With the summer break coming to a close, children across the UAE are getting ready to return to school. Families will be kept busy buying uniforms and equipment, receiving information about classes and lessons and getting children back into a routine.
While a new school term can spell excitement for some, for others it can lead to anxiety. Changing schools, having different classmates, moving from foundation stage to primary or primary to secondary and having unknown teachers are among the many reasons children may feel anxious about returning to school.
“Returning to school after a summer break can be a time of mixed emotions for students and their families,” says Chris Seeley, principal at Dove Green Private School who is also a father of two. “As class lists are published, there is often a mix of excitement and anxiety about who is in their class and who the new teacher will be. Moving up a year group or grade energises many students as they get ready to meet their teachers, see old classmates and make new friends. Still, for some, this means an anxious and nervous start to the new year.”
Read the signs
According to Nicola Upham, vice principal of student development at Bloom World Academy, anxious children might display increased irritability, frequent worries or withdrawal from family and friends. “They may become unusually clingy to parents or show signs of crying more frequently," she adds. "Changes in behaviour, such as a sudden reluctance to engage in activities they once enjoyed, can also indicate underlying anxiety. These emotional shifts are often a response to the stress and anticipation associated with returning to school.”
May Zalat, head of education at Blossom Nurseries and Babilou Family, adds: “Becoming clingier, having mood swings or crying more frequently than usual are entirely natural feelings, as young children are still developing their emotional resilience and adaptability.”
Validating the child’s anxious thoughts is important by acknowledging that any change or new routine is difficult at first
Chris Seeley,
principal, Dove Green Private School
Parents may also find their child is procrastinating about preparing for the coming term, such as putting off buying new equipment or showing a lack of enthusiasm for the experiences that await. Although, in contrast, over-preparedness can be another sign of anxiety. “Behaviourally, signs might include a reluctance to talk about school or nursery, withdrawal from group activities, or even a regression in skills they had previously mastered, like toilet training,” explains Zalat.
Nervousness can also manifest as physical symptoms, which may include poor sleep and restlessness, while for younger children complaints of stomach aches or headaches are common. Lisa Sherrington-Boyd, director of family services at Clarion Nursery School, offers a potential solution. “I find children open up more when they give advice to others," she says. "If you feel your child is worried but is not saying something, you could make a similar hypothetical problem of a friend and see what options the hypothetical child has. A good role-play game that can be done with a teddy for younger children.”
Demystify the unknown
For many children, the unknown aspects of going back to school, such as new teachers, classmates and schedules, can feel out of their control. “Validating the child’s anxious thoughts is important by acknowledging that any change or new routine is difficult at first, but soon becomes normal and may even become enjoyable and something to look forward to every day,” says Seeley. “In our house, we arrange play dates with classmates before school starts on the understanding that familiarity can and will improve our boys’ academic and emotional adjustment to the new school term.”
Sharing insights into their child’s specific anxieties, parents enable teachers to customise their approach and offer targeted support
Nicola Upham,
vice principal of student development, Bloom World Academy
Parents are advised to join class and year WhatsApp and email groups and read weekly newsletters and communications from the school to stay up to date with what is happening. “Parents can also help ease a child’s anxiety by preparing for back to school early and not leaving everything until the last minute,” says Sonia Singhal, a psychologist at Thrive Wellbeing Centre. “Planning a school visit, meeting new teachers and organising class schedules before the first day of school is also helpful, as is creating a night-time routine, morning routine and homework schedule.”
Keep teachers in the loop
For parents wondering how much to share with teachers about their child’s anxiety, Upham says providing as much information as possible is best. “Involving the teacher can help create a supportive environment both at home and in the classroom, making the child feel more secure and understood,” adds Upham. “By sharing insights into their child’s specific anxieties, parents enable teachers to customise their approach and offer targeted support.”
Singhal says: “Teachers and school counsellors are often experienced in working with school anxiety, so it can be helpful to discuss your child’s worries with them. Maintaining regular contact between parents, teachers, counsellors and nurses can be helpful to monitor your child’s progress and to help your child not feel isolated or helpless at school.”
Back-to-school anxiety may even occur among children who have not previously experienced it, and feelings of nervousness can last from a few days to a few weeks. “I find that six weeks is what it usually takes to settle in at school almost perfectly, for everyone to blend and bond and for a community to be fully formed,” says Sherrington-Boyd.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Alaan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Parthi%20Duraisamy%20and%20Karun%20Kurien%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%247%20million%20raised%20in%20total%20%E2%80%94%20%242.5%20million%20in%20a%20seed%20round%20and%20%244.5%20million%20in%20a%20pre-series%20A%20round%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
Facebook | Our website | Instagram
The years Ramadan fell in May
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site
The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.
Correspondents
By Tim Murphy
(Grove Press)
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
|
1.
|
United States
|
|
2.
|
China
|
|
3.
|
UAE
|
|
4.
|
Japan
|
|
5
|
Norway
|
|
6.
|
Canada
|
|
7.
|
Singapore
|
|
8.
|
Australia
|
|
9.
|
Saudi Arabia
|
|
10.
|
South Korea
|
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Review: Tomb Raider
Dir: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Daniel Wu, Walter Goggins
two stars
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
T20 World Cup Qualifier
October 18 – November 2
Opening fixtures
Friday, October 18
ICC Academy: 10am, Scotland v Singapore, 2.10pm, Netherlands v Kenya
Zayed Cricket Stadium: 2.10pm, Hong Kong v Ireland, 7.30pm, Oman v UAE
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Darius D’Silva, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Junaid Siddique, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Waheed Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Zahoor Khan
Players out: Mohammed Naveed, Shaiman Anwar, Qadeer Ahmed
Players in: Junaid Siddique, Darius D’Silva, Waheed Ahmed
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3ECompany%20name%3A%20Shipsy%3Cbr%3EYear%20of%20inception%3A%202015%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Soham%20Chokshi%2C%20Dhruv%20Agrawal%2C%20Harsh%20Kumar%20and%20Himanshu%20Gupta%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20India%2C%20UAE%20and%20Indonesia%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20logistics%3Cbr%3ESize%3A%20more%20than%20350%20employees%3Cbr%3EFunding%20received%20so%20far%3A%20%2431%20million%20in%20series%20A%20and%20B%20rounds%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Info%20Edge%2C%20Sequoia%20Capital%E2%80%99s%20Surge%2C%20A91%20Partners%20and%20Z3%20Partners%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE%20HOLDOVERS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlexander%20Payne%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Paul%20Giamatti%2C%20Da'Vine%20Joy%20Randolph%2C%20Dominic%20Sessa%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
