Al Adab Iranian Private School for Boys, Dubai
KHDA Inspection Report & Ratings 2018
Last updated
Executive Summary
Al Adab Iranian Private School for Boys and Girls has received an overall rating of Good for the 2023-2024 academic year. The school demonstrates strong performance in students' personal and social development, particularly in the senior phases, and maintains positive relationships between students and teachers.
Academic achievement is particularly strong in the senior phases, with students making Very Good progress in mathematics across most phases. Attainment and progress in English and science are above curriculum expectations. The school offers a choice of three curriculum programmes: the Iranian National Curriculum, an international curriculum informed by US Common Core (CCSS), and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP).
The school excels in the protection, care, and guidance of students, especially for older students, with effective child protection arrangements. Wellbeing provision is rated as Good, driven by a dedicated team and a new wellbeing curriculum. Strong partnerships with supportive parents are also a key highlight.
Overall School Performance
Outstanding
Very Good
Good
Acceptable
Weak
Very Weak
Al Adab Iranian Private School for Boys and Girls Overall Rating
Good for 3+ consecutive years
Dubai Focus Areas
These three pillars represent the Dubai education authority's priorities: ensuring inclusive practices, prioritizing student wellbeing, and meeting UAE National Agenda targets.
The school demonstrates a commitment to an inclusive ethos, with a dedicated team promoting provision for students of determination. While interventions are appropriate, identification procedures and the monitoring of inclusive education practices require greater consistency and detail to fully support all students' needs. students of determinationinclusive ethos
Wellbeing is a strong focus, with the principal and senior leaders committed to its development, supported by a dedicated team and a new wellbeing curriculum. A caring approach towards students, well-established parent partnerships, and a nurturing classroom climate contribute to students feeling safe and welcome. wellbeing curriculumcaring approachstudent council
Students show a deep understanding of Islamic values and a strong appreciation for Emirati heritage and culture, actively participating in related events. Moral, Social and Cultural Studies (MSCS) are integrated into the curriculum, promoting community and environmental responsibility, though global cultural diversity awareness remains limited. Emirati culture and valuesMoral, Social and Cultural Studies (MSCS)
Key Highlights
Standout achievements identified by the inspection team that distinguish this school.
Maths Progress
Students demonstrate very good progress in mathematics across most phases, reflecting strong mathematical skill development.
Parent Partnerships
The school benefits from strong partnerships with highly supportive parents who are actively engaged in their children's learning.
Positive Relationships
Positive and respectful relationships between teachers and students foster a supportive and conducive learning environment in lessons.
Student Development
Students exhibit strong personal development, responsible attitudes, and a very good appreciation of Emirati culture and values.
Child Protection
The school has effective arrangements in place for child protection, safety, and security for all students.
Academic Performance Breakdown
Students' academic achievement is particularly good in the senior phases, with very good progress in mathematics. Attainment and progress in English and science are above curriculum expectations. However, achievement in Arabic speaking and writing is delayed due to limited vocabulary. The lack of external assessment data in some phases restricts the school's ability to compare internal results with external standards.
Leadership & Management
Effectiveness of school governance, strategic planning, and leadership capacity to drive continuous improvement.
Leadership Approach
The leadership team, particularly proactive middle leaders, is committed to driving school improvement and monitoring teaching quality. While a long-term strategic plan is in place, the self-evaluation process needs further development to ensure targets are measurable and consistently linked to student outcomes. Governance requires strengthening to ensure full stakeholder representation and accountability.
Inspection Findings
Students' Outcomes
Students' academic achievement is particularly good in senior phases, with very good progress in mathematics and above-expected attainment in English and science. However, achievement in Arabic speaking and writing is delayed due to limited vocabulary, and internal assessment data is not always validated by external benchmarks.
Personal Development
Students demonstrate strong personal development, taking responsibility for their learning, and exhibiting positive, responsible attitudes. They have a deep understanding of Islamic values and a strong appreciation for Emirati culture, contributing positively to school life and community initiatives.
Teaching Quality
Teachers possess secure subject knowledge and engage students through varied activities and questioning, especially in upper grades. However, lesson planning often makes little reference to assessment data, leading to inconsistent adaptation of activities for differing student needs, particularly for higher-ability students.
Protection & Care
Safeguarding is effective, with trained staff and diligent security measures in place. Strong relationships foster a safe environment, and student attendance is outstanding. While care and nurture are very good, systems for identifying students of determination and clarifying academic starting points for gifted and talented students require more rigor.
Areas for Development
- •Raise students’ attainment and progress in Arabic.
- •Ensure assessment procedures provide accurate measures of students’ attainment and progress and that full use is made of this information in lesson planning.
- •Governors must ensure that the curriculum is fully compliant with all regulations.
- •Improve leadership by ensuring leaders implement improvement plans with measurable targets that focus on the impact on student outcomes.
- •Strengthen the rigour and target-setting of the appraisal system by linking it more effectively to students’ learning in lesson observations.
- •Provide training for leaders at all levels to improve the monitoring of teaching and learning.
- •Ensure teachers give students regular breaks within lessons, especially when double lessons are consecutive.
- •Strengthen the monitoring systems of the wellbeing curriculum across the primary, middle and high phases and thereby, ensuring its impact is measurable.
- •Expand students’ Arabic vocabulary, and improve their comprehension skills, by encouraging them to speak on a more regular basis.
- •Ensure that reading and writing activities are key features of every lesson.
- •Use assessment data more effectively to modify tasks to meet the needs of individual students.
- •Improve the use of practical resources in KG to improve children’s rates of progress.
- •Ensure that all students make predictions, plan and carry out investigations to test their understanding when evaluating their outcomes.
- •Reinforce and consolidate scientific terminology by talking and writing about science, particularly in Primary and lower Middle.
- •Ensure that all students have opportunities to use digital technology to support learning.
- •Provide more opportunities for students to develop their critical thinking and higher order thinking skills.
- •Provide more opportunities for students to learn about other cultures.
- •Ensure Primary students show greater care for their own school environment.
- •Embed challenging activities in all lessons to meet the needs of higher ability students.
- •Implement external assessment systems to validate internal assessments in Primary and Middle.
- •Modify the curriculum to meet the needs of all groups of students more consistently.
- •Develop stronger systems for identifying students of determination on entry and classifying their key barriers to learning.
- •Ensure that the gifted and talented students’ academic starting points are clarified.
- •Ensure health and safety checks are robust and identify any potential issues promptly.
- •Improve the consistency of academic challenge for students with gifts and talents.
- •Urgently address the need for the US Common Core State Standard (CCSS) curriculum to be fully compliant with standards and regulations.
- •Ensure that governance is fully representative of all stakeholders and that governors rigorously hold senior leaders to account for the performance of the school.