Life

School of the future in the city of the future

Swiss international scientific school in Dubai launches boarding school for boys & girls

March 02, 2018

Mariam Nihal



Saudi Gazette

As Dubai’s first day and boarding school, Swiss International Scientific School offers multilingual education in French, German, English and Arabic. Currently in its third year of operation, SISD is home to more than 1000 day and boarding students from over 60 nationalities.

“It is the school of the future. SISD has a unique look and feel, which is very modern, unlike boarding schools around the world. We also promote STEM- Science, Technology, Engineering and Math as an additional focus to our studies. We try to move away from the classical and traditional international boarding schools to something more progressive,” Omar Danial, Founder of SISD told Saudi Gazette.

He said the school is a great fit for GCC families due to close proximity and for those who want to stay in touch with their roots.

“Boarding is something of a privilege. Families recognize that and they want the best for their children, which is why they send them to the best schools. We are one of the schools who provide that kind of environment. That is clearly the message we get from students and children who look us up. A lot of the culture is now driven by the children; they have access to information and they want to influence the choices of their parents. Which also shows that parents support kids and their choices. They recognize that they have to delegate a bit of their trust to their kids for them to grow up and become independent and happy,” he added.

Danial said apart from the great advantage of Dubai’s location, the exceptional benefits of not being in US, Switzerland or UK is the safety, alcohol and drug free environment which makes boarding much easier to implement. “These help us guarantee the safety and well being of our students which makes it easier to offer boarding here versus other locations.”

The boys boarding currently has 10 full time students and the girls boarding school premises opens in September this year. SISD was awarded the patronage of the Canton du Valais laying the foundation for the introduction of the Swiss Baccalaureate in the UAE and wider region. The Canton is recognized for its high academic performance and will support SISD in an advisory capacity on academic matters. In an event held on February 19, the delegation of the Canton du Valais and SISD’s leaders spoke at an event that was followed by a press a conference with Swiss and GCC journalists. “SISD’s journey to date has been a big success in providing a unique learning opportunity to children across the UAE and neighboring countries. The official inauguration of our campus and boarding houses is yet another milestone. This achievement is the result of tireless efforts by the school’s representatives, teachers, pupils and parents who work together to form a tight knit international community offering a challenging as well as supporting learning environment. Over the past few years, we worked hard to expand our campus to provide our boarding and day students with the best living and learning facilities in a cosmopolitan environment that stimulates academic development and personal growth. This hard work led to positioning ourselves as one of the leading boarding schools in the UAE and wider GCC in delivering first class education,” Beat Sommer, Head of School at the Swiss International Scientific School in Dubai told Saudi Gazette.

He said the location is key and being in Dubai, makes the school geographically accessible. “This provides parents with the option of allowing their children to experience world-class boarding without sending them to the more conventional, far away, boarding destinations. Dubai also has great weather for outdoor activities and is considered a safe city for young people, which play a massive part in parents’ decision making. For children whose parents’ jobs necessitate frequent globetrotting, boarding school can be the perfect solution offering stability in their education – and lives,” he added.

Even though boarding is a relatively new concept in the GCC, he said more families understand that it allows children to develop a range of key life skills and prepares them for the future, whether it is for university or later in their careers. “They learn skills such as organization, leadership, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, empathy, responsibility and cultural agility. In an ever-changing world and at a time where the Fourth Industrial Revolution is changing the nature of profiles required in the labor market, we teach our students creative and critical thinking and make sure they develop their cognitive abilities, to ensure they receive ‘future proof’ skills in the global competitive market,” Sommer said.

Garry James, Head of Boarding for boys said the boarding school allows children to become independent in a conducive atmosphere that doesn’t just focus on education but on overall development and progress. “I am like the father figure here. I am always available and live on campus. We try and do a lot of fun things with the boys, be it taking them on excursions to the desert or Wild Wadi among other places, we try and do what they want to keep them busy and happy here,” he told Saudi Gazette. The campus has an Olympic sized swimming pool; high end indoors sports hall and fitness training rooms, IAAF standard 400m running track and grass playing field for students.

SISD is an IB World School authorized to deliver the IB MYP program, and a candidate school for the IB PYP and DP programs.

School Address: Dubai Healthcare City, Phase 2, Al Jaddaf, Dubai

Phone Number: +971 4 375 0600

Email: info@sisd.ae


March 02, 2018
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