Dubai British School Jumeirah Park Foundation Review
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The story so far...
Set up in the popular Meadows, Springs area in 2014, Dubai British Foundation (DBF), though located across Meadows Drive from the original Dubai British School (DBS), was, in fact, established to provide an Early Learning Centre, offering the UK curriculum-based Early Years Foundation Stage for the newer sister school, Dubai British School Jumeirah Park (DBS JP), located a five minute drive away. Children attending DBF have direct access to a place at DBS JP for Year 1.
In May 2021, Dubai British Foundation was renamed Dubai British School Jumeirah Park Foundation (DBF), suggesting formal integration into the school which does not offer Foundation Stage, but instead provides direct transition to Year 1.
Operated by Taaleem, owner of both Dubai British Schools, and four IB curriculum schools (three in Dubai and one in Abu Dhabi), as well as the Children's Garden nurseries, DBF takes children from age 2 years and 6 months in their 'Rising 3 class, to age 5. Children who are turning 3 years old on or before 1st September join Foundation Stage 1, whilst those born a year earlier, so turning 4 years old on or after 1st September, join Foundation 2.
The Rising 3 class is situated on the current FS1 corridor. It has its own dedicated small outside area and equipment and furniture adapted to this age group. Although separated from FS1 through the timetable, throughout the year the children are increasingly introduced to the FS1 activities and students to support their transition into FS1 the following year.
DBF's mission/vision is
'Delivering educational excellence through bespoke facilities and highly qualified and committed teachers
Building strong partnerships with our families in a nurturing and caring environment
Fostering lifelong learners through a child centred approach, which celebrates the uniqueness of every child.'
The capacity of DBF is approximately 300 children, with a maximum of 20 children per class, attended by one teacher and one teacher assistant, so the teacher/pupil ratio is 1:10. The new Rising 3 class (introduced in 2019) has a maximum teacher:student ratio of 1:8.
Whilst the majority of teachers are British, children come from a wide range of nationalities in line with the UAE population - there are well over 30 nationalities based on information provided to WhichSchoolAdvisor.com.
Taaleem as an organisation has been at the forefront of inclusion for many years - long before the KHDA Inclusive Education policy was issued in 2018. DBF has qualified staff who are able to support both students of determination and those with gifts and talents.
What about the curriculum?
DBF follows the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. British English is the language of instruction, with the addition of Arabic taught in 'a unique, innovative and child-friendly manner'. DBF also offers French and Mandarin, which are delivered by external providers and incur additional charges. Additionally, each Foundation class has one hour of swimming per week and Physical Education lessons twice a week.
The prime areas of learning under the EYFS curriculum are: Personal, social and emotional development, Communication and language and Physical development. The specific areas of learning include literacy, mathematics, Understanding the world, and Expressive arts and design. Learning is generally developed through play-based activities, centred around a range of child-friendly topics or themes.
Music has a special focus within the DBF curriculum and through the 'Singing for Learning Programme' all children make rapid progress in language acquisition, steered by a specialist music teacher.
Although not compulsory to teach Arabic until Year 1, DBF is keen to ensure that students have a head start. Unusually, all staff learn Arabic alongside the children. Research has shown that learning an additional language through song promotes the most effective language acquisition and the approach to the teaching of Arabic is similarly supported by extensive singing. The Arabic and Music teachers work hand-in-hand to introduce relevant and meaningful vocabulary through song.
The Rising 3 class teacher and teaching assistant for the class were existing staff at DBF, with lots of experience working with children. The curriculum has been adapted for this younger age group with a 15 minute Arabic lesson, two 15 minute Music lessons, and one 30 minute PE lesson per week. Due to their age, these younger children do not participate in swimming.
DBF also offers a range of Extra-curricular activities led by both teachers and external providers (these attract an additional fee). Activities include Learning through Play Workshops, Parachute Games, Music Express, Yoga, Stories from around the World and Art. Ballet, Tap Dance and Football are offered by external providers.
There is also a strong focus on the transition programme from Foundation Stage to Year 1 at Dubai British School Jumeirah Park. A successful transition from FS2 to Year 1 enables children to adapt to new settings, quickly grasping teaching and learning methods, school processes and new rules and regulations thus enhancing their academic performance and most importantly ensuring their well-being in school.
DBF staff organise a practised and well thought transition calendar in collaboration with the staff at DBSJP. The calendar lists a series of events and meetings that prepare children and their parents for this transition in a manner that caters for the individual needs of every child. DBF strives to achieve academic standards on leaving FS2 which exceed those expected on entry into Year 1, thus ensuring the children go in to their new class with a “can do” attitude, ready for any new academic challenges which are placed in front of them. A detailed report is prepared and passed on to the Year 1 teachers in advance of the transfer of the children to 'Big School'.
What about the facilities?
DBF is located in a large, purpose-built, single storey building with extensive outside areas. Classrooms all have external views and are large, light, bright and well equipped.
The outdoor play area is designed to support every aspect of a young child's gross motor skill development. In the cooler months this area is used extensively and is a favourite learning space for many children. During warmer months when it is too hot to work safely outdoors, the multi-purpose gym serves the same purposes. It is equipped with high quality resources and is used for extensive Physical Education lessons, and also as a venue for frequent school productions and Parent Information Meetings. There is also an outdoor swimming pool which is used by children from FS1 and FS2.
A wobble bridge, climbing wall and monkey bars at the outdoor play area help the children to develop a good sense of balance, upper body strength and coordination.
What the inspectors say?
Taaleem as a group has a policy that all its schools are inspected by external professionals and to pursue accreditation from an independent accreditation body of institutions and academic specialists. Early Years settings are now expected to be inspected by the KHDA's Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB) once in-school inspection recommences following the cancellation of all inspections as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic.
In February 2018, DBF became the first Early Years school to be granted membership of British Schools Middle East (BSME).
BSME is a quality-assured network that enables schools to share best practice and keep updated with the latest educational developments. It has an extensive professional development programme open to member schools. In order to become members, the organisation needs to formally verify that a school offers a British style education, that the curriculum is based on significant aspects of the National Curriculum for England and Wales and that all teaching staff, including the Principal, are suitably qualified and legally employed.
In January 2020, following a previous inspection in 2018, in order to further ensure best practice in early years and to continually improve, Taaleem commissioned a British Schools Overseas inspection through Penta International to independently audit the provision.
The inspection team used the same OFSTED and Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau processes and rating system. Dubai British School Jumeirah Park Foundation was found to be "an outstanding school with many excellent features".
The strengths of DBF were found to be:
- The ethos of the school is very clear: supportive, caring and rigorous.
- Pupils make excellent progress throughout their time at Dubai Foundation, both academically in terms of their personal development.
- Behaviour is outstanding: there are very positive relationships between adults and pupils, and between the pupils themselves.
- The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils is outstanding: they quickly learn to respect and celebrate each other’s differences.
- The best teaching in English and Arabic is creative and challenges pupils, at an appropriate level. It engages pupils in the fun and excitement of learning.
- Classroom and outdoor resources and plentiful and of a high quality: the learning environment is outstanding.
- The school is very well focussed on individual learning needs and strengths, including for children of determination and pupils who have special educational needs.
- The management of transitions from class to class, on entry to DBF and from DBF to the feeder school Dubai British School Jumeirah Park (DBSJP) is outstanding.
- Welfare, health and safety in school is of a very high standard.
- Communication with parents is excellent. Parents are very positive about the school, and about the regularity and quality of information provided.
In terms of areas for improvement, the inspectors recommended that DBF should:
- Ensure the quality of teaching is consistently as good as that of the best, for example supporting better understanding of how to teach critical thinking and increasing opportunities for peer/self-assessment;
- Explore ways to extend pupil voice even further, in an age-appropriate manner;
- Consider seeking greater parental involvement in school learning sessions on wellbeing and mindfulness.
If you would like to read the full inspection report - and we strongly recommend that you do so in order to see the reasons why the inspection team was so impressed - you can find it here
The Buzz
Although we have received only a very small number of completed WhichSchoolAdvisor.com surveys from parents at DBF (a total of 8 overall), there is no doubt that those who have commented are enormously impressed!
75% of parents said that their children enjoyed going to DBF 'an enormous amount' (compared with a UAE average of 49%), and a similar percentage felt a strong sense of belonging. None of the parents concerned had considered moving their child to different early education provision and all were wholly satisfied with the academic provision.
In fact, with an overall rating of 4.9/5 - an approval rating of 98% - DBF has also most certainly achieved the highest overall satisfaction level of any school surveyed.
This level of satisfaction is reflected in the fact that 88% of respondents believed that the fees they pay represent value for money (in comparison with a UAE average of 46%) and although this is the Foundation Stage, with fees of AED 50,000, this is not a low budget option!
Perhaps unsurprisingly, 100% of parents would recommend DBF to other parents.
If you are a parent or teacher at Dubai British School Jumeirah Park Foundation and would like to share your experiences for the benefit of other potential members of your community, please complete our Survey here.
What about fees?
Fees at DBF are inevitably premium given the facilities, staffing and fees for Year 1 upwards at Dubai British School Jumeirah Park. Fees for the Rising 3's Class are AED 42,000, whilst those for Foundation 1 and 2 are AED 50,000.
There is an application fee of AED 525, and a registration fee of AED 4,000 on offer of a place which is deducted from the first term's fees. A re-registration fee of AED 3,500 is required prior to the new academic year in order to ensure that a place is guaranteed - this is also deductible from the first term's fees.
There is a sibling discount of 10% on tuition fees for the third (youngest) and subsequent child in each family, paying full fees, for the 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic years, attending any Taaleem school in Dubai.
Timings for Rising 3's and FS1 are 7:45am to 1:30pm - Sunday to Wednesday, 7:45am to 12:45pm - Thursday. DBF offers Flexible Drop off for mornings (7:45-8:15am). FS2 timings: Sundays to Wednesdays 8am to 2 pm and on Thursdays 8am to flexible pick-up time between 12.45pm-1.15pm.
Admissions information for Rising 3's. Children do not need to be toilet-trained to join the Rising 3 class, as the classroom has changing facilities in the adjacent room. There is a dedicated nap time between 12:15 - 1:15 pm if the child requires it. This will be on small, movable beds in the classroom. If the child does not require a nap then this will be a time in the shared area both in and outside the classroom.
This school is in a Best School by parents ranking
Dubai British School Jumeirah Park Foundation is a Best of school, a ranking determined by parent surveys on the site. It can be found in the following Best of rankings:
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