Creative British School, Abu Dhabi (CBS) opened in September 2014. It is owned by the PACE Group, set up by Dr PA Ibrahim Haji, a philanthropist and Indian businessman who heads businesses and educational institutions in India and the Middle East including Gulf Asian English School, Sharjah, and India International School, Sharjah. Creative British School is the first UK curriculum school within the group.

The Creative British School is located in the centre of Musaffah’s commercial area. The school’s goal is to provide an outstanding college preparatory educational programme of British Curriculum, using English Language. The curriculum is based on the English National Curriculum and IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) exams with The Cambridge International Examinations board.

The National curriculum of England is followed in Primary and ensures that all students receive the same high standards of education irrespective of which class they are in. From grade 10, students study the IGCSE programme to complete their International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) and sit their final International examinations at the end of grade 11.

The school has 927 students supported by 59 teachers and 22 teaching assistants. The teacher:student ratio in KG1/FS2 is 1:28 (which is on the high side and indicative of the demand for early years) and a more respectable 1:22 in other grades. The Primary and KG sections of the school make up almost 2/3 od children, with a further 12% in Secondary School and 10% in Grades 10 and 11.The largest nationality groups are Pakistani: 24%, Egyptian: 19% and Sudanese: 9%. Approximately 7 % of students have SEND requirements. The number of students on roll has increased by approximately 12% since the previous inspection of May 2016.

The school follows a UK FS1-Grade 13 structure with the curriculum divided into five parts: Kindergarten (KG1 & KG2), Primary (Grades 1 to 6), Secondary (Grades 7 to 9), IGCSE (Grades 10 & 11) and A-Level which is not currently offered due to space constraints. No details are provided as to when the final two years of A Level education might become available.

The school states that: “Academic excellence is the goal of any educational institution. We aspire to nurture exemplar scientists, doctors, economists, businessmen and the leaders of tomorrow through our extensive academic programs. We pride ourselves on producing commendable results consistently”.

Facilities at the school include two computer suites, two sports halls, an outdoor shaded play area, a well equipped Kindergarten play area and an outdoor sports grass turf. Classrooms are provided with smart learning systems (i.e. interactive boards, mobile projectors) to enhance and simplify education. The school offers advanced science laboratories (Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Home- Science), fully networked computer labs, a comprehensive collection of books in the library and creative activity rooms to improve group learning.

Creative British School also believes that interaction outside the classrooms, such as joining interschool competitions leading to international competitions, gives students an opportunity to develop their emotional and social intelligence.

The school was inspected in November 2017 by ADEK’s inspection team. The overall performance of the school was rated Good. All 6 key indicators achieved a Good rating compared with the overall status of the school as Acceptable in 2015-16.

What the inspectors say:

It is clear from the Inspection Report that ADEK’s team recognise the efforts of the school management since the previous inspection. They state that the principal and her leadership team “have worked tirelessly to secure rapid improvement in the school’s work”. School leaders have recruited well experienced staff and retained the most effective teachers. Staff turnover was a low 10%; a sign that staff are generally happy with their working environment.

Students’ achievement is good overall. Children enter KG with knowledge and skills that are below where they are expected to be, but they achieve well in relation to their individual starting points. Students’ English language, mathematical and scientific skills are good overall. Students’ attainment in Arabic as a first and second language, Social Studies, and Islamic education is acceptable and they make acceptable progress across all subjects except for Social Studies, where progress is good. Students’ learning skills are good overall.

Recent IGCSE examination results indicate that attainment is good in English and acceptable overall in Mathematics and Science – a trend which is improving steadily over time. Students make good progress overall. External Measure of Student Achievement (EMSA) data for 2017 indicates that students’ attainment in Grades 5 is good in reading and writing, while students’ in Grade 9 is outstanding in reading, but weak in writing.

Students’ personal development was found to be good. Their personal and social development was seen to have improved due to the improvements in their care, guidance and support. Students establish good relationships with others, display positive attitudes to learning and behave well. Their attendance and punctuality are very good. Respect for the heritage and culture of the UAE and Islamic values permeate the school.

Teaching for effective learning and use of assessment are also good overall. Staff have attended training to help improve the quality of their practice. Teachers have good subject knowledge and most teachers now undertake more accurate analysis of students’ achievement and match tasks to abilities. The systems for bench-marking student’s outcomes against national and international expectations are well established. However, the inspectors note that a small minority of teachers do not always use assessment information to provide tasks that can offer more challenge for the higher attaining students.

The curriculum was also deemed to be good overall. It is relevant and provides a range of choices to prepare students well for the next stages of their education, although occasionally, it is not adjusted well enough to meet the students’ needs, particularly the higher attaining students.

Provision to ensure the health, safety and protection of students is good. Systems to identify students with special education needs (SEN) and those who are gifted and talented (G&T) are well established. SEN students now receive good support and learn well. Challenge in lessons for higher attaining students is variable, but guidance and support for students is generally good.

As evidenced by their initial comments, it is clear that the standard of the school's leadership has been responsible for significant steps forward since the previous inspection.  ADEK's inspectors note the systematic self-evaluation, improvement planning and distributed leadership that have resulted in significant progress since the last inspection. The school leaders, including governors, share a common vision to continually improve students’ outcomes beyond the good standards attained.

Importantly, partnerships with parents and the community are good. Parents are pleased with the good communications that keep them well informed of their child’s progress and well-being. The school leaders work well with relevant agencies and other schools locally and beyond to support students’ learning and to share best practice.

Strengths of the school were identified as the impact of school leaders to improve students’ achievement in English and Mathematics; students’ positive attitudes to learning, behaviour and attendance in school; students’ appreciation of the heritage, culture and future vision of the UAE and their understanding of Islamic values; the quality of support that students with special educational needs receive; strong partnerships with parents and the local community, and the effective management of the day-to-day life of the school.

Areas for improvement were identified as the need to improve achievement in the Arabic- medium subjects; enhance further consistently high-quality teaching and learning; further improve the impact of leadership and governance by ensuring the curriculum is adapted effectively to extend higher attaining students in all subjects, and ensuring improvement systems focus more directly on the quality of students’ learning experiences, particularly in Arabic medium subjects.

Fees at Creative British School range from AED 7,000 in KG1 (FS2) to AED 18,000 in Grade 11. This is low range for a UK curriculum school and may explain the potential delay in expanding the school to offer a complete through education to Year 13.

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