The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls
Executive Summary
The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls has achieved an Outstanding overall rating in its latest ADEK Irtiqa inspection for the 2024-2025 academic year, marking a significant improvement from its previous 'Very Good' judgment. The school demonstrates exceptional performance across most areas, reflecting a strong commitment to academic and personal development within its American curriculum framework.
Students consistently show outstanding progress in English, mathematics, science, and Islamic education, particularly in the early and upper phases. They exhibit strong personal responsibility, effective communication, and collaborative abilities, alongside a deep understanding of Islamic values, UAE heritage, and Emirati culture. The curriculum is well-structured, offering diverse options for older students, and teaching practices are enhanced by targeted professional development and rigorous quality assurance.
The school maintains robust safeguarding procedures and provides highly effective care and support for all students, including students of determination. Leadership and management are outstanding, with dedicated leaders fostering a shared vision for continuous improvement. Exemplary partnerships with parents and strong governance further contribute to the school's sustained success.
Overall School Performance
Outstanding
Very Good
Good
Acceptable
Weak
Very Weak
The Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls Overall Rating
Outstanding
ADEK Performance Standards
The six Irtiqa inspection standards used by ADEK to evaluate school performance across Abu Dhabi.
Students' achievement has significantly improved, with overall progress in English, mathematics, science, and Islamic education rated outstanding in phases 1 and 4, and very good in phases 2 and 3. Learning skills have also advanced to outstanding in phases 1 and 4, reflecting active engagement, strong personal responsibility, and developing problem-solving abilities across all phases. EnglishMathematicsScienceIslamic EducationLearning Skills
Students' personal development is very good in phases 2, 3, and 4, and good in phase 1, demonstrating positive attitudes, respectful behavior, and punctuality. Their understanding of Islamic values and awareness of Emirati and global cultures is outstanding across all phases, complemented by very good social responsibility and innovation skills. Islamic valuesEmirati and global culturesSocial responsibilityInnovation skills
Teaching for effective learning has improved to outstanding in phases 1 and 4, while remaining very good in phases 2 and 3. Assessment practices consistently maintain a very good rating across the school. This is supported by targeted professional development, rigorous quality assurance, and a comprehensive system for collecting learner data to inform teaching strategies. Professional developmentQuality assuranceLearner data
Curriculum design and adaptation are evaluated as very good across all phases. The curriculum is cohesive, balanced, and effectively linked to the school’s mission and the national vision of the UAE, ensuring relevance and progression for students. CohesiveBalancedNational vision of the UAE
Health and safety, including child protection, remain an outstanding priority for the school. The care, guidance, and support provided to all students are outstanding across all phases, with a highly effective, collaborative, team-based approach adopted by the Inclusion Team for students of determination. Child protectionSafeguardingInclusion TeamStudents of determination
The quality of leadership and management is outstanding, with leaders at all levels dedicated to enhancing academic and social outcomes. Self-evaluation processes are outstanding and align with the UAE School Inspection Framework, while partnerships with parents and governance are exemplary, significantly contributing to the school's overall performance. Self-evaluationParents and the communityGovernance
Key Highlights
Standout achievements identified by the inspection team that distinguish this school.
Outstanding Student Progress
Students in Phases 1 and 4 demonstrate outstanding and very good progress across all subjects, reflecting effective teaching and assessment strategies.
Effective Digital Skills
Students effectively apply a diverse range of digital skills, which significantly supports and deepens their learning experiences across the curriculum.
Strong Cultural Appreciation
Students exhibit a strong appreciation for Islamic values and ethics, understanding their influence on UAE society and actively participating in related initiatives.
Excellent Teaching Quality
Teachers demonstrate excellent subject knowledge, effective classroom management, and a deep understanding of student learning needs, enhancing instructional quality.
Strong Board Support
The Board of Trustees provides exceptional support and effective leadership, playing a crucial role in the school's overall success and continuous improvement.
Academic Performance Breakdown
While internal assessment data often indicates high attainment, external standardized assessments (MAP, PISA, TIMSS, PIRLS) show weak attainment across several subjects and phases, highlighting a discrepancy that needs to be addressed.
Leadership & Management
Effectiveness of school governance, strategic planning, and leadership capacity to drive continuous improvement.
Leadership Approach
The leadership team, under the principal's guidance, demonstrates an unwavering commitment to continuous improvement, successfully implementing most previous recommendations. They foster a shared purpose among all stakeholders, ensuring clear direction and vision for enhancing academic and social outcomes for all students.
Inspection Findings
Students' Achievement
Students demonstrate strong subject knowledge and skills above curriculum standards in Islamic Education, Arabic, English, Mathematics, and Science. However, internal assessment data often overestimates attainment compared to observed performance and external benchmarks (MAP, ACER IBT, PISA, TIMSS), which show weak results in several areas. Progress is generally better-than-expected, but inconsistencies exist for specific student groups and in areas like extended writing and critical thinking.
Personal & Social Development
Students exhibit positive attitudes, respectful behavior, and strong punctuality. Their understanding of Islamic values, UAE heritage, and Emirati culture is outstanding, with active participation in related initiatives. Social responsibility and innovation skills are very good, though opportunities for leadership roles and engagement in sustainability initiatives could be expanded.
Teaching & Assessment
Teaching for effective learning is strong, with teachers demonstrating excellent subject knowledge and classroom management. Assessment practices are generally very good, but there is a need to enhance alignment between internal assessments and observed student performance, and to use assessment data more effectively to close gaps between internal and external examination results, particularly in MAP English tests.
Curriculum Design & Adaptation
The curriculum is cohesive, balanced, and well-linked to the school’s mission and national vision. However, there is a recommendation to integrate more hands-on activities, real-life applications, and cross-curricular connections to foster more meaningful learning experiences, and to complete the curriculum review for upper-phase mathematics and English.
Protection, Care & Support
The school prioritizes health and safety, including child protection, anti-bullying, and cyber safety, creating a positive and respectful climate. Care, guidance, and support for all students, including students of determination, are outstanding. Areas for enhancement include strengthening attendance/punctuality, promoting healthy lifestyles, and reviewing safety protocols in science laboratories.
Areas for Development
- •Further improve students' achievement and personal development to be consistently outstanding across all subjects and grades by enhancing alignment between internal assessments and observed student performance, developing extended writing, reading, and speaking skills, and strengthening innovation, inquiry, and critical thinking skills more consistently.
- •Refine curriculum design and delivery to ensure relevance and progression by integrating more hands-on activities, real-life applications, and cross-curricular connections, and completing the curriculum review for upper-phase mathematics and English.
- •Further strengthen teaching and assessment practices to enhance learning outcomes by using assessment data more effectively to close gaps between internal and external examination results, ensuring appropriate levels of support and challenge, and enhancing questioning strategies to promote critical thinking.
- •Further enhance school operations and safety procedures by strengthening attendance and punctuality measures, promoting awareness of healthy lifestyles, reviewing safety protocols in science laboratories, and expanding staffing in school clinics and laboratories.
- •Improve leadership and governance to drive consistent school development by clearly defining roles and responsibilities within the distributed leadership model, involving all stakeholders in self-evaluation and school development planning, and enhancing the impact of the governing board on decision-making.