Part of the Abu Dhabi-owned Emirates National Schools Group, ENS Sharjah is one of two ENS schools in the Northern Emirates. Its location on the Sharjah-Ajman border makes it accessible for children from across the Northern Emirates. The school, in common with others in the group, offers a combined US/IB curriculum.

The story so far...

Part of the ENS group of schools with locations in Abu Dhabi Island (for Primary and Secondary, Mohammed bin Zayed City, and Al Ain as well as Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, the school will extend its influence to Dubai in September 2021 when it opens its first branch there.

The first school in the group - in Mohammed bin Zayed City - opened in 2002 with the Sharjah school following only just over five years ago, in 2015. 

The Vision of the schools is defined as: "Preparing future leaders through innovation in education and treasuring of cultural heritage" whilst their Mission statement proclaims 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".

The ENS group's Chairman of the Board of Directors is His Excellency Ahmed Muhammad Al Humairi, Secretary General of the Ministry of Presidential Affairs. The Group was established by His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs.

The School's aim is ‘To inspire students to take a leading, creative and caring role in an internationally-minded learning community that empowers them to be independent thinkers, open minded and global contributors, so that they actively achieve their full potential in a changing world, while preserving their national identity.’

The Sharjah school offers a mixed-gender KG and Primary School and separate Girls' and Boys' sections from Grades 5-12 in common with all of the other schools within the group.

What about the curriculum?

ENS Sharjah is an accredited school for the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IBPYP) and the Middle Years Programme (IBMYP).  The school follows an American Common Core curriculum content using the teaching framework of the IB.  It follows the UAE Ministry of Education curricula for Arabic, Islamic Studies and UAE Social Studies.

This curriculum combination is an interesting one.  Essentially, the school is taking the content of the US Common Core curriculum for English, Maths and Science, and delivering it through the IB framework, which is based on cross-curricular, topic-based Units of Enquiry.

The IB framework has become increasingly respected in educational circles and a growing number of UAE schools are now offering the IB curriculum (or at least the pre-University/College IB Diploma programme which is becoming the Gold Standard among many top universities in English-speaking countries). 

Students at the ENS schools in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain follow the same IB/Common Core curriculum through to Grade 10, where they are subsequently given the option of the IB Diploma programme for more academic students, Advance Placement subjects for US College entry or a US High School Diploma based on course credits. 

Despite the other schools in the ENS group offering the IB Diploma programme, together with a US High School Diploma accredited through Cognia, ENS Sharjah does not yet appear to have applied for approval to offer this final programme to its Grade 11 and 12 students. 

Emirates National School Sharjah says that it aims to holistically develop inquiring, caring, lifelong learners. Their programme provides students with opportunities to develop independence, open-mindedness and an intercultural respect for others and their values.

Students are supported in acquiring the social, personal and academic skills necessary to be successful in an ever changing world. Through initiative, innovation and creativity the school encourages students to take action as responsible, productive global citizens.

What about the facilities?

The ENS Sharjah Campus boasts a modern, purpose-built facility. The classrooms are large, well-furnished and equipped with interactive white boards to allow collaborative, interactive and technologically enhanced learning.  Additionally, facilities include specialist classrooms such as language and science labs, school libraries, spacious gymnasium equipped to host basketball, netball and other indoor sporting activities, four AstroTurf football fields, a 25-metre semi-Olympic swimming pool and a 900+ seat auditorium.

What the inspectors say

Unlike schools in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Sharjah schools have not participated in regulatory inspections on a regular basis; and while there were a few instances of inspections being undertaken by the Ministry of Education, schools did not generally publish the outcomes.

With the initiation of SPEA (Sharjah Private Education Authority), the intention is that schools will be inspected using the common framework already in place in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

However, SPEA has decided to seek a collaborative approach with the schools for this process, and although we understand that initial inspections did take place prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, results of these inspections have not been published.

As a result of the pandemic, Sharjah schools have, however, participated in Distance Learning Evaluations (DLE), implemented by the Ministry of Education throughout the UAE (these results have been published). In its most recent Distance Learning Review Report (2020), ENS Sharjah's implementation of distance learning was rated as Developed.  

Read the full Distance Learning Evaluation report here.

The Buzz

Unfortunately, the ENS schools have only one centralised website and it is hard to find information about individual schools within the group. We know from growing student numbers in the Abu Dhabi schools, that this is a popular option for local families and for children of other Arabic backgrounds who make up only a small minority of the total. 

WhichSchoolAdvisor.com has received a very limited number of responses to our School Survey from which there is insufficient feedback to make an objective analysis of parent, teacher and student opinion of the school.  However, those parents who have responded would all recommend the school to others,

If you are a parent, teacher or student at ENS Sharjah, please share your experience with other potential members of your community by completing our Survey.

Our View

Although the ENS schools have clearly been established to support predominantly Emirati students, other nationalities are admitted.  The Abu Dhabi schools have been inspected by ADEK and are largely rated Good or Very Good.  We expect similar standards to be offered at ENS Sharjah.

Given the apparent quality of education being offered by the ENS schools, we would like to see the encouragement of a wider mix of nationalities which would most certainly ensure the growth of an international outlook keenly sought by the UAE's leaders.

What about the fees?

Fees range from AED 15,100 for KG1 and to AED 31,200 for Middle and High School (from Grade 5-12).

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