Moving to Dubai - HELP! Totally Overwhelmed!

OP sorry if you've mentioned it but which area will DH be working in? The schools you've mentioned are quite far apart so location may impact your decision.

Hi I'm a teacher here, my children go Gems Wellington silicon Oasis as we moved here mid year and it was my only option at that time. New schools like gems Metropole, are often unfinished and under resourced when they open. It takes a few years to get themselves organised! I am happy with the Education at Gems Wellington, it is a huge school but well resourced and the teachers are mainly british trained and follow the Uk Curriculum. I would suggest you think about the area you want to live in as traffic is an issue. We live in Arabian ranches which is a great community and a good location for schools. You will find work here easily, look at the jobs advertised on this site and also Gems have their own website just google 'gems careers'. Good luck with your search if you want any more info let me know and I'll send you my email!

Hello, reading your post was exactly how I felt when I was back in the UK. My partner came out in Many and me and son in August, we have been here a little while but still finding our feet and it will be a long time before any of us are settled. I left my job and decided to come over before getting a new one because a) didnt want my little boy to start back in Sept at his old school and b)did not like being separated from my partner. It still is and was the best decision we made, you can sort a lot more when your here rather than UK, we did a few applications for schools one was awful not naming names and my little boy is now at Safa Private School which he loves he only missed 2 weeks of the first term, they were amazing and so so helpful so do consider this school if he is old enough to go there. They are also trying to help me with my job search but touch wood wont be long now (again applying for jobs is better once you are here if you are not a teacher) You also need time to settle into Dubai life it takes a lot of getting used to, good luck and be strong as a unit and you will be just fine as there will be testing times ahead of you :o) x

Thanks all. I'm sure I read somewhere that the schools are not allowed to charge more than 500 for registration fees. At least of our current preferences are charging 1000! I guess we'll just have to get the old credit card out. Yikes. I would wait until you get here and confirm that they still have a place before you pay any registration fee. That way you only pay it once. If your son is happily settled in a nursery in London, he won't have any trouble passing an assessment here. You'll be able to arrive, have him assessed and start school within a week, so as long as you have your school preference clear, you won't have to shop around for schools.

How abt safa community or victory heights primary school?

Someone else hoping to be relocating early next year (and also desperate to hand in her notice ). Can you point me in the direction of some of these books please? No kids here. Thanks I would recommend books by Robin Pascoe.. they are quite useful and talk about issues relating to being a trailing partner -including expatriation and repatriation there is also some excellent stuff on emotional resilience, including The Emotionally Resilient Expat, Engage, Adapt and Thrive Across Cultures by Linda Janssen there are also some great websites on third culture kids, expats, trailing wives (traditionally its been women following their husbands)... it is a fairly new area of research but a very interesting one.. happy reading!

true - but there is no guarantees just being on the waiting list - and you normally need to be on more than one to guarantee your options remain open.. (and there is no refund if you don't take up the place) at least if you spend it on a restaurant - you WILL get a meal..! :)

Eek! Wellington ask for 1000 regisration too! Scarily expensive. When you come over here, you will be able to put that into perspective. 1000 dh is dinner for two with a decent bottle of wine.

Ok, thanks Guiness2. Your advice is very helpful and reassuring. I like the look of Gems Wellington so that might be one to look at more closely. I've kind of ruled out Kings Nad Al Shaba as they're asking for 1000 registration fee! Double that of most other schools. Were would you recommend living if we looked at Wellington Academy? Also, what do you mean that Gems Metropole hire teachers from around the region? So, non british teachers? Many thanks again! XX From Gems Metropole's website: TEACHER PROFILES There will be a mix of western trained teachers and teachers from countries like Jordan. All FS teachers, heads of sections and departments and English teachers will be western trained. All teachers will be fully qualified, experienced, enthusiastic professionals with a proven track record. Their communication skills in spoken and written English will be of a high standard. They don't say that they follow the National Curriculum for England. But Gems Al Khail says (And be careful, there are three Wellingtons at Al Khail (English Curriculum, IB, and CBSE - the Indian curriculum) All teachers are highly qualified in their field of expertise and are KHDA approved, and are experienced in teaching the National Curriculum for England. GEMS have high expectations of the world class provision and challenge our teachers provide for students. All staff take part in regular and continuing professional development. The difference is subtle and I wouldn't have noticed it myself, but a friend who manages schools here pointed it out. The good thing about Al Khail is that it's on a main road that goes through all of Dubai so it's pretty accessible. It's probably five or ten minutes from Barsha. Springs/Meadows, Ranches or Sports City. From Jumeirah a few extra minutes but again, not too bad. Mirdiff is probably closer to 20 minutes.

So, I've heard back from a few schools who have places in FS1. What are your thoughts on the following: Kings Nad al Shaba GEMS Wellington Academy Al Khail GEMS Metropole GEMS First Point GEMS Royal Dubai (possibly) XXX Kings Nad al Sheba - Kings has an excellent reputation but I've heard enrollments at the Nad al Sheba campus are really low. That could be a good thing - but I'm actually not even sure whether they've opened the campus yet or not because they are so low. Gems Metropole is in Motor City - a great location but they themselves say that it will be British managed but most of the teachers will be hired from around the region. Not great if you are looking for British teachers. First Point is meant to be a "better" gems school but its at the Villa (slightly out of the way) and I've not heard much about it since it opened. The Gems schools are ranked in terms of how good the facilities are and where the teachers come from and I think how much they are paid - and definitely how much the schools cost. Not sure of your individual circumstances but definitely ask Gems about the ranking of the particular schools. The bad thing about Gems is you can't easily transfer between schools but the good thing is that they have a central enrollment center http://www.gemseducation.com/enrolment-and-central-registrations which means you should be able to call them, find availability of all their schools across Dubai and the rankings - which will save you a lot of time and effort calling around. Of those schools, I'd say Kings is your best bet followed by Wellington - or Royal Dubai if you are going to be in Mirdiff area.

PS: Meant to mention that there is some great books published about relocating, expats etc.. particularly relating to trailing spouses and children that I have found really useful and well worth a look (and available on amazon.co.uk.) I wish someone had have pointed me in the direction on our first assignment. t would have made live a lot easier .! :) Someone else hoping to be relocating early next year (and also desperate to hand in her notice ;) ). Can you point me in the direction of some of these books please? No kids here. Thanks :)

God, I'm in such a flap (we only found out that we're moving last weekend!) I totally forgot to tell you where I'm from. I'm from the UK and my son has ben in full time childcare since he was 11 months. He's now happily settled into pre school and doing well. He's a very sociable with no behavioural problems. I'm hoping he'll settle ok once we find him a place. I've emailed a few schools to see what places are available but if anyone can point me in the direction of the good ones then I'd really appreciate it! Hubby's work will contribute to school fees but we're still negotiating how much. I think because we've paid for full time child care in London since our son was 11 months I don't find the school fees exceptionally shocking. At it's worst our childcare bill was £1,350 a month! Standard costs in zone 3 in London. So you'll want the British curriculum ... If you think you'll be on the Sharjah side of Dubai, I'd look at Repton and possibly Kings Nad al Sheba. If you think you'll be on the Jebel Ali side of Dubai, I'd look at Kings Barsha and Kings Um Suqueim, Nord Anglia, and Safa Um Suqueim or the old Safa campus, and Foremarke a great school but super high fees. There is also the Gems Wellingtons, but I've not heard good things about the Al Khail or Dubai Silicon Oasis ones - great facilities though. If you can get in to the Wellingtons on Sheikh Zayed, those are good schools. Some people are also happy at Gems World Academy in Barsha. Good luck and let us know how you get on.

PS: Meant to mention that there is some great books published about relocating, expats etc.. particularly relating to trailing spouses and children that I have found really useful and well worth a look (and available on amazon.co.uk.) I wish someone had have pointed me in the direction on our first assignment. t would have made live a lot easier .! :) In answer to your question I did have a school tell me that they were full but they would put me on the list - only afterwards did I actually discover that there was virtually no chance!.. What I did find was that if I picked up the phone - I got a better response than if I emailed - I also got to ask some of the questions that I had and get some sort of feel for the school - my thinking is that if the admissions officer is unfriendly it bodes badly for the ethos of the school...

I think I have misunderstood the education system in Dubai a bit. Is FS1 similar to pre school then? If that is the case then I'd like to get my son settled straight into big school. Is he likely to be accepted into an FS1 year in March? XX It depends on the school (and the curriculum) you go to to the age they start. Someone said they start at 3, but our school you are not allowed to start until you are 4.

Hello everyone, I think I have misunderstood the education system in Dubai a bit. Is FS1 similar to pre school then? If that is the case then I'd like to get my son settled straight into big school. Is he likely to be accepted into an FS1 year in March? Would he automatically progress on to FS2 or do you have to reapply? I've also heard that schools need all kinds of documents like an educational psychologist report, a behaviour report etc? Is this the norm? I've also heard children have to do some sort of assessment. Is this for FS1? I noticed very quickly that they charge to just apply. Ouch! Will schools tell you if they're full before you pay the 500 dirhams? You haven't said where you are from - or which of the three curriculum you are looking for. That would help us advise you. The three curriculums are British, American and International Baccalaureate (IB). FS1 is the British curriculum equivalent of pre-kindergarten and it starts from 3 years old here. In American curriculum schools its called pre-kg. He will have a better chance of being accepted into FS1 in March than he will of getting into FS2 in September. That's because people leave during the year and the spaces remain open unless someone (like you) comes to fill them. Then he will automatically move into FS2 in September without you having to reapply. You will only need a psychologists report if he has known behavioral issues or learning difficulties. Otherwise, it's usually a short assessment to make sure he knows his abc's and is reasonably well behaved and adjusted. The schools will tell you if they have spaces before you pay your 500 dh. But many will say we have a short waiting list (and leave off the 500 people on it.) But like I said before, you should have no problem getting a spot. Let us know what curriculum you are after and we can give you some direction on where to start. Also, if you can get an idea what area your husband will be working in, that can help us as well ...

If your hubby is still negotiating the contract, see if he can wiggle some school fees - if even part fees into it, as they are very expensive out here.

Hi having just done it and run the gauntlet of schooling here I can offer the following advice.. 1) if you can - get over here even for a couple of days and VISIT the schools - it may seem expensive but will be cheaper in the long run.. Otherwise you are going to end up spending 500 dirhams to just get on the waiting list - I certainly did for every one that I wait listed for. When you are wait listing for a few schools - it certainly adds up (and in my experience when I got here - decided against a number where I had paid the money to in a panic). I set up a spread sheet to keep on top of them all! On top of that you are looking at any where up to 1000 dirhams for an assessment...if you are savvy you can back to back your meetings/viewings and get it done in a couple of days (the schools here are open on Sundays - just check the holidays schedules here) and nothing replaces getting "face time" with the Admissions Officer! 2) everything takes longer than they tell you - so opening a bank account, getting utilities connected, etc... leave plenty of lead time (we opened our account from the UK in an attempt to speed things up) 3) we couldn't lease a house until we had a cheque book - and we couldn't get a cheque book until we had an ID card - which can takes days or weeks (no one tells you that!) its a huge problem..unless your employer is prepared to pay the cheques on your behalf - a lot of firms just pay you the allowance (in 6 monthly payments) and leave it up to you to sort whilst landlords often want one cheque) 4) its easy to sucked into the" we can get X size apartment/villa for our money"...think about what you really need and use that as your guide.. (you'll see what I mean when you get out here). if you can keep well below your housing allowance as the rents are pretty much guaranteed to increase in the next 12 months and it will give you a buffer 5) depending on what you rent - actually anything you rent, the electricity costs are HUGE! factor that into your considerations/budgets 6) beware the cost of shipping - we have shipped before and had no problems... this time we shipped stuff with a professional shipping firm recommended and a significant amount of it was damaged - and trying to claim back what was damaged is a nightmare - they make it so hard that you literally give up. In hindsight we would have shipped less and bought stuff here. 7) The travel estimates on google maps needs to be doubled and sometimes tripled! important when considering work and school runs 8) Don't be afraid reach out to strangers... I've asked advice on schools from women in coffee shops, where to buy items that I cant find when I've been stuck next to someone in a supermarket queues...Explain your new... .we've all been there, where we know no-one and don't know how to get things done - most of the women I have come across have been fantastic with their support and advice - 7) Just Breathe! I can pretty much guarantee that things will not go exactly to plan...but its going to be ok. :) Good luck!

Hi having just done it and run the gauntlet of schooling here I can offer the following advice.. 1) if you can - get over here even for a couple of days and VISIT the schools - it may seem expensive but will be cheaper in the long run.. Otherwise you are going to end up spending 500 dirhams to just get on the waiting list - I certainly did for every one that I wait listed for. When you are wait listing for a few schools - it certainly adds up (and in my experience when I got here - decided against a number where I had paid the money to in a panic). I set up a spread sheet to keep on top of them all! On top of that you are looking at any where up to 1000 dirhams for an assessment...if you are savvy you can back to back your meetings/viewings and get it done in a couple of days (the schools here are open on Sundays - just check the holidays schedules here) and nothing replaces getting "face time" with the Admissions Officer! 2) everything takes longer than they tell you - so opening a bank account, getting utilities connected, etc... leave plenty of lead time (we opened our account from the UK in an attempt to speed things up) 3) we couldn't lease a house until we had a cheque book - and we couldn't get a cheque book until we had an ID card - which can takes days or weeks (no one tells you that!) its a huge problem..unless your employer is prepared to pay the cheques on your behalf - a lot of firms just pay you the allowance (in 6 monthly payments) and leave it up to you to sort whilst landlords often want one cheque) 4) its easy to sucked into the" we can get X size apartment/villa for our money"...think about what you really need and use that as your guide.. (you'll see what I mean when you get out here). if you can keep well below your housing allowance as the rents are pretty much guaranteed to increase in the next 12 months and it will give you a buffer 5) depending on what you rent - actually anything you rent, the electricity costs are HUGE! factor that into your considerations/budgets 6) beware the cost of shipping - we have shipped before and had no problems... this time we shipped stuff with a professional shipping firm recommended and a significant amount of it was damaged - and trying to claim back what was damaged is a nightmare - they make it so hard that you literally give up. In hindsight we would have shipped less and bought stuff here. 7) The travel estimates on google maps needs to be doubled and sometimes tripled! important when considering work and school runs 8) Don't be afraid reach out to strangers... I've asked advice on schools from women in coffee shops, where to buy items that I cant find when I've been stuck next to someone in a supermarket queues...Explain your new... .we've all been there, where we know no-one and don't know how to get things done - most of the women I have come across have been fantastic with their support and advice - 7) Just Breathe! I can pretty much guarantee that things will not go exactly to plan...but its going to be ok. :) Good luck!

Hello Conorsmum90, I know how you feel, I've been there. Don't panic and start thinking of the move. Pre-school and schools here are pretty competitive and pricey at times. You will need to look into your budget and contact the schools regarding saving a seat for your child. Regarding your teaching job, currently there has been a boom in education industry so you will be able to get a job provided you have experience and accreditation. [b'>You can also do part time and carry out private lessons that isnt a problem[/b'>. Unfortunately this is not an option if you want to stay on the right side of the law !!

While many do give private lessons, it is illegal to do so without proper documentation. Also be aware that the official stance right now is to reduce formal EFL positions especially at universities and colleges meaning many with substantial qualifications and experience are also looking for new opportunities.

First of all, don't panic. You've come at the right time as there are tons of spaces in schools. Many many new schools have been built so you should be fine. Your three year old will be going to big school - not pre-school as schools here start FS1 or pre-kindergarten at 3. I suppose you could try and send your LO to a nursery for a few months in March (to do FS1 there) but I think it will be easier to get him settled in his big school straight away rather than find two schools - children can't stay at nursery beyond FS1. Schools really depend on where you plan to live and also the curriculum. If you can post some idea of where you might want to live/where your DH will be working, we can probably help you more about which schools to go start with. As for work, not sure about EFL. But I would say if you can afford it, try to put off jumping back into work because getting used to life in Dubai can often be a job in itself and you might be happier waiting until after the summer to jump back in.