DUBAI // Integrating Arabic and Islamic Studies into the wider curriculum will be the focus of a new school that will open this summer.
The Next Generation School will open its doors to children for the next academic year and promises to develop both the academic and character of its pupils.
“Rather than teach in compartmentalised lessons we will integrate subjects like Arabic and Islamic studies into other subjects,” said Sheryl Steinberg Abukar, the school principal.
“So what the students learn in maths and science for example, will be linked back to what the Koran talks about so that they can get a broader understanding,” she said.
“For example we have a section on water so in English lessons they will learn information about how only one per cent of it is earth’s water is drinkable as well as issues related to pollution.
“This will then link back to Islamic Studies and they will find out what the Koran says about water and how important it is.”
The school’s core curriculum is American but is also influenced by teaching in Canada and Finland.
“Each person has a unique disposition and purpose,” said Dr Abukar.
“As educators, our job is to help all students learn how to use the tools of literacy, inquiry, and critical thinking to discover their unique capabilities and to appreciate those of others.
“One of the issues with teaching Arabic in the past has been that it was done so in isolation.
“But by incorporating it within the wider curriculum it not only makes it more fun to learn but something pupils see as part of the overall learning experience.”
The school’s campus has facilities that include state-of-the-art classrooms, academic facilities, prayer halls, libraries, a botanical garden, labs, spacious indoor and outdoor sporting facilities, and playgrounds.
The school building itself is outfitted with virtual and augmented reality systems and a range of other technologies.
At full capacity, the 30,000 square metre campus in Al Barsha, will cater to over 2,900 students from Pre-K to 12th Grade.
There will be a phased expansion of the school with kindergarten to fifth grade launching this year.
Next year will see the middle school open for grades six to eight followed by grades nine to 12 in 2018.
Parents can sign up their children for August 2016 on Next Generation School's website or by emailing admin@nextgenerationschool.ae.
For additional information contact 600 569 008.
nhanif@thenational.ae