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Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba, Nad Al Sheba 3 – THE REVIEW
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Review

Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba, Nad Al Sheba 3 – THE REVIEW

by August 13, 2019

“At Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba we pride ourselves on our innovative approach to teaching and learning. Our students benefit from being educated by a talented, reflective, dedicated and a caring team of professionals. We provide a warm, friendly and supportive environment where students learn together in an atmosphere that is conducive to high-quality learning.

In keeping with our school values, ‘The Best By Every Child’ and ‘Results the Right Way’, we foster a true sense of belonging.

We place great emphasis on our school’s values. We encourage our children to take pride in themselves and their learning and to aspire to succeed in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust.

Our teaching focuses on developing the skills and values that will enable our students to become thinking, informed and confident people, able to meet the international challenges of the 21st century.”

Kerry Dalton. Principal. Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba

“Kings’ Nad Al Sheba is more than an outstanding school – it stands for something – and stands out. We have created a home for learning that achieves for children beyond outstanding academics, as vital as they are. Kings’ Nad Al Sheba is a place in which children learn in the fullest sense – and find their own purpose. It is a very special school that crafts an education through imagination and discovery – and one that makes its own powerful and distinct contribution within the Kings’ group of Tier 1 British schools.”

Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba 2018.

Kings’ Schools Background

Kings_Interhigh_InArticle

Prospective parents should read the following with reviews of Kings’ School Dubai, here, and Kings’ School Al Barsha, here.

Kings’ Education in the emirates comprises three schools:

Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba [KNAS]: an FS1 to Year 7 English National Curriculum preparatory school with confirmed eventual phased all-through launch to provide for GCSE and either the International Baccalaureate Diploma or A’ Level. We understand that, whilst Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba originally planned to offer an IB Diploma education to differentiate itself from Kings’ Al Barsha, this decision is now being reviewed.  We will update this review as we received the final confirmed decision from the school whether it shall offer the IB or A Level at Sixth Form in due course.

Kings’ School Dubai [KD]: the KHDA Outstanding founding FS1 to Year 6 only, offering an English National Curriculum preparatory school education and located in Umm Suqeim 3. The school was established in 2004 and is the only school to have secured KHDA Outstanding school status from launch.

King’s School Al Barsha [KAB]: the Kings’ School all-through English National Curriculum school offering RSA Opening Minds structured provision through (I)GCE O’ and GCE A’ Level. The school is the current secondary slipstream for both Kings’ Dubai and Kings’ Nad Al Sheba preparatory schools. Like Kings’ Nad Al Sheba, the school was established in September 2014. It has now been confirmed that Kings’ Nad Al Sheba will open from September 2019 phased launch to full all-through provision. Kings School Al Barsha and Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba were designed and built on an identical architectural footprint.

As it stands, Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba, to date, has modeled itself as a premium, tier 1 British preparatory school on the template of its KHDA Outstanding founding sibling, Kings’ Dubai – but very much with its own unique character. From September 2019 the school begins its phased launch to all-through provision with the opening of Year 8.

In the following we explore why, in our view, Kings School Nad Al Sheba is the jewel in the crown offer for parents with the best value fees of any of the Kings’ schools in Dubai …..

Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba Summary

Laughing children at Kings' school Nad Al Sheba using the play equipment and climbing frames

Kings’ Nad al Sheba offers a bespoke British, English National Curriculum based education. The 1.3 million square feet, Kings’ Nad Al Sheba campus, currently offers Foundation and Primary phases to Year 7 with a total role of around 330 students and a capacity of 950 students between 3 and 11 years of age. School capacity on all-through opening to Year 13 will be 1800 students, this coming on stream as Secondary School investment and building begins later this year (2019)

The curriculum significantly differs to the standard EYFS/primary UK education approach dominant elsewhere in the sector. Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba instead adopts a more holistic, concept-based learning approach modeled on the RSA Opening Minds structure that is further developed and strengthened in its all-through sister, and histrical slipstream school in Al Barsha. Again, as Nad Al Sheba opens to all-through provision, we would expect this to continue through to GCSE, notwithstanding the potential choice of Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba to offer the IB as opposed to A’ Level.

The investment at Nad Al Sheba is significant, some $27 million on the last calculation made available to us.

The school is modeled extremely closely on Kings’ Dubai and Kings’ Al Barsha. The aim is to replicate the extraordinary success of the former – one of the Emirates’ highest rated schools, and the only school in Dubai to have achieved an Outstanding ranking from the KHDA for some eleven years in a row – since Dubai’s regulator began inspections. Expectations for Kings’ Nad Al Sheba (as too for Kings’ School Al Barsha) have been as result extremely high.

Our review of Kings’ Dubai can be found here.

Our review of the slipstream, Kings’ Al Barsha, can be found here.

Academically selective

Children at Kings' School Nad Al Sheba reading

Prospective parents should note that, as with all Kings’ schools, intake at Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba is academically selective at all phases.

Depending on the individual child, a selective, academically focused school can help or hinder an education, something that depends on a plethora of individual circumstances including each child’s personality, how they are driven – and so on.

However good a school in general terms – as this one certainly is, nothing should distract from the importance of visiting a school and working out with admissions staff, and ideally both subject teachers and the Principal, the particular fit of any school to your child(ren).

Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba Facilities and Meeting the Needs of Children

Photograph of Primary School children at Kings' School Nad Al Sheba in Dubai. We rate Kings School Nad Al Sheba as offering the beest ROI on any of the alternative Kings's Schools in balance of fees and facilities.

All three Kings’ schools share an architectural and learning identity and facilities across each are Tier 1 premium – and outstanding.

At Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba facilities include a fully digital campus; separate Primary and FS phase buildings; (attractive) under-stair majlis area focused on instilling linkages between the school and the Emirati culture that provides its context; a landmark auditorium and theatre with staging, sound and full production set-up; dedicated ICT suite; Apple TV equipped classrooms; extensive landscaped indoor and outside play areas tailored to the different phase need of Foundation and Primary School children; library with meeting, learning and ICT provision; integrated break-out spaces immediately outside all classrooms offering fee-flow diversity to learning delivery in breaking down the distinctions between interior and exterior space; medical clinic; (fabulous) Parent’s cafeteria to build both school and intra-parental community links to the benefit of children; dedicated Dining Room for the Primary School where children may eat hot or cold meals; and, extensive outdoor play equipment including a climbing wall.

Location

Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba is something of a hidden jewel in the crown for parents set on a Kings’ Education.

The background, for parents seeking a place at Kings’ founding Dubai school, had been the almost unsurmountable hurdle of securing a place at one of the most over-subscribed, and much loved, schools in the Emirates.

The launch of two further Kings’ schools created the capacity to respond and we have found at the Nad Al Sheba campus a real gem – a school firing on all cylinders and in an evolutionary phase of development in which parents and children have an opportunity still to pioneer a role in the school’s evolution. For parents, most importantly, the school offers all the cache of a Kings’ education, follows its academic model and, as of May 2019, has capacity and places. The new School Principal, Ms Kate Fuller, we rate as outstanding.

The elephant in the room, however, is… location.

Map showing the location of and directions to Kings' School Nad Al Sheba

The issue, for many parents, notwithstanding the option of a fabulous school is of course simple logistics. Getting to Nad Al Sheba for many parents, and the additional cost of travel this requires, both inflates the total cost of fees and the logistical hurdles.

The location of Kings’ Dubai Nad Al Sheba, give-or-take adjacent as it is to Repton Dubai, sees it located in an up and coming education hub for the region – but clearly not one enjoying the easy accessibility of Kings Dubai or Kings’ Al Barsha for most parents.

We have timed travel journeys from various parts of the Emirates – and the reality are journey times from from Arabian Ranches, Silicon Oasis, the Jumeriah Village Triangle and Circle, Dubai Marina,  Mirdiff and Dubai Downtown of a maximum 35 minutes’ drive allowing for average traffic.

Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba, however, too its credit, has responded. Today the school operates one of the most generous transport schemes in the Emirates, offering a fixed price transfer, door-to-door, for AED 4500 per student. This makes the cost of transport, for parents with one child at the school, pretty much on a par with driving costs at most other commutable schools – but without any of the the hurdles and pressures of the school commute. Even for local schools these can be, at the least, significant.

Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba has a further draw – the unbeatable fees value proposition compared with other Kings’ schools …..

Fees at Kings’ Nad Al Sheba – The Best Value Route into a Kings’ Education

A photograph of children walking arm in arm at Kings' School Nad Al Sheba in Dubai. The photograph highlights the many shaded areas designed into the school's purpose-built architecture.

As the table below demonstrates, Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba today offers by far the best value of any of the King’s Schools, this particularly true given the extremely high quality of new school facilities. The Nad Al Sheba school was built as a mirror to the Al Barsha School so the value proposition is very high – and the potential (looking at the roadmap offered by Al Barsha), extraordinary.  It must be remembered that Kings’ Dubai is a much older school and Al Barsha very significantly more expensive.

The only (and it’s significant) concern we have is whether Kings School Nad Al Sheba will more equitably stagger its fees when it does move to all-through provision.

There has been a very large historical jump for children moving to the slipstream Al Barsha school in Year 8 seeing a jump from AED 63,700 to AED 82,569. This is an even larger increase than that faced by parents at Kings’ Dubai moving to its Al Barsha slipstream, although here parents must make the move 1 year earlier for Year 7.

What we would like to see is a much lower, more affordable and manageable rise in fees to around the AED 70K mark. This would further strengthen Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba’s current status as, in our view, by far the best value Kings’ School education available in Dubai.

Kings’ School
Al Barsha Annual School Fees (AED)
Kings’ School
Nad Al Sheba Annual School Fees (AED)
Kings’ School
Dubai Annual School Fees (AED)
Foundation Stage 1 52,007 50,200 42,734
Foundation Stage 2 52,007 50,200 42,734
Year 1 54,390 52,500 53,887
Year 2 54,390 52,500 53,887
Year 3 59,259 57,200 53,887
Year 4 61,124 59,000 53,887
Year 5 65,993 63,700 65,037
Year 6 65,993 63,700 65,037
Year 7 79,461 63,700 NA (Transfer to kings’ Al Barsha)
Year 8 82,569 TBC ————–

It should be noted too that existing Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba fees are discounted against their KHDA agreed fees offering high ROI even on these limited terms.

There is a further incentive for families enrolled at Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba, and one surprisingly not well publicised. It is the only school in the group offering subsidised places for siblings. These run to between 5% and 15% depending on the number of siblings. The school also enjoys partnerships with Emirates Airlines and the Aviation Professionals Club (APC) which can see further significant financial benefits for eligible families.

The bottom line here then is that it is possible, at least as of June 2019, to secure a Kings’ Education in Dubai at significantly lower costs than choosing either of the other Kings’ schools taking into account existing and planned facility provision. 

Both the Al Barsha and Nad Al Sheba schools are brand new, Tier 1 schools and the differential too is significantly less than that you would find in equivalent new prestige schools from GEMS, for example. New schools inevitably command a premium.

With confirmation of all-through opening the value proposition for parents, if the location can be managed, is exceptionally high.

Scholarships at Kings’ Schools

Older children at Kings' School Nad Al Sheba looking after younger children

We do think that there is a strong argument for extending the Kings’ scholarship programme, which offers up to 50% fee remission for outstanding Secondary and Sixth Form students only, to a broader bursary programme for lower years at Nad Al Sheba. Only the Kings’ School Al Barsha School currently offers scholarships. As all-through opening extends to Nad Al Sheba we would expect these opportunities to be shared with Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba children too.

This said, we always advise parents to speak with each school frankly about fees. There can be nothing lost from speaking with schools about each family’s individual circumstances. Sometimes, for British families at least, typical British reservation about discussing finances really can get in the way – and Dubai’s best schools are usually very approachable and kind in looking at individual circumstances – for the right child.

The Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba Offer – leadership, vision and “X factor”

Photograph of an FS phase child drawing and developing fine motoring skills at Kings' School Nad Al Sheba in Dubai

What of the education on offer at Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba ? Does it stack up well against the founding Kings’ school or its Al Barsha slipstream sister?

First, as above, new Principal, Ms Kerry Dalton. The Principal of a school does make a difference. Are they there for the long haul? Do they really care? Is there a genuine personal investment? Are they ambitious for children? Is there something on the line for them in making a school work? Are they inspirational? Charismatic? Can they make waves, when necessary, with owners when part of a larger group? Are they qualified? Do they have the respect of their teams? Do they engage with parents? And the children they are responsible for?

In the Kings’ Nad Al Sheba former Principal,  Mr Darren Gale, we found a rare Principal which pretty much answered all of the above in the affirmative. In terms of simple history he explained to us that his passion was Primary education, and showed that his two decades of teaching experience was firmly grounded in Modern Languages teaching in the UK. A graduate in Languages and Linguistics, he moved to the UAE in around 2006 when he joined GEMS Jumeirah College as Director of Learning and Teaching.  This was followed by his taking up a role at Aldar’s ADEC Outstanding Al Yasmina Abu Dhabi as Head of Secondary, a role leading to his eventual appointment as Principal. A linguist by training (trilingual in French, English and Spanish) and a British School of the Middle East (BSME) schools’ accredited Inspector, Mr Gale had joined the school from a one-year turn—around role as Principal of Springdales Dubai. Mr Gale was in post at Kings between September 2016 and September 2018.

Despite some parent’s worries, we think Kings’s found in his replacement, Ms Kate Fuller, an absolute wonder. Kings’ had again sought out an accomplished Principal with significant experience and vision. Mrs Fuller brought with her more than 15 years experience in education worldwide, latterly at the Nord Anglia British International School of Houston, where she led the Primary School. Nord Anglia has a very good reputation for the calibre of their heads. Mrs Fuller has a reputation for innovation in technology, particularly in methods for its being used to bring Mathematics alive for children, and a belief in the language of coding as one necessary for children to make their way in the new world as traditional languages have been historically. She identifies her leadership style as being guided by by compassion and empathy. Feedback on Ms Fuller, to both ourselves and our sister site, WhichSchoolAdvisor.com, has been exceptionally and unambiguously positive. As of June 2019, we now understand that Mrs Fuller is leaving and we will update our review as we learn of her replacement.

We will update our review when we have spent time with Ms Fuller’s replacement, Ms Kerry Dalton, later in 2019.

On our last visit we found a number of differentiators in the feel of the school – something you don’t find in prospectuses or generic marketing materials. It’s hard to put a finger on what exactly makes the school shine (and it does).

Partly it comes from Kings’ being a small school by any standards – BUT one that has the investment, facilities and investment in teachers you only normally find in the very large capacity Tier 1s.

On our visit, we were very struck by just how personal, and family orientated, the school is – we really hope that as the school grows and opens to all-through provision it does not lose this.

Small schools in Dubai are getting extremely hard to find as the competition for Tier 1 facilities pushes schools to build ever larger campuses to apportion costs. As it stands, Kings’ Nad Al Sheba offers the best of both possible worlds – small school intimacy – and Tier 1 British schooling. The current role of around 350 (2019) children is around a third of the eventual capacity of the Primary and Middle school which will be capped at 950 children. Secondary and Sixth Form provision, whilst doubling this to a capacity of around 1800 children will still see the establishment of a small school by UAE standards where gigantic 3000 capacity schools are much more the norm.

In terms of academics, as measured in Advanced International (AA) TIMSS, we understand that the school is outperforming the sector, and that includes both its Kings’ brother and sister schools…

The facilities we found at the Nad Al Sheba campus do mirror those at Kings’ Al Barsha to a great extent. The differences are small – mainly in the significantly greater number of free flow spaces and more extensive classroom availability.

Currently the school homes 3 FS 1 classes with a maximum class of 20 children, each with a Teaching Assistant (TA) and shared Nanny; 5 FS2 classes, each capped at 24 children with both a TA and shared Nanny; 3 Year 1 classes’ and Year 2 classes. There are 2 dining areas (meals are provided by Bloom) and we found both friendly and engaging.

The FS outdoor play facility is highly stimulating and well planned. The Primary play area now includes plentiful equipment and inspiration (2019). The multipurpose hall homes assemblies, sport, drama and dining and is of a (very) high standard. The indoor sports hall is of a good size and houses concrete bleachers. There are both FS learner and main, 25M 8-lane shaded pools (with dive blocks) for swimming. Outside sports facilities are excellent including a Football Pitch and Clay courts for Netball or Tennis.

Classrooms at Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba are paired, with double width glass doors dividing them and access to outside learning areas, either at ground floor or with first floor balconies. The corridor areas are wide and light and provide good breakout and free flow spaces for the children.  The FS library is in a central wide area on the ground floor which runs between FS1 and FS2 sides of the building. Classrooms we visited were bright and full of inspiring displays appropriate to the theme (on our visit this included “under the sea.”)

Other facilities include a Music Room (with 3 keyboards, Ukulele’s and extensive percussion instruments); a black box theatre;  Primary Library (which hosted a number of fabulous initiatives on our visit including ‘Mystery Reading’ (in which children choose  books with their covers obscured and a ‘Book Tasting Cafe’ in which books within genres are presented in menus with suitable descriptions of what is in store from their reading); Parent’s Café; and, dedicated SEN and G&T ‘Achievement Centre.’

29 children are currently identified with Special Educational Needs (Students of Determination), around 10% of the school role. 17 children are identified as Gifted and Talented (G&T), around 6% of children. The school currently draws children from 39 nationalities with Emirati families accounting for about 18% of the role.

Technology is already a core focus of the school – we were really impressed on our last visit with the provision of Raspberry Pi devices and the introduction of coding from Year 1. The school has a dedicated Digital Coach and BYOD (iPad) operates from Year 4.

Facilities meet almost every conceivable need for the target preparatory age of its children/phases and are not bettered by other focused preparatory schools elsewhere in the sector.

Sports include netball; football; basketball and swimming. We particularly like the further provision of a variant of touch rugby given ongoing concerns that rugby at school level should be modified to its touch variant to minimise the significant risks of the professional sport.

All children are allocated to one of the four school houses on joining the school; Tudor reds, Stuart blues; Hanover greens and Windsor yellows.

2019 KHDA Inspection

Photograph of children learning in outstandingly equipped classrooms at Kings' School Nad Al Sheba in Dubai

It is worth noting up front that the Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba sits within a cluster of Kings’ school that have been awarded Outstanding (Kings’ School Dubai), Outstanding (Kings’ School Al Barsha) and Very Good with Outstanding Features (Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba) ratings by the KHDA. The expertise and vision is here – and the final trajectory, Outstanding School status for all three schools is very much the expectation. It is probably fair to say that the rating has just come a little more slowly than was hoped for – but parents should note that Kings’s School Nad Al Sheba is in many ways just beginning its journey compared with its Kings’ School Al Barsha counterpart.

In 2019, the strengths of the school are identified as:

  • Highly performing school leadership
  • Strong support from Governors
  • Positive parental feedback
  • Very good levels of progress by children in core subjects (for us, progress should be seen as a key measure of a school)
  • Stand-out FS phase schooling for children

Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba falls down in only one area: Arabic Subjects. These are, however, a challenge for all international schools.

Arabic subjects, and particularly language, however,  are important areas – and school do need to concentrate on these. Many parents ask us why?

Simply, in a global economy, driven by whole child skills as well as core academics, Arabic Subjects – and a broader understanding of Arabic culture, are integral to making up what will give students educated in the UAE an advantage over peers educated at home.

The first question any student is likely to be asked on graduating (and indeed throughout their lives) is “what did you learn in the Middle East?”

Children who have been taught in a vacuum will neither stand out as intellectually curious (a key measure for universities) or as having made the most of the opportunities of immersion and travel. Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba is seeking to strengthen provision in this area – and Mrs Fuller has made it a priority area under her leadership. We expect great things to come ….

The findings of Inspectors are all improved on in 2019 – this again demonstrating a school that is on an upwards trajectory for children:

Stand-out features of Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba in its 2019 KHDA inspection include:

  • Outstanding school resources and facility provision – excellent facilities for learning.
  • Powerful school focus on innovation.  The curriculum is continually adapted to facilitate opportunities for students to think differently. The innovation agenda is central to the school.
  • An exciting learning environment at FS phase
  • Children at the school develop a sense of purpose, self-esteem and inner confidence.
  • Genuinely inclusive school ethos with a positive approach to SEND in its many aspects
  • Committed teaching faculty with high morale and commitment to children

Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba Bottom line – The SchoolsCompared.com verdict 2019

Photograph of children in class at Kings' School Nad Al Sheba in Dubai. Kings Nad Al Sheba offers a British education to children until Year 7

In its combination of outstanding school leadership, steadfast, genuine and passionate support from the school’s founders, an extremely rich, unique whole child-centred curriculum – and Tier 1 facilities, the school has everything in place to parallel the success of its founding school.

Less by design than circumstance, the limited number of founding children has also created a hugely warm, small school culture at odds with the scale of its buildings. There are only around 350 pupils currently. There are benefits of this – not least in an outstandingly personalized learning experience for those who are currently attending.

Our inspector noted:

“ I really loved Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba. Everything is in place for the children and the school brims with a sense of purpose and life. The passion and ambition of the Head shines through and is quite something to behold in the intensity of her conviction that the school is achieving the extraordinary for every child.

I was really struck at how much the school gives life to the voices of its children – classrooms are alive with questions and teachers respond swiftly and encourage debate and exchange of views. Kings School Nad Al Sheba is an absolute gem – and a real undiscovered secret in Dubai education.”

Add to this, the sheer delight of the children, supportive parents, Kings’ vision and School leadership driven by vocation and care for children – and it’s impossible not to be impressed.

Finally, the value proposition here – and particularly now we know that all-through opening is confirmed, has the promise to undercut alternative prestige schooling in Dubai by a mile. This is already in our view the best value Kings’ education available in Dubai. We just need the fees from Year 8 to be fairly adjusted to rise to around the AED 70K mark. That is our test ….

Historically we think that the required jump to Kings School Al Barsha fee levels in Year 8 has been too great and certainly too demanding on parents.

The loss of Mrs Fuller Principal is regretful and leaves open questions as the school grapples with its future shape and provision. This, our single note of caution, is not a minor one.

Notwithstanding this, however, and subject to the caveats above about future fee levels and the eventual curriculum choices to be made, Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba, as it stands today, comes very highly recommended.

Are you looking for a place for your child, and want help from our school consultants? If so, click on the link below, and we will forward your request for information to the school or schools of the same type that we are confident have availability. This is a free service for our readers from our sister site WhichSchoolAdvisor.

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Details to consider
2018/19 Overall ADEK / KHDA Rating

Very Good with Outstanding Features

2017/18 Overall ADEC / KHDA Rating

Good with Very Good features

2016/17 Overall ADEC / KHDA Rating

Good

2015/16 Overall KHDA / ADEC Rating

NA

Rating FS

Outstanding

Rating Primary / Elementary

Very Good

Rating Secondary / Middle

Phased launch from September 2019

Rating Post 16 / High

Phased Launch from September 2023

Type of school

Private, for-profit

WSA Good School

Under review 2020-21

Full WSA Review
Average Cost Per Year

FS1: 50,200 (52,007)
FS2: 50,200 (52,007)
YEAR 1: 52,500 (54,390)
YEAR 2: 52,500 (54,390)
YEAR 3: 57,200 (59,259)
YEAR 4: 59,000 (61,124)
YEAR 5: 63,700 (65,993)
YEAR 6: 63,700 (65,993)
YEAR 7: 63,700 (65,993)
YEAR 8: TBC
YEAR 9: TBC
YEAR 10: TBC
YEAR 11: TBC
YEAR 12: TBC
YEAR 13:
( )=2018 KHDA fee structure

Curriculum

English National Curriculum:
EYFS
GCSE
International Baccalaureate [IB] Diploma or A Level TBC

External Exam Boards

Pearson EDEXCEL (SATS)

IB DipM Pass Rate

IB DP TBC

IB DipM Average Grade

IB DP TBC

Number of A Levels offered

TBC - see historic slipstream to Kings' School Al Barsha

A Levels offered

TBC - see historic slipstream to Kings' School Al Barsha

A Level A* to A

TBC - see historic slipstream to Kings' School Al Barsha

A Level A* to C

TBC - see historic slipstream to Kings' School Al Barsha

IGCSE A* to C

TBC - see historic slipstream to Kings' School Al Barsha

IGCSE A* to A

TBC - see historic slipstream to Kings' School Al Barsha

Number of I/GCSEs Offered

TBC - see historic slipstream to Kings' School Al Barsha

I/GCSEs offered

TBC - see historic slipstream to Kings' School Al Barsha

Selective

Yes
Notes:
(1) All applicants will sit a Cognitive Ability Test (CAT) [Years 3-6] and produce a piece of creative writing. Students will require around two hours to complete the assessment. For overseas applicants, this can be arranged at their current school.
(2) CATs include Verbal, Non-verbal, Quantitative and Spatial reasoning multiple choice questions, in a series of small timed tests.
(3) The creative writing will be based on a choice of topics provided on the day [Years 1+]
(4) To qualify for an offer at Kings’ School Nad Al Sheba, applicants will be required to demonstrate a good level of academic potential, with a CAT score above the required threshold appropriate to their age.
(5) Kings' welcomes applications from children with Dyslexia. Applications should include their most recent Educational Psychologist's report and IEP.
(6) Kings' accepts children with Special Education Needs [SEN] and provides Shadow teacher support if required though the number of places is limited
(7) Although Kings' does NOT generally offer EAL or TEFL support for those students where English is not their first language, it does accept children with English as a Second Language [EAL] provided other test results (CATIV) show that the child is academically able. Kings' Nad Al Sheba is more open to EAL stating it will offer support "to a certain extent", subject to "requiring children to have a sufficient understanding of English to be able to follow instructions and engage successfully in school life."
(8) FS selection will involve play based observational assessments grading communication, interaction and the ability to follow instructions

Waiting list

No

Value Added

Not published

Number of Students

Planned maximum capacity: 950 Primary/Middle Schools
Current role: 350 (2018)

Notes:
(1) Original all-through capacity: 1720
(2) Current all-through capacity expected 1800 on all-through

Teacher to Student Ratio

1:10 - 1:12 projected - currently 1:9
Notes:
(1) FS1: 20 children maximum per class with 1 teacher and 1 Learning Support [LS]
(2) FS2 - Year 6: 24 children maximum per class with 1 teacher and 1 Learning Support [LS]

Largest nationality teachers

British

Teacher turnover

39% (2019)
10% (2018)
9% (2017)

Year opened

2014

Location

Nad Al Sheba 3, Dubai

Student composition

Arab (largest nationality)
G&T: 6%
SEND: 29
Emirati: 57
Nationalities: 38

Gender

Mixed, co-educational

School canteen

No

Owner

Kings' Holdings
(A partnership between ANC Holdings LLC and Flag Holding LLC)
Tayeb Al Baker, Chairman, ANC Holdings LLC; Faris Al Baker, Vice Chairman, ANC Holdings LLC; Ahmed Ali Al Sarkal , Managing Partner, Flag Holding

Admissions Telephone

+971 (0) 4 327 1841

Web Address
Attainment Nur SEM

80%

Attainment Pri SEM

80%

Attainment Sec SEM

NA

Attainment Post-16 SEM

NA

Progress Nur SEM

100%

Progress Pri SEM

80%

Progress Sec SEM

NA

Progress Post-16 SEM

NA

Arabic Native Primary Results (Native)

50%

Arabic Secondary Results (Native)

NA

Arabic Post-16 Results (Native)

NA

Arabic Primary Results (Add.)

40%

Arabic Secondary Results (Add.)

NA

Arabic Post-16 Results (Add.)

NA

Islamic St. Primary Results

50%

Islamic St. Secondary Results

NA

Islamic St. Post-16 Results

NA

Leadership

80%

Community

80%

Facilities

100%

Quality of teaching

80%

Student personal responsibility

100%

Quality of curriculum

90%
Notes:
(100% FS)

School Governance

80%

SEN Provision

90%

Strengths

• Confirmation, finally, of all-through opening
• Breadth and quality of facilities
• Scholarship and bursary programme
• Committed owners
• Focused preparatory-only schooling for academically gifted children
• Dedicated, specialised dyslexia support
• On-going generous discount scheme for Emirates staff
• Subsidised transport
• Technology focus
• Good ROI

Weaknesses

• New school Principal to be announced at a time of considerable change ahead for the school as it plans all-through opening
• Ongoing lack of clarity on shape of eventual curriculum provision

Rating
Our Rating
User Rating
Rate Here
Academic
A+
B+
Value
A-
B+
ExtraCurricula
A
A-
Languages
A-
B+
Sports
A
B+
Arts & Drama
A-
B+
Teaching
A
B+
Communications
A+
B+
Warmth
A+
A-
Differentiation
A-
A-
SEND Provision
A-
A-
Scl Community
A+
A-
Scl Facilities
A+
A-
Opportunities

• Impressively ambitious with foundations in place to be a benchmark for outstanding Tier 1 premium school provision

A
Our Rating
B+
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Top of shortlist
66%
In my Top 5
17%
Shortlisted
17%
A possibility
3%
Pass
0%
No way
11%
About The Author
Jon Westley
Jon Westley is the Editor of SchoolsCompared.com and WhichSchoolAdvisor.com UK. You can email him at jonathanwestley [at] schoolscompared.com

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SEND Provision
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