Welcome banners and cartoon characters greet students on first day of school

SHARJAH // Teachers were busy making final preparations to their classes ahead of the start of the new school year on Sunday, with welcome banners and lifesize cartoon characters among the ideas used to ease children into their new environment.

Many schools organised orientation programmes to help new students settle in while staff took part in workshops to finalise the course and curriculum work for the year.

“Teachers have prepared signs saying, ‘Welcome back to school’ that will be put up inside the building, there will also be charts with colourful drawings in English and Arabic,” said Amna Abdulla Al Mulla, principal of the Sharjah Model School for Boys.

The government school caters to more than 550 students from grade 1 to grade 5 and follows the UAE national curriculum.

“In each grade we will welcome students with games and tell them the rules of the schools. In grade 1 for the smaller students we will have cartoon characters to entertain students. In other grades, the students will be shown educational movies, they will play different games and enjoy activities like painting and drawing.”

The 50-strong staff have been preparing stands and posters so parents and students can easily find new class rooms. Books have been arranged in separate lots so children will be handed their syllabus and timetable for the year ahead.

“We already classified students according to their levels so they easily fit into different classes,” said Ms Al Mulla. “We are focussing on skills in all subjects and we know we must look after all three levels, those students left behind, the well-balanced students and the outstanding ones. So we have prepared plans for all.”

Programmes outlining the syllabus as well as fresh plans for lessons were held for teachers at the Star International School in Dubai’s Al Twar.

The British curriculum school prepared to welcome 480 students on Sunday with 35 teachers and 25 support staff in attendance.

“We have had curriculum meetings where teachers from different disciplines like the literacy or the math coordinators came prepared with ideas about how they will guide students,” said principal Dolly Goriawala.

“One topic will be taken per term, for instance ‘Dubai past and present’ in maybe the art or design class. We will take children’s ideas, build a working wall where we will let them decide how the course will go. This is to encourage critical thinking and independent learning.”

Teachers are also working out schedules to build English reading skills. There will be guided reading classes with teachers concentrating on students with different abilities on specified days and parent volunteers will also help out.

The school is also planning a net ball team for girls and a golf team open to boys and girls with participation from teachers.

“We want the faculty to bond,” Ms Goriawala said. “We’re hoping with participating in different activities teachers will get to know each other. This way they will help one another when they need each other’s expertise, pool together resources and research.”

rtalwar@thenational.ae