The head of Dubai's new Harrow super premium school has pledged to bring the ethos of the renowned UK institution to the Emirates as it prepares to open its doors for the start of the academic year.
Harrow International School Dubai will welcome 400 pupils from Foundation Stage to Year 6 on Monday after overcoming the challenges of the Iran conflict to open on schedule.
The National toured the sprawling Hessa Street campus this week, ahead of a a much-anticipated first day at school.
Executive headmaster Simon O’Connor said the vast site reflects the school's ambition. The five-hectare campus includes science laboratories, a two-storey dining hall, a sports hall with an indoor swimming pool, grass rugby pitches and an auditorium.
“This is an enormous site, which requires the very best in supplies from across the world,” Mr O'Connor told The National.
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.
Mr O'Connor previously told The National that not a single day of construction work was missed even as it grappled with the fallout of the conflict, including supply chain disruptions, teachers changing their minds about coming to the region and families opting to defer.
From London to Dubai
Now firmly looking to the future, his goal is to instil the centuries-old traditions and values of Harrow for a new generation of learners in the UAE.
“We are maintaining that consistency with the experience that the boys have in London," he said.
"It extends to customs and the way the day is constructed. Little things that are important, [for example,] pupils at Harrow in Dubai will all dine together in the dining hall,” Mr O’Connor said.
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.
Tuition fees for the class of 2026-27 will range from Dh80,000 for Foundation Stage 1 to Dh106,000 in Year 6, rising to Dh128,000 for Year 13 pupils when all age groups are open.
Harrow is one of a number of prestigious names in UK education being exported to the UAE as the country seeks to keep pace with an evolving private education landscape.
Harrow is being joined by Queen Elizabeth's School Dubai, and Rugby School Dubai in opening for the new school year.
Harrow Abu Dhabi on Saadiyat Island, which, as well as taking day pupils, will break new ground for the UAE by acting as a boarding school, is to open in the near future.
Next year, a branch of Gordonstoun – the Scottish school attended by King Charles III – will open on Jubail Island and King’s College School Wimbledon will also welcome pupils in Abu Dhabi in 2027.
Unique education
Mr O'Connor acknowledged that parents in Dubai have many options when choosing a school. He thinks it is not just the facilities, but the comprehensive experience that sets Harrow apart.
“What we're going to be doing is not going to be replicated in any other school,” the headmaster said.
“It's the life that the pupils will lead here, the extended day, the opportunities to engage in co-curricular activities that they would receive nowhere else.”
Building for the future
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Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed, President of the UAE National Olympic Committee, officially opened the Gems School of Research and Innovation. All photos: Gems School of Research and Innovation -
The school in Dubai Sports City was built with $100m of investment -
One of the high-tech learning zones at the school -
The advanced campus spans more than 47,000 square metres -
Members of the inaugural class of pupils at Gems School of Research and Innovation -
The school aims to provide an immersive learning experience -
The school has a top-class music academy to help fine tune the skills of gifted youngsters -
The school has a strong focus on athletic as well as academic excellence -
A young chess player is put to the test by a robot opponent -
Pupils get to work at the cutting-edge school -
The flagship school wants to set the stage for the classroom of tomorrow
Meanwhile, the Gems School of Research and Innovation - with fees ranging from Dh116,000 for pupils in Foundation Stage One, to Dh161,000 in Grade 9 - is ready for its second academic year.
The school is adapting to a leadership transition but aims to maintain its sharp focus on personalising individual learning.
Schools have traditionally expected children to adapt to educational models, but future schools need to create an individualised learning journey, said incoming principal Richard Jones, who will take over in January.
Citing the example of his two children, who require different parenting approaches to suit their different characters, Mr Jones told The National, “it's exactly the same in school as educators”.
Shaping young minds
Pupils face an increasingly competitive job market due to the rise of AI, and new skills are in demand.
“The purpose of the school is to make sure that we're preparing our students with the skill sets that they're going to need beyond just the traditional academics,” said Mr Jones.
“The world is rapidly changing, and we don't really know what jobs will be out there for the children in our schools at the moment.”
Gems Education chief executive Dino Varkey told The National that increased competition in the UAE's education market is good news for parents.
“The education ecosystem here in the UAE is an incredible competitive advantage for the country,” Mr Varkey said. “It will lift the underlying quality of education, but it's also an incredible signal for how mature the market in Dubai and the UAE is valued globally.”
