Timeframe: 60 years ago, children rode abras and camels to Dubai's oldest English school

As pupils return to class, Dubai English Speaking School looks back on generations of students and staff

Flt Lt F Loughman and the founding class of Dubai English Speaking School in 1963. The classroom was an upstairs room of a villa where expatriate workers were housed. Photo: Dubai English Speaking School

Flight Lt F Loughman and the founding class of Dubai English Speaking School in the area where the dry docks are now. Photo: Dubai English Speaking School

In 1967, Dubai English Speaking School moved to its present site in Oud Metha. Photo: Dubai English Speaking School

The main entrance to the school in 1967. Photo: Dubai English Speaking School

The school's entrance and gym in 1967. Photo: Dubai English Speaking School

In 1974, it consisted of four classes in each year group from reception to Year 5. Photo: Dubai English Speaking School

Pupils at the school in the 1980s. Photo: Dubai English Speaking School

Princess Anne, the daughter of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, opened the administration building at the school in 1987. Photo: Dubai English Speaking School

An aerial view of Dubai English Speaking School shortly after the turn of the century. Between 1997 and 2001 many original buildings built in the 1960s and 1970s were replaced. Photo: Dubai English Speaking School

Pupils at the school in Oud Mehta, Dubai in November 2021. Ruel Pableo for The National

Pupils playing football at Dubai English Speaking School in Oud Mehta. Ruel Pableo for The National

Children in a primary school class. Ruel Pableo for The National

Pupils stretch with their teacher. Ruel Pableo for The National

Arriving for classes. Ruel Pableo for The National

It's that time of year again, when the summer begins to wind down and pupils flock back to school.

But for Dubai English Speaking School this is no ordinary back to school – this year marks the institution's 60th anniversary.

Remarkably, Dess has been around for longer than the UAE has been a country – long enough that there was a time when children arrived not in cars and buses, but on boats and camels.

Dess was established in a villa on the shores of Dubai Creek in 1963, when there were only about 20 schools in what was then called the Trucial States. As Dubai's first English language school at the time, Dess didn't have a set curriculum, and the first group of 10 British and American students were taught by some of the parents and a British serviceman, Flt Lt F Loughman, from the Royal Air Force Educational Corps.

Harry Atkinson, who was eventually appointed the school's first full-time teacher, previously told The National that prior to joining, "I couldn’t even find an atlas that mentioned Dubai" but sensed “something was going to happen and Dubai was going somewhere”.

An aerial view of the school in 1967, on the plot in Oud Metha allotted by Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum. Photo: Dubai English Speaking School

Four years later, Dubai's Ruler at the time, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, granted the school a piece of land in Oud Metha, where it remains to this day. In 1969, Sheikh Rashid granted a charter that gave a number of subscriber companies the right to elect a board of governors.

Throughout the 1970s, the school continued to grow and by 1974 it had four classes in each year group, running from reception to Year 5.

Ann Fulcher was a parent who ran two school fetes to raise funds for new facilities, one in 1976 and then in 1977, when Bernadette McCarthey took over from Dorothy Miles as head teacher.

"The first one paid for the swimming pool, and the second an Arabic teacher and classroom, also some percussion instruments. This ensured a better all-round education," Fulcher tells The National.

In 1974, Dubai English Speaking School consisted of four classes in each year group from reception to Year 5. Photo: Dubai English Speaking School

Before the new pool was built, pupils had swimming lessons at the British Forces pool in Sharjah, and later at a private Emirati residence on the Beach Road.

"I had a committee of mums. We stipulated the money raised would go to finance a swimming pool, which it did. This meant no more using the British embassy pool, thank heavens. We had great fun getting prizes. The Arabs and major companies were unbelievably generous," she adds.

Like many parents, Fulcher has fond memories of McCarthey, who served at the school for 20 years until 1996, and died in 2015.

"Bernadette was delighted with the idea of Arabic lessons and music," Fulcher says. "The education was more rounded with Bernadette."

Head teacher Bernadette McCarthey with Princess Anne during her 1987 visit. Photo: Dubai English Speaking School

Shirley James also sent her son to Dess, and has "so many memories of Bernadette McCarthy".

James says: "She was a brilliant lady. I remember sports day, when Bernadette would write on a chalk board who was in the lead. [It was a] clever trick to start writing the results to look like a certain house won, but then to magically flip her figures to display the true winners."

In the 1980s, the school built Latifa Hall, which would go on to host assemblies and school productions. An administration building was built in 1987 and inaugurated by Princess Anne.

Today, the school has more than 1,000 pupils, as well as a secondary school, Dubai English Speaking College, which was established in 2005. To mark its 60th anniversary, Dess has compiled 90-plus interviews and 400 photographs for a coffee-table book, honouring the students, parents, and teachers who have passed through its storied halls.

Among those featured in the book is Halle Orchestra violinist Victoria Stephenson, who traces her prolific career back to Dess.

Looking back to her time at the school, she says: “I was desperate to start playing the violin but kept getting told I was too small – there wasn’t a violin small enough. So instead, I joined the recorder club and choir with Miss Belsey; who later taught me music theory.

Halle Orchestra violinist Victoria Stephenson traces her career back to her time at Dess. Photo: Dubai English Speaking School

“I finally started group violin lessons with Mr Kudsi in a room at the back of the music room and remember running around and hiding behind things when it wasn’t my turn because I got so bored. All I wanted to do was play music.”

Having started playing violin at seven, while at Dess she became leader of the UAE Children’s String Orchestra before leaving in 1998 to take up a scholarship place at the Chethams School of Music in Manchester. Since, she has performed in London West End shows such as Les Miserables and Hamilton, as well as a David Bowie tribute at Glastonbury.

Keen to pay it forward, she has also staged concerts to raise money for Dubai children’s charities and Unicef, and leads outreach projects for Merton Concert Orchestra and String Busters.

While at Dess Victoria Stephenson became leader of the UAE Children’s String Orchestra before in 1998 taking up a scholarship place at the Chethams School of Music in Manchester. Photo: Dubai English Speaking School

“I can’t imagine not being a musician,” Stephenson says. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever doubted where I wanted to head since spending time with the Dess music teachers and Mr Kudsi.”

Reflecting on the school’s rich history and the generations of children it has educated, head teacher Catherine Dando says: “From school runs on abras and donkeys to swimming galas in a school parent’s pool, the book will be crammed with quirky memories and tales that have waited patiently for up to 60 years to be told.”

Meanwhile, school and college principal and chief executive Andy Gibb looks forward to building a better future: “It’s such a privilege to be able to watch tomorrow’s creators, thinkers and pioneers as they work out how they want to make their mark on the world.

"We’re fortunate to have so much history and so many bright and talented youngsters to build an equally bright future."