Top Schools For Art, Music and the Performing Arts in the UAE. Part 1. The SchoolsCompared.com Guide for Parents..

Best School for the Performing Arts and Broader Arts Programmes Nomination 2021:

Kings’ School Al Barsha

Web site: here.

Our review: here.

Contact information: here

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +971 (0) 4 356 6800

Our rating:

Background

With a focus on holistic education and emotional intelligence, Kings’ School Dubai prides themselves on doing things differently. The school follows the National Curriculum of England as a framework that they then adapt for conceptual, integrated and enriched learning.  This includes academic, sport (both competitive and non-competitive), drama and creative arts, as well as personal development and discovery activities including a plethora of residential experiences outside the classroom.

https://youtu.be/-iWWtWlze7Y

The Arts are a compulsory element in the Kings curriculum from Year 7 to Year 11, offering a wide range of experiences both through academics and the extra-curricular experiences. We are still a young school, yet our Arts programme is one of our most successful. Our matriculating students for the Arts are frequently offered unconditional offers at top drama and Arts establishments globally, illustrating not only their abilities but the wider skills and depth that we are able to offer to our students at Kings’ Al Barsha.  

“The Arts are an integral part of our community life here at Kings’ Al Barsha.

We view the Arts as languages our children must learn if they are to be successful in later life.

Through the Arts our children gain vital communication and social skills, visual literacy and are forced to be more thoughtful about how they observe and understand their world.

As such we encourage all of our students to pursue and study at least one of the Arts at GCSE.

We believe that the Arts add a richness to our children’s experiences, empowering them for their future.”

Rebecca Gray. Principal & Primary Head Teacher. Kings’ School Al Barsha

https://youtu.be/9bP8cnEl4oE

“I am so fortunate to be able to lead both the Music Department and the Expressive Arts Faculty of such inspirational and passionate staff and students at Kings’ School Al Barsha.

The Arts are pivotal in any school environment and I thrive on providing enriching opportunities for students to showcase their talents in all areas of Music, Drama and Art. The Arts allow us to be human; to understand how we feel, think and see the world, and Michelle Obama articulates this perfectly:

“The Arts are not just a nice thing to have to do if there is free time or if one can afford it. Rather, paintings and poetry, music and fashion, design and dialogue, they all define who we are as people and provide an account of our history for the next generation”.

We, as Arts educators, have such a large responsibility for shaping the human nature, imagination and creativity of future generations. It is the Arts experiences that students experience in their time at school; they will cherish and hold dear for years to come.

Sydney Gurewitz Clemenst’s philosophy, that the Arts have “the role in education of helping children become more like themselves instead of more like everyone else”, is at the heart of what we do and the experiences that we offer at Kings’ School Al Barsha. “

Kathryn Francis. Head of Music and Faculty Head of Expressive Arts. Kings’ School Al Barsha

Fee range

From AED 53,622 to AED 97,798dhs

Prospectus

Key features

External Examination Partnerships

LAMDA

ABRSM

Rock School

Trinity College London

What the Students say about Music

“The music department at Kings’ Al Barsha is special to me because it has allowed me to learn and play with some incredible musicians along with helping to improve my skills on my instrument.

As a GCSE Music student, I am given the opportunity to develop my performance, composition and analysis skills with like minded peers.”

Ethan Mellor Year 10 GCSE Music student

“Before coming to Kings’ I never had the confidence to perform on stage, yet when I got there teachers such as Miss Francis and Mr Cooke pushed and motivated me. This led me to become a confident performer where I played piano and sang in many recitals and performed in all the whole school Productions. These experiences are all filled with so many memories. The Expressive Arts Faculty have been very supportive throughout the years and have given me my love of musical theatre. As I have gone through the two-year courses of both Music and Drama GCSE, I have really found and developed my passion for both – even considering it now as a career path in the future. I look back and still have many memories from my first recital in year 7 to my last one in year 11 and it has really shown me how much I have grown as a musician. I am so thankful that I have such amazing teachers in both the music and drama departments that have supported and believed in me throughout. “

Mercedes Daniel, Year 11 GCSE Music Student

What The Parents Say About Music

“If you’re looking for a school that has the best quality teachers in their performing arts department for your children; teachers with passion, skill, and knowledge about music and performing arts, Kings’ School Al Barsha fulfills all those criteria.

The Music / Performing Arts Department has helped both my children to be more confident – not only during performances, but also in and out of school.

My children are a true testament of how important Music and the Performing Arts are when it come to holistic teaching – especially in the hands of skilled teachers such as those at Kings’ School Al Barsha.”

Tala Badri – mother of Ali Al Hashimi – Year 10 GCSE Music

What the Students say about Drama

‘‘Upon entering Kings, I had no knowledge of Drama as I had come from an academic based school with no creative courses.

Mrs El Alwan and Mr Cook work so hard to ensure that every student lives up to their capabilities in the subject and strive for their goals. The Drama block is indeed a family that makes students feel at home and able to express themselves in the art of acting and performing.  Since I’ve joined and through the productions I have been in, I found my passion to aspire to be a musical theatre actor, and now strive to do my best in order to pursue it as a career.

Kings has given me a new passion in life and I couldn’t have been more thankful for my Drama teachers for always believing in their students and helping their drive for the best.’’

Adam Hassan-A Level Theatre Studies Student.

What the parents say about Performing Arts

“Rami has been enjoying drama lessons outside of school since he was seven years old. When he moved to King’s from a French school he was delighted that Drama was part of the curriculum. He’s enjoyed the lessons and went on to take Drama GCSE and next year he will start on his Drama A level course.  The teachers are so talented, supportive and resourceful; they even set up workshops for the students. The highlight for Rami has been the school productions he has been part of.  It’s something he thoroughly enjoyed and gave him an unforgettable experience! As a parent I have been so pleased to see Rami flourish and was amazed at the extreme high standards of the productions. King’s excels at so many things and the Drama department is definitely one of them.’’

Leila Ghadour

“I am thankful for the drive and hard work of the teachers, school and especially the drama department that has guided Adam into this path. With the help of Miss Elalwan and her support and believing in her students, Adam discovered his passion to pursue theatre as a career. Kings does indeed have the best drama department we’ve seen and we are so lucky we have the chance to be a part of it.’’

Mrs Hassan

What the Students say about Art

“Taking Art & Design GCSE has been an enriching and riveting experience for me, as it has been for my classmates.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to creatively express myself through the use of different mediums and techniques throughout the course, being taught different aspects of Art and choosing to pursue whatever personally appeals to me.

Unlike other subjects that are academically rigorous, Art provides you with independence and the opportunity to take initiative and personalise your approach to the theme you are given, to allow for a display of your true creative potential.

If this appeals to you, I would definitely recommend that you consider taking Art for GCSE, as it has been very beneficial to have a creative outlet to complement other subject choices.

Molly Popplewell,Year 11

What makes studying photography at Kings’ such a wonderful endeavor is that the intrinsically contagious desire to create is instilled through a genuinely passionate, brilliant teacher – and this is ultimately what sets the course apart.

The creative process is a rather abstract, perplexing, and at times daunting concept to tackle, especially for myself. However, the past year has brought with it newfound confidence and understanding of a medium I’d never even imagined expressing an interest in.

The course’s methodological combination of challenging, highly independent projects and bolstering of each student’s skills through rigorous reviews of various technical elements of photography, has allowed me to develop the knowledge and skills required to grow within the field.

Through analyzing and studying a variety of photographers, the course has also enabled me to form a better understanding of the purpose and role photography plays in the wider world, unlocking a novel curiosity and appreciation for the medium.

Arshans, Year 11

What the Parents say about Art

“Art at Kings’ School Al Barsha has been a delight for my children, they always come home with new ways to express themselves using Art. I feel that my children have a broad understanding of all topics as they are exposed to a variety of different mediums and contemporary and traditional artists. They say the classroom environment is a very joyful place which they look forward to, they tell me they love to explore new skills every day when in Art.”

Mrs Amina AlShirawi

“We have been delighted with the quality and standard at which Photography GCSE has been delivered at Kings’ and see it as a vital part of Arshan’s academic portfolio.

Whilst the course requires students to act independently to achieve their goals, Arshan has been supported throughout, with clear guidelines and success criteria outlining precise expectations on a week by week basis. The sheer clarity of instruction has meant that the only limiting factor to success in the course has been the level of commitment and effort Arshan puts in – and it’s been a pleasure seeing him develop as a student to meet these demands and effectively utilise his time.

The systematic nature in which the course is delivered has ensured that detailed feedback is conveyed to students on a regular basis, whilst Mr.Sodha’s enthusiastic and truly passionate attitude towards the subject has made it a pleasure to attend every day.”

Anda Dambe – Mother of Arshans Haghshenas, Year 11

Scholarships in Music and the Arts

https://youtu.be/M9w7Bu4OEzw

Managing Covid 19

Kings’ have taken the following steps to ensure continuity of their Arts, Drama and Music programmes:

• Covid safe spaces – socially distanced floor spots in open practical spaces for Drama and Music.
• Numbering of all equipment so each child has access to their own instruments (no sharing) to allow practical music to resume.
• Art trolleys delivered to students in Year Group pods so that practical Art can continue.
• Adaptation of full Arts curriculum content to allow for online learners to also access remotely.
• Zoom based lessons to allow access for all.

Student Slipstream Graduating Institutions and achievements

Emirati student, Sara Al Hasimi, was awarded a scholarship to study BMus Performance (Voice) at Berklee College of Music, US.

Colombian student, Juan Salazar, was offered an unconditional place and awarded one of only 11 Global Major Scholarships at the Royal Central School for Speech & Drama, UK, to study Acting.

Rachel Double, secured a place at University of the Arts London to study Contemporary Theatre & Performance.

Emma Steffers, was awarded an unconditional place at Bird College, Conservatoire for dance and musical theatre to study a Foundation Degree in Musical Theatre

Alana Pike- Unconditional- Manchester School of Art, Photography.

Ben Bruce – Drama BA at Roehampton University.

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