St. Mary Catholic High School - Umm Hurair
Executive Summary
The overall quality of education provided by ST. Mary Catholic High School - Dubai is rated as Good. School leaders and teachers have successfully maintained students’ performances across core subjects, with a notable improvement in English attainment in Primary and Secondary phases.
The school fosters positive relationships and a clear set of values, ensuring students are valued and listened to. Teaching generally captures students' attention and interest, with particularly strong quality in the Post-16 phase, supported by additional resources and professional development.
Parents are confident in the school's care, benefiting from strong health and safety procedures. Leaders place a key emphasis on student support and guidance, contributing to a robust pastoral system. However, attendance monitoring needs to be more rigorous to address low attendance levels.
Overall School Performance
Outstanding
Very Good
Good
Acceptable
Weak
Very Weak
ST. Mary Catholic High School - Dubai Overall Rating
Good for 10+ 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 clear vision to promote an inclusive ethos, with sufficient premises and resources to address the needs of students of determination. Identification and intervention procedures are established, and teachers' knowledge of learning barriers helps inform lesson adjustments, supported by high-quality parental communication. inclusive ethosstudents of determinationidentification and intervention
The governing board, principal, and senior leaders are dedicated to a wellbeing vision, fostering a secure culture that permeates all aspects of school life. A strong, approachable wellbeing staff team provides comprehensive support, with wellbeing skilfully integrated into the social and emotional curriculum and school activities. wellbeing visionsecure culture of wellbeingsocial and emotional curriculum
The school exceeded its target for PIRLS in 2021 and sustained outstanding attainment in GL benchmark assessments for English and science. Leaders effectively analyze data from internal and external assessments to identify learning gaps and adapt the curriculum, with a clear focus on improving students’ reading literacy skills. PIRLSGL benchmark assessmentsreading literacy skills
Key Highlights
Standout achievements identified by the inspection team that distinguish this school.
English Attainment & Reading
Students' attainment in English across the school is very good, with a strong emphasis on developing robust reading skills in both English and Arabic.
Positive Attitudes & Behavior
The school is characterized by very positive attitudes, behavior, and relationships among students and staff across all phases.
Strong Partnerships
There are very positive partnerships established between the school, parents, and the wider community, fostering a collaborative environment.
Mathematics Achievement
Students demonstrate strong achievements in mathematics, particularly in the Secondary phase, where attainment and progress are very good.
Health & Safety Focus
The school pays meticulous attention to detail regarding health and safety procedures, ensuring a very safe and secure environment for all.
Academic Performance Breakdown
School leaders and teachers have maintained students’ performances across the core subjects. Notably, their attainment in English has improved to a very good level in Primary and Secondary. Students’ progress in Arabic, as a first language has improved to good. In science students’ attainment in the Primary has decreased. Students’ learning skills are at least good across the school.
Leadership & Management
Effectiveness of school governance, strategic planning, and leadership capacity to drive continuous improvement.
Leadership Approach
The school’s leaders effectively promote the vision and values, demonstrating strong commitments to the UAE National Agenda and inclusion. They involve staff in decision-making, fostering shared responsibility for improvement and maintaining good levels of school performance. However, monitoring and evaluation of teaching in Primary years still needs to result in improvements.
Inspection Findings
Students' Outcomes
Students' performances in core subjects are maintained, with improved English attainment in Primary and Secondary, and improved Arabic (First) progress. Learning skills are at least good across the school. Students exhibit strong personal responsibility and positive attitudes, with excellent behavior in Secondary and Post-16.
Personal Development
Students demonstrate very strong personal responsibility, independence of mind, and excellent behavior, especially in Secondary and Post-16. They follow safe and healthy lifestyles and show good understanding of Islamic values, Emirati, and world cultures. Students actively participate in community initiatives and display an excellent work ethic with strong innovation skills.
Teaching Quality
Most teachers possess secure subject knowledge and plan purposeful, engaging lessons, with teaching particularly strong in Post-16. Additional resources and professional development have enhanced teaching in science and English. The school has robust systems for assessment, but the consistent use of data to plan differentiated tasks varies, especially in Primary years and some subjects.
Protection & Care
Child protection and safeguarding arrangements are clearly defined and well-understood, providing a very safe, hygienic, and secure environment. Staff deal sensitively with students' needs, and positive relationships are built on mutual trust. Procedures for identifying students of determination have improved, with tailored support, though attendance monitoring needs to be more rigorous.
Areas for Development
- •Raise students’ achievements so that they are at least good in all phases, especially in Arabic and mathematics in the Primary phase.
- •Ensure that teachers use assessment information consistently to match learning tasks to the needs of all students.
- •Work with parents to improve students’ rate of attendance to good or better.
- •Ensure that senior leaders provide the governing body with high quality information based on accurate self-evaluation to inform strategic planning and decision making.
- •Ensure that the curriculum meets the National Curriculum for England (NCFE) requirements and does not limit provision for different groups of students.
- •Improve the IBT outcomes in Arabic, especially Arabic as an additional language, to close the gap with other subjects.
- •Ensure that the National Agenda Action Plan has measurable targets for reading literacy and monitor students’ progress closely.
- •Ensure that all teachers foster environments where students enjoy the high levels of engagement, resilience and achievement.
- •Improve staff surveys so that that the voices of all members inform further initiatives for their wellbeing.
- •Ensure that quality of teaching is consistent across strands and phases, so that students make better progress.
- •Ensure that learning tasks are appropriately challenging in all four language skills.
- •Improve students’ writing skills across the school.
- •Provide students with more opportunities to initiate and maintain dialogue in Arabic in lessons.
- •Increase the opportunities for students to write independently about issues that meet their interests.
- •Provide more opportunities for lower Primary students to engage in productive discussions and to rehearse their responses orally before writing them.
- •Support low attaining students when discussing ideas about their reading and with their spelling and punctuation.
- •Provide tasks that offer appropriate challenges to all groups of students, including the high attaining ones.
- •Allow students to solve complex real-life problems.
- •Provide more opportunities for lower primary students to develop their understanding of science and improve their skills.
- •Ensure that there are sufficient academic challenges for Post-16 students so that they improve their achievements in all three sciences.
- •Provide more opportunities for students to use learning technologies in lessons.
- •Improve students’ attendance rates by requiring parents to value the link between regular attendance and success at school.
- •Enhance Primary students’ appreciation of the role and values of Islam in the UAE’s society.
- •Ensure that teachers use assessment information to plan tasks that offer suitable challenges to all groups of students, especially in the Primary years.
- •Ensure that written comments for students enable them to know exactly how to improve their work.
- •Provide a wider choice of learning pathways for students to address the needs of different students, including students of determination.
- •Provide more opportunities for students to experience Emirati culture and improve their understanding and appreciation of the heritage of the UAE.
- •Improve the arrangements for pedestrians walking from the church to the school to ensure everyone’s safety.
- •Ensure that there is a rigorous system to monitor and promote students’ attendance.
- •Ensure that staff training for individualised curriculum experiences is monitored for its effects.
- •Tailor the academic and social targets for all students so their progress can be measured accurately.