Moving to Abu Dhabi and in need of help

[Heisenberg2]

We recently found out we are moving to Abu Dhabi. We have been expats before and are not too worried about the move however trying to get the DC into schools is becoming a nightmare. We have approached a couple which are either full or have turned us down. It's been really difficult to find any recommendations or suggestions. We have 2 DS who are in their final primary school year. Neither of them is particularly academic and one has dyslexia, so trying to find a school that suits is particularly problematic. Does anyone have any recommendations for either a British or American school? We are due to start in January and looking for a mid year place appears to be an additional problem.
Any help would be gratefully received.

Apply to places like Al Yasmina and Gems in Khalifa City. Yasmina you have to apply online for the 2014/15 school year. At the moment there is no places but I do know that in December a lot Australian and NZ kids move as their school year is Jan to Dec.

School places are very space in AD and difficult to get though.

Have you looked at Cranleigh? New school and v expensive, but they may well still have places for older children like yours.

Also, look at Canadian School which is in Khalifa A. Brighton College also might have places for older children.

I would probably avoid an IB school if your children aren't super academic.

Cranleigh probably best bet. However, as it's mid-year you might be lucky with a few as I think there's a government ruling that kids already started at a school in ad can't switch after a certain amount of time.. Don't quote me though. My kids are going to Cranleigh when we move early next year. Have you looked at bisad, al Yasmina, pearl primary, Brighton college, BSAK? I liked bisad but just felt it wasn't right for one of our four kids and went for cranleigh because it seemed perfect for him and needed all kids together at same school. Good luck.

Many thanks for all the useful comments. Brighton College turned us down after they did the entrance test... Obviously not bright enough. We really liked the sound of Cranleigh but they are full and not expecting 2 places to come up by January. The British School Al Khubairat are full. We are currently applying to the GEMs American school as the DS's are already in an American system, at this stage we are hoping we can get them accepted anywhere. We would still like to get them into Cranleigh but I think I also read something about transferring from one school to another can be problematic.