Our kids have been going in school here in Dubai for about 1 year now – and they really like it! It has had some challenging times for them too, because they have been learning to communicate for a new language that isn’t their mother language. But after a year they are talking, writing and reading English SO good already! And chatting with their friends like they used to chat in Finnish.
Finding the right school
First of all: in Dubai there are so many schools which to choose. And because they are private schools you can choose what ever suits the best. Well, there are public schools too, but they are only for Arabic children.
First you should decide which curriculum would you like to your children to study, and there can be found many curriculums in Dubai (you can check here https://web.khda.gov.ae/en/Education-Directory/Schools which curriculums are available). The British curriculum is the most common in private schools in Dubai. And that is also our kids curriculum.
After choosing the curriculum you have to choose the school and there are where to choose! You can find schools in many prices, some are quite affordable and then there are some really expensive schools.
I suggest to really look into schools and book tours to the schools you are interest into. I think it is important to see not only what the internet page of the school says but also the atmosphere in school.
Enrolling children
When you have found the school you would like for your kids you have to enroll them. At this point you need to pay an application fee, which usually are refundable if the school doesn’t offer your child a place. After enrolling the child takes assessments where the school has an opportunity to see each student’s abilities in various areas.
In Dubai the school might not offer your child a place, so it is good to have few options.
In Finland schools are operated by cities and the school places are basically assigned based on your address.
School classes
In Finland kids go to first grade on that year they are turning 7 years old. In Dubai kids go to first year at 5 years old. And not that year when they turn 5, everyone who are 5 years old on August are going into year one. So if child is turning 5 at the end of the year he/she goes to year one next fall.
Schools in Dubai also have this Founding Stage, where kids can start school at 3 years old. FS1 and FS2 are having shorter school days than older kids and their learning is more based on playing. Kids aged 3 and 4 can also go to nursery.
This was pretty confusing to me at first, but you get used to it. When we moved to Dubai our son was 6 (turning 7 on October) and he went to year 2. Our daughter on the other hand was 8 and she should have went in year 4 in Dubai, but because she only went the first grade in Finland she was placed to year 3. And that was so right call for her! If you think about it: she only went the first grade and it would have been quite a leap to jump to year 4.
School day and education
In Finland kids are starting quite easy in the first years in school: the school day last about 4 hours.
Here in Dubai the school day is about 7 hours – almost like a work day. Our kids school day starts at 7.40am and ends at 3pm. Fridays are shorter days, then the school ends at 11.30am.
It sounds a long day, but they have 2 longer breaks: morning snack break and then a lunch break. And at least our kids school isn’t only sitting on the school class all day, they do so much different kind of learnings. For example our sons class has forest school once a week, where they learn how to be in forest. Then they have their own farm at school, where younger kids are learning where the food comes from and how to take care farm animals. Older kids then are learning entrepreneurship by selling the stuff kids are growing in farm. Pretty cool!
Education
The Finnish education is very appreciated, but I have to say that I am really amazed about the education here in Dubai and UAE as a total.
My kids are now 9 and 7 years old and they are learning things that they would be learning in Finland when they would be older. And our kids love it! They love challenges and even managed to qualify in math competition this spring.
In Dubai kids are having physical education 2 times a week and usually one of them are swimming (because schools is Dubai have their own pools).
Many schools in Dubai also offers extra English learning for kids that doesn’t know the English language yet. So if your child isn’t speaking English yet it is ok.
School year
In Dubai school year starts at the end of August or at the beginning of September. In Finland school starts around mid August, so in Dubai school year starts a bit later.
School year ends in Dubai at the beginning of July or at the end of June and in Finland school year is ending at the end of May or at the beginning of June. So in Finland kids have a bit longer summer vacation.
In Dubai school year is divided in 3 terms and after every term kids have a vacation that lasts about two weeks. At the middle of term 1 and 2 they have mid term holiday. So kids in Dubai have quite many vacations during the school year. In Finland kids have one week long fall vacation, Christmas vacation and one week long winter vacation.
They have these assessment weeks here in Dubai near the term is ending, so kids only have tests once a term.
Dressing for the school
In Finland kids dress up to school in their every day clothes and in Dubai every school has their own school uniform: one formal and another one that should be wear on PE (physical education) days.
I like these uniforms, they are really nice looking and there are no thinking about what to wear today in school. It also makes every kid equal to another and there are no bullying about how someone dresses (in Finland kids might bully someone for the way they dress and it is sad, because some families don’t have the money to spent on some brand clothing).
Homework and studying
In our kids school our daughter gets homework once a week and then she has the whole week to do the homework. So no new homework daily as she used to got in Finland.
Here also many schools (maybe all) the children have their own iPads that they are using for learning and homework. This is quite nifty, because the kids don’t have to carry books with them. Well, they have their reading books so that they can learn learning, but they are small ones and they are changed every week or two. They have practicing books in school which they never take home with them. They have so many apps in their iPads that they using for learning different things.
In our kids school the children can also learn as per their learning stage and for example the homework comes in 4 different stages: bronze, silver, gold and platinum and the kids are doing the homework that best suits their learning stage. Every kid is encouraged to try to do the next level homework to help them to learn and reach next level.
Food
In Finland kids get a free lunch every day in school and here in Dubai either parents pack lunches for them or older kids can buy lunch at the school cafeteria. Also in Dubai kids have snack break at morning, in Finland children have only the lunch break.
I miss the school lunches in Finland and our kids also liked the school food. In Dubai I have been packing snacks and our daughter then buys the lunch from school. Our son who is in year 2 I am packing snack and lunch every day (they cannot go to buy the food from cafeteria yet, next year he can also buy the lunch from school).
So overall we love the school here in Dubai and our kids love it – it offers more learning opportunities for children and gives them challenges.
This comparison is mostly made based on our kids school here in Dubai (Gems Metropole School Al Waha) and there might be some differences to other schools.
Read more about our life in Dubai here.
