DUBAI Enrolment has begun for Swiss International Scientific School’s (SISD) boarding facilities for the academic session starting September.
Located at Al Jaddaf, it is the second boarding school in the city after Repton to provide weekly and full time boarding options. The facility, currently open to male students, will take in female students from the next academic year.
SISD follows the IB curriculum which is taught in three languages - English, French and German. “We have tried to create a cosmopolitan environment for our students to provide a holistic educational experience,” said Luke Osborne, Head of Middle School at SISD. The weekly boarders will reside in the dorms from Sunday to Thursday, while full time boarders will stay till term breaks or long weekends. “The weekly boarding is a good option for students residing in other emirates and we are seeing a lot of interest from that segment. Full time boarders are likely to come from neighbouring countries,” said Nav Rai, Boarding Recruitment Executive at SISD.
Unlike boarders in other schools, students here will be allowed to bring their gadgets and phones to the campus. Each day, students will get an hour to talk to their family by telephone. While the younger kids are expected to hand over their phones to house masters at the end of the hour, the older ones can keep them with restricted access. “If we see a drop in their performance, we may ask them to hand over their gadgets,” said Luke. Boarders aged 11-16 years will share rooms with another schoolmate while older ones will have a room to themselves. Each four-storey dorm building will have five housemasters and a matron. Boarders will enjoy multi-cuisine meals.
Fee details
The annual fees range from Dh150,400 to Dh162,400 for weekly boarding and Dh180,000 to Dh192,000 for full timers.
Justifying the high fees, Luke said: “Our teacher-student ratio is quite high compared to other schools. We make sure we give students the attention they deserve. Secondly, the smallest of details, from bed sizes to food options have been carefully looked into.”
The fees includes visa, medical insurance, books, uniform as well as airport transfers for full-time boarders.
