7 Things Dubai's Outstanding Schools Do Well

For the past 24 hours, we've been scouring the newly released 2014/15 KHDA inspection reports for handy and usable information for Dubai's parents, and... so you don't have to.

Here's our mini-guide to identifying not only Dubai's very best schools, but those who could potentially- very well be on the up!

1. Modified Curricula: Great schools modify and differentiate their curricula to meet the needs of ALL students. The curricula in 'Outstanding' schools are considered by the KHDA to be, 'broad and innovative' and 'imaginative.' Then there are others which take this to a whole new level, like Jumeirah College which, "takes into account trends in tests and external examination and ensures progression between phases and on to higher education." JC also, "takes into account student popularity and requests and is sufficiently flexible to support them with the informed design of their own timetables."

2. Satisfied Parents: Without exception, every 'Outstanding' school has happy and involved parents, who are satisfied with what their children are learning, and know their children enjoy school. Great schools also have great Parent Teacher Associations and allow access to school leaders as and when required. However, some do even more, like GEMS Jumeirah Primary School, which has a Parent Engagement Council which offers opinions, suggestions and concerns on behalf of the parent body.

3.Inclusive policy and good Special Educational Needs Provision: The KHDA has made it clear it's placing more emphasis on SEN than every before, and as such, schools which encourage inclusion, have strong SEN leadership, generate individualised learning plans, modify lessons and identify SEN needs, consistently do better than those who don't!

4. Great Student Behaviour: 'Outstanding' schools all model outstanding student behaviour. The KHDA mentions, 'respect for others, independence, mature attitudes, good work ethic and interpersonal skills' as student attributes it observes in the best of the best.

5. Great Leadership: The KHDA already noted in the inspection overview the correlation between outstanding leadership and an 'Outstanding' rating and looking at the reports, this seems to hold true. Great schools have, 'good recruitment, communication between staff, accountability and pride in achievement, clear vision, teachers who feel valued and strive for excellence and the delivery of continuous improvements.' While schools that perform poorly generally demonstrated a poor lack of vision and no clear strategy for improvement.

6. Assessment: Schools which  employ regular internal and external assessments do better than those that don't. And, schools which align and adapt their internal tests to those of their home-country's national curriculum- do even better!

7. Accreditation: Almost all 'Outstanding' Schools,  have international accreditation to one or more external bodies, while many of those who performed poorly- don't.

And 3 Surprising Things Which Really Don't Matter...

Teacher/student ratio: We're all told ratio matters, however looking at the 2014/15 'Outstanding' schools, it apparently doesn't. While some 'Outstanding' schools offer really very low ratios (Dubai College is 1:10) most have an average of 12-17 students per teacher. However, others like Horizons have a significantly larger 23 and The Lycée Français International Georges Pompidou a hefty 25 students per teacher.

Curriculum Type: Yes, we know the majority of outstanding schools seem to be British, but this year with the addition of the Lycée Français International Georges Pompidou to the top tier, there are now no less than 5 different curricula combinations in the top 14. (Indian, French, US/IB, UK, UK/IB).

Teacher Turnover: Across the board, 'Outstanding' schools had a teacher turn-over of 26 percent or below, but then, looking at the reports from many schools rated 'Acceptable', so did they. Obviously, if teacher turnover is significantly higher than this, there is a cause for concern, and the school is very likely to have a problem, but the 2014/15 reports demonstrate- average teacher turnover happens in both the best and worst schools in Dubai.