need school help !!

cmmnsx · #1 (**permalink**) 8th March 2008, 08:24 PM

Hi,

I am a newbie looking to move to Dubai next September. My son is 5 1/2 and I will need to find a school.I have looked at a few website already re costs and read various comments from parents on this forum and other expat forum.
Does anyone know if any of the British Curriculum schools are OFSTED inspected ? Or is there an equivalent in UAE ? It would help in choosing whether it is a good or just an average school I suppose.

Also, at present my boy is in Reception although he will be 6 in June. We changed him school in England from state to private. We found out he was a bit behind, academically and in terms of maturity.
He is now doing very well.
Could this be a problem in Dubai ? Has anyone had this kind of dilema before ?

Your help answering these 2 questions will be greatly appreciated.

I am not panicking yet but will surely soon!!

Geordie Armani · #2 (**permalink**) 9th March 2008, 04:36 AM

BSME: British Schools in the Middle East - here is a link for the schools here in Dubai, there are others also. I am not expert in Education but as far as I am aware there is no such thing as OFSTED here, we do have the Ministry of Education though. My daughter is in Foundation - she will be 4 in May. I suggest you get a report from your son's school and then contact schools here to gain a place. There are very few places so get onto it ASAP as the schools are now taking registrations for September.

Thedoc · #3 (**permalink**) 9th March 2008, 05:30 AM

I will be moving to Dubai from Australia next week (Husband left earlier) and have two children 6 and 7. We had been looking for school places in Dubai since November and only in February were we successful in securing places. They start after Easter. I do agree with Geordie, YOU MUST START THE APPLICATION PROCESS ASAP. We contacted lots of schools. Some put us on waiting lists and others said that their lists were already long. The school websites were very informative, but my husband did also go over and look at a few. Our children are in a very good private school here in Australia and we were adamant that the school in Dubai was of an equal standing. I guess the proof will be when they are in the school and I get to know it a lot better. From our limited experience, the international schools in Dubai appear to be very stringent in their requirements, so one can only assume that they have distinct guidelines which must be adhered to. Good Luck.

Thedoc

cmmnsx · #4 (**permalink**) 9th March 2008, 09:30 AM

Thx Theodoc and GA for your help.

geetee53 · #5 (**permalink**) 26th April 2008, 04:40 AM

cmmsx - I'm involved in education in Dubai. Advice is absolutely correct - contact schools asap and get the position - places for younger children are difficult to find if you start late. There is no OFSTED, but the Ministry is establishing an 'inspection' process which will begin in September and some schools do get OFSTED to come over to undertake a review. BSME web site will give you background on schools too. Do you know where you will be living, because this may have a bearing on where you want a school - mornings and afternoons on school runs can be tortuous ..

doctorjon · #6 (**permalink**) 27th April 2008, 05:09 PM

I'm moving to Dubai soon and I'm here now on a reccy to get various things sorted including schools. As per other posts, I've found that there is massive demand for primary school places here and supply doesn't meet it - i.e oversubscribed waiting lists for most of the good ones. However, I've managed to get places for my kids (7 & 5) at GEMS Wellington Primary (google it), sister to the well-regarded Jumeirah Primary School. Just visited today and it looks excellent. My panic is over. Act quickly.