GEMS Wellington International School (GWIS) is the only foundation stage 1 to year 13 International School to receive an ‘Outstanding’ rating by the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB).
The report said; the overall performance of GWIS was outstanding. Since the last inspection, the school has worked tirelessly to help students of all ages understand how to learn and implement the next steps in learning. The report identified that the new Principal of the school, Mel Curtis, had successfully embedded a culture of rigour allied to the empowerment of students, teachers and senior leaders. The school knows itself very well.
Mel Curtis says, “This is a fabulous result for Wellington International School. It is a well deserved result and truly reflects the day to day running of this flagship school. The result comes on top of last year’s examination results which were the best in the school’s history.
“The staff and students have embraced a rigorous learning agenda which has enabled outstanding learning to take place throughout the school. The school is a very special place to be and the school community is immensely proud of the report and it reflects what the school does on a daily basis” Mel Curtis said.
Key outstanding features of the school from the DISB report are:
- Highly effective curriculum design and management complemented by thorough analysis and use of assessment data
- The inclusive nature of the school and its highly effective work with a wide range of students
- Outstanding learning skills of students who take responsibility for their own learning
- Outstanding leadership that promotes rigorous self- evaluation and improvement planning throughout the entire school community
- Highly effective assessment procedures that involved students fully in knowing the next steps in their learning
- Outstanding arrangements for the protection and support of students
- Highly supportive, committed and engaged parent body.
2009 Academic performance
In 2009 the year 11 Cohort achieved 86% A* to C. This is 20 % above the UK National Average* and a 17 % increase from the 2008 results.
GWIS Year 12 and 13 students’ excelled in their AS/A2 examinations, with Year 13 students gaining entrance to prestigious Universities worldwide, and some Year 12 students applying to both Oxford and Cambridge Universities in the UK and top Universities in North America, Australia, and South Africa for 2010 entrance.
