Safety and Security Measures at GIIS

Child safety is a paramount concern for parents especially when their kids are away from home. Children spend most of their time at school and hence, parents will be concerned on the level of safety and security that is being provided by the school. Parents spend a lot of time and energy in educating their children on what is considered safe and unsafe. It is not only important for the children to differentiate between safe and unsafe, however, it also important for the child to be able to interact within a safe environment. Parents ensure that, the best safety and security precautions are in place to ensure their child's safety within their supervisory context.  Hence, it is the school's responsibility to ensure that these measure are extended beyond the home and into the school and classroom.

The first point of contact between the school and a GIIS student is the bus on which they will be commuting to school. The safety of the child within the school supervision begins on their school bus. Buses are regularly checked to ensure that their safety is not compromised. This involves the evaluation of the bus tires and brakes. In order to operate as a transportation medium for school children, operators must adhere to certain codes that is dictated by ADEC - the government institution that oversees education in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. All buses are GPS enabled allowing schools and parents to track bus movement. In addition to GPS tracking, buses are also equipped with multiple CCTV's which can be accessed remotely from the school giving supervisors a live view. As government regulation, all school buses are equipped with well trained and qualified Nannies who acts as a link between parents, school and transportation company. The nannies are also responsible to ensure the child's safety onboard. Once the student boards the bus, they will be required to scan their ID which is equipped with an RFID tag. This scanning happens twice on each trip - one for boarding and the other while leaving the bus.

When students reach the school, attendance will be taken, and an instantaneous message will be sent out to parents if their child is marked absent. This is done as a precautionary measure to ensure that the parents are aware their child is not at school.

Surveillance camera's that operate 24*7 are installed in all areas of the school. The cameras allow the monitoring of movement within the school. Any unusual activity can be easily detected by the Security team by remotely monitoring these cameras. The school also has trained and certified security guards who are on duty 24 hours, 7 days a week. They also ensure that no person gains unauthorized access inside the school.

The school is also fully child proofed with padding for furniture and objects with sharp edges. Doors also proofed to avoid students jamming their fingers. Fifteen percent of employees at GIIS are trained as first respondent in case of an emergency.  GIIS Abu Dhabi also conducts regular training and drills on fire safety and evacuation.

The school is also inspected on a regular basis to ensure that all safety regulation are implemented and adhered.

Importance of Planning in Studies

Children can often get carried away with the free time they enjoy after schooling hours. The unusually long schooling hours can make children lethargic once they return home. The tardiness leads to procrastinating their home-work and daily studies. Furthermore, with parent's being held with overwhelming work schedule, they often neglect their children's home schedule and their activities.   This behavior if prolonged, can have a significant negative impact on the child's academic performance, thereby negatively affecting their grades. Parents and schools together play a significant role in ensuring a healthy balance between study and games, is maintained during the child's free time. The parent's role is to ensure the balance is maintained while, the school play an important role in framing this balance.

 To ensure a decent balance is maintained between study and play, it is important that children have the right resources not just to play but to study as well. Firstly, parents must ensure that the children have an adequate space to study. The study place should be well lit, have a table big enough to accommodate their books. The space should be such that all the necessary study materials are available at hand, so as to reduce the wastage of time taken in searching for materials during the study hours. Materials, if not easily available during the study period can reduce the effective time the child spends in studying. The space should be created in a manner that instills and motivates learning. A space with inadequate amenities will significantly lower the child's concentration levels. Parents should consult the children on their preferred settings for learning and studying, as this will enable customization of  the room to the child's preference, thereby effectively enhancing the space utilized for studies. Second, in-order to make effective use of time, parents must create a schedule that allots sufficient time for learning, completing home-work and play. The schedule should be such that the students are not rushed into completing all subjects in a given day. The timetable can include a set of subjects to be covered for each day. Prioritizing subjects and home works based on deadlines is also part of scheduling. Parents should prioritize subjects based on their child's abilities, and should then create a schedule allotting more time for those subjects requiring the most attention. This kind of scheduling and priority setting results  in making effective use of study time.

The result of such planning and scheduling can have a tremendous benefit in the mental health of the child. With schedules being set, children will have sufficient time to play, eat, sleep and study. With the absence of an organized schedule, children will procrastinate their studies for future date until it becomes too late to either study or complete the tasks at hand. This will lead to stress and mental disturbance thereby reducing the child's effectiveness.

Global Indian international School in Abu Dhabi conducts regular training sessions for parents where-in parents are educated about the process and benefits of maintaining a schedule for their child. Children are also given appropriate care and attention in the classroom to ensure that subject materials are easily comprehended, reducing the time spent on home-learning. This is done through additional teaching materials such as -videos, pictures, games, tutorials.