Homework part I don’t like, but ...

Things are never quite the same from one year to the next, and the latest batch of Abu Dhabi students returning to the classroom is just beginning to familiarise with new faces, new facilities and, of course, new expectations.

“High school is completely different,” says Sonia, who has just started ninth grade at the American International School. “There’s no classroom you can call your home classroom, that you just sit in and leave your stuff in. You have to keep moving around, each subject is in a different room.”

Like many other students experiencing their first day of school, Sonia is highly attuned to what’s going to be different this time around. She knows the school’s curriculum has been tweaked, allowing her (unlike last year’s ninth grade class) to take biology. She considers herself lucky.

Her younger sister Irum also ticks off new privileges and responsibilities when asked about her first day back at school. “I’m going to fifth grade now, so it’s a whole new experience,” she says. “We’re going to have an exhibition and we’re going to get more homework. The homework part I don’t like, but the rest of school is really good,” she confides.

Fourth grader Iman and her mother Saira shared some of the unpredictable excitement of returning to school when they found themselves trying to navigate Sheikh Zayed Private Academy’s new building for primary students. “There was a little bit of chaos because of the new building, but we found the shortcut in the end,” says Saira. “My daughter was very excited about it, the main hallway is huge, and it’s bright and airy.”

Iman couldn’t help chiming in on the school’s new amenities. “There is a new reception, cafeteria, waiting room for the parents and a lot of passageways,” she says, proudly describing the new look of the school she has attended since kindergarten. “It was still normal, but a bit different.” In spite of the new surroundings, she says she made it through the day without getting lost.

The new school year also brings the opportunity to see old friends. For 11th grader Hamid, who spent most of his summer out of the UAE, the return to school was one of his first chances to reconnect with home. “It was good because I got to meet all my friends that I hadn’t seen over the summer. I got to catch up with them,” he says.

The first day of the academic year went off without a hitch at Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Arab Pakistan School said Asifa, a high school supervisor. “It’s busy as usual. The students of course are very excited and the teachers are also alert because they know they have to maintain the discipline from the very first day. It happens every year.”

aisha@khaleejtimes.com