Schools across the UAE have been lauded for their efforts to care for their pupils' mental health.
Dubai's Gems FirstPoint School – The Villa recently received the School Mental Health Award from the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools, part of Leeds Beckett University in the UK.
The silver standard certification was awarded for setting up a peer-to-peer mental health programme for pupils. It has also established an integrated wellbeing curriculum, 'happiness trees' and mindfulness spaces.
Matthew Barrett, head of primary, said the award recognised the important work being carried out to promote mental wellbeing.
He said year 12 and 13 pupils, who trained in mental health first aid, served as “wellbeing warriors”.
“These pupils visit tutor groups in the secondary school every morning, providing peer support and checking in with fellow pupils,” he said.
Pupils have trained to become “empathy detectives”, encouraged to identify and acknowledge peers who demonstrate kindness and empathy.
Mental health 'first aid'
Gems Wesgreen International School – Sharjah won the prestigious TES Student Mental Health Initiative of the Year award.
The school, which runs the Teen Mental Health First Aid programme, equips pupils with the training to identify peers who may be experiencing difficulties. It has trained 75 pupils since 2021 as mental health first aiders.
Roxanne Wolmarans, head of student support and inclusion at the school, said the programme came about after staff noticed a decline in pupils' mental health, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We had pupils come to us and they said we needed to do something more on a pupil-level, because we did have our counsellors, but we were still not reaching all of our pupils,” Ms Wolmarans said.
The school worked with The Lighthouse Arabia, a mental health clinic in Dubai, to train the mental health first aiders.
“The programme is also about creating awareness to reduce stigma," she said.
“We do have a big push for mental health and psychological wellbeing within our school for our parents, pupils and our staff. This year, for example, we've run workshops on psychological wellbeing.”
The school also has a wellbeing curriculum in place and an anti-bullying committee which works in tandem with the mental health first aiders.
Gauri Chibber, a 19-year-old Indian pupil, said the mental health first aiders programme was important as it forged bonds between pupils.
She said cyberbullying and academic stress affected pupils, and the first aiders help guide their peers if they feel pressured.
“There's academic pressure to get into a university or to get the best grades, that's very common," she said.
“During the training, we were taught how to tackle situations if we believe a pupil is struggling. However, we are not supposed to diagnose anybody.
“What we were taught was to be empathetic towards them in such a way that they don't feel intimidated. We could guide them to the wellbeing leaders such as our counsellor.”
Gold standard
In 2021, The British School Al Khubairat was awarded the Gold Standard Mental Health Award from the Carnegie Centre.
“These include a counselling service, a range of preventative measures and activities, a wellbeing group for staff, and holistic wellbeing education for pupils, staff and parents, to develop their wellbeing practice at home,” said head teacher Mark Leppard.
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Squads
Sri Lanka Tharanga (c), Mathews, Dickwella (wk), Gunathilaka, Mendis, Kapugedera, Siriwardana, Pushpakumara, Dananjaya, Sandakan, Perera, Hasaranga, Malinga, Chameera, Fernando.
India Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rohit, Rahul, Pandey, Rahane, Jadhav, Dhoni (wk), Pandya, Axar, Kuldeep, Chahal, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar, Thakur.
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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
The specs
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
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Plastic tipping points
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Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
The five pillars of Islam
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4.
5.
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Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
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Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
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Volunteers of all ages can submit DNA samples at centres across Abu Dhabi, including: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), Biogenix Labs in Masdar City, NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City, NMC Royal Medical Centre, Abu Dhabi, NMC Royal Women's Hospital, Bareen International Hospital, Al Towayya in Al Ain, NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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• The National announces Future of News journalism competition
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