Best School for the Performing Arts and Broader Arts Programmes Nomination 2021:
Nord Anglia’s The British International School Abu Dhabi
Web site: here.
Our review: here.
Contact information: here
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +971 2 510 0176
Our rating: 
Background
https://youtu.be/6qYbHmOKpeg
At The British International School Abu Dhabi, they are passionate about the Performing Arts. The students experience Visual Art, Music, Dance and Drama as they form an important part of our curriculum from the age of 3 all the way through to Secondary School. The school’s ethos is that these subjects play a crucial role in enabling the students to develop into intelligent, confident and well-rounded global citizens.
The collaboration with The Juilliard School gives the students first-class learning experiences, and also provides high-level professional training and personal development opportunities for the teachers. The students’ learning of the performing arts is enhanced using a repertoire of core music, dance and drama works encompassing a wide range of genres, styles and cultures designed and hand-selected by Juilliard.
Teachers use the Juilliard Creative Classroom, an online collection of educational resources that have been designed to enhance and supplement The British International School Abu Dhabi performing arts curricula. Juilliard designed teaching materials, creative activities, historical information, rehearsal strategies, and professional development resources to lead students through explorations of core works of music, dance, and drama and emphasise building students’ personal artistry through their own creativity.
In addition, teachers from The British International School Abu Dhabi have many opportunities for professional development, including in-person sessions with Juilliard curriculum specialists and through workshops designed and led by Juilliard experts both regionally and at The Juilliard School in New York.
“Creative arts are an essential part of our school to enable our students to flourish in a broad range of disciplines that develops their skills and prepare our students for 21st Century life.”
Patrick Horne, Principal, The British International School Abu Dhabi
“The Arts have been celebrated since the dawn of civilization and have always been recognised as a fundamental aspect of every child’s education and life. Promoting creativity in a world where the future jobs roles our children will perform do not yet exist. Enhancing collaboration in world that has become insular, encouraging discussion in a world where oral traditions have been lost and enabling curiosity about the world around and the need to be empathetic to those, we do not understand is so important. The Arts are a fundamental basic to the rounding of young people and must be maintained, enhancing and enriching the lives of everyone. At BIS Abu Dhabi, the Creative Arts Team fully believe in the value of Arts in education and as such, work hard to deliver a diverse, exciting and challenging curriculum in all areas.”
Adriane O’Connor, Head of Creative Arts
Fee range
AED 50,300 to AED 68,700
Prospectus
Music: here
Performing Arts: here
Dance: here
Key features
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Music
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Performing Arts | Art | |
| Specialisms | Through the Juilliard-Nord Anglia Performing Arts Programme, our music curriculum is enhanced with a music repertoire of great works of art hand-selected by Juilliard and through the teaching of keyboard skills, which acts as an entry point for music theory learning.
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Through the Juilliard-Nord Anglia Performing Arts Programme, our drama curriculum is enhanced with core works from different cultures and periods in history to provide students with a grounding in the forms, structures and elements they might draw on, utilise and manipulate when exploring and viewing dramatic works.
In dance, students learn the history and movement behind influential dance pieces, while improving their own physical coordination and self-expression.
We offer Drama from Year 7 upwards. In Year 10, students can opt to study IGCSE Drama and from Year 12 IB Theatre.
Dance is part of the curriculum and is fully embedded into the Primary curriculum due to our collaboration with Juilliard, and is taught by and overseen by a Dance specialist.
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Drawing & Painting, Print making, Photography and Graphic Design
See art images here:
https://www.nordangliaeducation.com/our-schools/abu-dhabi/year- |
| Recent Achievement | Choir performances at community events such as the carols at the Intercontinental Hotel.
Successful performances at Choirfest, an annual singing competition held in the UAE.
Annual school talent competition, BIS Got Talent, displaying the amazing talent we have at our school.
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Annual productions leaving the audience in awe of our wonderful cast, musicians and stage crew. Including Les Misérables, Annie, The Addams Family, and Guys and Dolls due to be held this year.
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Achieving the highest Art & Design GCSE score in the UAE in 2019
Exhibiting as part of the British International Schools Art collective at Warehouse 421 Trips to Manaraat Al Saadiyat Annual Art Fair and Louvre Abu Dhabi Eco Art & Design Competition to design re-usable water bottle Number of students leaving to study Art related courses In-school and virtual exhibitions Hosted CPD sessions for other schools
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| Stand out Features | Our approach to music learning is very collaborative and immersive. Through our affiliation with the Juilliard School, we have curriculum specialists and artists frequently visit our schools around the world to bring excellence into the classroom and ignite the love of the arts in our students. The Juilliard School also runs an ‘Ask the artist’ series, where students can learn about an artist and then ask questions about their instruments or experiences. These then get answered in a live broadcast for students to watch.
We have a fantastic relationship with other schools from around the world as part of the Nord Anglia group. Students are regularly invited to regional music conferences with other schools in the Nord Anglia family. Last year we visited Bratislava with other Nord Anglia schools from Europe and the Middle East. We have a Global Campus platform, which allows us to collaborate on virtual orchestras, virtual choirs, young musician competitions with other Nord Anglia schools.
We have also participated in local events with BSME and ChoirFest and have performed at a number of venues across the city.
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Our Juilliard affiliation is by far the biggest difference. The students have access to incredible opportunities such as SEAME (South East Asia and Middle East) Performing Arts conferences, organised with Juilliard and specialist teachers (including BIS Abu Dhabi staff) to deliver a week-long festival of Performing Arts with other schools around the world.
We have Juilliard professional artists who visit the school to deliver CPD to staff, lessons to students and learning opportunities for parents. All performing Arts staff receives CPD from Juilliard in New York, Hanoi and Prague.
We are part of the BSME group, which offers a lot of platforms for our students to perform and learn.
Global Campus Arts Area within Nord Anglia Education, which again offers the students opportunities to engage in the Arts with Nord Anglia students around the world, taking part in online learning, competitions and festivals.
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Links between Art & Service and CAS
Global Campus Visual Arts and Photography Competitions Published student Artwork in Global Nord Anglia Anthology Student’s artwork featured in Specialist Catalogue Artwork is celebrated through exhibitions throughout all key stages of the school
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| Facilities/
Infrastructure |
Music Technology Suite, practice rooms, 2 large specialist classrooms, multi-purpose hall.
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Two fully equipped Visual Arts Studios, Etching press, Screen and Cyanotype Printing facilities, Photo editing and Adobe Creative Design Suite
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| Scholarship | |||
| Capital Investment | We are continuing to invest in upgrading our music education technology and sound systems to mirror the real world.
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We are continuing to invest in upgrading our Performing Art facilities to mirror the real world | We are continuing to invest in upgrading our Music facilities to mirror the real world.
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External Examination Partnerships:
Julliard
What the Students say about Music
“At BIS Abu Dhabi, the Arts are held up to be just as meaningful as any other subject. They’re given the same level of importance and relevance as the humanities or languages.
I don’t think I’ve seen any other school give so much respect to its students’ interests, regardless of the subject.
A student trying to pursue a future in the music industry or in theatre is taken just as seriously as a student trying to become a computer engineer and, personally, as a student myself, I find that very empowering.
I value the arts in school because I find it a way of self-expression and I see it as a gateway to express my creativity.
Our school has put a lot of effort into several Performing Arts displays that we have in a year, whether that’s promoting, providing finance or even positive words of encouragement, the school always has the Arts departments back.
As the audience watches these performances and visits the showcases, you can really tell the amount of hard work that’s been put into making them happen and that too, to such a high standard and you can clearly see how valued the arts are.”
What The Parents Say About Music
“Over the last few years I have seen my shy daughter blossom.
We are particularly thankful, and attribute this to her participation in the Little Stars ECA in the last few terms, where she was able to build her confidence.”
What the Students say about Performing Arts
“’When I first joined BIS Abu Dhabi, I couldn’t speak English fluently and struggled to make friendships.
Luckily, my parents enrolled me into the school production at a young age, where the staff taught me to be confident and to open up to others along with showing me the beauty of drama, making me who I am today.
My passion for Drama and Theatre blossomed thanks to the school’s exceptional facilities and CCAs.
The effort and work every single person involved with the Arts constantly applies is beyond amazing. From set and props to casting, the community always strives to make our school production the best it can be.
As a long time student, I’ve been able to marvel at the school’s improvement over the years. I can’t imagine being in a better school.”
What the parents say about Performing Arts
“Outstanding production and an absolute pleasure to watch. Incredible high-level of performance for all the students. Amazing organisation and set. What talented kids we have at BIS AD!”
“What I’ve seen at BIS Abu Dhabi over the last two years as a parent? Senior Management with a vision, enthusiastic teachers with personalised attention, motivated & ambitious students and lastly, the community feeling that makes it warm and welcoming!’
What the Students say about Art
“Art & Design at BIS Abu Dhabi has taught me valuable lessons which I would not have learned elsewhere. It has taught me how to interpret, criticize, create and has enhanced my creativity, open-mindedness and my own perceptions. I am lucky to have studied at a place which allowed me to self-express with nothing but support and encouragement.”
“Taking GCSE Art & Design at BIS Abu Dhabi has taught me many things, amongst them being to have the ability to explore topics at my own potential. It was very much tailored to my needs, as I had the immense support of the school supplies and staff at hand always, I’m so glad I had this opportunity.”
What the Parents say about Art
“My daughter has been going to BIS AD and she loves it there. She absolutely adores her teacher and the school. BIS AD has a very international flavour to it with all of their MIT and Juilliard collaborations.”
Student Slipstream Graduating Institutions
The BRIT School in the UK
Drama at Goldsmith’s College, London
Art/Design Degree in Edinburgh
Parsons College in Paris
Foundation course in Interior Design at Regent’s University, London.
St. John’s College Cambridge to study Architecture
Point Blank Music School, London to study Electronic Music Production and Sound Engineering
A current student has an offer to study Fine art at The University of Southampton, UK or Art History, Visual Culture, Film and TV Studies at The University of Exeter, UK
Loyola Marymount University, US to study Film and TV Production
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