Advice on schools | ExpatWoman.com
 

Advice on schools

36
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 February 2015 - 14:07

I’m hoping that you could help me with some advice on schools in Dubai. We are very fortunate that our son has been offered a place for FS1 this year in a number of schools. While I know that school choices are very individual and comes down to what suits the child so I’m not asking the ‘which school is better’ question. However I would appreciate your guidance on the pros and cons of not for profit school v profit school. I know that all of the money goes back into the not for profit schools but I recently spoke to a principal who mentioned that sometimes the facilities are better in profit making schools as access to money is often easier for profit schools.
Also, one of the schools for which we have an offer is a not for profit school where the places are usually filled by debenture holders. We don’t have a debenture. For those of you with children in schools that have corporate debentures (both debenture holders and those that don’t have debentures), do you find that there is somewhat of a divide between debenture holders and non-debenture holders eg all of the class mates live around the same area and therefore if you aren’t in that area, you could be a bit of an outsider for play dates and meet ups outside of school?

393
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 03 March 2015 - 21:22
Best of luck with your decision Bee. It is hard not to have a trusted infrastructure to make these decisions. If you would like to take it offline for more information I would be happy to do so. I currently have child at non profit school in question similar age to your son. <em>edited by Catawba KSE on 04/03/2015</em>
36
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 03 March 2015 - 20:56
Thanks ladies, I really appreciate your replies. Any concerns that I had about my son being an outsider have been allayed. All of your replies have helped immensely with our decision. I guess when faced with any decision all you can do is carry out research, seek advice from people who have experience, list the pros and cons and go with your instincts. A potential con could have been that most families were already somehow socially connected which might make settling in more difficult for my son but I now know that this is not the case and therefore can be removed from the cons list. DT, you made me realise that I don't know where any of the parents at my son's nursery work and I can't see this being a topic of conversation at his new school. Catawba, I know what you mean about heated debates. I was carefully trying to avoid that but as I don't know any parents whose kids are currently in the school where we've been offered a spot, I needed to seek guidance from you. I do realise how lucky we are to be offered a place in a good non profit school. As a friend said to me - first world problems - do you choose a Bentley or a Rolls Royce. Thanks again.
393
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EW EXPLORER
Latest post on 03 March 2015 - 20:12
Bee, Assuming the not for profit you have in mind is one you asked about commute times to...... We have been at this school for 7 years. There are many people with corporate debentures from one company in particular but there are LOADS of other people with corporate debentures from other companies and no corporate debenture whatsoever (eg personal debentures). There is no overwhelming feeling of most families coming from one company/background at all (in fact, this company is recruiting from many countries resulting in a more diverse student population). The kids do not distinguish and none of the parents I know do either. Everyone socialises regardless and the facilities are better than many for profit schools (not to mention already built as opposed to the schools which promise facilities they don't deliver for years). You are very lucky to have been able to secure a place at this school (at a fraction of the price of most others). I think most would tell you to grab it with both hands. The one thing I'm always struck by on this forum is the heated debate that arises when anyone asks about any particular school yet there are always schools where the debate remains practically non-existent....happy parents who wish to fly under the radar perhaps. Good luck with your decision. <em>edited by Catawba KSE on 04/03/2015</em>
94
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 02 March 2015 - 13:25
I dont know which non profit school you have an offer from but the one my children attends (DESS) has lots of Emirates children but also many many others. So if its DESS dont worry about it!
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 01 March 2015 - 16:41
Thanks DT. I don't know any parents of children at that school so your feedback is very helpful. My main concern is that most of the students will have parents that work in the same organisation or live in the same area so that my DS could be a bit of an outsider with most kids having a sibling in the school or a connection with parents work. Maybe this isn't the situation at all or even if it is, maybe it wouldn't impact at all. Thanks again. I don't know where any of the parents worked when my son was there - neither did he apart from an odd one or two...Personally I don't think it matters - he was never short of friends and they lived all over the place.. He also had friends who went to other schools but he was 13 when we came here - maybe these things matter more for younger children who rely on their parents more for their social life...
36
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 01 March 2015 - 13:35
Thanks DT. I don't know any parents of children at that school so your feedback is very helpful. My main concern is that most of the students will have parents that work in the same organisation or live in the same area so that my DS could be a bit of an outsider with most kids having a sibling in the school or a connection with parents work. Maybe this isn't the situation at all or even if it is, maybe it wouldn't impact at all. Thanks again.
2298
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EW EXPERT
Latest post on 28 February 2015 - 22:52
I may be biased, but I can't believe anyone who is fortunate enough to get a place at that non-profit school has to think about it !! My eldest had 4 years there and is now at uni..I would choose it over a profit school every time..
36
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 28 February 2015 - 21:30
Thanks frenchbird. That's a really good point. Do you know if the boards of non profit schools are usually made up of parents of pupils/past pupils? I will have to decide in the next few days and am doing up a list of pros and cons. I like the idea of non profit and although both schools that I'm considering are equally good schools, the profit school is much closer to where I live so I'm really struggling to decide.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 28 February 2015 - 19:23
I have had my eldest child in both for profit and not for profit school. I have to say I had wonderful teachers in both schools and both school were great academically had good facilities. My preferences goes to not for profit for the only reason that in the other school, a lot of decisions were made by a board who was very removed from the day to day school life, and not always with the interest of the children or parent body at heart. Every decision broke the trust a little every time and by the end of 3 years with the school I was starting to doubt everything that was done, rightly or wrongly. At the end of the day, I feel you need to have trust in the system that looks after your children for the greatest part of the day. I never had this issue with a For profit school. It is a very personal opinion though.
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 February 2015 - 14:27
you are most welcome! :) glad to have helped.
36
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 February 2015 - 14:24
That's really helpful. Thanks so much mireillenakad. I hadn't thought about larger numbers and use of the common areas/facilities. You can tell this is my only child so the whole school thing is new to me. :-)
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EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 February 2015 - 14:20
Hi Bee. My DD has been offered a place in 2 schools too. 1 for profit and 1 not for profit (also offering debentures and the like... so I guess it would be the same school you are referring to). I have an older DS that is entering year 7 next year and we tried 2 profit making schools with him. TO be honest, it is not totally true that profit making schools invest more into the facilities. Both schools he was in are reputable schools but they do tend to have large sized classes in order to get the most money for as little cost as possible. The school sizes are huge with many classes for each year group and the facilities, despite being great, are not enough for the number of students in the school. So for example, the canteen fits 100 kids... but each year group has 200 kids... so they end up allocating different days for each year group to be allowed to go to the canteen, and different hours during that day for the different classes in that year group. My DS's class is allocated a Sunday 12 noon slot. So they are not allowed to go any other day or time. I don't think this makes sense. Same goes for the playground that does not fit all the primary kids... so they have different play times for the different year groups. I have definitely decided to place my DD in the non-profit school and pay a personal debenture. My DS will also move to the same school (we were lucky that when DD got a place, DS was given sibling priority and got offered a place too). Hope this helps you a bit more in making an informed decision.
 
 

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