is small by UAE standards, with 1,000 pupils, including just 300 in the secondary school. Just under 70 per cent of the population are Emirati, with a healthy minority of expats from a wide range of countries. Prior to the pandemic, the school, which was much smaller then, had not run any international visits. So one of my aims, on arriving at the school in 2021, was to harness the developmental power of school trips.
The challenges of starting a trips programme were numerous. Parental reluctance was the biggest hurdle we faced. Abu Dhabi restricts international school trips for under-12s, and so unlike many international schools where secondary students may have already participated in a trip when younger, our families have no experience of this.
Parental reluctance was the biggest hurdle we faced.
Coupled with this, there were cultural barriers to overcome. As a small school, for example, we had no choice but to run co-educational trips in order to meet the minimum numbers required. We worked exceptionally hard to engage with the parent body, not only through presentations and group meetings, but individual meetings with parents of students who wanted to go but who had not yet received parental permission.
In all honesty, we failed to persuade families as many times as we succeeded. That said, we were delighted for the students who were permitted to join us: last year, our first Emirati females joined us on a skiing trip, and now more girls are asking to go. Change takes time, but patience and persistence do work.
There are further challenges to running trips as a small school. In line with our sustainability strategy and school values, we decided that a substantial service-learning trip would be an annual opportunity for students. These are outstanding experiences, but they don鈥檛 come cheap.
We also ensured that a ski trip was part of our offering. This year, we have introduced our first cultural and language trip to Europe. I worry that offering more trips may dilute student numbers to the extent that some do not run or are not as successful as they might have been with larger student groups.
Change takes time, but patience and persistence do work.
However, we also need to consider if our offering is restrictive from a cost perspective. As a small school, our pupil-teacher ratio for the trips is often inferior to large schools, so costs are pushed up. Yet our community rightly remains demanding and discerning, and the feedback we received was that students and parents wanted trips that were worthwhile, even if they cost more.
For example, students were clear that they wanted a 鈥淓uropean鈥 ski trip as opposed to the Caucasus. We have also joined up with another school to run the service-learning trip, to try and moderate costs and to mitigate the consequences of not meeting the minimum student numbers ourselves. Looking ahead, we may decide on one more trip that is far lower in cost than others, so that students from less affluent families also benefit from the trips experience.
And of course, each year we review trips individually and collectively, to ensure the menu does not become stale 鈥 we鈥檝e identified that our improvements in competitive sport, led by our wonderfully committed PE team, may now mean that a sports trip is on the cards.
Each year we review trips individually and collectively, to ensure the menu does not become stale.
Identifying the right staff to lead trips is key, and during interviews for new staff I always ask what trips they have been involved in; what trips they would like to run; and how they would go about making it a success. This allowed us to secure a teacher who not only excelled in the classroom, but who had planned and costed a trip within a couple of months of arriving at the school.
Of course, we also had existing staff who were keen to contribute, but this new member of staff really led the way with a wealth of contacts built up over fifteen years of running trips. Smaller schools may not be able to appoint someone as a trips coordinator, and may have less administrative support than larger institutions 鈥 so hiring teachers committed to trips is beneficial.
They are more appreciative of the world, and their own worlds.
So, where do we stand now? We鈥檝e run a number of trips and the feedback has been hugely positive. We benefit, like all schools, by taking children outside of their comfort zone. They experience different cultures and opportunities. They have to fend for themselves a little bit more. Stronger relationships are forged between students and teachers. They are more appreciative of the world, and their own worlds.
But I also feel that our students no longer have to be envious of their family members and friends at other, larger schools. We are offering three overseas trips this year, which compared with some Dubai and Abu Dhabi schools is very small. But it is a varied offering, nonetheless, and one that we are proud of.
