Schools in the UAE and contact information

[sgilli3]

Originally Posted by greatexpectations

anyone have a feel for which schools are the most sought after?

do I need to specify the school I want if schooling is to be paid by my employer, or are they broadly comparable?

thanks!

Pretty much every school is sort after...most have long waiting lists, or have closed their books, until lists decrease.

People choose schools for varying reasons ie: close to home/work, fees they can afford, curriculum they want, offer after school activities, more sports oriented, more academically oriented etc...either way, they are all sort after.

Some employers may want to know what school you have chosen, so they can write out the cheques for the fees, other employers just hand over the money, and you do all the paying yourself.

Just make sure, that they are contributing a reasonable sum, or you will end up out of pocket..schools are expensive here.

[Fraggle]

Hello Everybody...
does anybody have experience with this Wellington school entrance test? Is it possible to get a sample test or some information how this test will look like and how it is evaluated (for a 15 year old)?
The only information we got from the school was that there was an English and a Maths part, but it would be nice to have some more information...
Thanks,
Fraggle

[sgilli3]

Hi there,
Not sure if anyone on the board can help with this question.
Im sure that our (fabulous) regular poster ,Flossie's children attend Gems Wellington International. (though not the same age as your child)
She is away on holidays at the moment.
Perhaps she may see this post and be able to shed some light on the entrance exam.

[flossie]

Hi!! Aw, thanks, Sgilli

Fraggle, do you mean Wellington International or Wellington Primary? My kids go to Wellington International and love it there. As we were coming from Australia, the school were happy to assess the kids on school reports so they didn't need to set an assessment. Sorry I can't help you more. I don't think the tests are too hard, though. From what I have heard, it is just a test to make sure your kids aren't in need of alot of extra help. Even if they were, Wellington has quite a good Achievement Centre which helps kids who need it.

[newAussie]

Hi Flossie,

We are about to relocate from Australia (in October) and we are in a REAL dilemma about schools, to say the least. The company I will be working for has places in various schools but ultimatley it is our choice. So we have one in year 8 and one in year 10, apart from them having to repeat some of the current year due to southern hem vs northern hem schedules, we are curious as to the difference in curriculum at the Wellington School to the Australian and the need for a 13 year? Also how the American schooling is compared with the English.

[flossie]

What state are you coming from? Not meaning to scare you, but you really need to apply for school places yesterday.

Some schools will recognise that kids coming from the southern hemisphere do not neccessarily have to 'repeat' the year. To cut a very long story short, we decided to put our youngest child up and our kept our oldest child in the same year so they could be with kids their own age. Our (very bright) oldest child didn't 'repeat' that much. It seemed that she picked up where she left of. The only things she did 'repeat' were some aspects of maths which was good as that is her weakest subject. Wellington run a gifted (don't really like that word, to be honest) and talented week with a couple of other schools which my daughter took part in and loved and did things that she wouldn't normally have done. She is extended where she needs to be. My son took a little while to settle in but once he did, he progressed really well. He actually won the progress award at the end of the year for his class. Like all schools, it also depends on the individual teacher they get. Compared to WA, I actually like the British Curriculum better. I can be pretty parochial so it took a long time to admit that I liked it more than the WA system, just out of pride, but for my kids, it's been a lot better and they have come a long way. There education is actually the thing I like best about being in Dubai. Saying that, though, I have spoken to mums who think it's not as good, so it all depends on who you speak with. My daughter is only in year 7, so I'm not sure how the higher years work, yet. I know that Wellington offer the IB in the final year. The reason for this is that it is an international school and the IB is internationally recognised. I have no clue about the American System, so I can't comment on that. What schools do your company have places in?

[newAussie]

We are coming from WA also.

We just spoke to the American School of Dubai and they have places immediatley for us as my company has debentures, otherwise they reckon it would be a 2 year wait!!! We have a list of schools with places for my company and wellington is one of them.

It seems they want us to put our children in their current year which means slipping back a few months, but I think it will help them settle in if the pressure isn't on straight away.

We are coming over for a pre-assignment trip in two weeks time so we are trying to work out whch schools to visit in our 5 days, as you can imagine its a bit of a minefield when you have no idea (we are also first time expats)...so thanks, your feedback is valuable.

I have been told the other thing to consider is location of school vs housing due to the traffic. Is the Wellington School suitably located?

[flossie]

Originally Posted by newAussie

We are coming from WA also.

We just spoke to the American School of Dubai and they have places immediatley for us as my company has debentures, otherwise they reckon it would be a 2 year wait!!! We have a list of schools with places for my company and wellington is one of them.

It seems they want us to put our children in their current year which means slipping back a few months, but I think it will help them settle in if the pressure isn't on straight away.

We are coming over for a pre-assignment trip in two weeks time so we are trying to work out whch schools to visit in our 5 days, as you can imagine its a bit of a minefield when you have no idea (we are also first time expats)...so thanks, your feedback is valuable.

I have been told the other thing to consider is location of school vs housing due to the traffic. Is the Wellington School suitably located?

WIS is fairly well located. Where will you be working?

[newAussie]

The office is in Bur Dubai

[flossie]

Bur Dubai is quite a way from Wellington. If you chose to live near the school, though you would be going against the traffic to get to your office. My daughter's very good friend lives in Bur Dubai and catches the bus. I think she gets on the bus at around 6.45 to get to school. I will check with her and see what time that it. Busses are quite expensive, though and places are limited. From memory, I think it's about 7000AED a year per child.

I think having your kids 'repeat' wouldn't be a bad thing because a) there is quite a range of ages in each year group anyway, and b) coming from the catholic system in WA, DD found it to be more challenging here in regards to homework etc. In Dubai, the expectations are a bit higher. In WA she was allowed to rest on laurels a bit. Here, they always encouraged her to do even better. In the beginning this upset her as she was used to being told how wonderful she was, so she thought she wasn't doing as well here. But I didn't think that was such a bad thing as it would be something she would have to get used to later in life, anyway.

What other schools have places for you kids? I know DESC would be closer for you and has a good reputation.