The school that dares to do things differently, Bloom World Academy, will live up to its progressive way of thinking when it launches in Dubai this August by inviting parents to eat lunch with their children on a weekly basis during their school lunch break.
A school that questions and challenges what is seen as the norm in education, Bloom World Academy will be the first school in the United Arab Emirates to invite parents into the school once a week to share lunchtime with their children. The school hopes the initiative will help to build even stronger relationships with its families and inspire positive change in the education industry, and follows the school’s announcement of being the first in the emirate to offer a later start time of 9.00 am.
Bloom World Academy will also promote conversation and connection amongst its students at lunchtime by encouraging mixed-age group dining at round tables. The school will ensure that its students experience a full one-hour lunch break too, so they can properly disconnect from technology and the busy school day and connect and engage in discussion with their peers.
The school hopes the initiative will help to build even stronger relationships with its families
Founding Principal John Bell commented: “We will continually question education traditions at Bloom World Academy and our lunch break initiatives are just one example of this. Our team of inspiring educators are on a mission to change the face of education and have brought together some of the best practices from around the world and the parent-child lunch break was one we absolutely had to implement at the school. It is no secret that the pandemic has driven children to experience an isolated lunchbreak. Children were forced to eat alone for more than two years – this is of course going to have an impact on their development and social skills. We are a school that is all about community and connection and that’s what we hope to rebuild post-pandemic with our lunch break initiatives. Children’s lunch breaks are a vital point of the day for them to disconnect from learning and engage with fellow students to develop communication and social skills so it is important that we make this time a priority.
“Welcoming parents to enjoy lunch with their children on a weekly basis will help us to create community cohesion at the school.
“The school’s lunch break initiatives will also encourage healthy eating and social skill development and welcoming parents to enjoy lunch with their children on a weekly basis will help us to create community cohesion at the school.”
Connection and community amongst its students and their families will be a key focus for the new IB Curriculum school when it welcomes its first cohort of students in August. The school’s ambition to make lunchtime a focal point of the day is driven by the effects of the pandemic-induced home learning and the gap in social development this has caused, as well as the school’s forward-thinking mission to continually question traditional educational practices.
Bloom World Academy will open the doors for Pre-KG to Grade 9 students at its state-of-the-art campus in Al Barsha in August 2022.