The New Kindergarten at Nibras

This academic year at Nibras International School, the school has made many positive changes within their Kindergarten department.  The learning environment has seen the most significant change, with the school adopting the Reggio Emilia approach 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 they 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 the EAL students at NIS. 

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

NIS believe parental input is extremely important and encourage parents to be involved in their child’s learning journey as much as possible.  They hold monthly workshops, with parents suggesting topics for discussion that aim to benefit them.  Their most recent workshops include Numicon introduction and how children learn in different subjects though play. 

In the UAE social studies is a huge part of our learning journey; to maximize knowledge, they now integrate social studies into other areas of learning.  For example, social studies have been integrated into math lessons, 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.

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