What a school! We do so much around here and we still have a month to go until Term 1 ends! It’s truly an honor to work at such a dynamic, international school. Huge thank you to the teachers and administration teams who make all of this possible. It’s been an amazing start to the year and there is so much more to look forward to!
WHAT TO WATCH FOR IN JANUARY 2019!
KHDA inspection
January 14th to 17th is KHDA inspection. Let me be clear about this: inspection matters! Anyone who downplays the rigour of inspection is avoiding something. I have been on accreditation teams for the IB and MSA. As rigorous as those programs are, they are nothing compared to a KHDA inspection! The government of this nation wants the UAE to be in the top 15 countries in the world in terms of offering the best quality education. Very Good and Outstanding schools do this effectively. I am proud to have been one of the leaders who have helped this school achieve it’s Very Good status. From 2012 to 2014, the school had regressed in 8 areas of the DSIB framework. Since 2015 we have improved in 43 and upgraded to Very Good overall, and, we can expect further improvements this year. Moving from Good to Very Good is one thing, but moving from Very Good to Outstanding is another. As Director of UAS, I am targeting an Outstanding rating within 4 or 5 years. In the meantime, we will continue to offer a high quality education at an affordable rate; did you know that we have the second-lowest fees of all Very Good Schools in the UAE? A recent study of our competitor schools by Al Futtaim indicated exactly that. I look forward to being able to report to everyone the successes we will have on inspection in the near future.
On-line Payments!
One thing that has not sat well with me since becoming Director is the way we ask you to pay accounts. I am so pleased to announce that effective January 1st, our online payment gateway has gone live. This will allow you to pay fees online for tuition, transport, After School Activities, WWW, cafeteria card re-charge and any other upcoming school trips and activities. Payments for uniform and other store purchases, will still have to be made at the accounts department.