Move to Abu Dhabi

[twinnedtoiletlady]

Hi all,
We are currently looking into a move to Abu Dhabi, and I could really use some insight knowledge from mnetters who are living there, or who have lived there. Especially regarding where to live and what schools to choose.
My husband is currently in negotiations, and so far I know the job would be at Saadiyat Island, housing allowance would be 200.000, school allowance for 2 children 80.000 each, monthly travel allowance, health insurance, and flights for the family once a year. Salary itself is not known yet.
I have no idea about numbers, but they look allright to me so far?

If work is at saadiyat island, where would you live as a family with 2 children? What schools should we be looking at - dd1 going into year 7; dd2 going into year 5.
I would love for school, work and home to be reasonably close, but don’t know if this is feasible? Accommodation on Saadiyat Island would be more than 200.000 I think? And Cranleigh School is very good according to google, but is it selective? Our dds are doing well in school at the moment, but we are not providing any tutoring, or working towards any 11+ exams. Does that exclude them from attending a school like Cranleigh?

Any advice would be very welcome, as feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment!
Thanks.

Hi 200,000 Aed should be adequate for rental in Abu Dhabi, rents are dropping in the UAE atm. As for schools have you looked at The British School – Al Khubairat?

Hello/ We're moving to Abu Dhabi over the summer so I've done a lot of the leg work on this. 200k is a good housing allowance (a lot more than we get) but it won't get you near a villa on Saadiyat (you're looking at 300k+ for that). 80k is a very good schooling allowance.

Cranleigh isn't academically selective. The other schools I suggest you look at with older children in the mix are BSAK and Brighton (academically selective but we're not talking super grammar level). These schools are all full for year 5 but a lot of people leave every year.

Then there's BSID, Repton (personally I wouldn't with older children, the school is still very small from the current &4 up, but not terrible so better than homeschooling) and the Aldar schools. Amnity seems to get some ok reviews as well.

What you really need to do now is put applications in - it doesn't cost anything, it's just time. You've missed the main thrust of applications. Personally I would go somewhere you are happy with for secondary as your youngest will be following soon.

Send me a message if you want to discuss anything in more detail.