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Published: March 30th 2010
What I’ve learnt about nurseries and schools here in Dubai
It’s the end of an era - the Big Boy is into his last week of nursery school and starts Big School on April 11th. I’m off to buy the uniform this week, we’re trying to get him used to unfamiliar toilets and wearing socks again (nothing like a deadline to put the pressure on), and we’re debating whether signing him up for the school bus would be a good idea. All this activity got me thinking that I should blog about schools and nurseries in Dubai ... so here goes...from angst-ridden assessments to waiting lists and lack-lustre lunchboxes, here are 8 things I’ve learnt:
• Getting a school place for your child requires nerves of steel, because your offspring - even three-year-olds - have to pass an assessment. Expect to be Very Nervous. And anticipate that Anything Could Happen (my friend’s angellic-looking daughter started singing a song about two little birds that crashed into a tree, splattering blood everywhere).
At the Big Boy’s first assessment, several teachers made notes on how well the children - in a glass-walled room so we could watch on the edge of
our seats - were interacting. The Big Boy, three at the time, refused to play with anyone, nicked toys and ignored the teacher’s requests, until about 20 minutes later when he finally did what he’d been asked but, it was too late, no-one saw. Amazingly, he got a place but then we moved house and had to start the whole process again in a different area.
A couple of months ago - a year older and wiser (!) - he proved yet again that never mind counting and writing your name, if he would just co-operate the whole thing would be far less nerve-wracking. He wouldn’t talk, wouldn’t name any of the members of his family and didn’t want to draw a picture of us either. Eventually, he put pen to paper and drew a train. Thankfully he finally said a few words, telling the Director of Admissions about the points on the railway track, and we left with a letter of acceptance - phew! A stiff gin and tonic was needed after that.
• The admissions process involves more than simply registering for a school or nursery - more often than not you register your child on
the Waiting List, which will cost you 300 dirhams or so for the privilege. Waiting Lists vary in length, but can be long and frustrating - prompting us to register the Baby for 2012 already (for one particular school, I’d suggest you register any unborn children now). Depending on when your child turns four, you’ll have no idea when Emirates starts paying - but thank goodness they do pay. School fees are steep.
• Despite forking out thousands of dirhams for nursery, you’ll hear very little about what actually takes place. ‘I did nothing’ is what the Big Boy always tells us - the odd tidbits he reveals usually leaving us baffled, like the snippet about a scrap between Dina and Magda that caused Magda to disappear and never be seen again at nursery.
• Expect to shop for and prepare endless breakfast and lunch boxes. The Big Boy is only at nursery for three-and-a-half hours a day, a whole hour of which is dedicated to eating. And don’t be surprised if you feel disheartened after seeing your child’s friends munching on fresh-cut exotic fruit for breakfast, while your kid chomps on a Rice Krispie bar. When you
get fed up sending in so much food every day, you’ll consider using a service you never thought you’d resort to - www.lunchboxes.ae, where you order a lunchbox online - choosing everything from the type of bread to extra fillings - and have the gourmet lunchbox delivered to school.
• Don’t miss Sports Day - especially for no good reason at all. At the next event, you’ll look round at all the moms and dads (the men smartly dressed, having taken the morning off work to attend a 20-minute concert) and realise that the Big Boy’s protestations and the Guilt you felt after failing to show up last time was a suitable penance. (though I have a feeling that getting to the Big School’s Sports Day next year will be a challenge - they just held it at 8am on a Saturday morning .... what were they thinking?)
• Turning up five minutes before these events is NOT plenty of time. We arrived in force for the Big Boy’s nursery Spring concert last week - bringing our housemaid and Baby with us - but everyone else had arrived half an hour earlier, it seemed, had taken all the
chairs and were sat waiting expectantly. And whatever you do, bring your camera, preferably a professional-looking one. You could also consider bringing a tripod or video camera. Pointing your mobile phone at the stage from the back row WILL NOT cut it! (see out-of-focus mobile phone photo on left!)
• Swotting up on the differences between the IB (International Baccalaureate), British and American curriculums is a must and you’ll also need to choose whether your three-year-old studies French or German! Yes, at the IB school we’ve picked, the Big Boy will start French immersion classes, where, barring emergencies, everything is spoken in French. Not only that, he’ll also start Arabic classes. I’ve been warned to prepare for homework too. The idea that the Big Boy will come home from school, take his books upstairs and sit down to do homework is so far-fetched I’ve a strong feeling it’ll be me keeping busy with homework.
• You’ll spend so much money on nursery for your first born that, when it comes to your second-in-line, you’ll keep putting it off as leaving your little one with your maid when you need to get things done saves a lot of cash.
The result: Baby is a dab hand with the mop now and gets really excited in the supermarket when we go past the broom section.
Photos below show some of the things that my BFF Lucy and myself got up to during her recent visit to Dubai - miss ya Luce!
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"Old Nanny"
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Good Luck
Good Luck for April 11th and send us a photo of Big Boy in his new school uniform.