From offering a later start time giving pupils and teachers more time for sleep, to focusing on mental well-being and real-life experiences, UAE’s new schools are aiming to reshape education.
As of next week, Abu Dhabi is set to have its first Italian school. Meanwhile, Durham School Dubai, a branch of one of the UK's oldest educational institutes, will also open.
Non-traditional is the key word when it comes to the UAE’s new schools opening for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Bloom World Academy in Dubai, which has capacity for 1,800 pupils, will operate a 9am to 4pm school day. It will also introduce learning achievement passports that set goals for pupils in an attempt to change the way they learn.
Even the youngest pupils on campus will have the chance to choose their path of studies based on their stage of learning, not only their age.
Here The National has put together a guide on new schools opening in the Emirates this year.
Bloom World Academy
Curriculum: IB curriculum
Fees: Founders School package starts from Dh40,000 in pre-KG up to Dh72,000 in grade 9
Location: Al Barsha South, Dubai
Bloom World Academy will open its doors at the end of this month with a capacity for 1,800 pupils. The school will have pupils from pre-kindergarten to grade nine.
The school aims to provide a unique experience to pupils, with a focus on bespoke education. This means a pupil has a personal tutor overseeing their progress and where stage not age, interests and potential lead the pupil's educational path.
The school believes in incorporating technology, design and imagination to help pupils to grow in a dynamic curriculum.
Operating a 9am to 4pm school day, the IB curriculum campus will be the first in the city to offer a later start, with lessons getting under way more than an hour after most schools in the emirate.
Parents will also be welcome to eat with their children on a weekly basis during their school lunch break.
"We are a family-first school which means we will be the first school in the UAE to open at 9am every day," John Bell, principal at the school, said. "We are not an early start school and that's based around giving families more time in the morning."
The doors of the school will be open from 7am to 7pm and the school will also have a breakfast club, well-being and sports activities, and co-curricular activities after school.
"We will continually question education traditions at Bloom World Academy and our lunch-break initiatives are just one example of this," Mr Bell said.
Based in Al Barsha, Bloom World Academy, operated by Bloom Education, will be the group’s first own-brand school in the UAE.
Citizens School
Curriculum: UK
Fees: Founders fees are Dh36,000 in foundation stage one to Dh52,000 in year six for the academic year 2022-23
Location: City Walk Dubai
The UK curriculum Citizens School, designed and developed by Al Zarooni Emirates Investments, is set to open on Monday.
The school claims to be the first in the Middle East to allow parents to pay school fees with cryptocurrencies. The school will accept payments in Bitcoin and Ether.
Children will learn about the importance of digital currency and blockchain technology, preparing them for the future.
The 43,000-square-metre school campus has capacity for 2,600 children between the ages of three and 18.
The school's learning experience focuses on holistic growth of a pupil and is built around each child’s unique requirements and talents.
Durham School Dubai
Curriculum: UK’s Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework and English National Curriculum
Fees: Special fees for 2022-23: Dh38,340 in foundation stage one to Dh51,300 in year eight
Location: Dubai Investments Park
Durham School Dubai will open its doors to more than 100 pupils on Monday and, in its first year, the school will have pupils in foundation stage one to year eight.
The school is a branch of one of the oldest schools in the UK, and was founded in 1414 and refounded in 1541 by King Henry VIII.
With a 32 million-square-metre campus in Dubai Investments Park, the school will be able to cater to more than 1,700 pupils at full capacity.
The new property has a Foundation Stage section, a primary and secondary classroom complex with specialist science, art and IT labs, a music performance hall, auditorium, a multi-purpose sports hall and a 25-metre indoor swimming pool.
Mark Atkins, who has had a 35-year career in education that includes setting up and heading schools in Dubai, has been appointed the founding principal of the new school.
Italian International School
Curriculum: IB with Italian language and culture enrichment
Fees: Founders fees are Dh36,250 in kindergarten to Dh57,450 in grade 12
Location: Khalifa City A, Abu Dhabi
This is the first school in Abu Dhabi inspired by Italy and its language, culture and curriculum.
The language of instruction at the school will be English.
The school will open its doors on August 29 for pupils in kindergarten to grade five. The school plans to open grades six to nine next year.
Fees at the school range from Dh47,200 to Dh62,800, but the school has offered founders fees to pupils registering in the academic year 2022-23 from Dh36,250 to Dh57,450. Families will benefit from these fees for the next three years.
In 2022, the school will start with half-class per year group and expect to have about 200-250 pupils in the first year.
Both the IB curriculum and the activities available to pupils beyond classroom hours are aimed at developing fundamental life skills. There is a culinary school, chess academy, martial arts, yoga, football, padel and cycling club.
The school has a strong focus on nutrition and healthy meals will be prepared on site by their chef.
As part of encouraging a balanced way of living, the school ensures that all learning happens at school so that children have time to spend with the family or to develop hobbies.
Abu Dhabi will open nine new charter schools
Abu Dhabi will open nine new charter schools with 12,000 places in September, the start of the 2022-2023 academic year.
The rapidly expanding programme, which was launched in the 2018-2019 school year with the opening of the 2,700-place Al Rayana School, will offer a total of 46,500 places in 31 schools when the new campuses open next month.
The new schools will offer kindergarten, Cycle 1, Cycle 2, and Cycle 3 and employ 139 Emiratis, who will work as administrative and teaching trainees after a dedicated recruitment drive.
Charter schools work on the public-private model, under which the government builds the infrastructure and then allows a private partner to manage the school.
Charter schools are free for their exclusively Emirati pupils, who live in the district where the school is based.
At present, there are 15 charter schools in Abu Dhabi city and seven in Al Ain offering the American curriculum to 30,198 Emirati children in primary school.
Six large-scale objects on show
- Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
- The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
- A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
- Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
- A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
- Torrijos Palace dome
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
|
1.
|
United States
|
|
2.
|
China
|
|
3.
|
UAE
|
|
4.
|
Japan
|
|
5
|
Norway
|
|
6.
|
Canada
|
|
7.
|
Singapore
|
|
8.
|
Australia
|
|
9.
|
Saudi Arabia
|
|
10.
|
South Korea
|
Miguel Cotto world titles:
WBO Light Welterweight champion - 2004-06
WBA Welterweight champion – 2006-08
WBO Welterweight champion – Feb 2009-Nov 2009
WBA Light Middleweight champion – 2010-12
WBC Middleweight champion – 2014-15
WBO Light Middleweight champion – Aug 2017-Dec 2017
THE BIO
Age: 33
Favourite quote: “If you’re going through hell, keep going” Winston Churchill
Favourite breed of dog: All of them. I can’t possibly pick a favourite.
Favourite place in the UAE: The Stray Dogs Centre in Umm Al Quwain. It sounds predictable, but it honestly is my favourite place to spend time. Surrounded by hundreds of dogs that love you - what could possibly be better than that?
Favourite colour: All the colours that dogs come in
Breast cancer in men: the facts
1) Breast cancer is men is rare but can develop rapidly. It usually occurs in those over the ages of 60, but can occasionally affect younger men.
2) Symptoms can include a lump, discharge, swollen glands or a rash.
3) People with a history of cancer in the family can be more susceptible.
4) Treatments include surgery and chemotherapy but early diagnosis is the key.
5) Anyone concerned is urged to contact their doctor
MATCH INFO
Burnley 1 (Brady 89')
Manchester City 4 (Jesus 24', 50', Rodri 68', Mahrez 87')
MATCH INFO
Newcastle United 2 (Willems 25', Shelvey 88')
Manchester City 2 (Sterling 22', De Bruyne 82')
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPowertrain%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle%20electric%20motor%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E201hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E310Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBattery%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E53kWh%20lithium-ion%20battery%20pack%20(GS%20base%20model)%3B%2070kWh%20battery%20pack%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETouring%20range%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E350km%20(GS)%3B%20480km%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh129%2C900%20(GS)%3B%20Dh149%2C000%20(GF)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Warlight,
Michael Ondaatje, Knopf
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
All about the Sevens
Cape Town Sevens on Saturday and Sunday: Pools A – South Africa, Kenya, France, Russia; B – New Zealand, Australia, Spain, United States; C – England, Scotland, Argentina, Uganda; D – Fiji, Samoa, Canada, Wales
HSBC World Sevens Series standing after first leg in Dubai 1 South Africa; 2 New Zealand; 3 England; 4 Fiji; 5 Australia; 6 Samoa; 7 Kenya; 8 Scotland; 9 France; 10 Spain; 11 Argentina; 12 Canada; 13 Wales; 14 Uganda; 15 United States; 16 Russia
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
THE DETAILS
Kaala
Dir: Pa. Ranjith
Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar
Rating: 1.5/5
'Shakuntala Devi'
Starring: Vidya Balan, Sanya Malhotra
Director: Anu Menon
Rating: Three out of five stars
The%20Roundup
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Lee%20Sang-yong%3Cbr%3EStars%3A%20Ma%20Dong-seok%2C%20Sukku%20Son%2C%20Choi%20Gwi-hwa%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
