Dubai: Dubai’s first private school to offer multilingual education in French, German, Italian, English and Arabic — the Swiss International Scientific School — opened its doors in Dubai on Sunday to around 270 pupils.
The students enrolled at the school come from different 40 nationalities and are being taught by 50 teaching staff.
There will be 17 classes from pre-kindergarten to Grade 6 at the new Dubai Healthcare City waterfront campus, in its first phase.
In line with the regulatory requirements, grades 7 to 12 will be added in the coming years. Once the school is at full capacity, the 67,845 square metre campus in Dubai Healthcare City’s new phase two, will cater to students from pre-kindergarten to Grade 12 and will boast more than 2,000 pupils, with 350 students boarding.
Head of the school Beat Sommer said the school’s teachers and staff are delighted to be opening the doors after 18 months of construction.
“Our goal is to ensure that the school offers an excellent academic environment for international and local students, but also provide a well-rounded curriculum, including after-school activities, with a focus on personal development,” he said.
Sommer said the school is committed to shaping the global citizens of tomorrow and providing a springboard to a successful future.
“Over the past few weeks, we’ve enjoyed preparing our motivated and experienced teaching staff for the new academic year and hosting team-building sessions,” he said.
Students of the Swiss International Scientific School in Dubai will enjoy a multilingual education through the full International Baccalaureate (IB) continuum programme, which is an international education that develops the intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills needed to live, learn and work in a rapidly globalising world.
For students who aspire to go to western universities, it removes the obligation to do a foundation year. Once the school runs from pre-kindergarten to Grade 12, it will offer students the full continuum IB programme: the Primary Years Programme, the Middle Years Programme, and the IB Diploma Programme.
Students will learn in three bilingual sections with English-French, and English-German or English with foreign languages on offer.
Once the second phase is completed, Grade 9 students will have the option to move into the Swiss Matura set and graduate with a bilingual Matura.
