Emirates National Schools (ENS) opened its first branch in 2002 at Mohammed Bin Zayed City. The schools currently consist of five campuses. Three of the campuses are in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in Mohammed Bin Zayed City, Al Ain City and on Abu Dhabi Island, and in the Emirates of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah. The ENS Abu Dhabi Primary campus caters to both boys and girls from KG1 to Grade 4.

The story so far...

Emirates National Schools was established by Presidential Decree and is owned by the Ministry of Presidential Affairs. The Board of Trustees is made up of a number of prominent Emiratis including H.E Ahmed Mohamed Al Hemeiri, who is Chairman.

The Vision of the schools is defined as:

"Preparing future leaders through innovation in education and treasuring of cultural heritage"

The Mission of the schools states that:

"Emirates National Schools aims to provide students with educational programmes that develop character, use technology to improve learning, and prepare students to be leaders and community members."

Although clearly focused on providing an international education to Emirati students, the schools are not exclusively Emirati and accept students from a range of nationalities, although most do tend to be Arabic speakers.

The school is organised between KG, the Primary School (from Grades 1-4) and separate Boys and Girls campuses from Grade 5-12. Children are in mixed gender classes through to the end of grade 4 and then separated through Middle and High School. The school is located over 3 campuses with the Boys campus being on Delma street, the Girls campus in Al Nayhan and the KG and Primary section in Al Manaseer.

The mission of the ENS Abu Dhabi city campus is “the development of inquiring, critical thinking, globally responsible citizens who are challenged to realize their full potential authentic learning experiences”.

The KG and Primary School educates 1,043 students of whom 55% are Emirati. The other largest nationality groups are Jordanian (13%), and Egyptian (4%) and Syrian (3%). The school is selective and admission may include interviews with the student conducted by the Campus Director or delegate. In addition to an oral assessment, there are formal written assessments in Arabic, English and Mathematics for older students.

Students are support by 78 teachers and 46 teaching assistants providing a teacher- student ratio 1: 13 – a relatively low number enabling personalised attention. Staff turnover at 23% is about average for an international school in the UAE. With two recent changes of Principal and the recognition of development requirements where staff are concerned, it may be that on-going staff turnover is to be expected, as teachers complete their contracts and are not offered renewal of their positions.

What about the curriculum?

The adopted curriculum is based upon American Common Core Standards in English, Maths, and Science and the United Arab Emirates – Ministry of Education programme for Arabic, Islamic and UAE Social Studies. However, since late 2015, the Abu Dhabi Emirate ENS campus schools (Al Ain City, Abu Dhabi City and Mohammed Bin Zayed City) have also become authorized International Baccalaureate World Schools. These three Campuses offer the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program (PYP), Middle Years Program (MYP) and Diploma Program (DP).

As a part of new graduation requirements, students may choose between the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma course in grades eleven and twelve; the narrower range of Advanced Placement (AP) College Board courses in grades eleven and twelve; and/or the ENS college preparatory classes leading to a High School Diploma.

What about the facilities?

Facilities at the Abu Dhabi Primary campus are impressive. The building, over 3 floors, has large, spacious classrooms with interactive white boards and a range of specialist facilities including computer labs, two libraries, Science labs, an Auditorium, a canteen, an indoor swimming pool, a large outdoor football field and a large shaded KG play area with a wide range of equipment.

What the inspectors say?

The school was most recently inspected by ADEK in October 2019 and was rated Good - a step up from the Acceptable rating achieved during its previous inspection in 2017. Good is the preferred  level to which all schools are expected to aspire. The Board of Trustees appointed a new Principal from September 2017 as a result of which, the school was in a period of transition. 

According to the ADEK inspection team, "The overall performance of the school is good. This is an improvement on the previous inspection. Leaders’ very clear strategic direction, through effective self-evaluation and improvement planning has improved the quality of teaching and learning, and KG (Kindergarten) children’s and students' overall achievement. Other aspects of provision in the school are at least good".

The current Principal, Mrs. Leia Kraeuter, took over her role in 2019, having inherited many of the improvements made by her predecessor. The goal of ENS Al Manaseer Primary campus is to achieve the next step up to Very Good, once inspections resume following the pause caused by the Covid 19 pandemic.  Whether this will be as scheduled in the 2021-22 academic year, or potentially postponed until 2022-23, is not yet clear.

During the last inspection, the ADEK inspection team identified the school's strengths as

• Students’ overall achievement in Islamic education, Arabic, social studies, mathematics, science, music and physical education (PE).
• Students’ attitudes and behaviour, their respect for Islamic values and their knowledge and awareness of the UAE culture and heritage.
• Teachers’ knowledge of their subjects and their interaction with students, which promote positive engagement in lessons.
• The protection, care, guidance and support of students.
• The work of the principal and school leaders, including governors, in improving the school and providing a clear direction and vision

Ratings had improved in across all six key performance standards - a considerable achievement over a two year period.

In terms of areas of improvement, the inspection team noted that the school should aim for the following targets in:

• Students’ achievement, especially in English and art, by:
  - providing more opportunities for students to write independently
  - developing students’ skills in writing at length, using more complex sentences
  - providing professional development to staff about how to promote higher level writing skills
  - developing and implementing a plan to improve students' art skills.
• The quality and effectiveness of lesson planning and delivery to ensure that students,particularly the more able, are challenged more effectively by:
  - providing further professional development to staff on how to more precisely match activities in lessons
  - improving the consistency of support for students with special educational needs (SEN)
  - ensuring that monitoring of teaching continues to support staff in their planning and delivery.
• Creative and innovative activities which enhance students’ learning and critical thinking by:
  - ensuring that the curriculum is adapted further to promote independence and creativity
  - enabling students to make decisions about their learning
  - developing activities across the curriculum which promote investigation and innovative approaches.

If you would like to read the inspection report - and we strongly recommend that you do so in order to understand the reasons behind the ratings, you will find it here.

The Buzz

Based on the information provided by the ADEK inspection report, there is clearly a strong effort to involve and develop relationships with both parents and the wider community; "The school is successful at engaging parents and, as a result, they make a very positive contribution to raising standards. A broad range of effective communication strategies ensures that parents are well informed about their children’s learning. There are effective partnerships with other schools, particularly other campuses in the group."

WhichSchoolAdvisor.com has not received any reviews from parents, teachers or students at ENS Al Manaseer, and we would strongly encourage the school community to share your experience via our School Survey, so that potential members of the ENS Al Manaseer community can gain from your experience.

Our View

It seems that ENS Al Manaseer Primary School now has a Principal in place who has already identified key areas on which she will need to focus over the next two or so years, prior to the next ADEK inspection. ENS Schools group are clearly ambitious and investing in their schools.  Significant improvements have already been made.  We hope to see still further improvements as the school continues on its path.

What about the fees?

Fees range from AED 22,190 in KG1 and 2 to AED 30,690 from Grades 1-4.

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