Durham School
Executive Summary
Durham School L.L.C provides an Acceptable overall quality of education. The school is strongly committed to its core values of moral integrity, ambition, responsibility, and kindness, fostering a welcoming environment characterized by strong partnerships with parents.
Following the National Curriculum for England, the school sees Good student progress in English, mathematics, and science within the primary phase. While students display highly positive attitudes and mutual respect, the curriculum currently emphasizes knowledge over skills, with opportunities for critical thinking and independent learning still developing.
Inspectors highlighted the students' very good personal development, appreciation of Islamic values, and active environmental awareness. However, to improve further, the school needs to establish a stronger middle leadership structure and enhance the consistency of teaching, assessment, and inclusive education practices.
Overall School Performance
Outstanding
Very Good
Good
Acceptable
Weak
Very Weak
Durham School L.L.C Overall Rating
Acceptable
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 clear commitment to inclusive values, and early intervention pathways exist. However, provision lacks the infrastructure and strategic oversight needed for consistent implementation, particularly for students requiring more complex support. inclusive valuesearly intervention pathways
The school has established a values-driven wellbeing vision, and students articulate a strong sense of belonging and community. However, the assessment and monitoring of wellbeing remain underdeveloped, and the curriculum lacks a structured wellbeing programme. values-driven wellbeing visionsense of belonging
External Benchmark Assessment data in English and science have improved, and students demonstrate strong progress in reading literacy. However, leadership of the National Agenda is not yet fully in place, and the use of data to modify the curriculum requires improvement. External Benchmark Assessmentreading literacy
Key Highlights
Standout achievements identified by the inspection team that distinguish this school.
Personal Development
Students display commendable behavior, highly positive attitudes, and strong mutual respect across all phases.
Cultural Awareness
Students show a deep appreciation of Islamic values, world cultures, social contribution, and environmental awareness.
Primary Phase Teaching
Teaching and learning in the primary phase are strong, leading to good progress in core subjects.
Parent Partnerships
The school has cultivated strong, positive partnerships with parents and maintains effective communication.
Academic Performance Breakdown
Attainment is acceptable across all subjects and phases. Progress is mostly good in the primary phase, and good in English and mathematics in the secondary phase.
Leadership & Management
Effectiveness of school governance, strategic planning, and leadership capacity to drive continuous improvement.
Leadership Approach
Leaders are strongly committed to the school’s values of moral integrity, ambition, responsibility, and kindness. While leadership is secure and parental engagement is strong, middle leadership lacks clarity and capacity, and governance requires significant improvement to effectively support school development.
Inspection Findings
Students' Outcomes
Attainment is acceptable across all subjects and phases, with mostly good progress in the primary phase. Students increasingly take responsibility for their learning, though collaboration and cross-curricular connections are inconsistent.
Personal Development
Students display responsible attitudes, mutual respect, and strong relationships, with very rare instances of bullying. They value Islamic principles and cultural diversity, and actively participate in student-led environmental projects.
Teaching Quality
Most teachers show strong subject knowledge and use questioning to promote deeper thinking. However, lesson delivery lacks consistent support and challenge, and the use of assessment data to guide curriculum adaptations is inconsistent.
Protection & Care
Student wellbeing and safety are promoted through school policies and health education. While students feel safe and supported, inconsistent staff practices and less rigorous implementation of risk assessments reduce the overall effectiveness of safeguarding.
Areas for Development
- •Ensure that governors fully understand their role in supporting school improvement, establish a middle leadership structure and provide staff with sufficient time to fulfil their responsibilities.
- •Improve the consistency of teaching for learning and assessment by supporting students to become more independent learners and making consistent use of accurate assessment data.
- •Develop a systematic approach to the provision, monitoring and evaluation of wellbeing, drawing on students’ views with structured participation.
- •Increase capacity for the planning, implementation and evaluation of inclusion, including reviewing and redesigning Individual Education Plans (IEPs) to inform lesson planning.