A mixed gender GEMS owned KG to Year 6 school following the English National Curriculum, GEMS Royal Dubai School takes children from 3 to 11 years of age and, as of May 2016, is Mirdiff’s first and currently only Outstanding rated school.

The school is currently home to 1166 students (up approximately 100 students over the previous academic year), with 77 teachers, and 62 teaching assistants, giving the school the resources to be able to offer a good level of individual attention. The largest single demographic grouping of student is British, although over 60 nationalities are represented in total, and one in six of the school’s pupils is Emirati.

Teachers are largely recruited from the United Kingdom, and the school currently enjoys a very low (and good) teacher turnover of 12% in the last academic year. The teacher:student ratio is 1:15 – average for this tier of school.

While teacher turnover may be low, previous KHDA reports have noted high student turnover, with pupils often staying for 2-3 years at the school, something fairly unusual for Dubai. This is not mentioned in the school’s latest report, and it is not clear if as an issue it has been resolved. High pupil turnover is not noted in most other primaries, and as a GEMS school, the children in Year 6 are guaranteed a place in Year 7 at either GEMS Wellington Academy Silicon Oasis or GEMS Wellington Academy Al Khail, without the need for an Entrance Test.

The number of students identified with SEN seems to have declined sharply. Two years ago some 27% of GEMS Royal Dubai’s pupils were identified as having mild SEN requirements, including learning delay, mild behaviour difficulties, dyslexia and dyscalculia. In 2016, it is less than 10%. It is not clear if this is a real decline in numbers, or a question of definition.

The school has clearly done an awful lot right to move to an Outstanding rating. Students now make rapid progress in acquiring knowledge and understanding in English, Maths and Science according to inspectors. Students have also developed “exceptionally strong learning skills”, while – unusually for a British school – “attainment has also improved in Arabic as an additional language, and in Islamic education”. Students’ personal and social development is described as excellent.

The 2015/16 report notes a well planned and stimulating curriculum which, which along with teaching, “was often inspiring”. Inspiring is high praise – and not a word that is used generously by inspectors.

Teaching, leadership and teamwork lie at the heart of improvements.