Abu Dhabi International School

About Abu Dhabi International School

Abu Dhabi International School Review

Abu Dhabi International School is located on Abu Dhabi Island in the traditional area of Al Rowdah. The school is one of the longer-established private schools in Abu Dhabi, having opened in 1992. It offers a US curriculum to high school at which point, from Grade 9, the school offers UK curriculum GCSE/IGCSE, and AS/A Levels.

Overview

School class: International

School grade: All through

Review rating: Very good

Curricula oriented: US HS Diploma, IGCSE, SAT, Common Core

Yearly price average: AED 23,500

Yearly costs: AED 15,160–32,280

Price band help: Mid-range

Status: Open

Gender: Co-educational

Opening year: 1992

School year: Sep to Jun

Headliner: Ms Pamela Issa

District: Al Rowda, Abu Dhabi

Teacher turnover: 18%

About

This, the original Abu Dhabi International school (AIS), was founded in 1992 by Mrs. Jihan Nasr, who, according to the school has been dedicated to her mission of ensuring that every child is accepted, nurtured and provided with their needs and grow to become unique individuals.

The Vision of AIS is 'To prepare global citizens who will lead for positive change'. The School's mission is ‘To support all students attain their full potential in personal development and active citizenship by providing the foundation for lifelong learning through quality education.’

AIS welcomes children from KG1 (KG) and KG2 (designated Prep) to Grade 12.  With a total of just over 1,050 children, the school is half the size of its newer sister school, located in Mohammed bin Zayed City, which opened in 2005.

Students are split across four phases of the school, numbers are broken down into KG with approximately 115 children, Primary with approximately 400, Middle School with around 340 and the High School with approximately 210 students. The number of students per grade varies considerably, with Grades 11 and 12 each having around 40 students, whilst Grades 6 and 7 have over two and a half times this number with approximately 105 and 135 respectively.  Most grades have two or three classes, with Grades 6 and 7 having 5 and 6 respectively.  Class sizes average 1:25 across the school, with a teacher and teaching assistant in the KG, Prep and Grade 1 classes.

There are approximately 40 nationalities with the largest groups are Jordanian (21%), Egyptian (18%), Emirati and Syrian, both with 11%.  Students are taught by 77 teachers, who are supported by 7 teaching assistants. 

Teachers come largely from South Africa, Ireland, Lebanon, America, and Jordan. Staff -turnover at 18% is below the average for international schools in the UAE, but greater than has been the case in the past at AIS. Teachers at AIS must have a Bachelors Degree in their subject area and a Teaching Diploma or the equivalent of 10 years of teaching experience. All teachers must also meet the ADEK requirements for licensure.

Curriculum

AIS provides its students with the opportunity to graduate with the British (IGCSE and A-Level) programme after following a US curriculum from KG to Grade 8. Those who wish to continue following the American curriculum and IB courses transfer to the sister school at MBZ. The school is accredited by AIAA.

Core subjects across all sections of the school include  English, Math, Science and Arabic. French is obligatory from Grades 3 to 8 with those in Grades 3 to 12 prepared to sit for the DELF (Diplôme d’Etudes en Langue Française)---the official qualification awarded by the French Ministry of Education to certify the competency of candidates from outside France in the French language. 

IGCSE and A levels subjects include English, Arabic, Math, Statistics, Mechanics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Additional options include Sculpting, Robotics, and Film Studies.

AIS offers a variety of Co-Curricular Clubs which are included in the school fees. These include Football, Basketball, Table Tennis, Eco Health and Safety, Robotics, Film Club, Innovators, UAE Cultural Club, Book Club, Poetry Club, Chess, Cooking, Public Speaking and Debate, Choir, Drama, Dance, Art, Francophone, SAT Math, Newsletter, Arabic Calligraphy, Quran Recitation, Yearbook, Photography, Escape Room, Bulletin Board, Fun Science, Track and Field, MUN, Rubik’s Cube, Drones, Fitness, Scratch, Folklore and Spelling.

Extra-Curricular Clubs are extra and attract additional fees; these include Ballet, Gymnastics and Taekwondo.

The school also offers a CAS (Creativity, Action, Service) program (taken from the IB curriculum which is offered at the MBZ school) that includes international educational trips.

Facilities

AIS on Abu Dhabi Island is based in an older building, and in 2018, stopped admissions temporarily in order to undertake substantial renovation works at the campus. We understand that this programme has been delayed, but that the school building will be reconstructed into a state-of-the-art facility for completion by August 2023.

The strengths of the school were found to be:

• The highly effective leadership of the principal and senior leaders resulting in evident improvement in all areas since the previous inspection.

• Students’ high levels of achievement.

• Teachers’ commitment to raising the quality of teaching and overall progress of students.

• The caring ethos, positive relationships and secure environment of the school.

• Students’ highly developed learning skills, independence and enthusiasm for school which is reflected in their high levels of attendance

In particular, the inspection team noted that leaders have addressed most recommendations of the previous inspection. The variability in teaching has been reduced and teaching overall is now very good. As a result of better teaching, achievement overall has improved to very good in the Kindergarten, middle and high phases, though it remains good in the primary phase. (It should be noted that both attainment and progress for Islamic Education and Mathematics were rated Outstanding in the Senior school).

All aspects of students' Personal and Social Development and their Innovation skills were rated Very Good across the school, as were the performance standards for the Curriculum and for the Protection, Care, Guidance and Support of students and Leadership and Management. 

The key area for improvement remains Teaching and Assessment which was rated a mix of Good and Very Good. However, the inspection team commented that teachers now provide greater consistency in their practice across subjects. They are committed to professional development and have higher expectations of students. Performance management supports those with weaker skills. New teachers are following the procedures introduced through their induction programme.

The inspection team also commented that a new building is being planned on the same site to improve the learning environment, facilities and resources. In the lessons seen, learning is now well resourced across most subjects, particularly in the kindergarten and in science. The school has made strong progress in identifying groups of students with different abilities and lesson plans are now differentiated to provide activities to meet the learning needs of most groups of students. Leaders’ capacity to improve the school further is very good.

In terms of areas of improvement, the inspectors advised AIS to:

• Further development of assessment to support students of all abilities by:

1) ensuring all students are identified according to their individual abilities

2) ensuring that the progress of all groups of students is measured and monitored regularly

3) ensuring that marking, feedback to students on how to improve further and opportunities for self-assessment is more consistent

4) providing appropriately differentiated learning activities to suit students’ abilities more consistently across all lessons.

• Continue to develop standards in Arabic medium subjects to match those in other core subjects by:

1) raising expectations across the Arabic subjects

2) ensuring prior assessment data of individual students is linked effectively to plan differentiated learning tasks

3) providing opportunities for students to develop their extended writing skills across phases

4) providing effective levels of challenge for students according to their ability with a focus on the development of reading, writing, speaking and listening

5) implementing a whole school framework for practicing Arabic speaking and writing and reading skills across the school.

Overall, there is no question that AIS had made significant improvements over the two years between 2017 and 2019.  No inspection took place in 2020-21 (when the next inspection would have been due).  It will be very interesting to see if AIS has continued far enough along the road to improvement when it is next expected to join the limited number of schools in Abu Dhabi that have managed to achieve the highest 'Outstanding' rating.

Costs

Fees at the AIS Abu Dhabi campus are in the value to mid-range (between AED 15,160 to AED 32,280).  Those at MBZ by contrast (for parents who may be considering this option) range from AED 26,500 to AED 46,600.

Ranking

Abu Dhabi International School is a Best of school, a ranking determined by parent surveys on the site. It can be found in the following Best of rankings:

#153 in Best Schools in the UAE

#33 in Best Schools in Abu Dhabi

#7 in Best American Schools in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi International School Information

• Type		Private
  Language(s)		English
  Grades		K-12

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How do I contact Abu Dhabi International School

• Website: : www.aisschools.com/

• Email: : [email protected]

• Phone: +97124434433