Ready for School,
Ready for Life
Starting school is a significant developmental milestone, and readiness is far more than knowing letters and numbers. Our programme brings psychology, psychiatry, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and ABA together around one child and one plan.
What readiness actually means
True readiness extends beyond academic knowledge. It requires emotional regulation, social competence, communication skills, behavioural stability and a growing independence, the things that decide whether a child can use a classroom, rather than what they already know when they walk into one.
A school-ready child is able to:
- Regulate emotions and manage frustration
- Engage appropriately with peers and adults
- Follow structured routines and classroom expectations
- Communicate needs clearly and effectively
- Sustain attention and complete tasks
- Demonstrate independence in daily activities
A child who can read but cannot manage the transition from the playground to the carpet is not yet ready. A child who can do neither is not behind. They are four.
The five disciplines
The programme brings together specialists who collaborate closely to provide coordinated, individualised care. Not every child needs all five. The assessment decides which are involved, and the point of having them under one roof is that they plan together instead of writing five separate reports.
Child Psychology
Our child psychologists assess and support:
Emotional regulation · Behavioural challenges · Separation anxiety and school-related fears · Attention and executive functioning · Social skills and peer interaction · Self-esteem and confidence building
Therapeutic approaches include evidence-based behavioural strategies, cognitive interventions and structured play-based techniques, tailored to each child.
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Our psychiatry team provides:
Developmental and diagnostic evaluations · Assessment of ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, anxiety and mood-related concerns · Clinical oversight and treatment planning · Medication management where appropriate
Psychiatric involvement is what makes sure an underlying neurodevelopmental or mental health factor is addressed rather than worked around.
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy focuses on functional participation and physical readiness for school. Our occupational therapists support:
Fine motor skills and handwriting readiness · Gross motor coordination · Sensory processing and self-regulation · Sitting tolerance and classroom participation · Self-care skills such as dressing, feeding and toileting
These are the foundations that let a child take part in a classroom activity rather than spend the lesson managing their own body.
Speech and Language Therapy
Effective communication is central to school success. Our speech and language therapists address:
Expressive and receptive language development · Listening comprehension · Articulation and clarity of speech · Social communication skills · Early literacy and phonological awareness
Strong communication improves academic performance and peer relationships at the same time. A child who can ask for what they need rarely has to demand it.
Applied Behaviour Analysis
ABA therapy provides structured, measurable interventions that promote:
Task engagement and attention · Positive classroom behaviours · Adaptive functioning and independence · Reduction of challenging behaviours · Skill acquisition for children with developmental differences
ABA interventions are goal-driven and tailored to each child’s learning profile.
The assessment
Each child undergoes a detailed evaluation across the key developmental domains. This establishes a clear developmental profile, and that profile is what the intervention plan is built from, rather than the plan being built from a parent’s worry or a school’s complaint.
- Cognitive functioning and executive skills
- Emotional and behavioural regulation
- Language and communication abilities
- Motor and sensory integration
- Social interaction and play skills
- Functional independence
If a specific assessment is what you are after rather than the full programme, the assessment pathways page sets out what each type examines and which question it answers.
The individualised plan
Following the assessment we develop a structured, goal-oriented plan. Its four parts are what make this a programme rather than a set of appointments.
Integrated therapy sessions across disciplines
Sessions planned together rather than booked separately, so the psychologist, the speech therapist and the occupational therapist are working towards the same goals in the same term.
Targeted interventions aligned with classroom expectations
The goals are written against what a classroom will actually ask of the child, not against a general developmental checklist.
Home-based strategies for skill generalisation
A skill that only appears in a therapy room has not generalised. Parents are given the strategies to make it appear at home too.
Ongoing progress monitoring and review
Goals are reviewed and adjusted as the child moves, so the plan keeps describing the child in front of you.
Parents as partners
Parents are essential partners in the readiness process, not spectators to it. Consistency between home and therapy is what turns an hour a week into a change. We provide:
- Practical strategies for supporting routines and behaviour at home
- Guidance on fostering independence
- Education about what is developmentally reasonable to expect
- Support through the transition into school itself
How the programme runs
1.Initial parent consultation and developmental history
We start with what you have seen. The history a parent brings is the single most useful piece of information in the whole assessment.
2.Multidisciplinary child assessment sessions
The child is seen across the relevant domains by the relevant specialists, in sessions designed for their age and attention span.
3.Feedback meeting with detailed recommendations
The team explains what they found and what they recommend, in plain language, together rather than in five separate conversations.
4.Implementation of the individualised plan
Therapy begins against written goals, with the disciplines coordinating rather than running in parallel.
5.Ongoing review and adjustment of goals
Progress is reviewed and the plan changes with it. Programme duration varies depending on each child’s developmental needs.
Who it is for
The programme is appropriate for children who are:
- Preparing to enter nursery, kindergarten or primary school
- Showing delays in language, motor or social development
- Experiencing behavioural or emotional challenges
- Finding attention or impulse control difficult
- Needing support to build independence
- Diagnosed with, or being assessed for, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder or a related developmental concern
Early support strengthens long-term academic and emotional outcomes. If you are not sure whether your child needs this, that uncertainty is a good enough reason to call. We would rather have the conversation and tell you no.
We do not assess whether a child is ready.
We build the readiness.
The aim is for each child to function confidently in structured environments, regulate their emotions with minimal adult intervention, communicate effectively, participate independently in age-appropriate tasks, and approach school with resilience rather than dread.
What the programme prepares a child to do
The goals are written against the classroom the child is actually going into.
- Adapt to structured classroom settings
- Participate in group learning
- Follow multi-step instructions
- Manage transitions independently
- Interact positively with peers
- Cope with new environments and expectations
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Schools run their own admissions or readiness assessments to their own criteria. This is a clinical programme: it assesses a child’s development and then works on it. If a school has asked for something specific, tell us what they asked for before you book.
Duration varies depending on each child’s developmental needs. That is the honest answer, and any other one would be a guess made before meeting your child. The feedback meeting after the assessment is where you get a realistic picture.
Almost never. The assessment establishes which areas actually need work; the point of having five disciplines under one roof is that the plan can use two of them properly rather than all five thinly.
Not necessarily. The programme is about readiness rather than diagnosis. Where the assessment raises a question about ADHD, autism or another developmental condition, our psychiatry team can take that further, and we will tell you plainly if we think it should be.
Children preparing to enter nursery, kindergarten or primary school. If you are unsure whether your child is at the right stage, call and describe where they are. That conversation is often the whole answer.
Where you want us to, and with your consent. Camali Clinic also offers school shadowing and a wider set of support services for schools, so a plan can continue into the classroom rather than stopping at our door.
Ask about the school readiness programme
Tell us your child’s age, when they are due to start school and what you have noticed. The team will explain what an assessment would involve and whether the programme is the right fit.
If your child is already at school and the difficulty is in the classroom, look at school shadowing instead.
If someone is in immediate danger, use the appropriate UAE emergency service rather than this form. See our Referral and Emergency information.