Reputed UK institute to set up boarding school in Dubai

Dubai: The first international partner of the prestigious UK boarding school, Repton, will open its doors in Dubai in September 2007.

Initially the junior school will be operative and followed by the senior school and the boarding section in September 2008.

Responding to the growing number of pupils from the Gulf region interested to study abroad such as in Britain, US, and Australia, Repton UK seized the opportunity to start up a boarding school in Dubai, making it the first initiative in the Middle East.

David Cook, Headmaster of Repton Dubai, described Dubai as a venue that has a great value for education. The "demographics of Dubai suggest strongly there will be a need for yet more schools, in terms of the population growth like the economic growth."

Among the advantages of a boarding school is having full access to numerous resources and facilities for 24 hours and seven days a week, he explained while also pointing to the opinions and benefits of being a day student in a boarding school.

Selective

The school, which totals 1.5 million sq ft or 35 acres in the Nad Al Sheba district of Dubai and approved by the Dubai Education Council (DEC), will follow the British national curriculum, as taught at Repton UK.

However, it would also be modified reflecting the geographical location of the school and the international make-up of the student body.

Both Arabic and Islamic studies are included in the curriculum along with ideas introduced from International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) programmes which revolve around cross curriculum themes. The sixth formers will study for the IB Diploma, like a growing number of international British schools.

Both Repton in the UK and here in Dubai are "selective." Pupils will have to sit tests in English, Maths, and non-verbal reason but it is an international school that takes into consideration pupils from different backgrounds, he said.

The initial size would be 300-400 pupils.

The school will include special needs pupils but initially it will be more aimed at learning difficulties such as dyslexia.