Quick summary of key school information
School details
Number of students |
1200 |
Number of nationalities represented in the school |
80 |
Most common nationality |
British |
Ratio of local students to international students |
Our number 1 nationality is British, followed by Jordanian and Indian |
Native English speaking teachers |
Yes |
Language support for students not fluent in English |
We have an EAL department at Arcadia 'English as an additional language' that supports children with little or no English free of charge. |
Additional language classes offered by the school |
We offer Arabic, French and Spanish |
Max. number of students per class |
25 |
Average number of students per class |
Anything from 15-25 |
Does the school employ teaching assistants? |
Yes |
Use of technology in the classroom |
We are an Apple Distinguished School, one of 450 in the wold. This means we use Apple technology innovatively to support the child's learning. |
Is the school ready to use virtual classrooms when needed? (e.g. teaching lessons online if the school is closed, e.g. during COVID-19 closures) |
We offer online learning for Covid 19 positive students or close contact |
Do students practice religion at the school? What religion? |
All Students who are registered as Muslim attend Islamic studies |
How does the school accommodate non-religious students or students of a different religion? |
When a Muslim pupil attends their Islamic class the other pupils are managed by a teacher and can choose from a number of activities, be it reading, revision, art, reviewing a topic or technology. This means that Muslim students do not miss out on any lessons. |
External examinations or assessments available |
At Arcadia we use GL assessments to benchmark the students against both international and UK standards. We use GL Cognitive Abilities Test and the GL Progress Tests. |
Results in these examinations |
Our students have consistently achieved outstanding results in the English, Maths and Science GL Progress Tests. With an average of 95% of our students meeting or exceeding curriculum standards. |
Do teachers assign homework to their students? |
We are a school that does homework in school, so the children have a slightly longer day than other schools in Dubai, meaning when they get home, all the homework is complete and the child can enjoy family time. |
Approximate hours of homework given |
There is no homework as it will be completed in school. |
Percentage of students who pursue further education post-graduation |
Arcadia is currently FS1 to YR9 and has been open since September 2016. This is 3-year-olds to 13-year-olds. We have not had anyone graduate yet. |
Dedicated staff/programs for students with special learning needs |
Yes, we have an 'Inclusive' team who support any children with learning needs. |
Learning support offered |
We offer academic, physical and social support for a child. Plus we have a School Counsellor who is there to support the child emotionally. Should the child need Speech or language therapy, we work with some excellent providers or would be happy to work with the child's current therapist. |
The school supports gifted, able and talented students |
We have a Gifted and Talented program and we are a member of NACE, National Association For Able Children In Education, so follow their guidelines with several programs set up throughout the academic year. |
Student access to education psychologist |
We do not have an educational psychologist in the school, but we can guide parents on where to go should they need one. |
Entry evaluation for students |
Yes, we run an assessment for children 3-5 years old that is play-based reviewing their development levels physically, emotionally, socially and academically. Then we run a paper test for children 5 years upwards in English and Maths apprpriate for their age that is supported by a teacher 1-1. The charge is AED500. |
Brief description of entry evaluation required |
We run an assessment for children 3-5 years old that is play-based reviewing their development levels physically, emotionally, socially and academically. Then we run a paper test for children 5 years upwards in English and Maths appropriate for their age that is supported by a teacher 1-1. |
Waiting list |
No |
Deadline for registration (new academic year) |
There is no deadline, the school is open for enrollments at any time whilst there are seats available. |
Students can join after academic year begins |
Yes |
School start time |
07:50am |
School finish time |
FS1 and FS2 finish at 2 pm every day. YR1 upwards finishes at 4 pm Monday to Thursday and 12 pm on a Friday |
Supervised care before/after school |
Every day we offer an after school care club for FS1 and FS2 from 2 pm to 4 pm |
School bus service available |
Yes |
School provided lunches |
Yes, we have a lunch provider in the school called 'Mastercook'. You also have the option of sending your child to school with a packed lunch. |
Food alternatives for special dietary needs (ie. vegan, kosher, halal etc) |
We are a nut free, Halal meat, no sugar school and the lunch provider offers a vegetarian option for the child's main meal. |
Uniform required |
Yes, we give the uniform free of charge every year, you get 2 sets of sports uniforms and 2 sets of school uniforms every year. |
Extracurricular activities or clubs offered |
We offer various extra-curriculum activities sport and non-sport related and we include 3 within the school fees that run during the school day. The sports activities on offer range from Ballet, Football, Dance, Gymnastics, Rugby, Dodgeball, Basketball, Tennis Skills, Martial Arts and Yoga. The child can choose 2 of these per week, included in the fees and they are run by professional coaches. The non-physical activities range from a choice of Robotics, Movie Making, Reading Club, Origami, Art and Craft, Islamic Art, Choir and DJ Skills. Again your child can choose 1 of these to do per week and they are included in the fees. The majority of the sports extra curriculum activities are also run at 2 pm for 3-5-year-olds and 4 pm for 5-year-olds upwards, these sessions are additional on top of the 3 included and are chargeable. |
Sports activities included |
Each student will receive a Physical Education lesson, whereby the focus is on developing their fundamental skills from a basic age, ensuring that they have a high competency in Physical Literacy that they can then adapt these to various sporting or day to day life scenarios. A huge emphasis in these lessons is on the Education before the Physical. Students will immerse themselves in a broad curriculum and take part in a variety of activities ranging from rock climbing, gymnastics, to badminton and table tennis. Swimming is its own curriculum lesson and students from KS1 - KS3, will receive 1 weekly swimming lesson all year round. KS2 - KS3 students will take part in a games afternoon session, focus here is on the core sports of our school, whereby we develop all students in gameplay, tactics, analysis and competition. |
Sports teams or sport competitions available for students |
Arcadia is a member of both DASSA and Dubai School Games and students will take part in competitions across both of these from age group U8 and upwards. As a school, our focus sports will be Netball, Football, Swimming, Rugby and Athletics.
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Facilities at the school |
Science labs, Art & DT lab, Library, Food Tech Room, Apple Technology Suite, Home Economics Space, Drama Studio, Recording Studio, Music Room, Collaborative Learning Spaces, |
Sports facilities at the school |
Primary
Secondary
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Qualities and characteristics best defining the school |
The unique areas that define us are a school that makes parents life easier, teaching the children in academics, social and sport skills from 8 am to 4 pm. We include homework within the school day, we include extra curriculum activities in the fees, we include uniform textbooks in the fees. We only use Apple products when introducing the children to technology and we are an Apple distinguished school. We have a wonderful entrepreneurial spirit throughout the school and have already established one of the lessons that enrich the curriculum named 'The Junior MBA' class. We also offer specialist teachers from 3 years old upwards. |
Teaching approach of the school |
We follow the EYFS and English National Curriculum programs from the UK, but the curriculum is enhanced and enriched with Arabic, choices of languages in Spanish and French, Islamic studies (for Muslim students), food technology and additional sports and business skills. The school is modern with state of the art technology methods but they don't dominate from traditional reading and writing. We want the children to fall in love with paper books, be great writers and have super writing and beautiful vocabulary. With this varied approach, the children are taught confidence in their personality and the ability to be an all-round global student that is future-ready. |