BON's bubble groups and other innovations as UAE preschoolers head back to classrooms
Dr Vandana Gandhi says research indicates that longer pre-school attendance leads to higher cognitive gains when entering school
At British Orchard Nursery (BON) the health and safety needs of the children, parents and staff are of paramount importance. BON is ISO quality, health, safety and environment certified to the latest standards. BON has been working closely with the UAE authorities and their safety guidelines while following international best practices and benchmarks.
Welcoming preschoolers back to the nurseries is an anticipated joy awaited by staff and parents who are looking forward to the stimulation and much-needed interaction and social care that nurseries provide.
Dr Vandana Gandhi, CEO and founder of British Orchard Nurseries UAE and UK, says, "Attending school has immense benefits. It is within the structured nursery education environment that toddlers learn important skills of reading, language, numeracy and acquire enhanced social and physical development skills in line with the early learning goals."
Early years
"Children benefit immensely from interacting with qualified teachers and are generally more prepared and better equipped socially and intellectually when they eventually join mainstream schools. In fact, research indicates that longer pre-school attendance leads to higher cognitive gains when entering school hence nurseries such as ours are opting to open our doors after a break."
The award-winning BON curriculum and quality is developed through the goals and learning objectives of the British National Curriculum. The EYFS planning is set with children’s motivation and interest at heart.
The classrooms have been minimised in capacity using a new strategy, separating children into bubbles that are age appropriate
BON understands concerns working mothers may have. Following health and safety guidelines, BON is teaming up with certified sterilisation teams that will cover each of the 25 branches. Safety stickers and signs are being placed to raise awareness and to maintain the social distancing.
Principals, teachers and staff members are all UK diploma certified to the quality education standards and have all been Covid tested. Further, staff will be tested every fortnight to ensure the children’s safety.
The classrooms have been minimised in capacity using a new strategy, separating children into bubbles of 3:8/3:10, which are age appropriate. Teachers will be assigned a bubble of children to guarantee they do not mix with other bubbles. The team members in each bubble are first aid, and SEN trained and will be in protective wear.
British Orchard Nursery has designated a clinic and an isolation room for any child or team member who might experience symptoms. A qualified nurse and health and safety officer is responsible for the daily health screenings of staff and children.
Any tours of the nursery will be via online or be available outside of nursery timings. BON has ensured that they stay paperless, with admissions and payments all being done online.
British Orchard Nursery has benchmarked with its BON’s Oxford, UK branch and the UK guidelines too. Their UK branch has been operating successfully during the entire pandemic.
Blended options
Adopting and implementing on-site nursery classes, flexible in the morning and afternoon, blended options, home support and e-learning are some of the options provided to parents.
BONLine, a virtual learning system, now with students including in the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and India, was created early on in the pandemic so students don’t miss out on essential education at the delicate early years stage. The BONline programme makes sure all families have access to activities, creating a packed schedule of teacher-led video call, and recorded DIY videos covering all the stages of EYFS, which can be used under a simple App – BONApple.
BONLine has evolved to include nursery, FS1, FS2, KG1 and KG2 and a home-support online programme. The trained team will support the child’s developmental and everyday needs.
Extracurricular programmes
Not only has British Orchard Nursery been innovating and improving, they have also been quick on their feet to always provide parents and children with extracurricular programmes such as zumba, gym juniors, creative arts and design, speech support, Islamic studies, Quran reading to name a few. BON provides learning of seven languages – English, Arabic, Mandarin, Hindi, Urdu, French and Russian.
E-learning is also extended to adults who would like to earn teaching diplomas and learn with qualified tutors from Oxford BON UK and UAE, and earn a teaching diploma from the UK with the British Orchard Training Institute. Adults can also participate in daily webinars on varying educational topics of health, hygiene and social care too.
British Orchard Centre has led many stay-at-home mothers find a new career path, opened doors for training and certification in childcare.
It is going to be fun and engaging to get back to pre-school with BON, the Middle East’s largest and most-awarded nursery chain.