Amity International School

Amity International School is managed by the Amity Education Group, which also operates a university in Dubai.

Offering British curriculum in a co-educational setup, Amity International School Abu Dhabi (AIS) was established in 2015 and offers classes from Foundation Stage 1 to Year 11. It welcomes students belonging to different nationalities. There are 922 students out of which 31% are Emirati while others belong to the UK, India and USA.

The school is tucked away from the city’s centre but is surrounded by a few residential communities such as:

• Al Reef
• Al Rahba
• Al Shahama
• Al Bandar

Al Reef is set on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi and is one of the most popular areas for renting and buying properties in the UAE capital. With a mix of apartments and villas, Al Reef was among the top locations for buying villas in Abu Dhabi in 2019. Those who have to commute to Dubai regularly can live in Al Reef.

Al Bandar, which is a part of Al Raha Beach community, is situated on the north coast of Abu Dhabi. The neighbourhood is home to a mix of residential and commercial towers.

Those looking for residential options near the school campus can consider:

• Apartments for rent near Amity International School
• Villas for rent near Amity International School

Amity International School has a spacious campus divided into four sections: nursery, reception, primary and secondary. The 15-acre Amity International Abu Dhabi campus has state-of-the-art facilities, is well-lit, airy and inspires learning and discovery.

Premium campus facilities include art studio and gallery, Apple and Dell IT labs, three libraries (one for each section), a black box theatre and a dance studio. To introduce technology to students, a design and technology suite is also part of the campus. There is a spacious outdoor, shaded play area for kids.

Other sports facilities include an Olympic-size pool, a separate learner pool, an indoor multi-sport hall and a separate FS gym. Students can make use of a full-size football pitch and a 400-metre running track. There are tennis, basketball and netball courts along with a 540 seater state-of-the-art auditorium.

Amity International Abu Dhabi campus is located on Al Bahia Street in Al Bahia near Exit 39. The nearest landmark is Al Raha Beach. New Al Bahia is close to the school. Amity International School is one of the few schools in the neighbourhood. Yas Island is in proximity to the school campus along with Deerfields Mall. While the school is tucked away from the city’s centre, one can easily reach it from neighbouring communities.

Amity International School is managed by Amity Education that offers international standard education with campuses in Dubai, New York, London, China and Singapore.

The school’s mission is to provide a nurturing learning environment to students where they can excel intellectually, socially and academically.
Students get a personalised educational programme and are usually involved in project-based learning. This encourages independent thinking and emotional intelligence in young individuals. Special attention is given to developing communication skills in students.

Amity International believes in collaboration and togetherness. Students at Amity belong to different countries and the school respects and celebrates diversity.

Well-rounded development of students at Amity International Abu Dhabi is achieved via a comprehensive academic and co-curricular programme. The school remains true to its values and teachers at Amity play a vital role in a student’s success. The school is a closely knitted and united community where teachers, students and parents together form a strong partnership for the child’s betterment.

To promote reading habits and the love of books among students, there are separate libraries for each learning stage. For younger students, there is a library in the FS section.

There is an exceptional music department in the school with two well-equipped classrooms with handheld and tuned percussion, a djembe and woodwind instruments. Students can visit the practice room equipped with 24 Yamaha touch-sensitive keyboards. Dedicated music technology Apple Mac room and midi controller workstations are part of the music facility.

Amity School Abu Dhabi offers classes from Foundation Stage 1 to Year 11. These classes are divided into Nursery, Reception, Primary and Secondary sections.

The Key Stages system is implemented at the school. Key Stage 1 includes Year 1 and Year 2. Key Stage 2 covers Year 3 to Year 6 and Key Stage 3 consists of Year 7 to Year 9. Key Stage 4 includes Year 10 and Year 11 while Key Stage 5 covers Year 12 and Year 13.

The school along with achieving academic excellence also motivates students to pursue their interests. From nursery to secondary school, Amity International enables students to become confident and acquire as much knowledge and skills as possible.

The school follows the National Curriculum of England, an internationally recognised education system with the best teaching practices. At Amity International School, all subjects have established guidelines. Teachers are given the freedom to modify the curriculum to suit their students’ needs.

In Year 12 and Year 13, Amity International offer 3 distinct pathways:

• A level & International IPQ
• A level & Gold Arts Award
• Blended BTEC and A level

Amity International School was inspected by ADEK from 16th April to 19th April 2018 and secured a Good rating.

Students’ performance was found to be good while their personal, social and innovation skills are very good. The school’s teaching and assessment are good and the curriculum is very good as per the Amity International School ADEK report. It provides outstanding care, support, protection and guidance to students. Amity School has a ‘very good’ leadership and management.

According to the ADEK report, the school has grown significantly and has increased its teaching staff in the last two years. It welcomed new students while maintaining its overall good standards.

Students’ achievement is good in the middle and primary school phases. It is very good in Foundation Stage. Students show acceptable achievement in Arabic as a first language. But the rating drops for Arabic as a second language. Students’ progress is overall good in English and Mathematics and very good in Science. They show very good learning skills in Science, Mathematics and English.

Students have very good social, personal and innovation skills. They show outstanding personal development. ADEK states that students’ behaviour and attitude towards learning is very positive. They have a very good understanding of the UAE values, culture as well as Islamic teachings.

The school has maintained the excellent quality of teaching and assessment. However, top-quality assessment practice and teaching are not consistent across the primary and middle school. They are very good in Foundation Stage.

The overall curriculum quality is very good. The school makes outstanding curricular choices. Amity International School shows outstanding protection, guidance, support and care. It efficiently documents and follows health and safety procedures. The school does its best to identify students with special educational needs as well as gifted and talented students. Guidance and pastoral care for each student are outstanding.

School leadership and management is very good overall. The school principal and senior leaders are an inspiration for students. Amity School Abu Dhabi maintains a strong partnership with parents.

Key areas of strength highlighted in the Amity International School report are:

• Writing in English that has improved across the school
• Students’ writing skills in most subjects
• Improved learning and teaching during the Foundation Stage
• The extensive range of extra-curricular activities for students
• Robust systems that ensure students’ safety and security
• Students’ behaviour, positive attitude and relationships
• Students’ understanding of the UAE culture and heritage
• The senior leadership team, especially the principal

ADEK also pointed out areas that require improvement.

Amity International School should continue to raise achievement in all subjects in Arabic for all learners. This can be done by:

• Offering interesting activities to keep students engaged
• Thoroughly and efficiently recording and assessing the achievement of each student during lessons
• Designing ways to support and challenge all students
• Offering purposeful learning in Arabic lessons through adopting and implementing practices in Islamic Education and Social Studies

The school should further develop the role of middle leaders for coaching so they can support the teachers. This can be achieved by:

• Continuing to successfully identify and share best practices through leadership and peer lesson observation
• Providing support and challenge to students for developing their communication by letting middle leadership enhance the CPD Programme
• Enhancing the use of technology and thinking skills
• Ensuring middle leaders give clear targets to teachers
• Having effective coaching and mentoring programmes for teachers to achieve and improve their professional practice

Amity International Abu Dhabi must use data more effectively to support lesson planning. To ensure that students’ needs are met, the school must:

• Develop student tracking systems
• Use data analysis for planning lessons
• Analyse data and identify the key strengths and areas for improvement for all groups of students
• Effectively use data to monitor students’ progress as groups and individuals
• Review the curriculum periodically and change the plan to meet the needs of students

First Term begins on 30th August. The half-term break lasts from 18th to 22nd October. First Term ends on 10th December. The Second Term begins on 3rd January. Students get a mid-term break from 14th to 18th February. The second term ends on 28th March. The final Third Term begins on 11th April and ends on 1st July.

Amity International School admission process is quite simple. Parents can fill the application form available on the official Amity School website and visit the campus to understand the school’s curriculum and philosophy.

Here’s an overview of the age placement guidelines followed at Amity International Abu Dhabi.

This is based on the age of the students on 31st December (for schools beginning in September) Source: Amity International School Abu Dhabi

Children who join the school during an academic year should provide a transfer certificate. This applies to all new admissions from Reception until Year 11. Admission from Year 3 onward requires a transfer certificate to ensure the continuity of education of the students. This step is especially important if your child was studying a different curriculum.

Once the application is successfully submitted, the applicant is invited to meet the registrar who will then guide parents about the admission process.
For admissions in Nursery and Reception, the child is invited for a play session in a friendly, relaxed environment. The teacher in charge will closely understand and observe the child’s development and ability to learn keeping the school curriculum and atmosphere in mind.

Students interested in joining Year 1 and Year 2 must meet and interact with the registrar who will observe the student’s speech and language development. In this informal meeting, the admission team of the school will also evaluate the child. Sometimes, the admission team may also ask parents to bring the last progress report of the child to get a better idea of their abilities.

For admission in Year 3 to Year 9, applicants have to pass an assessment designed to measure the academic readiness for the year the student is applying for. Copy of the student’s last progress report is also required at the time of assessment.

For overseas applicants, the school’s decision is based on the most recent school report or Skype assessment.

Soft copies of mandatory documents can be submitted at the time of admission. Parents can submit hard copies as well.

Amity School encourages parents to visit the campus and meet the school team. The school remains open from 7:30 am to 03:00 pm from Sunday to Thursday.

Here is the list of documents required at the time of admission:

• Copy of the applicant’s birth certificate
• Passport-size photo of the applicant
• Copies of passports of parents and applicant
• Copies of parents’ and applicant’s visa
• Copies of parents’ and applicant’s Emirates ID
• Copy of water and electricity bill showing the property ID number
• Family book (for UAE nationals only)
• Child’s vaccination record
• Academic progress report (copy of last attended school in English)
• Transfer certificate (from the previous school)
• Court decision letter (for overseas students who don’t have Emirates ID)
• Copy of Etihad staff ID (if applicable)
• Students joining Year 3 and above and those coming from outside of Abu Dhabi must provide a Transfer Certificate from their previous school at the beginning of the academic year

Amity International School fee is as follows:

The above-mentioned tuition fee includes the costs of books and co-curricular clubs. However, charges do not cover the cost of:

• Uniform
• Transport
• External Clubs

Amity International School fee can be paid in three terms

• First Term: September-December
• Second Term: January- March
• Third Term: April-June

Parents can use the Skiply App or bank transfer for fee payment. They can also deposit money at the cashier’s office at the school’s main reception.

Nursery fee is only changed if advised by ADEK. The AED 2,000 acceptance deposit (registration fee) is non-refundable and can be paid at the school cashier office.

To provide students with an outstanding education, the Amity Scholarship and Bursary fund was launched in September 2017.

A bursary equivalent to the difference between Amity’s fees and those of the candidate’s current school fees is awarded to scholars. The school has designed a scholarship programme to reward students for their academic excellence and to celebrate their extraordinary potential. Students can also benefit from a generous educational enrichment fund.

Scholarships offered to students include:

• Academic Scholarship (for Year 7 to Year 10 students)
• Art and Design Scholarship (for Year 7 to Year 10 students)
• Dance Scholarship (for Year 7 to Year 10 students)
• Drama Scholarship (for Year 7 to Year 10 students)
• Sports Scholarship (for Year 7 to Year 10 students)
• Music Scholarship (for Year 5 to Year 10)

Children can bring lunch from home or buy healthy snacks from the school canteen. Parents can pre-order meals online and top up their children’s RFID card – children need not use cash to buy meals from the Amity canteen. For more details, contact Keita on +971-55-589-3186 or email at caroline.nganga@keita.ae.

The school has partnered with Velocity School Bus Transportation to ensure a safe commute for all students. Parents who wish to enrol their kids for school bus service can contact the bus supervisor on +971-2-503-9031 or email at buses@amityabudhabi.ae. Payments can be made directly to Velocity School Bus Transportation.

The transport company has a desk on the first floor, next to the Uniform Shop. Parents can visit the transport desk throughout the day.

Students are encouraged to behave properly on the bus. A bus behaviour report is maintained by the school administrator. Unacceptable behaviour will cause your child not being allowed on the school bus.

Sports and physical education are part of the curriculum. The school campus has premium sports facilities including the 400m running track. Students can make use of the

• The fully equipped boathouse
• 4G astroturf playing fields
• Full-sized indoor sports hall
• Olympic-sized swimming pool
• Outdoor tennis/netball courts

Sailing and kayaking are offered at Amity School. However, students need to take the preliminary sailing course first.

Co-curricular programmes are an important part of school life. Students challenge themselves physically, creatively and academically through extracurricular activities.

Amity International School offers more than 150 co-curricular clubs and societies. The wide range of options gives students opportunities to choose activities as per their interest. Some premium co-curricular activities include:

For more information regarding extracurricular activities, email at clubs@amityabudhabi.ae.

All students, except those in Nursery, are part of at least one field trip or educational trip every year. All trips are finalised after ADEK approval. Parents have to sign the consent form before their kids can join the field trip.

Amity International School offers after-school activities once the classes are officially dismissed.

To ensure students’ well-being, there is a well-equipped clinic at the school approved by the Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (HAAD). School nurses are responsible to take care of the students as they are well-qualified and hold HAAD license.

Parents are requested to provide the child’s updated vaccination record and inform the school if their child has an allergy or a chronic medical condition. Amity School also offers vaccination every year that is in line with the UAE’s immunisation schedule. Parents are informed about the vaccination schedule and they should fill and sign the consent form.

The medical form should also be filled and signed by the parents at the time of admission. This is to know if the child has an allergy or suffers from any disease. All allergies are added in the medical register of the school. School nurses can be contacted via email on nurse@amityabudhabi.ae.

Amity International sends newsletters regarding curriculum updates and school events to parents every week. Every section including Foundation Stage, Primary and Secondary have separate newsletters.

Parent-Teacher Consultations (PTCs) plays an important role in keeping parents well-informed about their child. Amity International School has an open-door policy. Parents are invited for a brief meeting at the beginning and end of each day. Parents and teachers can also request a meeting during the term.

Each term, Amity International also hosts a Parent-Teacher and Pupil Consultation. During PTCs, teachers inform parents about their child’s academic and social progress.

Parents are also encouraged to get involved in the school. They are invited to celebrate events with their children such as National Day celebrations, International Day, Special Assemblies and Coffee Morning.

A friendly Parent-Teacher Association is also set up by the Amity School. The association is responsible to organise a wide range of school events.

• Telephone: +971-2-503-9000
• Email: reception@amityabudhabi.ae
• Website Amity International School
• Facebook Amity International School

Please note that the cover image belongs to Amity International School Abu Dhabi.