The Aquila SchoolPrincipal & Leadership Team

Principal Wayne Howsen has led The Aquila School since its founding, in post since January 2018 — a rare and meaningful signal of stability in Dubai's competitive international school market. His tenure spans the school's entire existence, and the KHDA inspection confirms that his influence is felt throughout: inspectors noted that the principal successfully encourages staff to seek improvements in academic outcomes, with teamwork among leaders described as a particular strength. The school is operated by International Schools Partnership (ISP), a global group running 116 schools across 25 countries, which provides governance support, professional development infrastructure, and access to global university partnerships — resources that meaningfully supplement what a standalone school could offer.

The leadership team beneath Howsen is well-structured and named. Kylie Cleworth serves as Head of Primary, Yasmine Dannawy as Head of Secondary, Claire Hitchings as Head of Inclusion, and Dr Mahmoud Khallil as Head of Arabic, Islamic Studies and whole-school multilingualism lead — a breadth of senior coverage that reflects the school's inclusive and multilingual ambitions. Pauline Lamond holds the Safeguarding Lead role, a dedicated appointment that inspectors noted is implemented very effectively across all phases.

KHDA's 2023–2024 inspection rated overall leadership effectiveness as Good and governance as Good, with management, staffing, facilities and resources rated Very Good — the highest sub-rating in the leadership domain. Inspectors specifically praised effective governor support and noted that all staff demonstrate a well-developed knowledge of the school's strengths and areas for development. One area requiring attention: inspectors recommended that leaders improve their capacity to monitor and evaluate provision accurately and address underachievement, particularly in Secondary — a candid finding parents should weigh alongside the school's genuine strengths.

On teaching quality, the picture is differentiated by phase. Teaching in the Foundation Stage is rated Very Good, with inspectors highlighting questioning technique, differentiation, and deep knowledge of child development as standout features. In Primary and Secondary, teaching is rated Good, with most teachers demonstrating sound subject knowledge and positive student relationships. The school's largest nationality group of teachers is British, consistent with its UK curriculum. A notable whole-staff commitment: all teachers are certified in AI and EdTech through ISP's programme — a concrete professional development benchmark. The KHDA inspection did flag that assessment data is not always used consistently to challenge higher-attaining students, particularly in Secondary, and that questioning techniques are not fully developed in all phases.

With 84 teachers and 45 teaching assistants serving 1,154 students, Aquila reports a student-to-teacher ratio of 1:11 — meaningfully better than the Dubai city average of 1:13.6 across 204 schools with ratio data, and a strong indicator of individual attention capacity. Parent engagement is a clear institutional strength: partnerships with parents rated Very Good by KHDA, supported by community events such as the Winter Souq and regular wellbeing communications. The school's BSO accreditation — rated Outstanding by British Schools Overseas inspectors — provides an independent external endorsement that sits above the KHDA Good rating and is worth noting for families familiar with UK inspection frameworks.