The Best Blended International Baccalaureate Curriculum School in the United Arab Emirates 2023 – 2024 Revealed. Top Schools Award Winner. Official.
The Winner
The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Awards for
The Best School Blended International Baccalaureate School in the United Arab Emirates 2023 – 2024
is awarded to:
Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) – Arabian Ranches
Our view of Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) Arabian Ranches:
Web: https://www.jess.sch.ae/secondary
KHDA: Outstanding
Review: https://whichschooladvisor.com/uae/school-review/jumeirah-english-speaking-school-arabian-ranches
Pictured: Shane O’Brien, Director, Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) Arabian Ranches.
Multi award-winning JESS is undoubtedly one of the most respected schools for the International Baccalaureate in Dubai, and the UAE.
It’s reputation deservedly stretches across the Emirates, and globally, for the outstanding quality of its provision for students, whole child and academic, and its expertise in technology at the cutting edge of developments in Science and industry.
JESS Arabian Ranches is resolutely, and proudly, not-for-profit, and inclusive, although you would not know it from the stellar success of its students in examinations. It is this play between inclusion, progress and attainment that has won the hearts and minds of both students and parents alike – and the commitment is genuine, with the school’s unwavering promise that every child will find their place at JESS, and every child be the best that they can be – and more.
Despite changes to leadership in recent years, this core commitment to individualised achievement and inclusion remains steadfastly applied – and continues to set the school apart. Whole child commitment is seriously impressive, and student achievement in Sport, in particular, place it regularly in the rankings for best school for Sport in the Emirates. JESS has also creditably been a pioneer in technical stream education, recognising the value of BTEC when many of its peers turned up their noses. That belief in technical stream education has proven to be visionary, as increasingly industry and universities treat BTEC with the seriousness it undoubtedly deserves. AT JESS, Level 3 BTECs in broad range of subjects can be combined with gold standard A’ Levels if that best meets the needs, potential, talents and aspirations of the child.
The achievements of students sitting for both the IB Diploma and Career-related programme are not short of spectacular, highlighting just how good the teaching and value-add is at a school that still refuses to get hung up on league tables despite its absolutely exceptional success. The philosophy remains one that judges children on their own terms and refuses the annual rush to get hung up on results which give only a small part of the story of what makes an education outstanding. Facilities are some of the very best of any school in Dubai and it is so telling, for such an ethically inclusive school, that it is regularly seen as an impressive alternative too for academic children seeking an alternative to Dubai College.
JESS is a phenomenon. It is very difficult to find a critique of this school that is not trivial or will stick. Some may say it is a lazy recommendation simply because it is widely recognised that the quality of the International Baccalaureate, technical stream and whole child education here is class leading, but we should not discount schools simply because they are benchmarks for what an outstanding education should look like and deliver for its children. The following video captures the school brilliantly:
Some key pointers follow that we think bring life to understanding this exceptional school:
First, as above, JESS is academically inclusive. More tellingly, it matters to JESS that it is so. Secondly, JESS International Baccalaureate results (despite this) are the best in the emirates. In 2023 the school, against a backdrop that saw the return to pre-Pandemic grade boundaries, saw its International Baccalaureate Diploma average point score reach 37.1. The pass rate was 100% and close to one third of students secured 40 points or more.
Third, JESS is committed to offering a technical stream pathway for students. In 2023, 85% of its BTEC cohort secures D*D* or higher.
Fourth, JESS pioneered the use of VR and technology in the classroom in the UAE – and shared its learning with a plethora of schools. Its impact extends much further than its own campus.
Fifth investment is class-leading, notwithstanding that is one of the UAE’s few “Ivy League” not-for-profits. You can find further information on pages 16 to page 20 here:
Sixth, this school is adored by its parents. 90% of Jumeirah English Speaking School Arabian Ranches parents recommend their school to other parents. This is above the average for schools in the UAE (82%) and above the average for Dubai schools (84%). It is also above the average for premium schools in the UAE (87%) and above the average for British schools in the UAE (84%). [Data from EDSTATICATM]
What the above does not tell you is the feel of the school, and on the basis of our many visits (and including direct experience over an extended period), it is definitively, and beyond peradventure, one of the happiest, most inspiring of schools we have visited in the UAE.
Students are confident, never arrogant; teaching faculty are uber qualified, but also conviction educationalists that demonstrate commitment to leaving no child behind and creating unforgettable lessons that are always inspiring; lessons are fascinating and innovative across the curricular (teachers are empowered here and thrive] – there is no following a script; the environment is beautiful, maintained to the highest standard and conducive to both innovation and learning – and the culture of leaving no child behind stretches from structural provision of extended subject option and qualification pathways to the substance of a school culture that recognises the underdog as much as it does the more obvious talent. Last, but not least, students here are very, very proud of their school. They would choose no other.
In our view JESS Arabian Ranches is the benchmark school in the blended IB sector. Jumeirah English Speaking School Arabian Ranches is a school intrinsically important to UAE Education, is beyond-outstanding across-the-board, is inspirationally and strategically led by a group of arguably the most committed conviction educationalists in the Emirates, and defines in so many ways the future of education. It simply could not be more highly recommended.
Award Presentation
Best-Blendid-IB-Curriculum-School-Jumeirah-English-Speaking-School-Winner-Certificate-portrait
The Top Schools Award for Best Blended International Baccalaureate Curriculum School in the United Arab Emirates 2023 – 2024 will be presented to Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) – Arabian Ranches at a special Breakfast Celebration at The Emirates Golf Club on the morning of 16th November 2023. At the event the recipient of The Top Schools Awards 2023 – 2024 for Outstanding Contribution to Education will be revealed.
Historic winners of the Outstanding Contribution to Education in the UAE Award include H.E. Dr. Abdulla Al Karam, Director General of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, recognised for his era defining leadership of Education in Dubai as a force for good; and the Varkey Family, for their instrumental role in shaping education in the UAE, and ensuring the life chances for generations of children, following the founding of GEMS Education in 1959.
Our Finalists.
Our extraordinary Finalists and those schools which have achieved outstandingly in so many ways for children in the Best Blended International Baccalaureate Curriculum School category follow. Each of the following schools are recognised for their profound contribution to blended IB curriculum education in the UAE:
Deira International School Dubai
KHDA: Outstanding
Review: https://whichschooladvisor.com/uae/school–review/deira–international–school
Review: https://schoolscompared.com/curricula/international–baccalaureate–schools–in–uae/deira–internationalschool–dubai–festival–city/
“Extraordinary, life-affirming, KHDA (April 2023) and BSO (2021-2024) ranked Outstanding school (April 2023) led by one of the best Principals in the UAE, Deira International School goes from strength to strength delivering an astonishingly good British /International Baccalaureate education hitting each part of the equation that matters – whole child, academic, innovation, creativity and “heart.” This is a school that sparkles with best intentions – and delivers on them in spades – and more some. In its combination of outstanding curriculum provision, world-class leadership, not-for-profit ideals, outstanding plus academic achievement of children, and extraordinary and life-affirming whole child development, it’s a school more than worthy of parents’ attention when seeking the perfect IB school. And it’s a happy school too, whilst one intently focused on making each child’s curiosity burst into life and build a bridge to their future. All of these “above and beyond” aspects of its Outstanding-plus education for students really do matter and are the absolute treasures of so few schools.”
GEMS Wellington Academy Silicon Oasis
Web: https://www.gemswellingtonacademy–dso.com/en
KHDA: Very Good with Outstanding Features
Review: https://whichschooladvisor.com/uae/school–review/gems–wellington–academy–dubai–silicon–oasis
Review: https://schoolscompared.com/all–through/gems–wellington–academy–silicon–oasis/
“For subject breadth and opportunity, the offer here defines best-in-class. Why does it matter? When a little one joins a school no one can be sure where their passions, potential, ambitions and talents will take them. A school that closes off options, closes off the life chances of a child. At GEMS Wellington Academy, the seas are open and the journeys of discovery open to children as they progress through the school cover every conceivable British and IB curriculum alternative. Post-16 provision extends across from both the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and the IB Career-Related Programme, to technical stream subject breadth at BTEC, and gold standard British A-Level. In an extraordinary twist, the Programmes can also be blended together to combine BTEC, A Level and IB courses. It’s probably fair to say that the heart of the school is British, with the UK curriculum the standard through EYFS to GCSE – but the influence of the IB, in the critical, innovation-inspiring ways students are encouraged to explore learning, can be felt from the very point children first join the school. Leadership is stellar, both deeply humane and compassionate, and the school is a powerhouse of learning in a culture committed to the individual needs, and happiness, of every child. The result is a school in which parents never have to face moving their children to meet their needs – nor do they ever want to, such is the beyond-outstanding level of care, whole child investment, child progress and academics.”
Nord Anglia International School Dubai
Web: https://www.nordangliaeducation.com/nas–dubai
KHDA: Outstanding
Review: https://whichschooladvisor.com/uae/school–review/nord–anglia–international–school–dubai
Review: hhttps://schoolscompared.com/all–through/nord–anglia–international–school–dubai–al–barsha/
“We think that this is the definitive Nord Anglia School worldwide – it is absolutely outstanding. A school known historically for its beyond passionate love of the IB, and a delivery of the Diploma second-to-none, Nord Anglia Dubai won heart and minds for its courage in diversifying its offer to include alternative gold standard A levels. In doing so it signalled its absolute care for its students and commitment, whatever the cost, to ensure that no child at Nord Anglia International School Dubai is ever left behind – or does not find a qualification, or subject pathway, able to light their path to achieving beyond every possible ambition. Whole child provision in the Arts is a phenomenon – you never forget a performance by a Nord Anglia Dubai child or group of children. Never. This is a school that has played a pivotal role in the evolution of education, and the expectations for education, in the UAE – and it is all the more remarkable that it has done so in such a relatively short time. It is impossible to imagine Dubai education without it.”
Sunmarke School
KHDA: Very Good with Outstanding Features
Review: https://whichschooladvisor.com/uae/school–review/sunmarke–school
Review: https://schoolscompared.com/new–schools–in–uae/sunmarke–school–jumeirah–village–triangle/
“If there was an Award for the school that continuously innovates and invests in children through the diversification and expansion of its curriculum pathways, it would be impossible to not feature Sunmarke. Where, for other schools, offering a second qualification pathway often takes years, when Sunmarke decides to do it, because the children need it, it happens – and really quickly. As a result, historically, it became increasingly difficult to understand where to position Sunmarke. Today Sunmarke has found stability and a home with an elite, but growing number of schools, that, albeit in often radically different ways, offer one or both IB Programmes with the British, Indian or American curriculum. Sunmarke offers the British curriculum until students are sixteen, with EYFS and Primary leading to GCSE and Level 2 BTEC.
Post-16, the school delivers every conceivable pathway, this extending from the International Baccalaureate Diploma, International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme, and IB Courses options through to a richly populated British technical stream pathway founded on BTEC and gold standard A Levels. IB courses, BTEC and A Level programmes can also be blended. Certainly, Sunmarke deserves credit for pioneering what seems to be increasingly setting a standard for what constitutes “Outstanding” in Post-16 education. Delivering a technical stream and academic stream in either the British or IB curriculum no longer seems sufficient. It’s fair to say, however, that Sunmarke is not your typical IB, or British school. The school over-codes both the IB and British curriculum with STEAM, Environmental Sciences and the philosophical and pedagogical metrics of Positive Education, which it effectively transferred from its founding home in Australia to the Middle East.
The result is a whirlwind of innovation, hugely happy school dynamics and a school that genuinely surprises you at every turn, whether that’s in the extraordinary quality and innovation evident in lessons and teaching, to a quite humbling compassion for the underdog and making a difference in the world.
Sunmarke School is a rare school that uses curricular like a toolbox and adds whatever else comes along that makes education better for its children. This is a school that itself, in its very organisation, creativity, innovation and methodology, practices almost everything that the IB labels important. Maybe that is exactly the impact of a truly blended IB curriculum school…. Whatever the answer, the education on offer for children here is inclusive, meaningful, successful, inspirational, thrilling and, absolutely, outstanding.”
A final note.
The Top Schools Awards takes over a year to produce. It engages with parents, students educators and educationalists over countless months, and the work invested in these Awards is the stuff of sleepless nights and deeply felt responsibility. We produce these Awards to celebrate our amazing schools, our magnificent teachers – who are the centre of the universe, our school leaders, whose lives will be judged by their impact on children, and the amazing students that they build a future for. These Awards are only about recognising this – in a world in which our schools and educators have far, far too little recognition. If on exploring these Awards you do one single thing, it should be to reach out to each and every one and thank them for all they do, each and every one of our schools, teachers and school leaders. You have absolutely no idea how much that would mean.
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