GEMS Al Khaleej International School - Al Warqa
Executive Summary
GEMS Al Khaleej International School - Dubai Branch has achieved an overall rating of Good for the 2023-2024 academic year. The school demonstrates consistent quality in its educational provision, with significant strengths noted across various aspects of student development and learning.
A standout feature is the Outstanding personal and social development of students across all phases, alongside Very Good achievement in Kindergarten children across all subjects. Students show strong understanding in Islamic Education and Arabic, with notable progress in Arabic as an additional language in middle and high schools.
The school's leadership has successfully maintained and improved previous gains despite an increase in student numbers, fostering a strong sense of wellbeing. Excellent health and safety standards ensure a secure learning environment, complemented by abundant learning resources.
Overall School Performance
Outstanding
Very Good
Good
Acceptable
Weak
Very Weak
GEMS Al Khaleej International School - Dubai Branch Overall Rating
Good for 5+ 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 very good commitment to inclusive education, with an action team dedicated to supporting students of determination. Accurate identification of learning needs leads to appropriate individual educational plans (IEPs) and individualized learning plans (ILPs) for gifted students. Communication with parents of students of determination is very effective, ensuring their involvement in goal setting. inclusive education action teamstudents of determinationindividual educational plans (IEPs)individualized learning plan (ILPs)
Wellbeing provision and outcomes are very good, permeating most areas of the curriculum with a clear vision modeled by governors and leaders. Effective data collection informs strategic planning, and students, staff, and parents are actively involved in shaping wellbeing initiatives. Students feel valued, know how to access support, and staff feel supported in maintaining work-life balance. student wellbeingwellbeing provisionwellbeing teampositive classroom climates
The school has exceeded its targets in PIRLS 2021, showing improved average scores, though still below the center point. While Emirati students' performance fell below peers, their overall progression on PIRLS was very good. However, attainment in National Agenda benchmark assessments (MAP) remains weak in English, mathematics, and science, with weak progression. National Agenda ParameterPIRLSMAPEmirati studentsreading literacy
Key Highlights
Standout achievements identified by the inspection team that distinguish this school.
Personal Development
Students across all phases exhibit outstanding personal and social development, demonstrating a clear appreciation and respect for others, and a strong commitment to Islamic values and UAE culture.
Health and Safety
The school maintains an excellent standard of health and safety, ensuring all students are safe and secure through rigorous procedures for protection, vigilant medical care, and well-maintained premises.
Kindergarten Achievement
Kindergarten children show very good achievement across all subjects, benefiting from engaging teaching that builds independence and provides diverse learning opportunities.
Learning Resources
The school is well-resourced with an abundance of learning materials, including both practical tools and technology-based resources, which significantly support and enhance the learning environment.
Wellbeing Culture
A very good sense of wellbeing permeates all aspects of school life, fostering an inclusive environment where students feel valued, supported, and confident in accessing help when needed.
Academic Performance Breakdown
Overall, students show consistently good levels of achievement across the school, with particular strengths in personal development and Kindergarten attainment. Improvements are noted in Islamic Education, Arabic, English, Mathematics, and Science across various phases, reflecting the school's efforts to enhance learning outcomes.
Leadership & Management
Effectiveness of school governance, strategic planning, and leadership capacity to drive continuous improvement.
Leadership Approach
School leaders effectively cultivate a positive school climate, holding a realistic view of student strengths and needs. They are proactive in improving staffing resources, particularly for literacy, and successfully integrate wellbeing into the school's mission. Self-evaluation processes are thorough, involving staff at all levels, and lead to effective monitoring of teaching quality and comprehensive improvement planning.
Inspection Findings
Students' Outcomes
Students consistently achieve good levels across the school, with notable improvements in Islamic Education and Arabic. Kindergarten children show very good achievement in all subjects, and older students demonstrate rapid improvement in research skills. However, external test data is not yet fully utilized to address learning gaps in Elementary and Middle phases.
Personal Development
Students exhibit outstanding personal and social development, characterized by a strong sense of responsibility, positive attitudes, and respectful relationships. They demonstrate a robust understanding of Islamic values and appreciation for Emirati and world cultures, actively participating in volunteering and innovative projects with a focus on environmental impact.
Teaching Quality
Teaching in KG and High school is very good, with teachers demonstrating strong subject knowledge and effectively engaging students in active learning. While assessment systems are robust and linked to curriculum expectations, the use of assessment data to match learning activities to individual student needs and raise expectations for all groups, including students of determination, is inconsistent across all phases.
Protection & Care
The school provides outstanding protection and care for students, with rigorous safeguarding procedures, excellent health and safety standards, and a vigilant medical clinic. Students feel safe, valued, and supported, benefiting from very good care and support services, including accurate identification and support for students of determination, though consistency in support delivery varies.
Areas for Development
- •Improve students’ English language skills, particularly their reading and writing skills.
- •Raise the level of challenge in every subject and every grade, with higher teacher expectations of what students can accomplish in each lesson.
- •Improve students’ performance on external assessments so that most students meet at least the minimum requirement.
- •Ensure that students’ progress in external benchmark tests is analyzed accurately to identify the necessary gaps in students’ knowledge and understanding for their next stages in learning.
- •Implement an overall structured curriculum framework, based on research and which covers all aspects of wellbeing.
- •Ensure that lessons have a balance of individual and collaborative learning strategies to support improvements in students’ knowledge, understanding and skills.
- •Improve students’ ability to apply deeper literary and linguistic analysis when reading texts.
- •Ensure that all students in the lower elementary grades are able to read and write in Arabic at the expected level.
- •Increase elementary students’ ability to create sentences using appropriate vocabulary and grammar.
- •Ensure that all students’ present their learning in extended responses especially in Middle and High.
- •Ensure core writing skills are systematically taught to enable all students to achieve above the curriculum standards in their written work.
- •Improve reading skills so that the majority of students become fluent, expressive and analytical readers.
- •Ensure that teachers increase the level of challenge in learning activities to promote more rapid progress.
- •Improve students’ results in the external assessments.
- •Provide greater challenge and development of the science method for all students but with a particular focus on students in Elementary and Middle.
- •Ensure that students are given clear guidance on how to improve their work.
- •Ensure that students have more opportunities to use the higher-order skills of independent inquiry, research and innovation across all phases and subjects.
- •Provide students with more opportunities to develop their independent research and innovation skills.
- •Make sure that all teachers raise their expectations of what all groups of students can achieve.
- •Further develop personalized strategies for differentiation, modification, and adaptation of the curriculum to meet the learning needs of all groups of students.
- •Ensure that all staff provide more regular support for students of determination.
- •Ensure that all students of determination are provided with effective support more consistently in all lessons.