American Gulf School, Al Rahmaniya – The Review

Background

American Gulf School (AGS) is an IB-based school which opened in Sharjah in August 2021. It is today the the only IB continuum school in Sharjah.

The school offers a project-based curriculum with a student-centred approach that focuses on English, Maths, STEAM, Arabic and Islamic Studies, and French as an additional language. The school is currently accredited by US-based Cognia and is in the process of being authorized for all four International Baccalaureate Programmes with the aim of these being in place by 2023-24. The school is staffed by an experienced and highly qualified team led by James Lynch, Principal,  and has over 200 students from 20 different nationalities. AGS offers a range of extracurricular activities, including academic, sports, creative arts, and STEAM activities, and provides support for students with SEN requirements through a dedicated hub of specialist professionals.

American Gulf School (AGS) is located in the Al Rahmaniya/Shaghrafah 4 area of Sharjah.

Leadership

James Lynch brings to American Gulf School UAE experience drawn from leadership of two International Baccalaureate programme-based schools in Dubai – Ambassador International Academy (a UK-curriculum founded IB school), and the IB World Dubai International Academy  In 2017, Mr Lynch’s  contribution to the leadership of Raffles World Academy played a key part in the school’s securing of the coveted Very Good with Outstanding Features ranking. With 25 years  experience across schools globally, Mr Lynch played a formidable role in leadership roles in the South west of England at a school renowned for its whole child development of students across the Arts and Sport, before embarking on his UAE career with Innoventures. Interestingly, core leadership of the school has been drawn from key members of Dubai International Academy Emirates Hills, the first UAE school to be accredited as an IB World School in the UAE by the International Baccalaureate Organisation.

Feedback to SchoolsCompared and EDSTATICA^TM is uniformly positive with parents variously describing him as “positive”, “Inspirational” and “someone who listens and gets things done.”

Our own experience of Mr Lynch is of a hugely dedicated educationalist with huge warmth and compassion. Mr Lynch is a mile away from the classic image of an aloof and stuffy IB school leader. To the contrary, Mr Lynch eschews the barricades of the Principal’s office, instead investing time with parents and students, making it his priority to know students by name.  From our discussions with him it is evident he cares passionately, and meaningfully, about child welfare and the ambitions of students. In his previous schools he was adored by parents – and many argued was the tour de force behind each of his school’s delivery of an outstanding education for students.

Mr Lynch qualified in History and Physical Education by original degree training – later securing his Masters in Educational Leadership from Exeter.

Curriculum

The school is resolutely IB across all phases from the IB PYP, IBMYP through to its post-16 provision. Note: the school has now confirmed to us {14 February 2023] that it will, creditably, provide the International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme as a technical stream alternative to the International Baccalaureate Diploma. Our view is that all IB schools should be providing this to meet the needs, potential, ambitions and gifts of all students.

ECAs cover the spectrum of options across Sport, the Creative Arts and STREAM activities and academics.

There is a stand-out bi-lingual English-Arabic programme of instruction from Pre-K.

Facilities

This is not a bells and whistles school – the focus instead is on investment in teachers and leadership and the fundamental building blocks of an IB education. We expect facility provision and depth to grow with the school. As a new school, the investment here is evident and the school is flooded with light. The school has a strong focus on STEAM:

Facilities include:

• Sciences labs by specialism

• Three STEAM labs with strong investment in robotics including LEGO® MINDSTORMS®
• Two libraries including access to a digital library
• Specialist KG Resource Centre
• Visual and Performing Arts Hubs focused on Drama and Music
• Ballet studio
• Media studio with full audio and visual production technology
• Design Café
• Indoor KG soft play area

An example of the investment in high quality outdoor play centres at American Gulf School Sharjah

• KG playgrounds
• Multipurpose Physical education and Sports Complex
• Cafeteria
• Mosque
• Clinic

Teaching

Investment in teachers and focus on one-to-one learning is a stand-out feature of American Gulf School Sharjah

Investment in teachers is strong. You can review this here where the school recognises the creditable calibre of its faculty.

Worth noting that far too schools, and unlike American Gulf School, celebrate their investment in teaching. You should ask why.

We have also received confirmation [14 February 2023] that American Gulf School has now completed recruitment of a high number of very experienced new IB specialist and leaders from Very Good and Outstanding Schools in Dubai who will be joining the school in September 2023. Investment here is serious and ongoing.

Fees

For an IB school, our view is that there is very strong ROI on offer here, and particularly so at current discounted levels (2023-24).

Bottom line? The SchoolsCompared.com Verdict 2023-24

These are early days – but the big guide here is school leadership. This is serious, accomplished and rich with a pedigree in high performing IB schools. The importance of school leadership in steering a school should not be underestimated. Reputations are at stake. On this basis alone American Gulf School has been established with the engines to establish a leading, very high performing IB presence in Sharjah education.

With confirmation as of the time of writing this review that the IB Career-related Programme will be offered with the Diploma, the curriculum breadth on offer we rank outstanding. The foundations of technical stream education are already being put in place with investment in robotics to nurture formative engineering and coding skills from Early Years.

We would like to see provision of both scholarships and a published bursary policy. But to be fair to the school these are very early days and what we do have here already is highly creditable ambition and investment. Scholarships and bursaries generally kick in later as a school builds capacity.

Class sizes are capped opening at 24 students (22 in KG) – but as a new school there are all the benefits of a very high concentration of teachers for each child. As of 2023, the teacher to child ratio was just 1:3.

It’s early days, but this is a school to watch. We will update our review as the school beds in provision, but everything is in place here to deliver, and deliver powerfully, for students.

Recommended for shortlisting.

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