Langauges, reading skills get a boost
This year the school has launched a major initiative, GEMS World Academy Language Institute, to introduce 11 mother tongues (9 in curriculum time) into the Elementary School.”
Micheline Chaia, director, Language Institute, GEMS World Academy, Dubai.
Robotics, artificial intelligence, computer coding and virtual reality were some of the subjects and trends that had become an integral part of learning in classrooms in the past few years.
However, this academic year schools plan to focus on more subjects that have become increasingly relevant in the professional fields and will further help pupils develop necessary skills for the future job market.
Some of the areas schools aim to focus on in the 2018-2019 academic year is teaching multilingualism, space studies, digital citizenship and concentrate more on reading skills.
At the GEMS World Academy in Dubai, there are 11 different languages available to learn for students. “This year the school has launched a major initiative, GEMS World Academy Language Institute, to introduce 11 mother tongues (9 in curriculum time) into the Elementary School.
“These classes, which are included in the fees, allow students to study their mother tongue within the school day allowing them to pursue other sporting or extra-curricular activities when they would have been doing language learning previously,” said Micheline Chaia, director of Language Institute at the GEMS World Academy, Dubai.
“Students will be able to study French, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Urdu, Mandarin, German, Swedish, Hindi, and Turkish. Additionally, students in Pre K, KG1 and KG2 have the opportunity to study French, Arabic or Mandarin (or more than one) as language acquisition. All of this complements the breadth of language study already on offer at the EMS World Academy.”
Chaia said that it is important that youngsters continue to develop their mother tongue both as a way of retaining their culture and to allow them to integrate back into their home country if they do return. “Additionally, the learning of languages has been proven to improve their overall studies,” she said.
At the Swiss International Scientific School in Dubai (SISD), educators are also focusing on helping students with bilingualism.
“Many families have chosen our school so that children can retain or build true bilingualism. Our community has made it clear that there is further demand for this so in addition to our existing French and German bilingual programmes, we are now offering Italian and Spanish for native speakers within the school day in our secondary section. As we grow, we will continue to diversify in this regard,” said Luke Osborne, head of Secondary at SISD.
Space studies are also taking over schools this year. There has been a lot of activity in the global space industry.
The US space agency Nasa has sent the Parker Solar spacecraft to probe the outer corona of the sun as part of a historic mission. The first ever commercial space crew by Nasa were also announced. In the UAE, the first two astronauts were announced this month and the first fully Emirati-built satellite will soon be launched.
Students at the GEMS FirstPoint School will be developing their skills when it comes to space studies.
“The children in our Foundation Stage (ages 3-5) are very excited to discover what awaits them in our ‘Mars Exploration Station’. The children are able to develop is their research skills in a Mars landscape with contoured flooring, space rocks and their very own Mars Mission Lander and rocket.
“They even get to wear space suits to give them the experience of being real astronauts and inspiring their learning through play and exploration,” said Sandra Mason, head of Foundation and Early Years at GEMS FirstPoint School.