The first Middle East branch of the UK's renowned Harrow School is on course to open in Dubai in September despite the regional turmoil caused by the Iran conflict.
The headteacher of Harrow International School Dubai said a single day of the construction schedule was not missed despite having to contend with the challenges caused by the fallout of the US-Iran war.
These included supply chain disruptions, teachers changing their minds about coming to the region and families opting to defer while uncertainty over the conflict remained.
"We haven't missed a day," said Simon O'Connor, during an exclusive hard hat tour of the construction site, which he said is about 85 per cent ready. "Yes, there have been supply chain issues, but they've been resolved, and Taaleem and Harrow are absolutely committed to this. They've put the resources in place to make sure it happens."
The school is due to open in September with about 400 students, catering for Foundation Stage through to Year 6. It will be the first Harrow school in the region – a significant expansion for one of Britain's oldest and most storied educational institutions – and plans are for it to be fully operational to Year 13 in the next three years.
Harrow School was founded in 1572 under a royal charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I, on a hill in north-west London where it has educated boys ever since. Its alumni include seven British prime ministers – among them Winston Churchill and Robert Peel – as well as India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the poet Lord Byron.
Over the past quarter-century, its international arm has taken the brand to Asia, with more than a dozen campuses across Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo and beyond. Dubai represents its first foray into the Middle East, while Abu Dhabi is set to follow in a year.
The Dubai campus, operated by UAE education group Taaleem, sits on a 50,000 square metre plot in Jumeirah Village Circle and is designed to accommodate up to 2,000 students - both boys and girls - at full capacity.
The build has not been straightforward. Conflict in the region created supply chain disruptions that forced the project team to improvise. Some families who had enrolled have chosen to defer for six months to a year, and the school lost four teachers: one UK-based member of staff decided not to relocate her family to the Emirates, while three others had partners who lost jobs in finance or real estate and could no longer stay in the country.
But Mr O'Connor is measured about it. "Everyone's reaction is valid," he said. "No one has dropped out because they don't like the school." And in recent weeks, the picture has changed, he added. "In the past 10 days we've seen a lot of parents saying they want to come back and start in September. That just shows the confidence in the market and confidence in the country," he said.
On schedule
Construction is running 24 hours a day. Meanwhile, the school has a task force of 12 to 15 departments that meet regularly to track progress across construction, procurement, staffing and safety. "There are multiple layers going on simultaneously," Mr O'Connor said. "The build is one part of that."
The campus itself is nearly finished. Spacious, light-filled hallways are in near-pristine condition, reflecting the ethos behind the design, which was created in line with neuro-architecture principles, examining how physical space affects the way children’s minds work and learn.
"For example, if you build a school in an area with heavy air conditioning where there might be carbon dioxide build-up, children become drowsy," Mr O'Connor explained. "Thinking about the flow of air will ensure that children remain alert longer. We also know children do better in natural light, so we have all these windows."
Sight lines, sound travel, the transitions between classrooms – all were considered from the outset. The school also incorporates deliberate visual references to the original Harrow campus in London, including an echo of the school's famous Speech Room. "If the boys in London came here, I'm confident they would recognise it and feel a familiarity," Mr O'Connor said.
Class sizes will be smaller than the Dubai average, with only 18 per class in the Foundation Stage, rising to 20 in Years 1 and 2, and 22 in Years 3 to 6. The school will start with four classes per year group, increasing to seven as it grows.
There will be three swimming pools, a gym, fitness suites and even a yoga suite – none of which were visible during the tour as they are under heavy construction.
The dining hall is positioned deliberately at the centre of the school, looking towards the playing fields. Meals will be communal and screen-free, modelled closely on the boarding school tradition. "Dining hall was an important part of your life," said Mr O'Connor, who attended a British boarding school himself. "It's not one of those where you sit on the wall and eat out of your lunch box for five minutes."
The curriculum will also be broader than many Dubai schools offer, including classical subjects such as Latin and ancient Greek, which Mr O'Connor hopes to offer through to GCSE and A-Level.
An extensive co-curricular programme – covering everything from fencing to music to martial arts – will be included in the school fees, with children expected to complete prep and activities before going home. "By the time the children leave school, they've been fed, they've done their prep, they've done their CCAs," he said. "Parents can then spend time with their children, enjoying having children."
Inclusion is another stated priority. Mr O'Connor, who said he has led two schools rated Outstanding for inclusion, is committed to a non-selective admissions policy, with a small, temporary limit on students of determination in the first year while the specialist department becomes fully operational.
As Mr O’Connor wanders through corridors that were a pile of concrete and open to the elements on his last visit, he is already past the question of whether it will be ready on time. "It's interesting how the conversation has changed from 'will it be ready' to 'what are we going to put in here'," he said.
