Cedar SchoolPrincipal & Leadership Team

Cedar School L.L.C, founded in 2021 and operated by City Schools Holding Group, received its first KHDA inspection in March 2024, earning an overall rating of Acceptable — a result that places it among the 52 British curriculum schools in Dubai rated at this level, out of 105 British curriculum schools citywide. For a school only three years into operation, the inspection provides an honest baseline, but it also surfaces challenges that parents should weigh carefully.

Principal Satya Klever, an Australian-qualified educator holding a Master of Education and PhD, joined Cedar from Aldar Education in January 2024, with the inspection report recording her formal appointment date as 1 November 2024. The KHDA inspection acknowledged that she brings a clear vision for the school, but noted that improvement plans had not yet been embedded or demonstrated measurable impact at the time of inspection. The leadership team has since been strengthened: Vice Principal Claire Gilmore, who joined in August 2024 from Star International School and GEMS Education, leads teaching, learning and curriculum quality. Kaylie Lewis serves as Head of Secondary, Rene Johnson leads the Foundation Stage, Deeba Shahid heads Inclusion, and Ayman Saleh oversees MOE Subjects. The governance board includes educational specialists, experienced former principals, and an educational psychologist — a structure that inspectors noted had helped stabilise the school during a period of leadership absence and high teacher turnover.

Staffing stability is the most pressing concern flagged by inspectors. The KHDA report explicitly recommends that Cedar stabilise staffing and ensure leaders and teachers have experience of the National Curriculum for England (NCfE). The largest nationality group among teachers is South African, and not all staff hold prior NCfE experience — a gap that directly affects teaching consistency. Teaching and Assessment was rated Acceptable across all phases, with inspectors noting inconsistent classroom management, particularly in Year 6 and Secondary, and assessment processes not always accurately aligned to curriculum standards.

On student-to-teacher ratio, Cedar performs well. With 359 students and 32 teachers, the school operates at a 1:11 ratio — meaningfully more favourable than the Dubai city average of 1:13.6 across 204 schools with ratio data. An additional 13 teaching assistants and 1 guidance counsellor further support the student body. Leadership effectiveness, governance, and parents and community engagement were all rated Acceptable by KHDA. Parent surveys are conducted, a student council is active, and initiatives such as Stay and Play Tuesday sessions for Foundation Stage families signal a community-oriented approach — though inspectors noted a relatively high proportion of parents and students remained unclear about the school's wellbeing provision, an area requiring active follow-up.

Cedar carries no external accreditation at present — confirmed at inspection — though it is actively pursuing membership with the British Schools in the Middle East (BSME) and the Inclusion Quality Mark. Its Pearson accreditation as an International School and Examination Centre is in place. The school's ambition to expand to Year 13 by 2028–29, with first IGCSE examinations in 2026–27, represents a significant institutional commitment, but one that will require the staffing stability and teaching quality improvements that inspectors have clearly identified as non-negotiable priorities.