For profit private primary school, Horizon, has managed to keep its Outstanding rating for the third year (2014/15). It was one of two schools to have moved up a ranking to make the Dubai education regulator’s highest ranked schools in 2012/13 and remains one of only 14 in the emirate to have the tier one KHDA grade.
The school is a member of the British Schools Middle East (BSME) network.
The school was first established in 1992, and caters to 665 students (up quite sharply from the 498 last year and more so from the 400 in the 2011/12 academic year) from a variety of backgrounds and nationalities (43 in total). In total 43% of students are from the United Kingdom, and 12% from Australia.
The school employs 44 full and part-time teachers (up from 33 last year) with between 19 and 26 students per class. Teacher turnover is 22%, not unremarkable in Dubai, but far from low.
Classes are taught in English with a number of core subjects including Maths, Islamic Studies, Music, I.C.T., P.E. and swimming. The school has adopted the English National Curriculum.
In both its 2011-2012 and 2012-13 reports the KHDA report noted its outstanding attainment and progress in mathematics; high quality staff-student relationships which successfully promoted students’ personal development, their confidence, exemplary behaviour and their mature and responsible attitudes; a high quality, rich curriculum with a strong emphasis upon the development of students’ learning; the school’s success in ensuring that students with additional learning needs access the curriculum and make good progress; and the strong leadership of the Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher in promoting the vision of the school.
The curriculum aims to encompass and promote the enduring values that equip individuals “to live in a challenging world”. Speaking toWhichSchoolAdvisor.com, the school’s former Principal, Marilyn Sinclair, spoke very eloquently about the requirement for physical development to enable brain development and also about reading and the lack of pressure that there should be on children to read at an early age. WSA was impressed with the passion that Ms. Sinclair clearly had for the school who personally conducted the school tour every Monday morning for prospective parents.
