Safa Community School (SCS)

The Safa Community School (SCS) is a sister school of the prestigious Safa British School. Founded in 2014, it is one of the best schools in Al Barsha that follows the National Curriculum of England. It educates students from the Foundation Stage to the Sixth Form. Currently, the school has over 2,200 students, supported by 187 full-time teachers, 79 teaching assistants and a guidance counsellor.

• Location: Al Barsha South
• School fee: AED 51,191 - AED 84,106
• Curriculum: British
• Co-ed or segregate: Co-education
• KHDA rating: Outstanding
• Years offered: Foundation Stage - Sixth Form

Located in the popular community of Al Barsha South, Safa Community School Dubai is close to some popular residential communities in the emirate. Therefore, those living far from the school might consider relocating to the following nearby areas.

• Motor City
• Arabian Ranches
• Jumeirah Village Circle

Motor City is the nearest residential community for students in SCS. The community has both spacious apartments and luxurious villas.

• Apartments for rent near Safa Community School
• Apartments for sale near Safa Community School
• Villas for rent near Safa Community School
• Villas for sale near Safa Community School

The campus of Safa School sprawls over a large area with modern-styled buildings. It has two uniquely designed buildings dedicated to the primary and secondary blocks. The windows within classrooms open to the outside area of the building, providing a scenic view to students. Classrooms are well-equipped with purpose-built furniture and soft flooring to ensure functionality and safety at the same time. The primary block also has outside play areas with wooden play equipment and a central resource area for teachers.

The global learning centre encompasses several high-end facilities for its students, including a large multi-sport hall, drama and dance studios, music rooms, an auditorium and a library for secondary students. Towards the rear side of the campus lies outdoor sports facilities for children, including an international-sized soccer pitch. It also has a separate swimming pool for foundation students and primary and secondary students.

Safa Community School is located in Al Barsha South at Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road (E311 Road), Dubai, UAE.

SCS serves the community by working in partnership to provide the best quality in the UAE. Safa celebrates the inclusion and diversity of its broad community. It is committed to the principles of quality and inclusion of opportunity. Using the school’s aims and values, SCS aspires for every student to have the support they require to become healthy, stay safe and contribute positively to society.

Safa Community School Dubai also prepares its students for a multicultural and global world by requiring its students to have relevant 21st Century skills and an ability to research, retain and utilise knowledge in an extensive range of various circumstances that may have a creative flair and intellectual depth. The management of Safa focuses on building confidence in its students.

Additionally, SCS offers flexibility for the parents of the youngest students i.e. Foundation Stage 1. Besides the regular 5-day a week timing, it also provides flexible timings ideal for parents afraid of their child adapting to school life. These plans include 3-day and 4-day options. However, this is only available in the first and second terms.

Safa Community School has divided the curriculum into three categories, Foundation Stage, Primary and Secondary. The British curriculum followed at the school have the following sections:

FOUNDATION STAGE (FS1 AND FS2)

The foundation stage, the school follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework. It focuses on the seven areas of learning including:

• Communication and Language Development
• Physical Development
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Literacy Development
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

SCS offers the Flexi-FS1 attempts to provide parents with options to give children flexibility for the overall school experience. The stream of Flexi-FS1 has been conceptualised to provide parents with flexibility while allowing them to switch to mainstream education when the student is ready. The Flexi-FS1 would help to provide parents with the flexibility to:

• Continue utilising a five-day a week FS1 option with no changes made to timings.
• Select a three-day or four-day option for the first two terms.
• Enjoy a higher drop-off period to fulfil those requiring an early drop-off and a later drop-off.
• To support parents unable to pick up their child on time due to work commitments.

The school also has simple FS1 classes that also follow the 5-day routine and the same educational pattern. FS2 exposes children to real life situations to provide them practical exposure. It also uses the EYFS framework to teach kids.

PRIMARY CURRICULUM (KS1 and KS2)

Key Stage 1 (KS1) is a legal term for the schooling of two years practised in schools within England and Wales and is usually known as Year 1 and Year 2 when students are aged between five and seven. The Key Stage usually covers students during infant school.

Key Stage 2 (KS2) is defined as four years of schooling across maintained schools in England and Wales. This is usually known as Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6, when students are aged between seven and 11.

The following subjects are studied at this stage:

• English
• Mathematics
• Science
• Information and Communication Technology
• Geography and History
• Design and Technology
• Music
• Art
• Arabic
• PE and School Sport
• Personal, Social, Health Education (PSHE) and Citizenship

SECONDARY CURRICULUM

It provides a comprehensive range of Key Stage 3 and GCSE based subjects.

KEY STAGE 3 (YEARS 7, 8 AND 9)

In Year 7, the curriculum has been designed to build on the work that has been undertaken in Key Stage 2. It helps to ensure a smooth, efficient and effective transition from primary to secondary school.

In Key Stage 3, students at SCS have an extensive range of subjects to select from. This is because the management of SCS wants students to be successful. The curriculum at SCS has been differentiated to be suitable for the abilities of students. At SCS, Key Stage 3 subjects include:

• English
• Science
• Mathematics
• Islamic Studies A (for Arab Muslims) and Islamic Studies B (For non-Arab Muslims)
• Arabic A (for Arabic students) or Arabic B (for non-Arabic students)
• One foreign language (French, German, Mandarin, Spanish or other languages to be requested)
• Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education (PHSCE)
• Geography
• Computing/ICT (Includes the Safa Lego electronics course)
• Music
• History
• Swimming
• Art and Design (includes textiles, graphics, plastics, wood, ceramics)
• Physical Education

GCSE / A-LEVELS AND SIXTH FORM

SCS provides a broad range of GCSE based subjects. Sports, careers, moral education and PSHE are mandatory components of courses related to GCSE.

The sixth-form education in SCS consists of two options: AS and A levels and BTEC National Curriculum. The subjects currently offered by the school for GCSE, AS, and A levels include:

Subjects such as Sociology, Government and Politics and Astronomy are expected to be included in the sixth form curriculum in upcoming years.

Besides the A levels. those opting for BTEC have options to study one of the following subjects:

• Information Technology
• Business Studies
• Sports Level 3

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) is a government organisation responsible for the growth and quality of private education in Dubai. They inspect the performance of private schools in Dubai with judgments made on a six-point scale of outstanding, very good, good, acceptable, weak and very weak.

Safa Community School has received outstanding rating for the first time in the last inspection by the KHDA. Here is the summary of the ratings awarded by the KHDA:

At SCS, the academic year for new and existing students starts in August and ends in July.

• Term 1 starts in the last week of August and concludes in the second week of December. It is followed by a three-week winter break that ends in the end of December.
• Term 2 starts in the first week of January and concludes in the fourth week of March. This is followed by a two-week break.
• Term 3 starts in the third week of April and ends in July’s second week.

To know the specific dates of events at Safa Community School, view its academic calendar.

Applying for admission to Safa Community School is straightforward. Before applying, it encourages parents and teachers to visit the school. The application form is available on the school’s website that needs to be submitted with the required documents to the registrar.

Following are the documents required for registration at SCS:

• A copy of the child’s passport and UAE entry stamp or its page of residency
• A copy of Emirates ID for parents and child
• Three recent passport photographs
• Copies of the child’s last two school reports for all children entering Year 1 and above
• Full details of particular educational requirements, educational psychologists, individual education plans (IEPs), or other therapists' reports

Assessment test

For students above FS1, the school takes an assessment test to find a suitable year for the child. The assessment test covers social development, attitude, behaviour, communication skills, academic levels and physical development, including fine and large motor skills.

Sixth form admission

To get admission in Sixth-form, students need to meet the following criteria:

• A-Levels and International A-Levels – minimum entry requirement is grade 5 at GCSE level for 3 A levels
• Combination of A-Levels and BTEC Level 3 – minimum entry requirement is at least grade 5 at GCSE
• BTEC Nationals – minimum entry requirement is at least 4 GCSE grades at grade 5

For more information, read the admission process at SCS.

Nevertheless, parents must ensure that their child meets the following age placement criteria before initiating the admission process.

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

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

Safa Community School tuition fee for the current academic year is:

Additional charges include:

• Registration fee (non-refundable): AED 500
• Medical fee: AED 1,500 per (yearly)
• Security deposit: AED 4,000
• Re-registration fee: AED 2,400

For more information, view the fees structure at Safa Community School

Payments can be made by cash, cheque or bank transfer. All cheques are required to be made payable to SCS. Visit the fee and payment policy for further information.

Currently, it only offers scholarships to students progressing from Year 11 to Year 12. This scholarship includes a waiver of 50% on the entire annual fee for students exhibiting outstanding academic progress. Applications of students that maintained grades of 8 or above will be expected and should be submitted to academic scholarship department.

Since there is no cafeteria within Safa Community School, students have to bring packed break-time snacks and lunches. The school promotes healthy eating and encourages parents to add nutritional items as per ‘Eatwell plate’ principles. For break-time snacks, the school enforces a fruit-only policy. This policy aims to reduce the consumed sugar and fat in snacks.

Safa Community School offers transportation services to its students. For this purpose, they collaborated with School Transportation Service (STS) LLC to provide a safe, reliable and comfortable commute for their children. They are a reputable name in providing high-quality school transportation services to many schools. They have high-end security systems, including video surveillance, GPS tracker, electronic attendance system, etc.

SCS has collaborated with the Engineers to Be (ETB) winter camp for a fun-filled experience through an extensive range of activities. Some activities include karate, dodgeball, engineering challenges and more.

At SCS, the sports facilities are extensive, ranging from an astroturf football ground to temperature-controlled learning and central swimming pools. The sports facilities also include high-performance tracks for long jumps and running.

Safa Community School Dubai is also linked with different sports providers and coaches for further improvement of individual talents. Through the new Global Learning Centre (GLC), students have full access to various indoor sports facilities through the means of various multi-purpose indoor courts that include netball, basketball, indoor cricket and a badminton court.

The management of SCS believes in providing an extensive range of extra-curricular activities that may include seminars, school trips, sports sessions, lectures, and various other opportunities. This helps provide extensive skills and knowledge for all secondary students. SCS also has an activity-based program for developing skills among students.

Some notable activities include:

At SCS, students have regular opportunities to visit exhibitions, museums and theatres. They also go on long residential trips across the UAE and abroad. SCS will also use the service of different agencies for its extra-curricular activities and to support its students in gaining accreditation, including the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme.

Different after-school activities are carried out during the school week and through the summer/winter camps to allow the students to get fully immersed in their sports pursuits.

It provides an excellent environment that encompasses the health, safety and protection of students and staff members. The campus has a fully equipped clinic that manages an in-house doctor and three nurses.

The main mode of communication between parents and teachers is the parent-teacher meeting. SCS also has presence on social media where it regularly updates parents regarding upcoming events.

• Email: school@safacommunityschool.com
• Telephone: +971-4-385-1810

GENERAL INFORMATION

• SCS Official Website
• SCS Facebook
• SCS Instagram

WHAT IS THE SAFA COMMUNITY SCHOOL FEE STRUCTURE?

Safa Community School fees are AED 51,191 - AED 84,106.

DOES SAFA COMMUNITY SCHOOL FOLLOW CO-ED SYSTEM?

Yes, it is a co-ed school.

WHAT ARE THE GRADES OFFERED BY SCS?

SCS offers education from FS1 to Grade Sixth Form.

WHAT IS THE ACADEMIC CALENDAR OF SAFA COMMUNITY SCHOOL?

The academic year of Safa Community School starts from August and ends in July.

Note that the cover image belongs to Safa Community School.