Best School for Children of Determination – The Finalists 2023 – 2024
The following are our top-5 schools and Finalists for the 2023-2024 SchoolsCompared.com Award for the most Outstanding school for children of Determination.
John Rawls, in his seminal work on a Theory of Justice, argued that we should all look to what type of society we would wish for if we were going to enter that society, behind a “veil of ignorance” not knowing what type of person we we would be when we entered it. We would not know if we would be rich, or poor, Determined or able, healthy, or unwell, born academically gifted be more slow to learn. He defied those who considered this experiment with seriousness to not argue that the world we have today is not meeting the needs its should.
You can run that same experiment in thinking about our schools.
Parents with Children of Determination contact us often. Many have beautiful and uplifting stories of schools that have welcomed their children and provided an outstanding level of education. However, despite regulators doing everything possible to require schools to be Determined-inclusive, the truth is that far few schools are doing as much as they can, and should.
Too often we hear of schools that welcome children at the point of Admissions, but at a supplemental cost for Extra Teaching Support Staff that means, in practice, they are rejecting them. Many parents face schools having no places left at all. Many schools do not go the extra mile for the Determined Children that are welcomed to their schools. The level of support, without extra costs, provided for Children of Determination, varies by school infinitesimally. It does not help that there is no standard for the number of Determined Children that each child should be expected to welcome or the quality of education provided to those that are.
Of course this is a complex area. But complexity can get in the way too often of thinking, as Rawls suggests, of what we would wish for if we were that Child of Determination seeking a place at a school we would love to attend, or a parent crying themselves to sleep because all the doors have been closed.
All the mainstream schools listed here, in different ways, evidence a profound outward looking focus and commitment to Children of Determination and their families. Our finalists are all schools that we know have stepped in when other schools have not – and then gone on to deliver an extraordinary education for its Determined children. All believe passionately that Children of Determination, wherever humanly possible, should be welcomed into all schools because of the extraordinary and positive impact they bring with them to schools and other students.
Each school here aims to provide breadth of academic, technical and ECA options for Determined Children to ensure that every child can meet his or her individual ambitions, potential, and ability. Most offer defined qualification pathways including ASDAN.
Each of them endeavours to provide added value to each determined child’s journey to ensure that every determined child leaves school meeting or exceeding baseline academic and whole child expectations.
When we have looked at schools, we have weighted those that plough back investment into facilities, teacher salaries, resources and school improvements year-on-year to improve education for children.
All of the schools shortlisted endeavour to deliver a benchmark for the best mainstream education for Children of Determination available in the UAE.
Finally, we have looked across all areas of provision, investment, innovation and achievement that support each school being shortlisted.
Our Top 5 Finalists
The Top Schools Awards 2023 – 2024
Best Mainstream School for Children of Determination
Dubai British School Emirates Hills – review here and here
GEMS Metropole School – review here and here
Kings’ School Al Barsha – review here and here
Safa Community School – review here and here
Smart Vision School Dubai – review here and here
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Wow.. Congrats to all winners. In my opinion, American Gulf School in Sharjah is also suitable to be in the first top American schools. https://www.ags.ae/en