GEMS International School (GIS) Al Khail

Established in 2013, GEMS International School (GIS) Al Khail is one of the few International Baccalaureate (IB) schools in Dubai that offers classes from the primary years to higher secondary school. As a part of the GEMS group, this school educates students aged 3 to 18 years of age from early education to the diploma programme. The International Baccalaureate (IB) programme at GIS splits the curriculum into kindergarten, PYP, MYP and DP programmes. Students completing their education at this school graduate with an IB diploma.

GIS Al Khail currently has over 1,400 students from 88 nationalities, including many Emirati students. It also has a small portion of students that require additional learning needs. GIS is a well-staffed institute with 122 teachers and over 43 teaching assistants, which is enough to provide individual support to all. Besides, the school has three guidance counsellors.

Like the rest of the high-end GEMS schools in Dubai, GIS Al Khail has exceptional amenities, resulting in the well-rounded grooming of children. Also, its location near Al Quoz Industrial areas allows them to build a spacious campus with expansive indoor and outdoor facilities. KHDA rated the latest performance of this school as good.

Read this guide by Bayut to learn more about the facilities, campus, quality of education, curriculum, admission process, fee structure and much more.

Located off Al Khail Road near Dubai Hills Estate, GEMS International School Al Khail is in proximity of key residential areas in Dubai. The nearby communities are:

• Al Quoz 4
• Al Quoz 2
• Al Quoz 1
• Al Barsha South

Al Quoz 4 is the nearest residential community for students in GIS Al Khail. Those looking to shift closer to the school can find spacious villas and sophisticated apartments in Al Quoz 4 and other areas near GIS.

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GIS Al Khail is located on a spacious and purpose-built campus with a wide range of facilities. The building is based on modern architecture, which offers ample space for students to walk easily.

The classrooms are expansive, well-lit and equipped with the necessary furniture to support students’ learning. Besides this, the campus also has a cafeteria, library, medical centre, special classrooms for science, technology and visual and performing arts. It also has a black box theatre, an outdoor amphitheatre and dance studios.

There is a separate parent café, which is only accessible by parents and teachers.

To support the curriculum, GIS Al Khail also has a fully equipped music room for lessons and rehearsals. The science and technology facilities at GEMS International School Al Khail include science, IT, design and technology and food technology laboratories.

GIS Al Khail also has considerable sports facilities available for its students. It includes both indoor and outdoor sports halls and fields.

GEMS International School is located off Al Khail Road near Dubai Hills Estate. Those looking to access GIS Al Khail can easily access it through either Al Khail Road or Al Marabea’ street. The nearby prominent places include GEMS Wellington Academy and GEMS New Millennium School at Al Khail Road.

Over time, GIS Al Khail has gained popularity because of its outstanding facilities and commitment to encourage forward-thinking students. There are various reasons why parents prefer to enrol their children in GIS Al Khail.

GIS Al Khail is one of the few schools in Dubai that integrates the values of the International Baccalaureate programme from early education to higher secondary school. The International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma is a recognised educational programme that is offered in over 140 countries. It not only focuses on theoretical education but also emphasises practical knowledge. Thus, incorporating it at an early age helps in developing skilful students. Additionally, IB prepares students for high-end education at top colleges and universities.

The school also focuses on fostering strong character and leadership qualities. They believe these skills are important for 21st-century students. For this purpose, they have enriched the curriculum with high ethical and moral values. GEMS International School Al Khail also has an extracurricular programme with events like Model United Nations (MUN).

The school inculcates a sense of friendly and healthy competition. This is why, they use a house-based system that splits students into four houses: Red Raptors, Yellow Pythons, Green Mambas and Blue Dragons. The heads of each of the four houses collaborate with assigned staff members and students as per their motto. In this way, the school attempts to incorporate community spirit among its pupils.

Diversity is another attractive aspect of GEMS International School Al Khail. With students belonging to over 80 nationalities, it is a truly diverse and inclusive school. Also, it supports the learning needs of students of determination.

As a part of the GEMS Education Group, the school incorporated the core values of the institution with the IB-based curriculum. These core values are global citizenship, leading through innovation, growing by learning and pursuing excellence. All these values help in educating well-rounded students with extraordinary confidence and leadership skills.

Besides academic support, the school also has an extensive extra-curricular programme. They offer over 60 extra-curricular activities to discover creative, artistic, athletic and other talents within students.

GEMS International School Al Khail offers education from Kindergarten to the IB Diploma stage. The break-down of the educational system is tabulated below:

Kindergarten (Early Education)

GIS Al Khail has planned the Kindergarten syllabus based on the Primary Year Program (PYP) of the International Baccalaureate syllabus. GIS Al Khail understands each child progresses at a different pace. So, they have adopted an inquiry-based programme, which caters to the needs of an individual child.

It incorporates the knowledge, skill and attitude of the PYP programme and provides a holistic learning experience to children. They aim to develop social, cognitive, communication and emotional skills among children. The key subjects are:

Please note that the medium of instruction is English. While Arabic is mandatory, non-native speakers are taught the basic Arabic B syllabus while native Arabic speakers learn the more intensive Arabic A curriculum standardised by the Ministry Of Education in the UAE.

Teachers adopt student-centred teaching strategies that focus on providing specific attention and care to each student. In addition, playing activities ensure the development of fine motor skills.

Primary Year Programme (PYP)

GIS Al Khail has a specifically tailored Primary Year Programme (PYP) which is academically rigorous but allows personalised learning. It covers the educational needs of students in Grade 1 to Grade 5 and develops active, lifelong and caring learners. In the primary section, the school attempts to make children responsible by increasing their independent learning skills. In addition to this, the PYP programme aims to foster strong international-mindedness skills leading to world-class global citizens.

The curriculum links six transdisciplinary themes based on local and global issues:

• Who we are
• Sharing the planet
• How we organise ourselves
• How we express ourselves
• How the world works
• Where we are in place and time

In primary school, PYP targets students’ growth based on five essential elements of PYP:

• Skills
• Actions
• Knowledge
• Attitude
• Concepts

The primary school ends with the Primary Year Programme (PYP) Exhibition, which takes place in Grade 5. This involves carrying out a collaborative and in-depth project.

The core subjects in the PYP curriculum are:

For more information, read the parents handbook for the PYP programme at GEMS International School Al Khail.

Middle Year Programme (MYP)

The Middle Year Programme (MYP) is a balanced curriculum for students in Grade 6 to Grade 10. This challenging framework focuses on establishing a link between theoretical studies and the real world. It focuses on producing creative and reflective thinkers aware of local, national and international challenges.

In Grade 10, students have to complete a personal project based on their interests.

The subjects involved in MYP are:

Literature and Language

This involves learning media, poetry and literacy in the English and Arabic languages.

Mathematics

Integrated mathematics is taught to students from Grade 6 to Grade 8. Afterwards, students can opt for standard mathematics with extended classes from Grade 9 onwards.

Language Acquisition

This involves learning world languages such as Arabic, French and Spanish. Additionally, Arabic is compulsory for all from Grade 6 to Grade 10.

Sciences

GEMS International School offers an integrated science subject that covers different fields of science, such as biology, chemistry and physics.

Arts

Arts is an essential part of the MYP curriculum at GEMS International School Al Khail. The major components of this subject are drama, music and visual art.

Design

In Grade 6 to Grade 8, students study product design, which involves working with 3D printing technology and digital design via coding. To support technical learning, students have access to resistance material labs. For students of Grade 9 and above, these subjects are available as elective courses.

Physical and Health Education

It involves indoor and outdoor activities, such as participation in sports and swimming. For this purpose, the school uses sports halls and swimming pools.

Individuals and Society

This includes humanities and social studies that cover important topics such as geography and history, economics, trade and conflicts.

In addition, the school encourages students to consolidate essential skills for the diploma programme. For this purpose, the school offers the following three elective courses:

• Arts: Drama, Music and Visual Art
• Physical and Health Education
• Design: Product Design, Food Design and Design Technology

Diploma Programme (DP)

The Diploma Programme is the last phase of education in GIS, which results in the attainment of the IB diploma. It is a comprehensive 2-year programme that leads to admission to international universities and colleges.

The options available to students are:

• Language Acquisition
• Sciences
• The Art
• Mathematics
• Individuals and Societies
• Studies in Language and Literature

Please note the aforementioned six options have multiple courses.

Students have to select a subject from each of the aforementioned groups. In addition, students have to select three subjects at the standard level and the other three at the higher level. They can also opt for an additional subject from Group 3 or Group 4 instead of Group 6. For further information, read the student handbook for the diploma stage at GIS Al Khail.

The government of Dubai established the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) to improve the quality of education provided by private institutions in Dubai. One of its key responsibilities is to inspect the schools in Dubai annually and offer a rating based on a six-point scale: outstanding, very good, good, acceptable, weak and very weak.

In its latest inspection, KHDA rated GEMS International School Al Khail as good. GIS Al Khail is inspected for the fifth time and has maintained good rating for the fourth consecutive year. The history of GEMS International School Al Khail reviews by the KHDA is as follows:

The key strengths of GIS Al Khail reported by KHDA are:

• The positive attitude of students to learning and the school’s commitment to inclusion
• Active participation of parents and the community
• A high level of safety, care and guidance to students
• Consistently high achievements by students in the KG and PYP stage and well-developed learning skills across all phases of education

GIS Al Khail, however, needs to adopt the following recommendations for improved rating:

• The school must develop a sufficiently robust system for improving, planning and monitoring teaching. The system must ensure that the school can achieve all its goals.
• The governors must review the planning process for accountability and support.
• The school must work on providing high-quality teaching consistently in the MYP stage. This is to ensure that the school adopts student-centric approaches and IB activities. For this purpose, teachers should set high expectations for students. Teachers also need to use assessment information to understand individual learning needs.
• The school must develop a range of activities for Islamic Education and Arabic that comply with the MOE guidelines and IB values.

The academic activities at GEMS International School Al Khail are split into three terms: winter, spring and summer. The academic year starts in
August and ends in July.

• The first term starts in the last week of August and ends in the second week of December. Students go on a three-week winter break after the first term.
• The second term starts in the first week of January and ends in the fourth week of March. Students then go on a spring holiday till the first week of April.
• The last term starts in the second week of April and concludes in the first week of July.

Besides the semester breaks, students may expect mid-term breaks and holidays on Islamic and national events. GEMS International School Al Khail academic calendar provides further information on these holidays. Please note that the dates may vary depending upon the moon’s sighting.

Currently, the admission process is supported by both the virtual admission centre and the on-site admission team. The admission process at GEMS International School Al Khail consists of four steps.

First Step

Those looking to enrol their kids in GIS Al Khail must submit an online application form with the required information.

Second Step

After submission of the online application form, the parents will receive a receipt along with the inquiry number. Parents must print out the receipt and save the inquiry number, as it is essential for further processes. Please remember that the inquiry number is essential for the admission office to verify an inquiry submission. Parents will also receive an acknowledgement email after submitting the online application form.

Third Step

After receiving the acknowledgement email, parents need to pay the registration fee of AED 500 exclusive of 5% Value Added Tax (VAT). Parents also need to submit the required documents to the registrar. These documents are:

• A copy of the previous two years of academic record (translated in English)
• Transfer certificate (required at the time of enrolment)
• One passport-sized photograph of the applicant
• A copy of the applicant’s Emirates ID
• A copy of parents’ (mother and father) Emirates ID
• A copy of the applicant’s UAE residency visa
• A copy of the parents’ Residency Visa
• A copy of parents’ and applicant’s passports
• A coloured copy of the applicant’s vaccination record
• A copy of the applicant’s birth certificate (translated into English)

Those waiting for their residency visa and Emirates ID card can submit these documents later.

Fourth Step

The school encourages parents to visit the school and check out the facility by themselves. With the changes in the COVID-19 protocols for the academic year 2021-2022, GEMS International School Al Khail offers both face-to-face and virtual tour options to parents. Face-to-face school tour can be booked on the official website and are offered every Sunday to Thursday from 08:00 am to 3:30 pm. You can also opt for the virtual school tour available on the school’s website.

Once the school receives the registration fees and documents, the school will conduct an entrance test to gauge the applicant’s aptitude.

Age-Grade Guidelines

The age-grade guideline followed by GIS Al Khail is as follows:

This is based on the age of the students on 31st August (for schools beginning in September). Source: GIS Al Khail

* This is to cater to students transferring from systems that admit students of a younger age)

Please note that the decision regarding admission does not solely depend on the result of the entrance test but also the previous academic result. Also, the grade offered by the school depends on the region of the previous school.

For more information on the school’s policy towards inclusion and diversity, view the GEMS International School admission process.

Registration Fee for New Students

For new students, the registration fee is AED 525, inclusive of 5% VAT. This is payable at the time of submitting an online admission application.

Re-registration fee for existing students

For existing students, the school charges 5% of the tuition fee as a non-refundable re-registration fee. They readjust the re-registration against the tuition fee for the first semester.

Tuition fee

In GIS Al Khail, parents can pay the tuition fee at the start of each term. GEMS International School Al Khail fees for the year 2021-22 is as follows:

The fee can also be paid on a termly basis. For more information, check out the fee structure of GEMS International School Al Khail. The deadline for the termly fee is as follows:

• Term 1 – 1st September
• Term 2 – 1st January
• Term 3 – 1st April

As a part of GEMS Education, it allows an opportunity for parents to save on tuition fees through GEM Rewards. Parents can pay the fee through cash, cheque (title: GEMS International School, Al Khail), direct online payment, credit card and wire transfer.

As a part of GEM Education, the students of GIS Al Khail are also eligible for GEMS Scholarships. They offer UAE’s largest scholarship opportunity in creative and performing arts, academics, innovation and design technology, Arabic and sports.

The scholarship covers a fee concession of 5% to 20% for an entire academic year and awardees have to reapply for the scholarship in subsequent years. To apply for Scholarships, students need to fill GEMS Scholarship form. Read the scholarship criteria for more information.

The school offers healthy and nutritional lunch and snack options to its students. For this purpose, they have a separate cafeteria in the primary year and middle year sections. The early year students can pre-order their lunch, which will be delivered to their classes.

The school collaborated with a third-party service provider that offers nutritional hot and cold international cuisines. It also has a separate parent café that serves food to parents and visitors.

Those living far from the GIS Al Khail do not need to worry as the school offers transportation services to its pupils. For this purpose, they outsourced the transportation service to School Transport Service (STS) LLC. STS is a reputable name in providing school bus services to over 60 schools in the UAE.

The buses comply with the regulations set by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). They have SMART buses with ultra-modern safety levels. The buses have GPS tracking, a video surveillance system, an electronic attendance (RFID) system, sleeping child check and a panic button. They also have an STS app and an ultra-modern control room for monitoring.

To avail of the transportation service, parents need to register their child at STS official website. Their representative will confirm the availability of the seat along with information such as pickup time, drop-off time and location. To pay transportation charges, parents can visit the STS counter at school, STS website or STS application.

For more information, contact the school representative on +971-55-8775488 or cce-gis@stss.ae.

The school currently does not offer any boarding facility to its students.

GIS Al Khail also offers holiday camps to its students. For this purpose, they collaborate with third-party organisations for conducting holiday camps. The school encourages students to take part in these camps to learn new skills. One of the most prominent holiday camps is an indoor sports summer camp. It happens every year during the summer holiday and enrols students aged 4 and above. The timings are usually 9:00 am to 2:00 PM. Charges vary from AED 150 for one day to AED 600 per week.

Other popular summer camps include the English language Summer Camp by Delta and by GEMS Education camps.

GEMS International School Al Khail is equipped with excellent sports facilities which are extensively used to support the curriculum of physical education. These facilities include a shaded outdoor area, a 25-meter swimming pool with 6 lanes, a learner swimming pool, multipurpose sports and performance halls and an outdoor mixed-use sports court. The outdoor sports court is used for netball, basketball and tennis. The school also has a full-sized pitch for football. Other sports and playing facilities include indoor and outdoor kindergarten playing areas.

The school considers extra-curricular activity as paramount to provide a holistic school experience. In addition, the adopted IB curriculum requires the school to offer creative and explorative opportunities through extra-curricular activities. For this purpose, they developed an Extra-Curricular Activity (ECA) programme with a plethora of interesting activities. GIS Al Khail focuses extensively on sports as the major ECA. The sports facilities also support the sports ECA, also known as GIS Jaguar Sports. The sporting activities available in GIS Al Khail are:

Athletic activities at GIS Al Khail are:

Art Activities at GIS Al Khail include:

Other noteworthy educational and academic-related extra-curricular activities offered by GIS Al Khail include:

Besides the aforementioned activities, external providers such as Delta and East Sports Management (ESM) also offer several ECAs involving trained professionals. Most of these activities happen every Tuesday from 2:00 to 3:00 pm.

Apart from the specific field activities, the school also offers extra-curricular activities such as celebrations on charity and blood donation drives, religious and national events.

The school also offers field trips to its students. This includes both national and international trips that are not only educational but also focus on developing skills and expertise necessary for the 21st century. GIS AL Khail’s Week without Walls is an initiative that offers both local and international trips.

Recently, the students that did not go for the international trip were taken to places such as The Atlantis, Go-Karting, Scafa culinary school, Top Chef cooking studios, Al Boom Diving, Dubai Parks & Resorts and other famous places in Dubai. Please note that students are only allowed to wear GEMS International School Al Khail uniform for field trips unless stated otherwise.

Currently, the only after-school care facility offered at GEMS International Al Khail is the extra-curricular activities.

To offer medical care to pupils of GEMS International School Al Khail, the school has a fully equipped medical centre. The medical staff includes Dr Asiya Khan and two trained nurses. They provide prompt medical interventions in cases of illnesses and injuries.

Like the rest of the GEMS schools, GEMS International School Al Khail believes in strong parents’ engagement for the success of children. To facilitate this, the school offers several modes of communication.

GEMS parents’ portal is the primary mode of communication between parents and the school. The online parents portal provides key information regarding the child’s progress, upcoming events, changing policies and examination schedule.

3-a-day, an app by GEM Education, is another source of communication that focuses on encouraging learning, share learning and talking about learning. The application is easily available on the Play Store and App Store.

The school also encourages face-to-face interaction with parents. One key initiative is Coffee Mornings, where parents can have one-on-one conversations with teachers and the school’s administration.

Not only this, teachers and parents can also communicate through WhatsApp groups.

• Location: Al Khail Road, Al Marabea’ East, Dubai.
• Telephone Number: +971 4 339 6200
• Email Address: registrar_gis@gemsedu.com
• Official Website

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Note that the cover image belongs to GEMS International School (GIS) Al Khail.