Sherwood Academy Al Taawan School

[shawarma]

Sherwood Academy - dubaifaqs.com information. Al Tawaan School and Sherwood Academy are different names for the same place. School seems to use both.

Any comments? What's it like for students? For teachers?

Is it K-10 or K-12?
Head's name is Aboud Al Ameri (manager?)?
Fee range?
Salary range?
Number of students?
Number of staff?
Is PO Box 106 or 35381 (second entry listed on ADCCI website)?
When was school established?

Update 06 August 2009: Thanks to everyone who has contributed here. This topic seems to attract its fair share of comments, both positive and negative, and some posts have been suspended until they are updated by the forum members who posted them. Please, before you post, keep in mind the following.

1. Comments about the school and your experience there are acceptable but please refrain from commenting on other member's comments. People are entitled to their opinions, even if you disagree with them, and it is the intention of this forum to provide people with an opportunity to air their opinions about Sherwood Academy (and other schools in the relevant topics).
2. When posting your opinions, please do so respectfully and coherently. The threshold for acceptable English is relatively low since many readers do not speak English as a first language, but whatever is posted still needs to be understandable.
3. Any posts with obscene or inappropriate language, posts insulting the school or people, posts with too much text in ALL CAPITALS, or posts attempting to discuss the forum rules or moderation decisions (send a PM to a moderator if seeking clarification) will probably be deleted along with the member account and any other posts they may have made.

See the forum guidelines for more details on what is (and is not) acceptable.

[theartist30]

Number of students: 820 (approx)

Number of teachers: 50, give or take 4 or 5.

Facilities: One Lab, A playground the size of a basketball court, three school buildings.

Students, boys and girls get phyisically and mentally abused and demoralised. There have been two instances where a student began to bleed after being hit with a metal ruler.
Primitive indian teaching methods. Not enough time given to Arabic and UAE social studies subjects( one period a week)
and very little recreational time and facilities. Sherwood Academy has participated in about 4 interschool sports matches in the past 2 years. Music and Art is not taught. School hours are from 7:00 AM to 1:15 PM with a 15 minute break at 10:00 AM

[recruiter]

I need to know more about the school as have recently moved to abudhabi and am seeking admission in Sherwood. AM taken aback by your reply. Do u have a personal exp with the school. Look forward to your reply

[theartist30]

If children do well in sports and you want them to develop that ability, Sherwood is definitely not the school for them. Sports, socialising, art and music are seen as distractions and things that do harm to a student's academic life. I have studied in Sherwood Academy from Grade 1 to 10. The attitude towards creativity that I found there dampened my hopes of becoming a designer, and I am sure a lot of people who studied there would have been in the same situation.

To be fair though, I have to say that Sherwood is a school for academically oriented students, and it is also a good school to begin with. I have been told that there are art classes upto grade 5 and an annual sports event, youth festival and prize giving ceremony. Things that we were not privileged with. This might seem surprising as these events are thought of as a basic
necessity for every school, but what I am saying is true, this years events happened for the first time in about 8 years.

I strongly suggest a visit to the school to see the facilities that they offer. The IT lab, once built has never been used by any student in the school, except for watching presentations on certain topics. The computers there are for the sole use of teachers. 'So what do the students use?' There are no IT lessons.

[devanf]

I too plan to move to abu dhabi and interested about Sherwood Academy for my two daughters.I hear that the teachers do hit the children and they are very hash.Can some one give me a feed back.

[Anonymous99]

hello to all
i happen 2 be in my last year of sherwood academy and i have to say it is a very good school. I dno about the CBSE section, but the o'levels are really good. we are starting our board exams tomorow, and to tell you the truth, i am very confident of the results, although very nervous lol. They are starting to change, there are regular PT classes and a wonderful PT teacher( Finally) the new school which is in mushrif has more facilities. There are about 3 computer labs, and students do use them. they are even allowed to go on the net for research. Sherwood teachers are very dedicated to their students. Even past graduates say that they honestly miss sherwood. there are chemistry, physics and bio labs, although these are only used for demonstrations. there is also an audio visual room, where there is a projector and big screen. We go there to watch movies for english classes.
So i hope you take my words into consideration, and take ur children to Sherwood Academy, but be prepared to fight some fights lol
Best regards
Anonymous99

[JasonBourne]

I studied in Al Tawan Primary school for two years... 3rd and 4rth grade... that was more than 15 years ago.... the school was a lot better when it was Al tawan... 3 years after passing 4rth grade my dad wanted me to try sherwood academy after studying in The model school abu dhabi... i went to sherwood for a month and quit.. its the most pathetic school ive ever been to... the teachers are good to intelligent students..

and today im a proud engineer.. AND... not because of sherwood.... thanks to Model School...

[polaris]

As a former CBSE student who attended both Merryland and Sherwood Academy, I can honestly say that it has played a huge part in my life. Some good and some bad. Academically speaking, sherwood is ideal if you want the results, but the means of getting those results leave much to be desired. I don't remember much of my first few years there, it was mostly a haze of studying at school, studying and homework at home and then back to school for more studying. Extra curricular activities were rare.

In the higher grades P.E(which is usually just once a week) was usually cancelled and substituted with ordinary classes so that they could complete the syllabus. They were very strict about rules and regulations, I remember getting in trouble for not bringing a text book to class and the teacher called home to tell my parents to make sure I packed my bag properly.

But the most critical year in the CBSE is the tenth, and Sherwood treats it very very seriously. They hold extra classes till four in the evening so that they can finish the syllabus by the second semester. The rest of the year is used to carry out strict revision and mock exams to prepare students for the public exams. There is a chance that summer vacation gets cut in half for the same purpose. Obviously this greatly helps students achieve the desired results, but honestly the 'spoonfeeeding' revision method makes kids too dependent.

As soon as they're done with the 10th and have to go to other schools for their 11th and 12th, students are completely lost and unsure of what to do. But you don't have to worry about that, eventually they will learn to stand on their feet, even if they're a little slow at it.

Good points about Sherwood? Well I suppose it would be the teachers when they don't teach. They are very protective of their students (sometimes too much) and I think most students at Sherwood will have at least one teacher who either inspired them to do something with their life or just a teacher who they consider to be family to them.

[smartz]

In the school profile on this site, I found the statement:

"Some student comments are quite negative about the school - they say they are treated badly by teachers. Which could just be the same as what most students say anywhere in the world."

Whoever wrote that insults the intelligence of the people who post their replies, presuming them to be immature by challenging the honesty/rationale of the opinions. I would invite the moderator to reconsider the statement above. The whole point of rating schools is to create a consensus and display the results for readers to judge on their own - but what the statement does is to prejudice the reader and invalidate the comments of the majority. If the moderator is going to imply that the students who respond don't know what's good for them, then there's absolutely no point in having this discussion at all.

Sherwood Academy, while succeeding in the basic duties of schooling pupils to pass secondary school exams, does an extremely lamentable job in educating them. Note the difference I point out between schooling, and education. Their supposed adherence to the 'Dalton system of education' is a joke. The fact that the Dalton system is outdated is besides the point, the school does absolutely nothing to support their claim. Whatever little good the Dalton system once did, and can still do, is definitely lost here.

Completing IGCSE in Sherwood Academy/Al Tawaan, and continuing my A'Levels in Al Nahda Int'l School, made me realise that Sherwood is missing everything that one needs to educate adolescents. What it is missing is the opportunity for students to think independently, creatively. The school, especially the senior management, goes to extraordinary lengths to establish a near-martial atmosphere. This is done on the excuse that the pupils need to be taught 'acceptable' behaviour, and disciplined if the behaviour is contrary to what is demanded. The penalties, and unrestricted arbitrary physical punishments over my 2+10 years in that school.. are in stark contrast to other established educational institutes, such as The Cambridge High School, Al Nahda Int'l School, etc.

I would like to keep going about the extent of physical abuse meted out by teachers/instructors for minor infarctions, but that would be an entirely different topic. Here, I would like to concur with most of the statements posted about this school, and add that:
The environment of fear, the one-dimensional emphasis on the textbook alone, the discouragement of student feedback, and the practice of disproportionate penalties turn out students that are extremely dissatisfied, unhappy, and find themselves obviously under-educated when introduced to pupils graduating from any other secondary school.

While it is a school that is certainly more affordable than many others, and does a commendable job in making students learn for the sake of passing the final grade 10 exam, there is not reason why the faculty cannot/or are not given the freedom to provide the students with a more rounded education - without the sole emphasis on letters and numbers, and without resorting to the ridiculously restrictive penalties for underperformance.

I have promised myself, that my siblings, and perhaps one day my kids, should never have to grow up thinking that their education suffered because of their schooling, and will never feel themselves inferior to their peers due to the mismanagement of their preparatory/secondary education.

[changed]

I COMPLETELY agree with smartz..but this was expected. I do not know much about CBSE, (although I'm guessing it's the same), but when has ever the glorious institution of sherwood valued student opinion. When have they ever listened to a student's complaint and empathized with him. What is the point of having a Head Boy, e.t.c when you don't believe in student government or even a school newspaper to foster student creativity. What if a student wanted to be a politician? Listen to Mr. Amiri when parents complained about higher fees in 2006, "unhappy parents can go find another school". The reason parents complained..and I know because I was a student at the time..was there was NO reason for the fee hike..no better teachers, no new subjects, no new facilities that students actually use. What do we get instead? A camera system for forcing students to keep quiet. I mean who in the world cares if someone talks or make jokes in class...WHEN THE TEACHER IS NOT THERE..why should we just sit there when no one is there if there is no teacher present..what is the use of such discipline..students don't forever live in sherwood..this just makes them an introvert.

People who are looking to join sherwood, this is how much i care about the topic..i was not a member but i still registered so that i could respond. If your child is athletic, likes the arts, music, loves acting, likes learning foreign languages, likes to socialize then sherwood is not the school. I'll tell you why people miss sherwood, right after they leave, they miss it because of the spoon feeding, they miss it because in the real world of A'levels or college in my case no one cares if you don't do your homework and are just ignorant..its your own loss. Sherwood's teachers are very good at what they teach..I've seen very few incompetent teachers but the teachers are SO pressurized they just can't be themselves. They are more disciplined than students. Mrs. George doesn't want the teachers to teach in their learning style but her own. The teachers could do SO much more if that pressure was not there. Just a tip happy employees are also vital to a business. I immigrated to USA before I could do my O'levels and though many of my friends thought it was a wrong move only after did i move i realized i should have come here earlier. American high schools, are great. You have greater freedom with teachers, you can learn so many different things. I mean sherwood doesn't even have a decent world history class, I felt like a fool the first two months but then I realized how being informed of the world is so important. Other schools in the UAE also have interschool athletic events but not sherwood. My 11 years there I have seen so many soccer and cricketing talents just go to waste. We used to have matches with other schools informally outside, and I captained my cricket team to many wins in these matches I don't see the reason as to why sports should harm you in your studies. There are athletes here with a 4.0 GPA in college!! sherwood used to rebel so much with students it deters their confidence. We used to have elocutions and debates and quiz tournaments within the school but even that stopped.

Merryland on the other hand is far better. They give you proper guidance and the teachers are caring. I liked my teachers even though I got the strict ones because they get your basics right. Yes they hit, but it's not like they try to kill you. Merryland is a good choice, not Sherwood.

P.S. if you want your child to be spoonfed and completely focus on studies and NOTHING ELSE..sherwood is perfect!

[hotspot]

The school sherwood academy's practices are pretty disturbing, and being a former student , i have a lot of grievances regarding the school!
The administration discriminates a lot as well as the teachers. Period Beating goes on , some times students end up with bruises , a very disturbing practice.
Although the teaching is unparalleled to any other school in the UAE, as of the IGCSE section, many of the former students hav had grievances in the school, some of whom have apparently been disturbed innocently.
most recently there has been a change in the admin of the school, where the previous headmaster has left the school for canada. It was during his times that pupils were assaulted and were humiliated in front of many students on a weekly basis.

Although this practice my sometimes come handy with the rude students, manier times i have seen students being scarred with the school's practices. Psychologically, at such a young age, being humiliated, unfortunately the admin of the school are quite insensetive about these issues. I would recommend Ministry of Education inspections be done on the school unannounced, so that they may be caught in the act! CERtainly something needs to be done with this horrible school!

[shawarma]

Whoever wrote that insults the intelligence of the people who post their replies, presuming them to be immature by challenging the honesty/rationale of the opinions.

Hello smartz and welcome to the Dubai school forum .

That comment you are referring to is an observation or opinion, and obviously so. This topic is here so that others can post their comments (which you have done) as long as they are posted in a respectful way, or to point out if something is incorrect. Readers can then draw their own conclusions about the intelligence of the writer of the original comment and / or writers of follow up posts .

[harry poter]

I have read all the comments written by various people. but i cant understand how can they write such things about a school which is known for its quality education. how can anyone write about a school which is well known for its dedication and discipline. Such comments should be deleted from this account. as a parent i would really prefer this school. After all i need my child to get proper education rather than being spoiled by this world. How many parents can assure me that their child is perfect and safe in this fast growing world. we need our children to be disciplined and well behaved.
If any has any other opinion like that their child to be ruined then its their choice. But for me this is the best.

[shawarma]

I have read all the comments written by various people. but i cant understand how can they write such things about a school which is known for its quality education.

Hello harry and welcome to the Dubai forums .

There are obviously many different opinions about Sherwood Academy (as there are about any school). As long as people are posting their own opinions about their experiences and do so respectfully, they are welcome to do so. That way readers can get different points of view and form their own opinions about the school, and of course your positive experiences should help them do that. Saying that people are "out of their mind" because you don't agree with what they say is unnecessary though, as is posting the same, or similar, things three times. As for posts that you think should be deleted, a moderator will deal with any posts that don't follow forum rules .

[freeze]

So far, I have seen only one opinion regarding the O level syllabus in Sherwood. I would like to get opinions from more people who have studied O level at Sherwood. How r the teachers and administrators attitude towards students and their problems. Is it the same rude, arrogant and cruel behaviour as the CBSE section? Do they have any activities? If so, What are they? Sherwood CBSE is terrible.

[boiledduck]

But for me this is the best.

I don't know what kind of parent you are, or how old you child is, but I can assure you, your ward will regret 10 years of his/her life if you send him/her to Sherwood Academy. I do. A LOT of my peers do. My parents do.

Quality education is achievable by determination and hard work. Sherwood while emphasisng on these key features of education, leaves out skill development, the most important part of education. This is why it is vitally flawed as an institution.

Although you probably do not know this, your child is humiliated every single day at school, and thinks its the norm. Sherwood's policy of putting wrongdoers to shame DOES NOT do 6 year olds any good.

I was physically abused on a number of occasions in Sherwood Academy, and have had bruises, splinters from wooden rulers, and cuts. I have seen a student bleed from his hand on being hit by a metal ruler by his math teacher, just because he got a single sum wrong in a class test.

'After all i need my child to get proper education rather than being spoiled by this world'

Sherwood is not proper education, my friend. Your child being 'spoiled' by the world is an over-reaction. Sherwood Academy cannot stop this. While they attempt to, they end up screwing up kids' basic communication skills, leading them to be socially challenged introverts.

If you love your children, do them a favour and spare them the misery that Sherwood Academy causes. I promise you, any school other than Sherwood, and you will see your child develop in a far better way than he ever would have at Sherwood Academy.

[EverthingMatters]

hi all,

I'm at my pre-8th grade at sherwood, having studied from grades 5 to 7 ( 2005-2006 - 2006-2007 - 2007-2008 ) I've concluded that sherwood is not a nasty school at all, teachers give chances , and don't whack like crazy, in fact, some of them are fun. but :l when it comes to sports, and "extra curriculum" stuff, there's NOT much time given to that. And, i , am disappointed to say that sometimes, it cannot give what it promises. I don't wish to criticize sherwood but it has been ... quite a bit of a disappointment ): They have a small pool which, no 1 ever uses, i mean, come on?? why keep a pool no one uses? for show? sherwood methods... are ""sometimes"" hazardous to the mental state...
Its not the best place to send your kid if you want him/her/it to grow up to be INDEPENDENT . they teach you to be DEPENDENT. so plz consider my EXP at sherwood. its not a very "FUN" place but if you want studies as your priority, its a Great place. ^.^

Best luck m8's,

EM

[shawarma]

Moderation notification

Last post by member ram moved to moderators forum. Reasons:

1. About other members, not about Sherwood Academy (off-topic).
2. Difficult to understand (below English language tolerance limits).

Member not banned or deleted. PM not sent. Reposting permitted if above two issues addressed.

Edit (22 August 2009): post by kamdor moved to moderators forum. Reason: Unacceptable tone and difficult to understand. Reposting permitted if posted more clearly and respectfully.

[luvsherwood]

I just luv sherwood.I am a student of CBSE. well Ive never heard of kids getting beaten up like anything .I have a brother to whom not one teacher has beaten.in fact our teachers are just excellent.I saw only some positive comments about sherwood. A student can really tell whats going on with him in school.you know why is sherwood loved by its students.Its because of its very affectionate teachers.I remember my friend failing in a subject by one percent.The teacher said, he will make her pass for this one 1st & last time.There are some negatives about every school & even Sherwood has some.Very true extra curricular activities are less and P.E. is not given much attention too.But there are programs staged in which different dances,speaking & skits are done.And there are assemblies every Thursday in which every classis given a chance. So those who want to enroll their children for Sherwood,please go ahead

[shawarma]

The Sherwood school in Abu Dhabi is apparently closed, or will be closed, according to the Gulf News this morning (in a report about a shortage of places for students at Abu Dhabi Indian School):

The limited number of seats available in Indian curricula schools in the city compared to the high demand has left parents in the lurch. The dire situation has been further strained by the closure of a prominent school, Sherwood Academy, where almost 3,000 students were studying. ... Sherwood Academy, the school which his son currently attends, is closing,

There is nothing obvious on the Sherwood Academy website about it closing but Wikipedia says it is (although the article looks a bit amateurish and looks like it was written by someone with an axe to grind). The article quoted below was posted on Wikipedia on 25 January 2010, replacing the last edit on 06 December 2009 which says nothing about the school closure:

Sherwood Academy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The parent school is Merryland Kindergarten. Now developed into Merryland International at Mussaffah.

All the institutions founded by Mrs. Susheela George.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sherwood academy is now closed. The school has finally closed after a lot of controversies and difficulties in acquiring proper licence for the IGCSE program as the school does not have proper qualified teachers. The school also does not have any proper gym and its motto has always been all work and no play. The only extra curriculum activities that the kids get is one week before the annual sports day when the school has try-outs for various competitions. The new premises of IGCSE has a swimming pool which is situated outdoor and no one has even been permitted to use it. As a result it has never been used. The school has maintained a good result records by forcing weak students out of the school in final year and deciding themselves if the student should take the extended or the core exam. The school has no respect for students and their parents as they know the shortage of schools in Abu Dhabi mean that admissions are not a problem. This has also enabled the school to demand the whole year's fees in a year advance. The school practices discipline by humiliating students in front of the whole school (for little things like not doing weekend's homework or not bringing the 'test' book when they have a class test or not bringing a subject's file), thereby demoralising them and completely destroying their self confidence at a age when the kids are growing and maturing mentally. The school is detested among many parents, but you will rarely find parents complaining, for if you are unhappy with the way they demoralise your kids, then Sherwood prides itself in giving your kid the transfer certificate. And their results are not so great either, other schools like the Islamia English School have had several kids over the years who get A grades (the maximum under GCSE) in 10 subjects.

[Faisal]

My name's Faisal. I graduated from Sherwood in 2008.

A little chair and a little boy on it, in a crowd of empty little chairs. That was me.
Drawings of bear's on the walls of the school, little swings outside and a teacher that would sing to us with a guitar.
Forgive me, for not being able to mention more, but my feeble mind remembers but little in the two years i spent in Merryland.
Except that i was depressed in much of it.

Years came and went and i found myself in 4th grade. School looked different, it felt different , it was FUN!
I felt like a grown up , inspite of being reminded of how small i was by my brother, and being laughed at about it. (obviously in a friendly way).
My brother was the head boy then, everyone liked him i think, which put me and the rest of my brothers on the spot light, i wish it didn't , i liked being left alone, where people don't give me much notice. Honestly, that happened but rarely at the time.

Then was my 8th grade, seemed like the only thing i did at the time was how to make myself known to everyone else, i wasn't really any mature then,and was inclined to having fun most of the time ( or mischief ), so it gave me a fine amount of trouble in school.

My best year was 11th grade, it was a makeover for me, every bit of me changed and i really enjoyed the year with my teachers.
Every one of us noticed i think, that the teachers were putting a real effort on getting us to do better on our exams, their determination only made me work harder. It really does matter to us that we get good grades, thanks to them i earned good scholarships.

Its been two years since i left school, i wish i could go back.
I miss my class mates, Ms. Fatima, Ms. Shareefa. I think they were really nice people , so were a lot of the teachers.

Maybe i'll go to sleep now, open my eyes and find myself going on one of our school picnics.

Thank you for reading
Goodbye.