Dubai Scholars’ keeps setting the bar high

Upholding its legacy of consistent academic excellence, Dubai Scholars’ Class of 2021 maintains an impressive performance at the IGCSE and A-Level Examinations

Despite the apprehensions and pressures underlying a global pandemic, the students at Dubai Scholars have fared incredibly well at the IGCSE and A-Level examinations. Their outstanding academic performance reflects a courage, indomitable spirit, and a strength that embodies what the school is all about. Keeping with their strong tradition of academic excellence, Dubai Scholars has yet again achieved a 100 per cent pass rate and some of the highest individual results with 81 per cent of students achieving an A* - A. Similarly, with a 98 per cent pass rate in the A Levels, 63 per cent of students achieved an A* - A.

Sapna Changrani, Head of Secondary School at Dubai Scholars, said: “Given the challenges of studying in a distance learning world, where social distancing and constant quarantining were the norm, I am so proud of the accomplishments of our children. It is a testament to not only their resilience but the supportive nature of our student body that we have been able to effectively meet these singular challenges together. Their success however, would not have been possible without the support of our exemplary teaching staff and their determination in ensuring the success of all our children.”

Some of the exciting new initiatives rolled out for this year include additional labs — physics, biology and chemistry, helping support the school’s focus on creating more links between the practical and theoretical. In this increasing effort to provide more context and meaning to in-school learning, Dubai Scholars has teamed up with US based, Defined Learning, to offer a learning synthesis programme for students as part of a longer school day. This programme allows students to apply their learning to real world applications, particularly around careers they are interested in. The school is hoping to work with KHDA and local businesses to allow for practical internships during the school year as a next step.

What may not be as well-known is the school’s legacy when it comes to the performing arts where it has won numerous country-wide competitions and even seen itself take its performances overseas. In continuing its tradition to deliver a holistic education, the school has completely revamped its extra-curricular provision to introduce a whole slew of new activities this year. These include public speaking, coding, ballet, gymnastics, musical instruments and film making to name a few.

Barbara Lubaczewska, Head of School at Dubai Scholars, said: “It is not just about the academic achievements of our children but a focus on developing holistic and content children. We are conscious of providing children multiple avenues to express themselves while also allowing them outlets to destress from the rigours of academic life. There has been an added focus on strengthening the quality of our extra-curricular provisioning (post Covid-19 year) to provide such needed opportunities for our children.”

So, what does the future hold for Dubai Scholars and when posed to Barbara, her response was quite candid. “We do not know what the future brings but if we keep asking the right questions, we will make sure we are as prepared as possible. We know we have to continually reflect and revisit. The world for which we are developing our children is in a constant state of flux and as educators, we need to always look outwards to make sure what we offer as education stays relevant. While I am very excited about all the improvements we do every year, the best thing we can do is ensure that children really enjoy the learning experience so they can create their own destiny and be the best version of themselves.

“Well, if the children are going to places such as Stanford University, Imperial College, Brown University, University of Pennsylvania and BITS Pilani among others, the school must be doing something right.”