Sabari Indian School

Principal Clara Martin has led Sabari Indian School L.L.C since April 2023, bringing a depth of Dubai school experience that is immediately evident in the school's inspection results. Before joining SIS, she served as principal at Bilva Indian School and held the vice-principal role twice at Apple International and Apple Community Schools — giving her a well-rounded command of both leadership and the Indian curriculum context. The KHDA's 2023–2024 inspection explicitly cited the strong vision and leadership of the principal and senior leaders as one of the school's headline strengths, alongside the very effective daily management of day-to-day operations.

The senior leadership team is structured and named. Beneath Principal Clara Martin, the school operates with Ms. Shabana Shaikh as Assistant Principal, Primary and Ms. Namra Hameed Ghansar as Assistant Principal, Secondary — providing dedicated phase leadership across the school. The team is further supported by Ms. Syeda Firdous as Head of Pastoral Care, Ms. Huraira Zaheen as Head of Inclusion, Ms. Alefiya Qutbi as Head of Foundational Stage, and Mr. Madih Abdelhalim as Head of Arabic and Islamic Education. This breadth of middle and senior leadership is notable for a school of 724 students. The school is now operated by Newron/ODM Educational Group (formerly Al Najah Education), with the ownership transition effective from February 2026. Parents should monitor whether this change in ownership brings any disruption to the current leadership structure.

The school's overall KHDA rating is Good — a position it has held for two consecutive inspection cycles (2022–2023 and 2023–2024), having improved from Acceptable, where it sat for five consecutive years prior. Among Indian curriculum schools in Dubai, 14 of 34 schools hold a Good rating, placing SIS in the mainstream of its peer group rather than at the top, where one school holds Outstanding. The inspection rated leadership effectiveness as Good, governance as Good, and — notably — parents and the community as Very Good, the highest sub-rating in the leadership domain.

With 54 teachers serving 724 students, SIS operates at a student-teacher ratio of 1:13, which is marginally better than the Dubai private school average of 1:13.6 across 204 schools with ratio data. The school also caps class sizes at 25 students per class and deploys two teachers per class — a structural commitment to personalised attention that goes beyond the headline ratio. Additionally, 16 teaching assistants are on staff, further supporting classroom delivery. [MISSING: staff qualification percentages — no data on Masters-level or higher qualification rates provided in inspection or school sources].

Parent engagement at SIS is structured and frequent. The school runs Target Setting, Data, and Performance Review meetings every alternate month, alongside a Mushahid of the Day programme allowing parents to observe their child's class once per quarter, and Making Learning Visible showcases each term for KG1 to Grade 2 families. The inspection's Very Good rating for parents and community reflects this systematic approach. Staff retention data is not published, though the inspection noted the arrival of a newly appointed wellbeing leader — a signal of some staffing movement at the middle leadership level. The school's trajectory from Acceptable to Good, sustained across two cycles, suggests a degree of leadership continuity that is beginning to deliver measurable results.