Dovecote Green Primary School, located at Dubai Investments Park, provides a primary education to a very small community of 40 pupils. As a new school, it has yet to be rated by Dubai’s education authority, the KHDA.

The school is managed by Evolvence Education, part of Evolvence Knowledge Investments – owners of Repton (just rated Outstanding in the latest KHDA report round) and Foremarke. Foremarke is described as a “prep school” offering up to year 8 to enable children to sit for the UK Common Entrance exam with a view to entering public education in the UK. Repton offers the full UK curriculum to age 16 and the IB programme in Sixth Form.

Currently Dovecote describes itself as “quiet” with only a small number of children attending, but from September 2015, the numbers are expected to increase to upwards of 80 children.

The school has students from FS1 to Year 2, but as it grows will become a full primary school, taking students up to Year 6. The school has a capacity of 560 children once it reaches Year 6 provision.

Presently it has just one class for each year. Serving those pupils are five teachers, all recruited from the UK, that look after class sizes with an average of 10 children. The largest classroom has 20 children.

All teachers have a teaching degree or BA with PGCE or equivalent.

Dovecote is a British school in terms of both curriculum and in its student body. It follows the Early Years Foundation Stage, and the English National Curriculum. One in two students come from the United Kingdom, 40 percent are European, and 10% from “other” nationalities. A total of 10 nationalities are represented at the school currently.

The school is currently the only UK curriculum school within the growing area.  There is a footpath linking the school to Green Community West to enable children to walk from their homes, as well as direct entry into the school via car from the main external road.

The school claims that no pupil currently has a first language that is not English. It does not therefore provide special tuition or classes for those whose first language is not English. Conversely, the school does provide the study of French and German languages to its pupils.  Arabic will be provided from FS2.

The school does not provide any form of SEN provision.

Dovecote Green is selective on intake clearly focusing on ability, and streams subjects for different abilities to tailor material and teaching for those who may need more time, as well as for those talented and gifted children within a subject that grasp the concepts more quickly. The school says it covers “all National Curriculum subjects and set high standards in all.”

Dovecote Green is closely linked to Repton senior school. Its aim is to teach the children to finish year 6 at the required standard to pass the Repton entrance exam.

Facilities at the school are very good, offering an attractive and ‘bright’ environment for learning. The school is set on a large plot of land, part of which will be set up as a full sports field for the coming school year.  The school is essentially an inverted T shape with the main reception area located at the front of the building and the three teaching blocks located behind.  The corridors are wide and bright – unlike many schools, there is natural light throughout the building.

To the side of the main block is a very spacious indoor sports hall, and upstairs are large dance studio.  There are two outdoor swimming pools  – a 20m meter pool and a Toddler pool.  Currently, there is a green area with play equipment at the front of the building, a large covered, shaded area with rubberized flooring at the back of one teaching block and a third area under development as a garden/play space.

Extra-curricular activities offered by the school include football, swimming, dance, martial arts and yoga. A number of extra after school clubs will be developed as the school grows. Extracurricular activities are free to its students.

Dovecote Green believes its strength lies in it “catering firmly for the ‘whole child’, developing each child’s thinking skills in order to become a successful 21st century learner. Even when it reaches full size it will much smaller school than many found in Dubai which will appeal to parents seeking  a smaller, more homely environment.  Class sizes will be set at around 20 students, and the focus of the school will be on educational quality and sports activities whilst developing strong links to the local community.

Dovecote believes it is a pity that it opened with such little fanfare in Spring 2015.  However, whilst it is very early on it is the quiet ones you have to watch, and the school has no doubt put the fundamentals it needs in place for its future growth. In a good location for growth – just watch the area as Expo 2020 approaches, and with a very defined set of objectives, it is a school to watch.