Best Safety Tips for Schools

Every day, hundreds of children start from their homes to get to school. Safety and security of the students and staff is one of the paramount concerns of the school management. Leading schools across UAE follow the best practices to ensure the safety of everyone in their premises. Here are some of the best safety tips for schools which want to upgrade the sense of security their premises offer:

1.      A comprehensive security system must be in place in the school premises. Guards, perimeter alarms, fire and smoke alarms, CCTV surveillance for common areas are some of the basic essentials schools must make part of the infrastructure. These will not only ensure the safety of all people inside the school but also secure the physical premises of the school.

2.      Hire an authorized security agency to man the premises of your school. Check for references and also get police verification done of all the security personnel.

3.      Issuing student and staff identity cards will make it easier for the security staff to identify individuals who belong to the school and separate out those who are not regulars. Visitors can be provided with special passes for limited time. Some of the top schools in UAE are also making use of electronic key cards to limit access.

4.      A systematic and meticulous record of emergency contact details must be kept in the school for each individual, be it a student or a staff member.

5.      For UAE schools which offer bus pick-and-drop facilities, parents, students, the bus staff and the management must be made aware of the routes and stoppages. Contact numbers must be provided.

6.      At strategic places in the school, emergency contact numbers of such authorities like the fire safety department, ambulance, hospital, police, etc. must be mentioned for all to see and make use of in case of untoward incidents.

7.      Mock fire drills must be conducted periodically to teach students how to deal with unexpected emergencies. These can be conducted either in coordination with local civic agencies or by the management singly.

The Global Indian International School is one of the leading schools in Abu Dhabi which makes available world class infrastructure and a dedicated staff to ensure that students can learn and grow in a happy and positive environment. At GIIS, the safety, security and all round development of each child is at the forefront of all endeavours. Enrol your children at GIIS Abu Dhabi for a superlative schooling experience.

The Effect of Mobile on Teenagers

Mobile and communication devices have played a vital role in connecting individuals with family and friends. More importantly, it has allowed parents to ensure that their children are safe when they are away from home.

In today's world, mobile phones are mainly used for internet connectivity than making calls. The ability to easily access information for further understanding and research is considered as one of the strongest advantages of in-class usage of mobile phones. The use of mobile phones in academics will enable students to collaborate assignments and tasks, providing them with a broader prospect of the topic in discussion. Increasing number of students are now using text based communication tools to interact with teacher's and student's for information on subject or academic matter. This allows students to have a direct one-to-one communication with instructors or peer's, enabling them to get instant feedback or answers on their doubts and queries.  Students also use online learning tools such as YouTube or apps to enhance their learning experience. This has proved to be effective in improving students academic results.

Despite the benefits associated with the use of mobile phones, they are many disadvantages especially on students. Distractions among students caused by mobile phones is a major concern for parents and teachers. It has been observed that students with access to a mobile phone would be easily distracted by notifications. Gaining notifications such as likes or texts give a sense of reward in the minds of the children. This encourages them to post more content on social media. However, it also increases the number of times they check their phones for notification. Once developed into a habit, this can negatively impact students, as distractions from notifications will leave them with little time to re-gain focus on academics. Ultimately, the student's concentration level will be adversely affected, thus having a negative impact in the child's academic performances.

The role of schools and parents, is to ensure that there is a good balance and restriction on the child's usage of mobile phones. Parents should ensure that the child gets to use their phone's only after they finish their studies. Academic research or further learning tools must not be used as an excuse to allow the child to use their phones during study time. Doing so, may tempt the student to check their social network accounts for notifications reducing the effective time they spend on actual learning. The student must be allowed to use mobile learning tools during the last half hour of home studies. As an alternate, parents can also switch off home Wi-Fi during the allotted study hours. 

Global Indian International school in Abu Dhabi, ensures that students get enough opportunities for collaborative and online learning through resources within the school. This eliminates the need to bring phones to school, thus reducing the possibility of any distraction caused by mobile phones. Teacher's in the school are regularly trained on best student-mobile and internet practices ensuring that students and parents are well versed with balancing the use of mobile phones and academics.

Importance of a Supportive Learning Environment in School

Children spent much of their growing up years in their schools. While parents make every effort to ensure that the school they choose for their children make available the best education to them, it is equally important to choose the right school environment. The school culture and environment in crucial to the development of the child as an individual and must be ambient for the child.

Right from an early age, the proper support from peers and teachers in the school can be crucial to the overall and holistic growth of the individual child. Each student has a different temperament and they need to be drawn out to unravel their full potential. Reputed international schools in Abu Dhabi make every effort to provide their students with a safe and supportive classroom environment as it facilitates active participation and engagement of all students.

Research over the years has shown that a supportive school environment, bolstered by the school’s espoused goals, the discipline and teaching methods, inclusion of students and their parents in planning and decision-making, relationships of students with other students and teachers, etc. helps foster positivity in the children. They learn to be more confident about their own abilities and also behave respectfully towards their peers and elders.

A supportive school environment at an Abu Dhabi international school meets the needs for autonomy, competence and belonging of a child and in turn motivates the students to become more engaged in the school. Classroom participation is severely enhanced when teachers and fellow students appear more easy going and individual children have been known to perform much better in academics in such environments. Their contribution towards the school’s goals and values also increases and academically too, a supportive learning environment in the school has a positive impact on the leaning ability of the students. So far as their individual personality is concerned, supportive learning environments act as motivational factors, and create a sense of belonging in the students, which is reflected in their overall attitude towards their peers and community.

Give your child the advantage of a supportive learning environment at one of the best and most reputed schools – the Global Indian International School in Abu Dhabi. Fostering a unique school culture and environment which encourages positivity, GIIS Abu Dhabi ensures a happy learning environment for each child with their belief that positive environments make for better and receptive learners. Ensure comprehensive all-round development and personality growth for your child by enrolling them at GIIS Abu Dhabi.

The Importance of Sports in Education

A sound and healthy body is key to a sound and healthy mind. Mental well-being is an individual's strength to unprecedented success.

Sports has always played a vital role in the physical and mental development of a human body. Sporting activities and programs have been known for reinforcing  the 5 C's of mental health. The five C's include Confidence, Connection, Competence, Character, and Compassion (Lerner et al, 2002). In a rapidly changing world, where social & practical skills are given greater importance in all facets of life, it is important for educational institutes to indentify the positive role sports and games play in a child's development (Bowenn & Hitt, 2016).

A school's sports program should be able to foster optimal child development (Thomas et al, 2005).  The goal of optimal development is to encourage people to live a healthy and productive life throughout their adolescence and adulthood (Thomas et al, 2005). Optimal child development is achieved by reinforcing the principle of 5 C's. Individuals who have experienced optimal development are considered to be more positive in life and , they are also capable of utilizing their strengths and abilities in a manner that will lead them to profound success (Peterson, 2004).

Connection in sports is related to individuals meeting and making new friends. It gives people an opportunity to sharpen their social and networking skills as they interact and play with different players.  In order to be a successful sports personnel, players should learn the art of team work and communication. The social skills obtained through sports can be used by individuals to connect with new networks in other areas of life (Pomohaci & Sopa, 2016).  Sporting activities in school's should therefore,  focus on making students work together as a team. This trait will enlighten  students with the techniques of working together on various projects and tasks.

Confidence in sports is related to an individual's mental ability in backing their strength's & potential. A sports personnel without confidence will be incompetent in the playing field. An individual must hence learn the art of believing in his or her own abilities regardless of the other players on field.  The school's role is to ensure students are given enough on-field opportunities to believe in themselves. Students will then be able to translate this confidence into everyday life, making them more positive in their approach to life. It could also lead to better grades and higher academic performances.

At Global Indian International School in Abu Dhabi, the coaches take extra measures to ensure student's are given enough opportunities to build confidence, networking skills, character and competence as it can greatly enhance the students outlook to life. With reinforced 5 C's, students will be able to excel in their educational and extracurricular activities. It will also keep them prepared for life ahead in University and eventually a professional working environment as these places requires individuals with high traits in confidence, connection and competence.

Shape Your Child's Future in Global Indian International School in Abu Dhabi

Have you recently moved to Abu Dhabi or have been living there for some years now and would like to enrol your children in a world-class school which not only gives them the best education but also ensure that they get ample opportunities for personality development too? Then enrol them in the Global Indian International School in Abu Dhabi.

The Global Indian International School Abu Dhabi is one of the premier international schools in UAE offering opportunities for academic excellence aside from making available the best facilities for pursuing extra- and co-curricular activities. Adopting a unique and globally acknowledged proprietary learning framework called the 9 gems, GIIS Abu Dhabi is customized to each child’s unique ability and individuality, catering for age-appropriate learning at every stage.

GIIS Abu Dhabi has made a name for itself among the best international schools in Abu Dhabi with their pioneering practices which have been carefully selected to give a global perspective to students while they learn, encouraging experiential learning, academic training, traditional values and standards. The best teaching practices are followed by globally experienced teachers who commit themselves to guiding their students at every level and make use of the best audio-visual technology in classrooms.

The Global Indian International School, Abu Dhabi offers both the Global Montessori Plus and the Central Board of Secondary Education curricula for potential students, allowing them to choose the curriculum which most appeals to them. Academic excellence is fostered and the students of GIIS Abu Dhabi have made a name for themselves as well as for their alma mater by enrolling into some of the best universities and colleges across the world.

When you enrol your children at the Global Indian International School you can be assured that you are giving them the opportunity to be a winner all the way. GIIS Abu Dhabi provides valuable exposure to its students through unique initiative for academics, sports and culture which ensures that they can chase their dreams in whatever field they like and excel in life. Focusing on all-round development of the multiple intelligences of the students, GIIS Abu Dhabi has committed itself to nurturing their students into future-ready global citizens who can come up with unique solutions for the problems of the world and excel in their careers. In the list of Indian schools in Abu Dhabi, the Global Indian International School stands out for its commitment to provide a happy and positive learning environment for each child.