Which is the best nursery in Dubai? How to choose your child’s nursery, plus full list of all Dubai ECCs with contact details

Looking for the best nursery in Dubai for your child? More than 20,000 children under the age of 6 go to a total of 226 early childhood centres (ECCS) across Dubai, so it can be hard to know where to start. Below is a guide to help you shortlist nursery schools in Dubai to determine the best early childcare for your child – plus a full list of every nursery in Dubai, with both their location and contact details.

What is an ECC?

The term ECC stands for Early Childcare Centre and refers to all standalone nurseries, kindergartens and other pre-schools.

When can my child attend an ECC?

Nurseries are allowed to take children from 45 days up to 6 years old. Not all nurseries will take all age groups though, and at the present moment the majority of nurseries will cater only to children up the age of three or four years old.

Compulsory education in Dubai does not start until the academic year that your child turns 6 years old.

Age requirements are clearly set out for early childhood centres, as specified in the table below:

Nurseries in Dubai offer 13 different curricula and learning approaches, including Early Years Foundation Stage, Montessori, French and Finnish.

The majority (78%) of Dubai ECCs and nurseries use the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) framework, which originates from the UK. This is a play-based curriculum for children between the age of 0 to 5 years, which focuses on seven areas of learning: communication and language; physical development; personal, social and emotional development; literacy; mathematics; understanding the world; expressive arts and design.

Many nurseries will use the EYFS as their basic structure, and weave principles from other curricula on top; it’s common to see nurseries using the EYFS framework, but embracing techniques from the Montessori method, Reggio Emilia or Waldorf approaches, for example.

 

Learning approaches taught by ECCs in Dubai

Locations

Nurseries are distributed across Dubai, but some areas are more highly concentrated and have more choice than others. Here is a list of the number of nurseries by general area:

Jumeirah: 78

Hadaeq Mohammad Bin Rashid: 38

Dubailand: 23

Deira: 25

Mushrif: 20

Bur Dubai: 17

Zaabeel: 11

Jebel Ali: 8

Ras Al Khor: 6

Average Nursery Fees

Most nurseries will have flexible days and timings to suit parents, and so fees will depend on the number of days and the length of the hours that you choose for your child. There is often a core number of hours until the early afternoon, and then options to pay to extend by a set number of hours each day.

Full-time fees can vary widely, from Dh20,000 or less for the most affordable options, up to Dh60,000 or more per year for more premium offerings. Nurseries may be willing to negotiate, depending on availability, so it is always worth contacting them directly.

Why send your child to a Dubai nursery or ECC?

Expat parents working in the UAE often wonder whether it is better to leave a baby in the care of a nanny or nursery? And then, when they reach the age of three, whether they should enroll them in a nursery/ ECC or a school for their early-years education?

While the decision is always a personal one, and different scenarios will suit different families’ situations and different children’s personalities, there are certainly many benefits to entrusting your child in one of Dubai’s best nurseries. Samina Khanyari, General Manager of Jumeirah International Nurseries and Early Childhood Centres, shares her thoughts:

“The early years up until 6 years of age is a critical period in human development as the child’s brain at that age is only about 80% the size of an adult brain. This is also the period when the brain will make innumerable connections and synapses to develop and learn an incredible number of skills and information that the children need to function throughout the rest of their lives. With such critical transformation, children need to be exposed to choices and an array of activities to support their learning needs in an environment that is conducive to learning.”

“We know that children learn best through play and things that interest them. ECCs/ Nurseries provide a holistic environment catering to the needs of the child, with better adult-child ratios than they would receive in a school, and providing better opportunities of being stimulated under the professional care of qualified educators than having them home with a nanny.”

How can I tell if it is a good nursery?

Nurseries are now regulated by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), which also oversees the quality of schools and universities in Dubai. This means that there are now official standards in place for things like teaching staff qualifications and staff-to-child ratios. These are as follows:

Read more about all of the standards required for Dubai nurseries and ECCs here.

The KHDA has not yet released any inspection ratings for Dubai ECCs, so in the meantime here are some things to look out for when assessing a nursery:

• Health and Safety: Parents’ first priority is always safety when it comes to their little ones. Does the nursery appear clean and secure? Are there reliable systems in place to ensure that strangers cannot access the nursery? Are there hygienic policies in place to keep children healthy and curb the spread of germs? Is there a clinic and nurse onsite to attend to your child should he or she fall sick?
• Size of the space: Is there plenty of room for your child to move about? Does the nursery have good-sized classrooms and a reasonable cap on capacity so that your child or baby will not be too crowded? Is there ample/ any outdoor space? Is the space used to lots of different areas and facilities with sensory, engaging props and activities to stimulate your child? Find out the exact minimum space requirements for children in nurseries by age here.
• Facilities: Are there plenty of varied and different play stations laid out within easy reach of a child to interest and stimulate them? Is there a quiet and self-contained napping area for babies and toddlers who will need to sleep during the day?  Is there an array of different play structures to help their motor skills and physical development? Are there lots of natural materials used in the nursery space, or is it all plastic?
• Approach: What is the nursery’s educational philosophy (does this align with your values?) and do they have the facilities to properly support that? Are children’s personal interests taken into account when it comes to their learning? What is the nursery’s approach when it comes to separation anxiety (a child crying when dropped off) and do you feel that suits you? What is their approach to toilet readiness (potty training) and do you feel that suits your family?
• Teaching staff and management: Your child’s teacher can make or break their experience at nursery. What are the teachers’ qualifications and experience, and how nurturing and engaging do they seem to be with the children? How happy and engaged are the teaching assistants? Is the teacher calm and confident and able to answer your questions with ease? What is their approach when it comes to challenges at the nursery, e.g. if a child hurts another child, or if a child has a toileting accident? How knowledgeable does the management seem, and do they appear interested in your own child as an individual, or are they just wanting to get another enrolment through the door? Find out the minimum qualifications required for teaching staff and assistants and managers here. 
• Communication: Consistent communication with parents is more important in a nursery than anywhere, since your own child will likely be too young to be able to tell you how their day went. How often and through which channel/s will the nursery communicate with parents? Do they use a secure app or other technology? Will you get regular photo updates of how your child is doing during the day?
• Flexibility: How flexible is the nursery to work around you? Will they follow your routine or will your child need to fit into the nursery routine? Is there a set drop-off and pick-up time, or can you be a bit flexible with that if you need to? Do they provide meals for your child, or will you need to send in packed lunches from home? If so, do they have facilities to chill and/ or heat food or milk for your child?
• Term times and timings: Does the nursery have term times (in which case you will need to find alternative childcare during the holidays) or does it run throughout the year? How early/ late does the nursery stay open, and who will be looking after your child if your child stays late? (It is common for core teaching staff to only be present in the mornings, with assistants taking care of children in the afternoon).

Full list of Dubai nurseries and ECCs

[Please scroll right on your browser to see full information]

© SchoolsCompared.com. A WhichMedia Group publication. 2023. All rights reserved.