Al Manara Private School - MBZADEK Inspection Report & RatingsLast Updated: April 7, 2026
Executive Summary
Al Manara Private School - MBZ has achieved an overall ADEK Irtiqa rating of Good for the 2024-2025 academic year, marking a significant improvement from its previous Acceptable rating in 2022. This positive trajectory reflects the dedicated efforts of senior leaders, including a new principal and vice principal, in enhancing teaching and learning despite challenges in staff retention and increased enrolment.
The school's academic performance shows strength, with students' achievements improving to Good across most subjects and cycles. Notably, attainment and progress in Islamic Education, Arabic as a first language, Mathematics, and Science have seen considerable improvement. Students also exhibit positive attitudes, a strong understanding of Islamic values and Emirati culture, and good social responsibility skills.
Effective leadership, self-evaluation, and improvement planning have been instrumental in this progress, with a clear strategic direction now in place. While teaching and assessment practices are consistently Good, the school is focused on further developing students' innovation skills and ensuring consistent challenge and support for all learners, including those with additional learning needs and the gifted and talented.
Overall School Performance
Outstanding
Very Good
Good
Acceptable
Weak
Very Weak
Al Manara Private School - MBZ Overall Rating
Good
ADEK Performance Standards
The six Irtiqa inspection standards used by ADEK to evaluate school performance across Abu Dhabi.
Students' achievements are rated Good, with significant improvements noted across most subjects and cycles since the previous inspection. Students demonstrate better than expected progress in Islamic Education, Arabic, Mathematics, and Science, with strong attainment in KG, Cycle 2, and Cycle 3. Learning skills have also improved to Good across all phases. Islamic EducationArabicMathematicsScienceLearning Skills
Students' personal and social development, including innovation skills, is rated Good across all cycles. Students exhibit positive attitudes towards learning, a strong appreciation for Islamic values and Emirati culture, and good social responsibility through community participation. Innovation skills are generally less developed. Islamic valuesEmirati culturesocial responsibility
Teaching and assessment practices are rated Good across all cycles, showing improvement from Acceptable. Teachers possess strong subject knowledge and utilize effective teaching strategies. Assessment procedures are more systematic, with data generally used effectively to adapt lessons, though consistency can vary. subject knowledgeeffective teaching strategiessystematic assessment
The curriculum is rated Good across all cycles. The Ministry of Education (MoE) curriculum is well-designed, providing a clear rationale and effectively preparing students for subsequent educational stages. Curriculum adaptation is also judged to be Good. MoE curriculumcurriculum adaptation
Protection, care, guidance, and support for students are rated Good across all cycles. The school maintains effective health and safety measures, including child protection. While processes for identifying students of determination are well-developed, there is room to increase identified numbers and further develop identification for gifted and talented students. health and safetychild protectionstudents of determinationgifted and talented
Leadership and management are rated Good overall, reflecting improved effectiveness of leadership and self-evaluation. The new principal and vice-principal have established a clear strategic direction. Partnerships with parents remain Good, though governance and management of staffing, facilities, and resources are rated Acceptable. effectiveness of leadershipself-evaluationstrategic directionpartnerships with parents
Key Highlights
Standout achievements identified by the inspection team that distinguish this school.
Students' Achievements Improved
Students' achievements have improved from Acceptable to Good across all subjects and most cycles, reflecting enhanced learning outcomes.
Strong TIMSS Performance
The school met its 2023 TIMSS targets in Grade 8 mathematics and science, indicating effective instruction in these areas.
Positive Personal Development
Students show high attendance, a clear appreciation of Islamic values and UAE culture, and strong social responsibility.
Effective Safeguarding
The school has effective and well-communicated procedures for student safeguarding and child protection, ensuring a safe environment.
Clear Strategic Leadership
The principal has established a clear strategic direction and shared vision, actively supported by the school community, driving continuous improvement.
Enhanced Teaching & Assessment
Teaching and assessment practices have improved to Good across all cycles, with teachers demonstrating solid subject knowledge and more systematic assessment.
Academic Performance Breakdown
Students' achievements improved in all subjects and most cycles from Acceptable to Good. Improvement across subjects and cycles results from the guidance of senior and middle leaders, who facilitate the effective sharing of best practices among teaching staff. Students are mostly self-reliant, well-engaged, and communicate their learning effectively.
Leadership & Management
Effectiveness of school governance, strategic planning, and leadership capacity to drive continuous improvement.
Leadership Approach
The leadership team, including a newly appointed principal and vice-principal, demonstrates a clear strategic direction for the school, actively supported by senior and middle leaders. They have implemented effective self-evaluation and development planning processes, driving continuous improvement in teaching and learning. While strong in vision and parent partnerships, the leadership is focused on addressing challenges in governance, staff retention, and resource provision.
Inspection Findings
Students' Achievement
Students' attainment and progress have significantly improved across most subjects and cycles, moving from Acceptable to Good. This is evident in Islamic Education, Arabic, Mathematics, and Science. Students demonstrate strong learning skills, are self-reliant, and make clear connections between learning areas.
Personal & Social Development
Students' personal development, understanding of Islamic values and Emirati culture, and social responsibility are rated Good across all phases. They show positive attitudes towards learning and actively participate in community initiatives, though innovation skills require further development.
Teaching & Assessment
Teaching and assessment practices have improved to Good across all cycles. Teachers exhibit strong subject knowledge and employ effective teaching strategies. Assessment procedures are more systematic, and data is generally used to adapt lessons, though consistency in data utilization needs further refinement.
Curriculum Design & Adaptation
The curriculum design, implementation, and adaptation are rated Good across all cycles. The Ministry of Education (MoE) curriculum provides a clear rationale, effectively preparing students for future educational stages. The school successfully adapts the curriculum to meet student needs.
Protection, Care & Support
The school's provision for health, safety, child protection, care, and support is rated Good across all cycles. While processes for identifying students of determination are very well developed, there is a need to increase identified numbers and establish a system for identifying gifted and talented students.
Areas for Development
- •Raise students’ achievements to consistently Good and Very Good levels across all subjects in KG and all cycles by enhancing recitation skills and understanding of the Holy Qur’an, promoting fluency in speaking standard Arabic, deepening understanding of social studies concepts, improving extended writing skills in English and Arabic, enhancing English reading and speaking fluency, improving spelling and punctuation, strengthening understanding of spatial awareness, geometric reasoning, and trigonometry, and developing independent investigation and scientific skills.
- •Ensure the consistency of effective teaching and assessment in all subjects and across KG and all cycles by providing sufficient opportunities for learning through play and exploration in KG, displaying subject-specific terms, offering sufficient challenge and support for all student groups, promoting innovative and independent learning skills, encouraging critical thinking and reflection, moderating internal assessment data for reliability, using assessment data effectively for tailored activities, providing opportunities for self- and peer assessments, and ensuring consistent marking and constructive feedback.
- •Improve the impact of leadership by strengthening the identification and support of students with additional learning needs, including students of determination, and the gifted and talented, adapting the curriculum more extensively for identified groups, implementing effective strategies for punctuality and positive behavior, providing training to middle leaders on best practices, offering regular professional development for new and KG teachers, revising lesson observation checklists to emphasize student learning, reviewing self-evaluation documentation regularly, developing KG teachers’ understanding of play-based learning, reviewing staff management policies to reduce turnover, and providing additional resources for reading and active learning.
- •Improve students' performance in international assessments (PISA, TIMSS, PIRLS) by modifying the curriculum to align with key knowledge and skills, promoting critical thinking, problem-solving, and inquiry-based learning, introducing diverse reading materials, designing assessments that prioritize analysis and evaluation, offering ongoing professional development for teachers on assessment frameworks, engaging parents in supporting learning, and implementing targeted support strategies.