Riverston Dubai Opening In September

Riverston School Dubai will focus on personalised education and specialist teaching in a small school setting when it opens in September 2018.

The school is partnered with Riverston School in the UK, a long-established, small school situated in London, that celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2016. The UK school's stated mission is to "build the self-esteem and confidence of our children, to enable them to learn together, to develop their own individual and unique talents and abilities, to succeed together and to fulfil their own special aspirations and ambitions.

The London school supports children with a wide range of speech, language and communication difficulties, which include dyslexia, autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), Asperger's and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). 

The UAE school will be an inclusive, mixed ability school, with classes of up to 16 students per class to give each focused attention to find, work and develop each individual child's strengths.

The small and independent primary school will be located in Nad Al Sheba 4 and will admit students starting FS2 from September.

Riverston School Dubai will follow the National Curriculum of England and the school's faculty is composed of professional educators with substantial experience working with children of all abilities.

David Quick, the school's principal, has 28 years of experience as a teacher, 11 years as a member of Senior Leadership Teams, seven years as a Deputy or Assistant Head and four years as Principal with roles in and out of the UK.

He told WhichSchoolAdvisor.com:

“Riverston School will be a small school with small classes and a real family atmosphere. Every child will have their individualised learning programme. We will ensure that each child will have personal care and we will know them inside out. This will enable us to draw out their talents and allow them to taste success. When the child finishes school with us, they will have reached their potential and subsequently will be ready to take the next steps on their lifelong learning journey.”

The school will do an early assessment on every child and each will have a personalized learning plan and timetable.

Students in the school will have tutors who will be tracking progress across all areas of their academic and personal development.

“Looking around our school you will see a calm focused atmosphere, high levels of engagement coupled with warm and supportive relationships. All our staff have high expectations for all the children in their care. The teaching will be student centred using practical everyday examples that allow any gaps in your child’s learning to be filled,” explained Mr Quick.

At the core of the school’s philosophy will be parent partnerships and the community for easy transition for the students, an area the founding head has previous experience of building.

"At my previous school I forged links with parent groups, local community groups, local authorities, schools, vocational colleges and universities to successfully and seamlessly transition students and ensure that each child could benefit from continuity of practices and care between their time in school, at home and in the community."

These partnerships, adds Mr Quick, are key to a transition of students in and out of the school as well as the creation of strong, long-term partnerships with families, the KHDA and other stakeholders within the community."

The total capacity at Riverston will be just 300. Children who join FS2 must be aged 4 by 31 December 2018.

There will be assessments and observations prior to admissions, which could take place either at Riverston School Dubai or at the child’s current school/nursery. 

Fees will start at AED 67,500 for FS2, subject to KHDA approval.

Click here for the full review of Riverston Dubai.