The New Kindergarten at Nibras

This academic year at Nibras International School Dubai, we have made many positive changes within our Kindergarten department.  Our learning environment has seen the most significant change, adapting the Reggio Emilia approach to learning to enhance independent learning, along with the use of the International Primary Curriculum (IPC).

Within Reggio Emilia children are encouraged to be independent, creative, and imaginative and delve further into their interests whilst developing their skills.  Staff at NIS have worked exceptionally hard to create a learning environment that reflects the Reggio Emilia philosophy of learning whist following the IPC curriculum.

At NIS we have many EAL learners from many different nationalities; adapting such a diverse curriculum gives children the chance to explore all the different cultures.  The IPC curriculum provides children with subject goals, personal learning goals, and uniquely, international learning goals, which thoroughly enhances the learning journey for our EAL students here at NIS.

Our day in Kindergarten consists of learning inside and outside of the classroom; we explore all areas of learning inside the classroom, and we enjoy time in the outside area exploring all areas of learning also.  Often lessons are planned to take learning outside with children being encouraged to explore and investigate in the environment.  We recently enjoyed a ‘Week Without Walls’ where all learning took place away from the classroom.

We believe parental input is extremely important here at NIS and we encourage parents to be involved in their child’s learning journey as and when possible.  We hold monthly workshops, having parents suggest topics for us to discuss to benefit them the best we can.  Our most recent workshops include Numicon introduction and how children learn in different subjects though play.

Here in the UAE social studies is a huge part of our learning journey; to maximize our knowledge, we now integrate social studies into other areas of learning.  E.g. social studies has been integrated into our math lesson, while discussing tall and short we looked at the Burj Khalifa and learnt facts about this famous landmark.  We often integrate ICT into other lesson too.

Our team at NIS is extremely dedicated, working hard to ensure the happiness and wellbeing of the children in our Kindergarten classes.  Our positive changes can be seen clearly through the children while they learn through play and interact with others.