Amelia J Brown, one of the partners of Falcon British Nursery understands the dilemma faced by UAE parent. As a parent of two of her own children, an educator with a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education and Masters in TESOL from the UK, she understands that with so many nurseries, early learning centres and pre-schools to choose from, how do you as a parent make an informed decision as to which is the right nursery for you and your child? Different curriculums, different facilities, different values and goals, different timings, different communication methods and parent participation events create a mine field for parents wanting the best for their children.
She has created these 10 helpful tips on what to look for to make an informed choice for the perfect education match for you and your nursery aged children.
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| Nursery in Abu Dhabi - Falcon British Nursery |
1. What curriculum are you choosing?
Is the curriculum international or created by the school themselves? If it is international, is it related to a country or a company? Is it benchmarked across various subjects and age groups? As an example, as a UK accredited nursery in Abu Dhabi, Falcon British Nursery follows the UK EYFS 0-60 months curriculum. The curriculum is changed as and when the UK government prescribes. There are 7 subjects (or learning areas) and multiple benchmarks across early learning goals.
2. What syllabus is used to interpret the curriculum?
If yes, what subjects and what age groups? How does the school bring the curriculum to life? Do they have a syllabus? How regularly does the school update their syllabus?
As an example, Falcon has a 24-month theme based syllabus focusing on all 7 areas of learning and is prescriptive on language subjects, mathematics, STEM, physical development. The syllabus is reviewed yearly. Ask the school about their syllabus or how they interpret their curriculum.
As an example, Falcon has a 24-month theme based syllabus focusing on all 7 areas of learning and is prescriptive on language subjects, mathematics, STEM, physical development. The syllabus is reviewed yearly. Ask the school about their syllabus or how they interpret their curriculum.
3. Are the licenses are correct and current?
Nursery schools have to have the following licenses displayed on the walls – commercial, KHDA/ADEK/Ministry of Education, Civil Defence and Health Authority. Check the date of expiry – you have a right to know if the institution looking after your children is legal. Ministry of Health prescribes the requirements in the school clinic, so if the health authority license is displayed, you can be assured they have the equipment required for a nursery school clinic.
4. Is the school accredited?
Do not be afraid to ask if the nursery or early learning centre is accredited. Also, understand the difference between an affiliation/membership and an accreditation. An affiliation/membership means they pay to belong to a body that provides support for them to be an outstanding school. It does not mean that an independent assessor has come into the school or assessed it. If the school claims to be offering a curriculum from a specific country like the UK, America, Australia etc or an internationally affiliated company like NAEYC, they should be accredited. Many schools claim to be offering a specific curriculum, but have no documentation to back their claims up. Ask to see their accreditation documentation and google the institute they are accredited by.
5. Does the school have health and safety certificates for all or some staff?
Ask when the school’s last health and safety audit was completed.
At minimum staff should have food handling, fire safety certificates, infection control and hygiene certification as well as paediatric first aid training certificates.
At minimum staff should have food handling, fire safety certificates, infection control and hygiene certification as well as paediatric first aid training certificates.
6. What are the qualifications of management, teachers, TAs, support staff and nurses and how much experience doe they have?
At a minimum management should have a degree in education, teachers a minimum of Cache / NVQ Level 3 and Tas Cache / NVQ Level 2. Nurses should have degrees in nursing and there should be a ministry licensed nurse permanently on site. Ask what happens when the ministry licensed nurse is on sick leave or holiday. They should have a contract with a nursing agency to provide a substitute ministry licensed nurse. If the nurse is on duty for less than the hours the school is open for, what provision is made for the children? Do they have paediatric first aiders on duty at the start and end of the day?
7. Ask about policies and procedures
There should be policies and procedures displayed on the website and on the parent communication app. Are they available for parents in the reception? Is the complaints procedure shown on the wall in reception?
8. Communication and parent participation
Ask how information about your child’s day is shared? Most nurseries in the UK have parent apps and it is rare to find outstanding nurseries using paper based systems. Does the app share photos and information about the day? Do you get information on events? Ask to see a copy of the parent newsletters for the last 3 terms. What sort of events are listed for the previous year? How does the nursery inform you of your child’s progress? What documentation do they share with you at these information sharing times? Do you get a benchmarked or a teacher created narrative report? Does the child have a profile document or learning journey? Are you able to set up a meeting with the teacher if you need to? How long does it take to get a mid-term report if needed? Do they offer a play date or a settling session?
9. Ask about term fees, extended care fees into school holidays, discounts, bus fees and how regularly the school increases the fees.
Does the school regularly increase fees? The last fee increase should be stamped and approved by ministry and displayed in reception. Ask about add on fees. Ministry wants fees to be displayed as a lump sum instead of multiple fees for multiple items. Does the school have a registration fee? Does the school have a deposit to secure the place for the following term? Ask about the fees and refund policy. Where does the bus travel to? What timings does it follow (some schools have drop offs to some areas only at certain times)
10. How did you and your child feel after your tour?
Was the registrar or tour provider knowledgeable and were your questions answered? Did you see all of the school or did the tour only let you view a few areas chosen by the school? Was there anything alarming – gate left open, lack of finger guards, adult sized toilets or basins, child alone in the sleeping room without a staff member on duty? Did you notice children engaged in activities? Were the children doing independently chosen work or sitting together doing group work A warning sign is a group of children all colouring the same picture or watching the teacher mixing flour and the water together in science or cookery instead of the child doing it themselves. When you spoke to staff members, were they friendly? Did you see separate admin, teaching staff and nursing staff or are jobs shared – is a teacher also the receptionist? Were children separated by age group or did you see 1-year olds with the 3-year olds? Do they offer a specialist baby unit and a 4-year-old class for older learners? Are displays updated or do they still say welcome to the new year in June? Did you see up to date checklists for cleaning and other monitoring including food re-heating? What timings are available for working parents? Is the nursery school closed at all during the year other than during public holiday times? Were there fridges available for the children’s food to be stored in and were there thermometers checking the temperatures? Are children checked automatically for fever during the day and if so, how regularly? What is their child/adult ratio per age group? What is the maximum number in each class for each age group? How big was the playground area? What sort of areas are available for the children to go to other than their classroom / homeroom? How many children is the nursery registered to have on premises? Did you feel comfortable in the nursery? Did your child fit into the nursery environment? How did you feel about the nursery when you left?
With these 10 tips and a list of nurseries to visit, you as a parent can make an informed decision as to which is the right nursery for you and your child and you can move confidently into the next chapter of your little one's life.
With these 10 tips and a list of nurseries to visit, you as a parent can make an informed decision as to which is the right nursery for you and your child and you can move confidently into the next chapter of your little one's life.
