AlSalam- A true Success Story

I came to Dubai in 1981, met and married my late husband here (God bless him) I was a teacher, we were saving up for him to start his own business ( he was an auditor ). When it came time for our eldest son to go to school, there were very, very few options here. Most schools that are here now didn't exist then. I worked at a school which was for Emirati children, not really suitable for our children There was the British school, which at that time only took people with British passports, and there was Saint Mary's, which is a Catholic school, maybe a couple of other schools for other nationalities so there was very little choice. My late husband and I discussed the possibility of children and I going back home to England because of their education. We spoke to many friends who were all struggling with similar schooling concerns, often families were divided -with mother being back in their home country with the children due to schooling and father being here alone. This is not healthy for society We then started to discuss the possibility of starting our own school for our own children. A British School, we wanted it to be welcoming to all nationalities and all religions, to be a school that held fast to Islamic values, had reasonable school fees, with a strong vision and mission where it's the right of every child to have a good education, not just rich children. Alhamdulillah we started the school with my eldest son in the first year group going up, at that time like most other schools we were in villas and were just a primary school, many years later we had the opportunity to rent this land here in Al Ghusais, the school here was built in 2002, as the years passed our parents requested that we expand into secondary education as well. With approval from the KHDA a second floor was built and we grew into a secondary school too. Unfortunately, my three older children completed only primary school at Al Salam and had to go to other schools for their secondary education but my two younger children graduated from AL Salam and I am happy and proud that my grandchildren attend Al Salam.

What was your vision for the school in 1985?

A school where every child is special. Giving the best education that we possibly could. A family environment because most people are here without an extended family unit, so there's no aunt or uncle or grandma cousin and most parents are working and sadly without the support of the extended family so I really wanted the school to be like a family unit, not only for the students but for the staff as well.

Where do you see Al Salam in the next 5 or 10 years?

Wow, it's very hard to imagine. I was actually in Al Salam Community School recently I passed a year 8 classroom - as the teacher was absent, I said to myself `okay, I'll take the class,` the subject was I T - well, I'm such a dinosaur in IT, I asked the class where do you see IT and AI in 10 years time, how will it affect your life, how has it changed your life in the recent years? ( One of the children actually said that his mom had become a hypochondriac because of Google doctor). The students led the learning with fantastic observations, ideas and theories, it was so interesting - student led learning. I think IT and AI are changing the world so quickly and we're struggling to keep up, it's going to change education more and more and it frightens me because we need to keep our values which is challenging when you're bombarded with values that you don't share So in 5 to 10 years, who knows? It's going to be a journey for everyone.

In your opinion, what are the qualities of a good teacher?

Caring, if they care, they will always go that extra mile., and Love of her job.

How do see this initiative to have a school’s wellbeing magazine?

I'm very excited. Well-being is a huge concern of everybody all over the world. Prior to COVID it wasn’t such a big thing. I think the pressure of life, pressure of family, responsibilities, parenthood, work etc., technology has put us in a place where we’re actually at work twenty four hours a day and often work life is interfering in family life, so wellbeing is a huge priority for children, teachers and for parents as well and I think being a parent now is not as easy as it was when I was brought up because there were no IT then and limited TV. Parents need a lot of support and advice about parenting because they often can’t relate to what their children are going through, what they are facing at school, the type of learning they are having and the type of problems they are facing. Wellbeing is very, very important and we will support it in any way that we can, whatever needs to be done.

One wellness tip for all the students & teachers

I want to combine this with Islam… smile. Smile, is a charity and when you smile at somebody they will smile back. When they smile back it makes you feel happy. So you get double triple blessings and benefits. So, smile.