Annual Report 2017/18

Annual Review 2017/18 Dubai B

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Dubai British School

Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

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CEO’s Message Dear Parents, According to a recent global bank survey the UAE is now one of the top ten places in the world to live. The quality of education available in the UAE is one of the major, deciding factors when people consider relocating here. Standards in international schools in the UAE are being raised each year and working in partnership with the government regulatory bodies and global accreditation organisations, I am confident that the leading international schools in the UAE are on a par with the best the world has to offer.

Taaleem schools have been playing their part in providing world class education to the citizens of both Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Our Dubai British School has recently been rated ‘Outstanding’ and our Raha International School is the only K-12 school in Abu Dhabi in the same category.

Jumeira Baccalaureate School and Uptown School are both rated Very Good and according to the national inspection reports this year, all of our schools have made significant progress on their journey towards the highest rating. It is an absolute truth that “The quality of a school never exceeds the quality of its teachers”. My commitment to our schools is to help them in attracting and appointing the very best educators from around the world, provide them with appropriate professional development opportunities, support and career progression. The fact that over 50% of our senior leaders have been appointed from within is a testament to our schools’ commitment to develop and retain talented staff.

I am also proud of the fact that we were one of the pioneering school groups, in partnership with the Knowledge Fund and The Knowledge Human Development Authority (KHDA) to launch the ‘Mohammed bin Rashid Distinguished Scholars Program’, that has enabled over 100 Emirati students to be awarded scholarships at three of our schools. At a meeting at the KHDA earlier on the year I was pleased to meet many of their parents who were eager to share with me how much their child’s life had changed for the better and that they now enjoyed all of the opportunities available to them at our international schools and they are truly appreciative of how our teachers really care that students are learning and making progress in school.

It has also been a year packed with exciting events and competitions. A recent collaboration between Taaleem and the internationally renowned London Mozart Players led to orchestral workshops being held in Dubai for our students across Taaleem schools. The orchestra is the oldest established chamber orchestra in the UK and we were extremely privileged to secure a partnership with them to mentor and perform alongside our young musicians this term. Taaleem students took part in masterclasses and ensemble workshops over two days and after intensive practice and rehearsals, performed a full concert in the auditorium at Dubai British School Jumeirah Park. Each section of the orchestra performed their own pieces before the concert closed with a full symphony finale, which was truly inspiring for students, staff and parents in attendance.

We continue to be very proud to be associated with and to sponsor many of the high profile cultural and educational events that take place in the UAE. The Emirates Festival of Literature that took place in March of this year, brought many celebrated authors and poets into our schools and I was delighted to co-present the ‘Taaleem Poetry Prize’ with notable writer Roger McGough to budding poets from the region whose poems on the theme of ‘Memories’ were genuinely moving and memorable. As well as the Emirates Festival of Literature our support this year has extended to ChoirFest Middle East and The Dubai International Film Festival where we sponsored the ‘Young Animator Award’.

A new talent unearthing initiative was launched this year in association with COMICON. The inaugural ‘Young Artist Award’ attracted an encouraging number of entrants. The winner’s design was featured on the front of the event’s programme and for the next year the winning young artist will receive an offer of mentorship from a leading professional in the industry.

We have continued our partnership with the GESS Education Awards by facilitating ‘The Lifetime Achievement Award’ that recognises the invaluable contribution that an individual has made to education in the region. This year’s award honoured Ed Goodwin OBE, retiring Headmaster of St. Christopher’s School, Bahrain and past Chairman of The British Schools of the Middle East (BSME).

Amongst the many group-wide Taaleem School competitions this year, was the Holy Qur’an recitation competition; Arabic and English speakathons, Science festival, Spelling Bee and many inter-school sports competitions featuring our exceptional student athletes.

Congratulations to all our students who participated and diligently prepared to deliver their best performances with confidence.

Finally, it has been my distinct pleasure to attend the graduation ceremonies at our schools; listening to the inspiring student speeches, I am confident that our graduates are determined and capable of changing this world for the better. Many congratulations to all of our graduates, of whom an increasing number are being accepted at Oxbridge and Ivy League universities and colleges with many notable successes this year. Wherever they end up pursuing their higher education and careers, I am sure that thy will all make a major, positive impact in both their immediate communities and beyond.

Rosamund Marshall Chief Executive Officer

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

Our School at a Glance

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2.30%

2.38%

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4.32%

4.58%

5.02%

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

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Principal’s Message Dubai British School (DBS), a Taaleem school, has a very simple yet powerful mission of Enjoy, Aspire, Achieve. This encapsulates our hopes for every student of the school, that they enjoy learning at DBS, that they share our very high aspirations for them and that, ultimately, they achieve to their fullest potential.

For many students, this achievement is represented by academic success, however at DBS we celebrate sporting achievement, a musical solo or a wonderful piece of artwork as warmly as we do a top grade at A-Level or an entrance into one of the world’s top universities. Our passion as a school community is to develop every individual at a level that is appropriate to them, and then challenge them to push themselves even further – to try something new, take risks and consider different ideas.

We nurture considerate students that constantly reflect on their lives, the world around them and how these two interact, ensuring that all our children are given every opportunity to make a positive difference in the world, no matter how big or small.

With students at the school from over 60 countries, we never lose sight of the fact that our alumni will undoubtedly have a global impact, and we look to develop this through our caring, supportive and challenging environment, where all students experience challenge and success.

We are a friendly school which welcomes the whole family into our community, and our staff thrive on an unwavering belief that every child in this school has the right to be happy, to make friends and to achieve greatness in their own right.

Brendon Fulton Principal

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

DBF Events

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Student Elections A student-elected Prefect body met with the school council team as well as the Head of Secondary and Principal regularly to discuss issues and help bring about positive change. The 2018 Head Girl is Helena Kempin and Head Boy is Yan Krespi, Deputy Head Girl Adelka Sullivan and Deputy Head Boy Liam Kotecha. Primary students also voted for their House Captains, Prefects and Student Council Members.

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Our Prefect and Peer Mentor teams have worked hard this year supporting younger students in their school life. The new team of Prefects and Peer Mentors took over in term 3 to allow Year 13’s to focus on their exams.

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Science Week Our 2018 Science Week had the theme of ‘Moving to Mars’! A week of scientific activities began with a Forces themed assembly by class 5T. Throughout the week science experiments were conducted on the topics of ‘Getting to Mars’, ‘Communicating with the Spacecraft’, and ‘Moving to Mars’.

Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

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Book Week Book Week is always action packed at DBS and this year didn’t disappoint!

Books came to life during the week, with a dress-up-day where students and staff dressed up as their favourite book characters, authors visited and a variety of books were read and shared with students.

Ghaf Tree Planting In January, we welcomed visitors from Goumbook and Electrolux along with Mr. Henrik Landerholm, the Swedish Ambassador to the UAE. The visitors spoke to the children in the Primary assembly about the importance of looking after the environment, and how we can all play a large part in conserving energy and resources for future generations. The Primary children, Taaleem CEO, Ros Marshall and the Founding Investor Director, Founding CEO of Taaleem, Ziad Azzam, took part in the planting of Ghaf tree seeds. The Ghaf tree is the national tree of the UAE.

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

Dubai British School

Sports Days Secondary students took part in a mixture of competitive sports at Sports City including track and field. Primary students competed in a variety of competitions such as running, high jump, long jump, skipping and much more. House points were awarded for each achievement.

Dubai British School

House Events The four houses competed in a variety of events throughout the year to gain house points.

Competitions included poetry slams, eco and Science Week quizzes, and a festive extravaganza!

House events encourage collaboration, cooperation, and creativity and enable students to build confidence. They are also great fun!

Dubai British School

Tedx DBS In April, a team of entrepreneurial students organised the school’s first TedX event, TedX Dubai British School with the theme ‘Better You, Better Tomorrow’. Students took to the stage to share their ideas and experiences.

Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

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DBS Fest

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Our BTEC students organised the annual talent show, this year named DBS Fest, which was a fundraiser for Dubai Cares.

Students from year 5 to 13 auditioned in the first round, with finalists selected by the organising committee. The final ‘live show’ was performed in front of a packed audience and the winners were selected by a panel of teacher judges.

The amazing talent ranged from pianists to dancers and magicians to musicians.

The level of talent was truly inspiring!

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Team Angel Wolf Volunteering Nick Watson from Team Angel Wolf delivered an inspirational talk to Primary students. Team Angel Wolf was formed by members of the Watson family who raise awareness of people, especially children, with disabilities and how they could be included in fitness activities.

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Ro Watson, aged 15, has Q44 Deletion De Novo, which means he struggles with walking and communicates through sign language.

Following Dad Nick’s talk a group of Year 6’s volunteered to be part of Team Angel Wolf’s Beach Blast. They had so much fun helping children with a range of disabilities and loved meeting the whole Team Angel Wolf family.

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

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Happiness Day In March we celebrated International Happiness Day with a jam-packed day of happy activities! Students dressed in their favourite outfits, danced to Zumba, filled each other’s Happiness buckets with happy words, posted caring messages in the Happiness postbox and much more.

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Taaleem English Speaking Competition

Taaleem Arabic A Speaking Competition

Students from across the school participated in the Taaleem English Speaking Competition and we were thrilled that Jasper (Year 7) and Natalia (Year 12) won their categories and Christina (Year 9) came second place.

Our Arabic A students took part in the Taaleem Arabic A Speaking Competition with DBS students Loujain ElShorbagy (Year 5) in second place, Malak Al Darwish (Year 4) in third place, and Salma Shamseldin (Year 9) third place in their respective categories.

Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

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International Day

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With many different nationalities at DBS, International Day is a wonderful opportunity for students to try food from the home countries of their friends at the International Food Court. Parents pulled out all the stops to provide a fantastic culinary adventure around the world for students.

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Earth Day To mark Earth Day 2018, Year 6 were given a surprise PE lesson! Trying to swim in a pool full of plastic bottles and bags allowed students to experience the impact plastic pollution has on creatures living in our oceans. A video of the lesson was posted on Facebook which has been viewed by 218,000 people, liked over 1,100 times and shared almost 400 times!

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

Beach Clean-up Year 3 students took part in the Emirates Environmental Group beach clean-up and witnessed the damage plastic and other waste materials are having on our oceanic environments. The volume of rubbish collected amazed students.

The Primary Pop-up Council, guided by our eco-ambassadors, Mr Jodrell and Mrs Hodgson, have worked with DGrade Clothing and Oasis Water on their #SimplyBottles campaign. Along with other students, they collected, cleaned and stored used water bottles for recycling. DGrade plan on turning these bottles into clothes!

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

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On the A Level Geography trip to Sri Lanka, students worked on a variety of ecological projects, sometimes putting in 12-hour days! They were also able to visit the Turtle Conservation Centre in Galle where they helped feeding the turtles and saw blue whales on a boat trip.

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

Visitors Author Visit Author Stephanie Robert visited the school on World Book Day to introduce her book Thiago's Shell to Primary children. She kindly read her beautiful story to the children which they all loved.

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Story Time with Dad During Book Week, a number of dads came in to share books with children at story time. It was lovely having them read to the children.

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

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Dubai British School Year 1´s Paddington Bear WOW topic finished on a high with a visit from Paddington Bear himself! The children had thought that a trip to the cinema to watch the Paddington 2 movie was going to be the highlight of that topic, so they were over the moon with excitement!

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Science Week Mr. Wennergren, a parent, came in to help Year 3 learn about electricity during Science Week and Rock It Science supported class 5T's 'Forces' themed assembly and presented an engaging and exciting science lesson on Forces to Year 3.

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

DBS Elevate This year saw the launch of an amazing DBS Parent Teacher Association (PTA) initiative, 'DBS Elevate', which was created to complement the school's Information, Advice and Guidance programme. Its aim is to bring a range of personalities into school, highlighting current developments in the world of business, the arts, sport and more, as well as providing real-world advice and guidance from a careers perspective. Highlights of DBS Elevate speakers this year included talks from:

Yasar Yilmaz A Digital Transformation Consultant, Yasar spoke about Business Models, Processes and Work being Reimagined. Yasar is a passionate digital transformation geek and a blockchain enthusiast with 20+ years of experience in the technology industry.

He holds a BA degree in Mathematical Economics and Econometrics from Bosphorus University in Istanbul, and an EMBA degree from INSEAD in Paris. Through his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Capgemini, FIS, Oracle and SAP, he has helped thousands of companies transform their businesses using technology components.

He had been a member of Dubai Government Global Blockchain Council for the past two years.

Nico Ramirez User Experience Designer Nico Ramirez presented the Evolution of Design to Year 13's. At 24, Peruvian Nico, has already designed a helmet for Mars with NASA/JPL, interned at GoPro and Microsoft and taught MBA students at the worlds' top business school, Insead Singapore! Nico shared his inspirational journey as a designer, explained how design is becoming a versatile profession and opened students' minds to some of the amazing creative career opportunities out there. Students learnt that following a creative career can open-up a field of opportunities beyond traditional graphic design, illustration or animation.

Alper Celen Alper Celen, a high-tech entrepreneur, investor and MIT graduate, shared with our Year 11's and BTEC students, his experiences and thoughts on 'Building a Silicon Valley in the Middle East'! His presentation was thought provoking and interactive, and students were highly engaged in the topic.

Alper shared his insights on success factors for high-tech entrepreneurship and the career path to follow in his footsteps in this or other regions. Alper has been involved in technology businesses for the last 20 years and has been a high-tech entrepreneur in the Middle East for the last decade.

Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

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Asim Khan Asim Khan, presented 'Confidence, Power & Self Expression' to Year 10 students. Project Management and Leadership Coach Asim is an Oxford Graduate in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, who works with Emirates NBD. He is also a very experienced and passionate personal development, leadership and life coach. Asim shared how students could be empowered to be responsible for their lives, create new possibilities, deal effectively with others and feel confident in making their own choices.

Craig Deaves Craig Deaves, Middle East Learning Manager at BP, presented 'Succeeding at Interviews - making the most of your opportunities' to BTEC students. Students learned what questions are likely to be asked and how to make themselves stand out from the crowd. Craig has a Bsc in Electronic Engineering and an MBA from Henley Management College in the UK.

Zed Al Refai The final speaker of the year flew in from Kuwait just to give Years 12 & 13 a mega-motivation boost! Zed Al Refai, the first Arab man to climb Everest and first Arab to climb the seven highest summits on each of the seven continents, shared how motivation, instead of excuses and obstacles, is how students can accomplish almost anything! Adventure explorer, businessman and philanthropist Zed, has a BA in Political Science from Stockton University and is involved in various businesses and is the Managing Partner of Rahhalah, a company dedicated to sustainable travel and life-changing experiences.

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

Examination Results & Benchmarking Post-16 Results (A Level and BTEC) At Post 16, we are pleased to review the impact of our changing curriculum; with the fully embedding of our BTEC courses into the Post-16 offer at DBS. This year 35% of all grades were at A*/A equivalent and 62% at A*-B equivalent, a shift from 53% A*-B last year. A more telling testament to the parallel curriculum changes, has been that all BTEC students this year have been offered university courses, with some even embarking on international work experience, as a direct result of the vocational experience gained during their BTEC courses.

University and Career Placements Name

University

Course

Nicola Andreani

Physics

University of Kent, UK

Aline Andriyanova

Pharmacy

University of Ultrecht, Holland

Bailey Ashcroft

Employment

UK

Charles Ashwell

Law and Int. Rel.

University of Portsmouth, UK

Lily Assefi

Law and Criminology

University of Roehampton, UK

Basem Attalla

Life Sciences

University of York, Toronto, Canada

Amber Barron

Sociology

University of York, UK

Thomas Bennett

Economics and Finance

University of Lancaster, UK

Benjamin Bristow

Engineering

University of Cambridge, UK

Harry Brown

Marketing and Comm.

University of Bournemouth, UK

Harrison Bryant

History and Int Rel.

University of Nottingham Trent, UK

Chloe Buchan

Marketing

University of Bournemouth, UK

Lewis Byrne

Industrial Economics

University of Nottingham, UK

George Cairns

Engineering

University of Northampton, UK

Iain Charlton

Economics

University of Essex, UK

Catherine Colley

Art

University of Bournemouth, UK

Keelan Cooper

Business Economics

University of Ultrecht, Holland

Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

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GCSE Results This year, new grading systems have started to be introduced; linked to the UK curriculum reform taking place. Whilst this has been identified and catered for by the changing KHDA framework, it is not an exact match across. Grade 9 is considered to be harder to achieve than A*; and A* and A straddle the new Grades 9, 8 & 7. So it is difficult to make direct comparisons, overall, between this year and last year – and more pertinently from next year onwards.

The year on year trend does show a decline in exam performance, yet the cohort is performing in line with prior cohort expectations when taken into account individual student start points; 80% of all student grades were ‘above expected’ level; a progress indicator of outstanding.

Name

University

Course

Samuel Cox

Economics

University of Nottingham Trent, UK

Brandon Day

Marketing and Comm.

University of Bournemouth, UK

Soham Deshpande

Mechanical Eng.

Queen Mary University, London, UK

Camilla Donaldson

Nutrition and Health

University of Nottingham Trent, UK

Youseff El-Emam

Engineering

University of Sharjah, UAE

Daniel Federov

Biomedical Sciences

University of Brunel, UK

Tabitha Gardiner

Art

University of Bournemouth, UK

Brandon Good-year Day

Sales and Marketing

University of Bournemouth, UK

Ella Hugill

Fashion

Leeds-Beckett University, UK

Maria Inataeva

Nutrition and Health

University of Roehampton, UK

Elizabeth Johnstone

Mental Health

Royal Navy, UK

Kim Sehyun

Education

University of York, UK

Matthew Lewin

Applied Physics

St Mary’s University, Twickenham, UK

Joshua Lyth

Business Mgmt.

Edge Hill, Lancashire University, UK

Stephan Mashford

Politics and Int. Rel

University of Aberdeen, UK

Callum Mcann Davies

Marketing

University of Kent, UK

Ryan Mortimer

Property Mgmt.

University College London, UK

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

Name

University

Course

Courtney Murphy

Media

Groningen University, Holland

Salmaan Mussa

Business Mgmt.

University of Nottingham Trent, UK

Katherina Nielsen

Humanities & Lang.

University of Roskilde, Denmark

Sophie Ochs

Event Mgmt.

University of Chester, UK

Erika Okada

Foundation Course

Tokyo, Japan

Fumanya Osamor

History

University of Bournemouth, UK

Viraj Pathak

Business and Mgmt

Royal Holloway University, UK

Ella Hugill

Fashion

Leeds-Beckett University, UK

Tanya Raheem

Communication

York University, Toronto, Canada

Jordan Rennie

Fashion and Market.

University of Nottingham Trent, UK

Saara Rizvi

Psychology

City University London, UK

Bianca Rooseboom

DBS

Dubai, UAE

Misbah Sharif

Psychology

City University London, UK

Joshua Smith

Sports Coaching

St Mary’s University, Twickenham, UK

George Stamp

ICCA Cooking course

Dubai, UAE

Morgan Stapleton

Business

Heriot-Watt University, UAE/UK

Charlotte Taylor

International Bus.

Sheffield Hallam University, UK

Willam Thores

Law

Robert Gordon University, UK

Charlotte Watson

Business Mgmt.

Oxford Business College, UK

Alexandra Whitehead

Employment

Outdoor Adventure Centre, UK

Samuel Williams

In. Event Mgmt.

Edinburgh Napier University, UK

Ibrahim Zaman

Biomedical Sciences

University of Brunel, UK

Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

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DSIB Rating We are incredibly proud to have been awarded the top performance rating of Outstanding by the KHDA's DSIB Inspectors. Our Principal, Brendon Fulton, shares, "The DBS community could not be more pleased and proud with our inspection report and outcome. It is a truly honest reflection of what is absolutely an outstanding school, in any sense of the word. Whilst we are very happy with the positive recognition of our student’s achievements, we are most proud of the rich commentary acknowledging the social and emotional wellbeing of our students and the excellent relationships that exist between staff and students, and amongst staff.

Following our DSIB Inspection in October 2017, the KHDA inspectors found us to be Outstanding in the overall experiences and progress of DBS students.

We are incredibly proud to have been awarded this top performance rating.

This outcome is the culmination of the incredible dedication and passion of our staff across the whole school, the amazing children that we are fortunate enough to have in our care and the incredible support that we get from our families.

These are just a few comments within the report outlining how special DBS is...a summary of the magic that takes place each day at DBS.

“

An outsta

nding sch ool does n ot happen b y acciden t, it e x ists because o f outstand ing people – DBS is v ery proud to have excellent staff and wonderfu l students, with supp o rt iv e families, th at allow u s to fulfil school’s v the ision that every stu dent should En joy, Aspire & Achieve ."

“The school successfully fulfills its mission to ensure students develop into well-rounded, caring and aspirational individuals within a stimulating learning community.”

“Children in the early years thrive due to the highly skilled teaching which promotes their independence, curiosity and their key skills in numeracy, literacy and science.”

“Students’ attitudes, behaviour and sense of responsibility are exemplary; they are tolerant, respectful, and mutually supportive.”

“The imaginative, engaging, and challenging curriculum, together with high quality support, contribute significantly to the achievement of all students, including those with special education needs and those who are gifted and talented.”

”

“Highly effective teaching and the use of assessment means that students acquire excellent learning skills and make at least good, and often outstanding, progress in all subjects.”

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

BSO Rating We are proud to have achieved the British Schools Overseas (BSO) top grade of Outstanding across all categories of the inspection. As a result of this inspection, the school has demonstrated that it meets the Standards for British Schools Overseas. This judgement is endorsed by the British Government, quality assured by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted). The summary of judgements against the BSO standards are:

The quality of the curriculum provided by the school is outstanding.

The quality of teaching and assessment is outstanding. The school recognises, and inspectors agree, that the use of assessment can be further improved in some classes so that all pupils are set tasks that sufficiently challenge them.

Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding.

The welfare, health and safety of the pupils are outstanding.

The school is seen by all as a very safe place in which to learn.

The Standard for the suitability of the proprietor and staff is met.

The board plays a valuable role in supporting the school’s strategic development.

The premises and accommodation meet the requirements of this Standard. They are of outstanding quality.

The provision of Information for parents meets the requirements of the Standard. Information is of outstanding quality.

The school’s procedures for handling complaints meet the requirements of the Standard. They are of outstanding quality.

The leadership and management of the school are outstanding.

Senior leaders promote improvement in academic standards while maintaining the school’s community feel that is valued so much by parents, pupils and stakeholders.

Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

PENTA Rating This year, the school became a Penta International Accredited British School. All aspects of the school were assessed over two days which resulted in Penta rating the quality of education provided by DBS as 'excellent'. The Penta report summarised: DBS maintains a strong focus on children’s/pupils learning first and foremost and prioritise this above everything else. The teaching across the whole school is characterised by a consistent approach to planning, well-matched challenging tasks to support each pupils’ learning. Staff provide high levels of support and guidance. As many students told us…’They are the best and always go the extra mile for us!’ Children/pupils are well supported through highly effective pastoral care and the implementation of excellent welfare, health and safety policies and procedures. The school has a fully embedded ethos of care and guidance and strives to meet the needs of all its pupils.

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The Princ ipal prom otes a str atmosphe ong re of confi dence and the schoo p ride in l’s culture . Strong li maintaine n k s are d with the wider com munity; parents a nd pupils have a str sense of b ong elonging.

H ig h quality are appoin staff ted and a re then tr take on a u s te d to shared re sponsibilit outcomes y fo r all ; distributi on of lead ership is common and highly effective.

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Within the school highly targeted use of data enables all those involved in teaching, planning, supporting, leading and managing school activity to respond to issues quickly and efficiently. The focus on monitoring provides staff with a constantly updated understanding of each pupil’s progress leading to prompt interventions when required.

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Across the scho ol the highly effe ctive quality assuranc e practices have been embedded. This ensures that th e overwhelming m ajority of teachi ng in classrooms is at least good, an d usually excellent . The school’s fo cus on high quality prof essional develo pment ensures that te aching is contin uously being develope d. Teachers are highly confident and m otivated, willing ly adapting approaches and constantly evol ving the school curriculu m to incorporat e local, national and inte rnational perspe ctives.

”

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“

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

Alumni Stories Nimrah Ashraf Nimrah Ashraf won the Angela Dunn-Gardiner Scholarship for her second year and the Thomas & Elizabeth Walton Prize for the best student in Law, Economics or Medicine at Cambridge.

"Having joined DBS when it opened in 2005, I left in 2016 with A* A * A* A at A-Level in History, English Lit, Biology and Psychology. I’ve just completed my first year at Cambridge reading Law, and it’s been fantastic!

I’ve found that some of the Oxbridge stereotypes are true: the workload is immense, there is a fair bit of pomp and ceremony, and old-fashioned academics. Having said that, I’ve met people from all walks of life – a lot of whom aren’t from privileged backgrounds or don’t have straight A/A*s at GCSE/A-Level!

In the summer, a few friends and I volunteered in rural Panama – we ran pro bono legal clinics, led education workshops at a local school, taught some English, and had the opportunity to travel and experience an entirely different culture afterwards! I’m also an Access Ambassador for my college, have published articles in the student paper, and I’m on the committee of Cambridge’s ‘Global Brigades’ society, which organises the university’s overseas volunteering trips.

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80% of students got an A* equivalent in their BTEC overall, which is a phenomenal achievement, and 100% of students stated they thought BTEC had helped them get into the university they wanted.

All of our BTEC students are studying this year at their chosen university.

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“

Going into

my secon d year no w, like lifetim e s ago – bu I’m still in t credibly g rateful to the school for getting m e this far, and I will always be very fond of memories made the re.

DBS feels

”

Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

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Ryan Mortimer Ryan, a BTEC student from last year will be embarking on an exciting new adventure this year, studying Property Management at the prestigious University College London in Property Management after achieving A* equivalence in his BTEC. “I feel choosing BTEC has led me to getting into a Russel Group university. If I had chosen to do A-Levels I would have struggled more”, says Ryan, a student at DBS for six years.

Mr Wright, who teaches the Travel and Tourism element of the BTEC course beams, “I always knew he would do well in BTEC if he applied himself… it’s a great success story, I’m very proud of him”.

Music & Drama Music at DBS is a subject that every student has the opportunity to learn and take part in, from FS1 to Year 13. We strive to make sure every pupil is able to demonstrate their musical talents inside and outside of the classroom. As a school we take part in lots of internal and external events, these include instrumental recital evenings, music department concerts, Choir Fest choral competitions, the Taaleem combined concerts and workshops by visiting musicians.

Every year Primary students take part in their year group productions for their parents, which this year have included Olivia!, Zoom!, Jack and the Beanstalk, Lion King, and Pirates of the Curry Bean. Secondary students have added to their ever-growing list of musicals, by performing Annie to staff, students and parents this year - it was an amazing production!

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

Sports Sport plays a huge part of life at DBS. Our students competed in over 300 sporting events this year and the sportsmanship, commitment and satisfaction gained from these has been exceptional.

Football Football has always been one of our stronger sports at DBS and this year was no exception. We had 10 teams taking part in the leagues and they competed in some of the best divisions, often against the much larger schools. The highlight of the football season was the Y6 boys team who won their league.

Netball We had 7 teams competing in the netball leagues this year.

This is one of the most popular sports for girls at DBS and we ran lots of training sessions for girls who wanted to play competitive netball as well as for those who preferred to play for fun. We also had our U13 an U15 team playing in the BSME Netball Championships in Abu Dhabi, which was a great weekend.

Volleyball DBS ventured into the Dubai Volleyball leagues for the first time this year and it was a very successful season. The sport was extremely popular amongst our U16 students and we were very proud when the U16 girls team finished in 2nd place overall.

Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

Swimming Swimming continues to be a strength at DBS. Our Primary and Secondary teams train throughout the year and compete in many galas each term. We also compete in the Dubai Schools Swimming Championships and had a few of our swimmers win medals. The BSME Swim Championships are the highlight for many of our swimmers and we had over 30 swimmers qualify for this event this year, which was a huge achievement itself. DBS students won 10 gold medals, 4 silver and 3 bronze, with five students setting new BSME records!

Rounders The rounders season is another popular one for the girls at DBS and we compete in the top leagues for every age group. We also have teams who play in the various tournaments which are held in Dubai every year.

Rugby Rugby at DBS continues to grow. This year we had 4 teams entered into the leagues. A lot of our students play for rugby teams around Dubai and it was great to have so many parents coming along to help coach, referee and spectate.

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

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BSME Games We were very proud to enter some big BSME events this year. Our U11s took part in the BSME Games, which involved a weekend of sports including basketball, netball, football, athletics and swimming. The athletes were fantastic and very proud to finish in 5th place.

Athletics Athletics at DBS has been huge this year with the students entering cross country, aquathon and athletics events. These have all been great fun and it was amazing to see the DBS students display so much determination and team spirit at these events.

Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

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Art Art is included in the Early Years, through Primary and in individual lessons in Secondary at DBS. At Keystage 4 and 5, students follow the assessment objectives and explore the formal elements whilst investigating a theme of their choice. Projects are enquiry based and students are encouraged to explore themes and topics which interest them

personally. Students can explore these themes in a range of different mediums and disciplines, including Fine Art, Graphics, 3D, Sculpture, Mixed Media and Ceramics. These are some of the examples of the amazing pieces our students have produced this year.

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

Parent Engagement Parent Teacher Association Parents play an essential role at DBS, as partners in their children’s education and as a deep resource for our growing school community.

This year the PFA (Parents and Friends Association) became the PTA (Parent Teacher Association), underlining the close relationship between volunteering parents and staff who work together to enhance the experience of students attending DBS, while fostering the community spirit within DBS and the surrounding areas.

Thanks to the generosity of parents and business partners, the PTA was able to fund the new auditorium stage and curtains and looks forward to contributing to DBS' inspiring STEAM lab project.

As well as established PTA events - including the Winter Wonderland, the Spring Fair, the Halloween Disco, Secret Santa, the Spring Ball and the Car Boot Sale - a new and ambitious initiative was launched that goes beyond the usual PTA remit. DBS Elevate harnesses the vast range of real-world experience within the parent body to bring students into contact with entrepreneurs, industrialists, artists and others, in order to offer inspiration, awaken ideas and uncover new possibilities.

The PTA continues to grow and benefit from parents’ and teachers’ time and expertise, and is always delighted to welcome new members.

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

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Dubai British School | Annual Review 2017/18

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Dubai British School PO Box 37828 Springs 3, Emirates Hills Dubai, United Arab Emirates T: +971 4 361 9361 E: reception@dubaibritishschool.ae www.dubaibritishschool.ae