GEMS Wellington Primary School

[shawarma]

GEMS Wellington Primary School - information from DubaiFAQs

Looks like the same school as Jumeira City Primary School, but renamed.

[Lilltam]

We are relocating to Dubai this August and I need to find a pre-school nursery (Foundation S1) place for my daughter ideally in a UK curriculum school. GEMS WELLINGTON PRIMARY School seems to be the only school that actually has a place available out of all the UK curriculum schools I've tried. The school looks ok on the web but I wanted to know if it is regarded as a good school, if anyone knows any negative aspects to it, and if I should avoid it. I am a bit suspicious as it seems too easy to get a place! Thanks

[shawarma]

Hello lilltam and welcome to the Dubai school forums .

GEMS schools generally have a reputation as being more interested in profits than education and in the past year especially, it seems like the media have been focusing on them in a negative light. However, as GEMS are the largest private school operator in Dubai, and have attempted to implement some large fee increases recently, that's not surprising. That said, WPS Dubai are probably one of the better schools in the GEMS portfolio with a greater proportion of happier parents. As for being suspicious because it seems to easy to get a place, I wouldn't be too concerned about that. GEMS WPS is a relatively new school (officially opened by Prince Michael of Kent in March 2008 but classes started in September 2007) and parents Dubai tend to try and get their students into the more established schools first.

Here's a list of the more popular British schools in Dubai - there may be one or two in that list that you haven't tried. Or look at the list of new schools in Dubai, which are more likely to have available places - Star International School Umm Sequim and SIS Mirdiff are two examples that seem to have a good reputation.