11, U13, U15 and U17 divisions. Al Falaah College won 4 out of the 5 divisions and their coaches couldn’t be any prouder, Coach Kauser Shaik said “We’re really pleased for the girls, we know how well the boys’ teams have done over the years so we really wanted to show that our girls are just as talented, and I think we did that today. We also want to thank the hosts for putting together such a wonderful event for the kids.”

Al Falaah College's Cycling Club was officially launched this weekend, with over 15 students participating in the Amashova Race, one of the oldest and most renowned cycling events in KZN. The event took place on Sunday, 23 October, and was used as a way to launch the cycling club.

The deputy principal of Al Falaah College, Mr Abdullah Sujee, who is also a member of IMPI, a club committed to the development of cycling amongst youth, urged students to embrace new challenges and opportunities with vigour and excitement. He added that he hoped that opportunities such as these would help the students achieve their dreams.

Ahmed Kajee took second place in the 65km race and first place in his division, while Hasnain Malek from Grade 5 was the youngest rider on the day to complete a race.

Following their graduation from Junior Achievement South Africa (JASA) Enterprise Programme (EP) earlier this month, 4 Al Falaah College teams made their final presentations to the JASA programme manager who was to decide if they make it to the next round, where they will compete nationally.

Alhumdulillah, 2 of these teams have been selected to go to the next round of Competition! The next round of presentations will be held in Johannesburg in October 2022, inshaa Allah. We’re proud of the learners’ exceptional efforts and make duaa that Allah grants them success.

The selected teams:
1. iKusasa Mirrors (Click here to view Instagram profile)
2. Calm Candles and Co (Click here to view Instagram profile)

Al Falaah College Grade 4 learners, with support from Ashraful Aid yesterday distributed (groceries & toiletries) to the Siyajabula Children's Home. 

Ms. Laura Cullum, representative of the Siyajabula Children's Home, was very pleased with the contribution. She addressed the learners, expressing gratitude and reiterating the need to support the less fortunate.
 
The Grade 4 learners were very excited about their project and their ability to help those who are less fortunate than them.
 
Nabi(SAW) said words to this effect: "I and the person who looks after an orphan and provides for him will be in Paradise like this"(putting his index and middle fingers together) ~ Sahih Bukhari