Steering A Smarter Future

Darren Coulson Principal of Sharjah English School, emphasises the educational values keeping sustainability at the core while promoting digital communication among students.

For more than four decades Sharjah English School (SES) has been the school of choice for families seeking an excellent and challenging UK education for their children. SES is dedicated to providing an outstanding education comparable to the best schools in the Gulf region and internationally. Darren Coulson, Principal, SES, calls the method of teaching at SES unique. “Our faculty is predominantly from the UK and works collaboratively to provide opportunities for investigative learning, both within indoor and outdoor learning environments. Teachers spend their time observing and interacting with each child, spending time in one-to-one situations enabling them to provide personalised teaching strategies that support each child.”

He further added: “As the smallest not-for-profit school in the UAE, SES has the largest campus, combining strong educational values with an intimate community atmosphere. Our educational ethos will always remain focused on quality teaching and learning, rather than any commercial imperative. Academic results are outstanding, placing SES regularly in the top three schools for the British curriculum schools in the UAE. Students are consistently accepted into their first-choice universities, including the UK, USA, Canada, Europe, the Far East and the UAE.”

Sustainability is at the heart of everything the school does, which forms an integral part of its wider curriculum including geography, biology and design and technology. According to Coulson, the school’s environment is built around natural, sustainable products and emphasises the reclamation and upcycling of materials and furniture. “We are working to reduce our carbon footprint by emphasising digital communication methods. Pupil reports, newsletters and day-to-day information are all shared via digital communication platforms. Our ‘Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)’ strategy in classes has greatly reduced our paper consumption and any paper used in school is appropriately recycled. We collaborate with Bee’ah to recycle paper and plastics, work with D’Grade, a company that collects plastic to be converted into fabric and participate in the Great Battery Challenge for recycling batteries.”

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