Argh, SCHOOLS!

[DaysofHoney]

We are moving to the UAE in August. Very excited. DH is already there. We’ve been over twice to see schools and have put applications in to the ones we like. Our preference has a long-ish waiting list (kids are 13th and 7th on their respective lists), but we have an offer from another school we like. The problem is, the school that has space isn’t conveniently located for work… and isn’t anywhere that we’d especially like to live.

Has anyone got any experience of how quickly these wait lists might move? I know it’s transient… but should I assume we need to go with our third choice and spend longer on drive times?

I really don’t want to start them somewhere and move them… it’s all very unsettling as it is!

another option is to wait it out until the first few weeks of term, or October half term, and hope enough people don’t come back after summer??? But this is longer apart from DH and more limbo for the kids.

Any/all advice much appreciated 😁

Bumping for the time zone…

Sorry I don't know, but I think it might help you find someone with information if you put UAE in your thread title. You need to catch the eye of people who have experience living there.

KSA rather than UAE.
Massive turnover of kids.
We were asked about this time each year to confirm (with a deposit) our intention to keep a place the next academic year. Depending on if/when this is done they may have just emptied the waiting list, or about to get a load of spaces.

I wouldn't set your heart on one school, but I would look very carefully at commute times for work and school.

Thanks! This school doesn’t take deposits so I think it’s harder to gauge how many places may free up!

Which school is it? I don't think anyone can answer this without knowing that. Normally the schools themselves will give you an indication.

Generally schools get parents to confirm whether their children will be leaving at the end of the school year in about April/May. Kids do of course leave after that, but an established school should have a decent idea of how many are likely to (in that they can look at patterns for other years).

It also makes a big difference how big the school is - a school with a 100+ intake a year group is more likely to have 13 slots free up than one that only takes about 30 kids a year. My view is a move of 13 is probably unlikely but as I said it's hard to comment without details.

There are a lot of good schools in Dubai. Can you not find one with space AND in a good location?

Sorry realised you said UAE and so this might not be Dubai. Same points apply although there is less choice of good schools in Abu Dhabi and very little in other Emirates.

Is it an international school? If so, I would assume you have a lot of families moving around fairly regularly (army etc?) so you may find the waiting list moves quite quickly.

It might be worth seeing if you can find a local Facebook group for the area and ask in there though.

Finally (sorry for multiple threads) are you sure they don't take a re-registration deposit? That would be very unusual. If they don't take deposits for new students, when are Term 1's fees due?

Sorry, yes, it’s Abu Dhabi and it’s the British School (BSAK). I think it’s a big school, 5-6 classes of 28 per year group.

BSAK should be able to give you a proper indication if you ask them. They will know how fast their waiting lists move.

That said, there will not be many parents who choose another school over BSAK so I don't think the deposit or lack of one will make any difference. You're realistically looking at children leaving Abu Dhabi unexpectedly rather than people just not taking up places.

What's the other school? Abu Dhabi's not so big that I'd really take proximity to work into account unless your DH really works in the middle of nowhere.

If you can afford to, I'd accept your second choice school and stay on BSAK's waiting list. From what I hear, it's worth a bit of disruption to your children staying on BSAK's waiting list even if they end up being at your second choice school for only a short period. I wouldn't take the risk of delaying the move until half term though - no guarantee you'd get two places and they may well look to fill sooner than that.

BISAD have spaces for us, and DS has sat the Cranleigh assessment which we are waiting to hear on (no space for DD there though but I understand if DS got an offer they’d prioritise DD application)… we’d much rather be at the downtown end than living nearer BISAD.

What's the deposit requirement at BISAD? Honestly I would risk losing the places but equally I would potentially move to Cranleigh or BSAK part way through a term if a place came up.