UAE: Up to 9-day break ahead of Ramadan as schools head into mid-term
The next big break for schools is mid-term break starting in mid-February.
Some schools will get the week off from Monday, February 10 — Friday, February 14, making it nine days including weekends. The rest will get a 3-day rest from Wednesday, February 12 through Friday, February 14.
A few schools will have only two days off, Thursday, February 13 and Friday, February 14. Combine this with the weekend and the students will be off four days and they will return to school Monday, February 17.
While during Ramadan (set to start on March 1 this year depending on the moon’s location) school will be followed by shorter work days with teachers again saying that they will change the syllabus to keep it balanced and ensure the learning continues.
How to recognize the value of short-term rest
Notably, holidays are left on the calendar for some time if the school has 182 school days in the minimum for the international curriculum. The half-term holiday in some schools, for example, runs from Friday, February 14 until Monday, February 17.
"We are in the American way of studying, and we have four quarter, two-semester system. We are doing finals for semester 1 right now. We do have a set break calendar but we also value brief respites for students and families. "There is research to support pauses to enhance focus, decrease stress and promote wellbeing, all of which are necessary to have a healthy learning environment," said Lisa Johnson, principal of American Academy for Girls.
Founders said curriculum is established at the beginning of the school year with breaks in mind to balance progress over the term. ‘We have one week break in between two weekends. We are off from February 10th-15th," said Neetha Shetty, principal of Al Diyafah High School, LLC.
The amount of curriculum coverage varies from one phase to another, she insisted. "It is 60 or 70 per cent of what is in some senior classes by the time the term ends, and it’s 50 or 60 per cent in primary classes. Then January is also a cooler month and you have plenty of sports activities, and that is timed accordingly".
She also made the point that breaks give teachers a chance to recharge.
Shetty said, "Teaching is a physically demanding job and vacations allow teachers to recover both mentally and physically so they aren’t burned out. For students as well as for teachers, vacations bring efficiency and wellbeing. They give attention to good teaching and learning, instead of just putting it all into classroom time."
School calendars approved in advance
They further said that school calendar is approved and verified by the relevant authorities before the end of last academic year.
"That means our teachers can complete long-term planning for every subject, before the beginning of the new school year and considering all mid-term breaks and national holidays in the year so that they cover the curriculum. We are going on midterm vacation from Monday 10th February till Wednesday 12th February," said Lisa Passante, principal at Star International School, Al Twar.
‘They take breaks to reset, to return reenergized to learn. We are a BSME member school that is trying to have our holidays consistent in the region so that parents who have children in other schools can get them. Many of us have taken a three day instead of a five day break this year. This will still leave room for a break, but not as long as years past," Passante continued.
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