Little Flower English School Review
Little Flowers English School has been rated Acceptable for the ninth time in the KHDA's 2022-23 inspection round. The report can be found under the 'Inspection' tab. This review will be updated in due course.
The story so far...
Little Flower English School (LFES) was established as a villa school back in 1984. The name of the school appears to vary depending on where it appears - whilst the sign in the image on the school's website clearly shows Little Flowers (plural) and the KHDA also refers to it by this name, the school website refers to Little Flower and its web address also shows the singular form. Whichever is the case, the school is one and the same.
Although officially regarded as a Primary School, Little Flowers offers Grade 6, which falls under the Middle or Lower Secondary in most schools. As such, the KHDA assesses it against criteria for KG, Primary and Middle school sections.
The school believes in the motto "Education for one and all”. Its unnamed Chairman states that "Education is a tool that empowers generations for a future that is based on sound knowledge and prudent decisions. This being our aim, we at LFES leave no stone unturned in order to give the best in education to our children. The school believes in imparting a holistic development that encourages the students not only to perform well academically but also encourages them to participate in co curricular activities that will foster team spirit and sportsmanship".
The Principal, Abdullakutty Valappil, who has led the school since October 2011, informs visitors to the school website that
All students, whatever their academic ability, background or race, deserve the very best education and this will be achieved through our professional teaching staff, ably supported by our admin team. I am passionate about what we must do at the Littleflower English School and the most important consideration about our school is our young people. We will achieve success by working as a team in conjunction with our valued partners, parents, families, shareholders and members of our local and wider community.
Our aims at the Littleflower English School include:
- Recognise, develop and respect individual talents and abilities
- Provide a safe and positive teaching environment
- Create a community where friendliness and mutual respect is encouraged
- The need to involve parents more and foster excellent relationships
- Ensure expectations are high and self-esteem even higher
- We all take responsibility for our actions
- Ensure innovation is a key focus in all that we do.
According to the latest KHDA report from 2019-20, Little Flower had some 870 students. The school's website says that children come from a vast range of nationalities, but by far and away, Indian nationals, as would be expected, make up the largest proportion of students. Children are supported by some 48 teachers and 4 teaching assistants, with a teacher:student ratio of 1:25. This is on the high side for a KG/Primary environment. Teachers are also Indian for the most part and at 12%, teacher turnover was on the low side compared with international schools in the UAE which averages 20-22% but on the higher side for an Indian-led school.
What about the curriculum?
Little Flowers follows the CBSE curriculum throughout the school, but has adopted the UK-curriculum based Early Years Foundation Stage with CBSE outcomes for KG children. Limited resources and specialist facilities (according to the KHDA), mean that the curriculum is not perhaps as broad as would be expected although staff make best use of what is available. In addition to the core subjects of English, Maths, Science, Arabic as a Second Language, Islamic Studies (and Moral Education which has been incorporated into English Social Studies), Hindi, Urdu and Malayalam are offered as additional languages.
Children have limited access to technology and opportunities for enterprise and innovation are inconsistent. Where they do arise, this tends to be as part of extracurricular activities.
What about support for Students of Determination and those with Gifts and Talents?
It is clear that the leadership of Little Flowers want to offer an inclusive environment for students of Determination and those with Gifts and Talents. The provision and support for Students of Determination was rated Acceptable in the most recent inspection.
Through the vision of inclusion and a commitment to learners of all needs, the leadership team has empowered all staff to promote a culture where students of determination are welcomed, valued and accepted.
The inspection team found that the quality of support was good, but the use of individual education plans (IEPs) to support students of determination in lessons was not fully effective. The more able students have limited opportunities to develop their higher-order thinking skills.
The use of assessment data was beginning to inform IEPs, but early intervention was not yet sufficiently embedded with IEPs in the early stages of development. Partnerships with parents were generally very positive. The inclusion team made every effort to ensure that parents of students of determination were kept informed of their children’s progress. Parents say they value the school’s level of care, support and guidance.
The curriculum was modified to meet the needs of students of determination. However, some teachers did not match their teaching strategies to effectively meet students’ individual needs, and their expectations of learning for students of determination were often quite low.
What about the facilities?
From its beginnings in modest villas, Little Flower relocated to a new facility some time in the 2000's. Unfortunately, along with the inconsistency in the school's name, its evidently new and under-development website also has some gaps - including the relocation date.
We do know that the school moved to a newly purpose-built campus and that this has spacious classrooms equipped with projectors and smart boards, an auditorium that can accommodate around 200-250 persons, a library, an IT lab and play area for the KG students. The KHDA report notes that the school and its facilities provide a clean learning environment. However, "limited specialist facilities and resources, such as learning technology and appropriate reading materials, hinder students' independent learning experiences".
What the inspectors say
Little Flower English School was rated Acceptable for the eighth year in a row in 2019-20. Prior to this, the school was rated Weak for the first three years of the inspection process.
Whilst the latest inspection report showed modest improvements in ratings, with four ratings of 30 improving to Good for Student Achievement, this first Key Performance Standard still suggests that the provision is essentially still at the Acceptable level for the most part. Both Teaching and Assessment and the Curriculum showed improvements to Good in the KG section, but again all other ratings were Acceptable. These two Key Performance Standards are those that contribute above all others to Student Achievement.
Students' personal and social development and their innovation skills remained relative strengths retaining their ratings of Very Good for personal development and Good for the remaining two ratings criteria. Similarly, Health and Safety (rated Very Good across the school) and Care and Support (rated Good) retained their ratings from previous inspections.
The final Key Performance Standard - that of Leadership and Management - also saw the ratings from the previous inspection retained. Again the five key criteria were largely rated Acceptable, although the relationship with Parents and the Community retained its Good rating.
More worryingly, the rating for the school's Self-evaluation and improvement planning had retained its Weak rating. This criterion is the one that measures how well the school recognises its own strengths and weaknesses and how it plans to improve. Clearly, if the leadership is unable to accurately recognise weaknesses and plan for improvement, there is little likelihood of the correct action being taken.
In their summary of the inspection, the DSIB inspection team found the strengths of Little Flower English School to be:
- The support for families through community projects and outreach initiatives
- The provision for health, safety and personal development to ensure students’ well-being in a secure environment
- The improvement in the curriculum design in the KG that has had a positive impact on teaching, learning and assessment
- The improved progress in Islamic education and Arabic in the primary phase.
As far as areas for improvement were concerned, the inspectors found that Little Flower English School should:
- Ensure, with high priority, that senior and middle leaders are held accountable for closely monitoring the quality of teaching and its impact on students’ learning.
- Improve teaching and learning in the primary and middle phases by:
o improving teachers’ understanding of how students learn best
o developing students’ skills and understanding through enquiry and learning activities that are well-matched to their needs
o raising expectations for the more able students in each lesson to provide challenge and rigour
o ensuring that lessons are taught as planned. - Improve the school’s self-evaluation to ensure that judgments are accurate.
- Devise a clear action plan and implement it consistently to address inspection recommendations.
- Use assessment data effectively to personalise learning pathways, track progress over time and provide students with effective feedback.
If you would like to read the full inspection report - and we strongly recommend that you do so in order to understand the reasons behind the ratings, you will find it here.
In common with all UAE schools, Little Flower English School participated in a Distance Learning Evaluation carried out to assess the provision of online learning as the Covid 19 pandemic interrupted face-to-face schooling during 2020 and 2021. Of the three possible ratings, Little Flower English School received the second rating of Partially Developed. Whilst six of the measures were awarded the highest Developed rating, the remaining seven achieved the Partially Developed rating. You can read the report here.
The Buzz
The WhichSchoolAdvisor.com School Survey has not received any feedback from existing parents at Little Flower English School.
If you are a parent or teacher at Little Flower English School, please share your opinions and experience with other potential members of your community and complete our Survey here.
377 parents responded to the KHDA's pre-inspection survey with 97% stating that they were satisfied with the quality of education provided. They valued the balance in academic success and support for their children's personal development. They agreed that their children were safe at school. Almost all parents were confident in the help teachers gave to students, including the provision for students of determination. Parents said that the school provided good value for money.
The inspection report notes "the productive links with parents ensure their participation in school events such as IT training and mothers’ club. The two-way communication with parents is prompt and effective, giving them easy access to the school’s personnel".
Our View
Whilst there is no doubt that parents seem satisfied to a large degree by the provision of Little Flowers English School based on feedback to the KHDA, educationally it would seem that there is quite a way to go in terms of meeting the regulator's requirements.
With the ever-increasing focus on teaching and assessment, adaptation of the curriculum by teachers to meet the needs of individual students and groups of students, and through these measures, the improvement in student achievement, Little Flower really needs to up its game before the next inspection round.
The concern must be that for a school that has been performing largely at the same level over so many years - and which seems not to recognise the key areas in which it needs to improve - the likelihood of significant improvement taking place under the current leaders and owners (and at existing fee levels) is not a given.
Acceptable is the minimum rating that schools are expected to achieve by the KHDA. Only radical change is likely to see a profound change - something the school's history and current status suggests is unlikely in our opinion.
What about the fees?
Little Flower English School has among the lowest fees of any school that we have benchmarked in Dubai. It is therefore a credit to the staff that they are able to maintain the current standards, given the impact this must have on salaries and resources.
Fees start at AED 3,548 from KG to Grade 4, rising to AED 3,823 in Grades 5 and 6. We would question if these fees are sustainable in a school that is clearly in need of investment.
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