Dwight School Dubai

PARENT BULLETIN

3 July 2026

Message from the Head of School - 3 July 2026

Dear Parents and Families,

As we reach the end of another academic year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued trust, partnership, and support. It has been a year that has brought both wonderful memories and unexpected challenges, and I am incredibly grateful for the way our community has come together throughout this time.

Despite the challenges, there has been so much to celebrate. Our students have continued to thrive academically, artistically, and personally; demonstrating resilience, creativity, and determination in all that they do. Whether through concerts, exhibitions, sporting achievements, graduations, service projects, or everyday classroom learning, they have continued to make us incredibly proud. None of this would have been possible without the dedication of our outstanding staff and the tremendous support of parents.

On behalf of the Dwight community, I would also like to extend a warm welcome to all new families that will be joining us after the summer break.

As we finish school for the summer, I encourage everyone to take this time to relax, recharge, and pursue your interests and spark of genius. We encourage you and your child/ren to look at the Summer Activities section of this Parent Bulletin. This section also includes ‘Our top readers recommend’ - a reading list has been collated by Dwight School Dubai’s Top Readers.

We are excited for the next academic year and are committed to providing an exceptional educational experience for your child/ren built upon our Dwight Pillars of Community, Global Vision, and Personalised Learning. We are confident that, together, we will continue to grow stronger and achieve even greater success.

I wish you and your family a restful, and enjoyable summer break. We look forward to welcoming you back in August for another exciting and successful academic year.

Warm regards,

David Hutson | Head of School

School Calendar Overview

We are pleased to reshare a link to the revised School Calendar Overview for Academic Year 2026-27.

Please note, an official announcement about the Prophet Muhammad's Birthday (PBUH) is likely to be made towards the end of the summer, just before the start of term. A one day public holiday could be announced for Monday 24th, Tuesday 25th or Wednesday 26th August.

The public holiday will therefore cause some slight disruption to the planned staff induction / orientation week. In addition to staff professional development, the school also has mandatory training to complete week beginning 24th August which includes First Aid, Fire Warden, Pool Safety and Safeguarding training.

A Parent / Events Calendar can be accessed here, with key dates for the whole school year. For convenience, here are key dates for the first two weeks of term:

Monday 31 August

Orientation for all new KG2 to Grade 11 students and all Grade 6 students | 9:00 - 11:30 am | Note, this is a change of date from the original school calendar

PreK and KG1 will have a staggered start to term as agreed by the homeroom teacher and parent/s.

Tuesday 1 September

First day of term for all students, PreK to Grade 12 | Note, this is a change of date from the original school calendar

Thursday 3 September

Grade 12 EduTalk for Parents & Students: The Year Ahead | 5:00 - 6:00 pm | online (link to be shared at the start of term)

Friday 4 September

Coffee Morning for Parents, to include Meet the Physical & Health Education Team & external ECA partners | 8:15 - 9:15 am | Cafeteria & Auditorium

Monday 7th September

Extra-Curricular Activities (ECAs) & Sports Trials begin

Back to School: Meet the Homeroom Teacher (Grades 1 to 5) | 8:00 - 9:00 am | Classrooms

Tuesday 8 September

Back to School: Meet the Homeroom Teacher (KG1 & KG2) | 8:15 - 9:15 am | Classrooms

Parent Information Session for International Award (Bronze) | 3:45 - 4:15 pm | IB Hub

Meet the Grade 6 Advisor & Introduction to MYP Learning Platforms | 3:45 - 4:45 pm | Auditorium & Classrooms

Thursday 10 September

EduTalk for Parents: The Assessment Journey at Dwight School Dubai | 4:00 - 5:00 pm | Auditorium

Contacts during the Summer Break

Should you require any additional information, help or support during the summer break please do not hesitate to contact:

Our Admissions Team, at admissions@dwight.ae (for admissions enquiries).
Our Reception and Business Teams, at info@dwight.ae (for general enquiries).
Kim Ashlin, Community & Events Manager, at kashlin@dwight.ae (for new families).

Yearbook

We are pleased to share this year's Yearbook! Produced in collaboration with our dedicated Yearbook Committee, it celebrates the many memorable moments, achievements, and experiences that have made this school year so special.

If you would like a printed keepsake, the file linked here is print-ready and can be used to have your own copy professionally printed.

We hope you enjoy looking back on a fantastic year at Dwight School Dubai!

2026 Yearbook

Referral Offer

As a valued member of the Dwight School Dubai community, you are invited to participate in our special Referral Programme.

For each new family you successfully refer to Dwight School Dubai for the 2026/27 Academic Year, you will receive an additional 5% tuition fee discount, credited to your Term 2 (2026/27) invoice. Families may receive this referral discount for up to three successful referrals.

For full details, please refer to our Discount Guidelines.

If you know a family who would thrive at Dwight, we'd love to hear from them! Simply complete our Referral Form to get started.

If you have any questions about the referral programme or discount terms, please contact our Admissions Team at admissions@dwight.ae

Summer Activities

To help students make a confident transition into the next academic year, we have provided access to a Summer Activities website, with pages for all grades and subjects and book recommendations from our Top Readers.

The activities and resources are designed to reinforce key knowledge, develop essential skills, and prepare students for the challenges of their next year of study. We encourage students to complete the recommended tasks at their own pace throughout the summer to ensure they return feeling confident and ready to learn.

The summer holidays provide a wonderful opportunity for our students to explore, discover, and learn beyond the classroom. Through our Summer Reading Challenge, grade-level Reading Lists (Early Years to Grade 5), and the new and exciting Summer Global Citizen Passport (Grades 1 to 5), children are encouraged to build their curiosity and develop a deeper appreciation of the world around them.

The Summer Global Citizenship Passport is a physical booklet given to your child and shared digitally for those who have already travelled. The passport invites reflections of travel, experiences, books and food enjoyed, cultures experienced, and connections made. There are engaging tasks for Mathematics, Science, the IB Learner Profile, and personal inquiry.

We encourage our students to engage with both the reading challenge and passport activities and to return their completed passports in August. Students will be recognised with House Points and a celebration of inquiry skills as we share and celebrate their summer adventures. We look forward to seeing passports filled with wonderful memories, discoveries, and experiences gained along the way.

More Info - Multi Sports Camp

More Info - Little Explorer Camp

National Ambassadors Program “ESTEDAD”

Students from grades 9-12 and their teachers (from grades 9-12) are invited to participate in the National Ambassadors Program ‘ESTEDAD’, virtually implemented by the Ministry of Education in cooperation with leading UAE universities during the upcoming summer break from July 6-24, 2026. Registration link and more details are attached here.

Turning Achievement into Recognition

The Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Medical and Educational Sciences offers an integrated system of educational awards aimed at fostering creativity and excellence in the education sector, as well as recognizing and honouring outstanding practices. More details about the distinguished student award, distinguished teacher award, and distinguished schools award are available on the website and the flyers here.

Sharjah Award for Educational Excellence

The 32nd cycle of the Sharjah Award for Educational Excellence has been launched by the Sharjah Private Education Authority (SPEA). This initiative honours outstanding student achievement and offers your child/children a valuable opportunity to demonstrate their skills, creativity, and commitment to learning while being recognised nationally. For more details on eligibility and participation requirements, please refer to the attachment here.

WeThrive Summer Camp Programme

The programme is designed to equip students with future-ready knowledge and practical skills through an engaging learning journey focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI), entrepreneurship, financial literacy, systems thinking, sustainability, innovation, and future skills. Through hands-on workshops and collaborative projects, students will strengthen their critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, teamwork, and entrepreneurial mindset while developing innovative solutions to real-world challenges. The programme is open to Emirati students in Grades 9–12. As places are limited, registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration is available through the link provided in the attached programme poster.

Teaching, Learning & Assessment

Spark Day 2026: Designing Dubai’s Sustainable Future

Spark Day 2026 saw our young Scientists, Technologists, Engineers, Artists and Mathematicians come together to imagine and design their own sustainable Dubai of the future. From PreK to Grade 9, students engaged in a range of exciting STEAM briefs that challenged them to think creatively, work collaboratively and develop innovative solutions for real-world problems.

Throughout the day, students explored how design, science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics can work together to shape smarter, greener and more sustainable communities. Their projects encouraged them to consider important future-focused questions: How can we reduce heat in public spaces? What might a smart school campus look like in 2050? How can neighbourhoods become more climate-resilient? How can public spaces use energy transformation in creative and engaging ways?

Students responded to these challenges through sketching, model-making, prototyping, testing and pitching. They worked in teams to develop ideas that were not only imaginative, but also practical, sustainable and people-centred. The day placed a strong emphasis on innovation, problem-solving and communication, giving students the opportunity to think like designers and present their ideas with confidence.

It was wonderful to see learners of all ages fully engaged in the process, from our youngest students exploring creative building challenges to our older students developing thoughtful design solutions for Dubai 2050. Spark Day 2026 truly highlighted the power of STEAM learning and showed how creativity and innovation can help students imagine a better future.

Andrew Georgiou | Head of Art and Design | ageorgiou@dwight.ae

GL Progress Test Series and NGRT results

I am pleased to share that we have had an exceptionally successful year with our externally assessed GL Progress Test Series (English, Mathematics & Science) and NGRT (Reading) results. I would like to take this opportunity to commend all students for their hard work and dedication in achieving these outcomes.

A special congratulations is extended to students who have excelled in both attainment and progress - please click the images below to view the awards.

Larissa Milne | Assistant Principal & Head of Teaching, Learning and Assessment | lmilne@dwight.ae

Creating a Culture of Reading

We are excited to announce that starting next academic year, Dwight School Dubai will be implementing the Renaissance Complete Literacy Solution for students across the school starting at PreK.

This innovative programme is designated to enhance our literacy curriculum with a strong emphasis on reading, ensuring that every student develops the skills necessary for academic success and lifelong learning.

What is the Renaissance Complete Literacy Solution?

The Renaissance Complete Literacy Solution is a comprehensive approach that integrates assessment, instruction and practice in reading. It includes:

Personalised Learning: Tailored reading experience that meets each child’s unique needs and learning pace.
Engaging Content: A wide variety of high-quality texts that captivate students and foster a love for reading

The key benefits of this programme for our school are:

Enhanced Reading Skills: Focused strategies to improve comprehension, fluency, and vocabulary.
Increased Engagement: Interactive and diverse reading materials that motivate students to read more.
Support for All Learners: Resources designed to support students at every level, from emerging readers to advanced learners.

How can we create a culture of reading?

We believe that family involvement is crucial for student success. We encourage you to engage with your child’s reading journey by:

Reading together at home.
Discussing books and stories.
Encouraging a daily reading routine.

We are enthusiastic about the positive impact the Renaissance Complete Literacy Solution will have on our students’ reading abilities and overall academic performance. Together, we can foster a community of readers who are prepared for future success.

Excellence in Teaching

At Dwight School Dubai we have an embedded Teaching and Learning Model that informs and guides our teaching practices.

We are thrilled to announce the next steps of our Excellence in Teaching journey. Next year we will embark on a new three year collaboration with Corwin publishers and renowned education expert John Hattie to implement Visible Learning strategies in our school. This partnership aims to enhance our teaching methods and student learning outcomes through evidence-based practices.

What is Visible Learning?

Visible Learning is an approach grounded in extensive research by John Hattie, which focuses on making learning visible to students. By understanding how learning works, we can better support our children in their educational journey.

Key Benefits of This Collaboration:

Enhanced Teaching Strategies: Our teachers will receive specialised training to enhance best practice.

Improved Student Engagement: Students will learn how to take ownership of their learning, leading to greater motivation and success.

Research based, best practice: We will utilise research and data to continuously assess and improve our teaching and learning.

We believe that this collaboration will enrich our educational environment and foster a culture of learning and growth. We look forward to sharing more details with you in the coming months.

Extra curricular Activities (ECAs) and Residential Trips

We are pleased to share a link to the Term 1 Extracurricular Activities (ECA) Brochure, which includes internal activities, sports provision, external partner paid provision, academies and UAE camping / residential trips.

There is a vibrant and diverse selection of activities designed to enrich learning, ignite your spark of genius, and strengthen connections across our school community. Thanks to the enthusiasm and expertise of our dedicated staff and external partners, students will have access to high-quality opportunities that foster creativity, collaboration, and personal growth.

The Term 1 ECA brochure will be updated and published again at the very start of Term 1.

ECA Brochure Term 1 2026/27

Parent Handbook

We are pleased to share a link to the Parent Handbook for the 2026-27 Academic Year here.

The Parent Handbook has been written to provide the framework for ensuring that you and your child/ren get the very best experience in terms of the organisation and the daily running of the School.

School Uniform

Dwight School Dubai has a mandatory uniform and dress code for all students. School policies can be located in the weekly Parent Bulletin and on iSAMS and the uniform guide can be found here: Dwight School Uniform Catalogue.

Uniforms can be purchased online and at ZAKS in Circle Mall, Al Barsha. Occasionally we arrange for ZAKS to be onsite. If you have any questions regarding the school uniform please contact Kim Ashlin, Community & Events Manager, at kashlin@dwight.ae.

For PreK to Grade 5, please make sure your child has a Dwight School Dubai hat for playing outside in the sunshine.

Physical Health & Education (PHE) lessons and sports training

Students are required to wear the correct Dwight School Dubai PHE uniform for PHE lessons and sports fixtures. Appropriate footwear (sports trainers) is required for PHE lessons.

On the days where students have PHE lessons (excluding Upper School health lessons), students may come to school in their PHE uniform.

For PreK to Grade 5, students may stay in their PHE uniform after the PHE lesson and any morning (before school) sports training session.

For Grades 6 to 12, students are required to change into their school uniform after PHE lessons and any morning (before school) sports training session. Students should therefore bring their school uniform, a towel and hygiene products (such as roll-on deodorant / perfume) in their school bag. There are optional shower facilities for students to use.

Non-uniform days

As part of student and staff wellbeing, every Friday is a non-uniform day. Where students have PHE lessons on a Friday, they can come to school in their full Dwight PHE uniform or their own sports kit.

For non-uniform days, we respectfully ask students and staff to:

Make sure shoulders, midriff, and knees are covered, and
Not wear ripped or revealing clothing.

The Houses

The school has a House system consisting of 4 ‘Houses’: Falcons, Leopards, Scorpions, and Vipers. Every student and staff member is allocated to a house.

For house events students and staff are encouraged to wear their house colour. New students will find out their house at the start of term. House t-shirts can also be purchased at the uniform shop.

Food and Cafeteria

Tuck Shop is the school’s new caterer from August 2026, providing hot food, snacks and drinks for students. Further information regarding the Tuck Shop app, meal ordering, account activation, payment procedures and menus will be shared before the start of term. The Tuck Shop team will be available throughout the onboarding process to assist families and answer any questions.

Our students have the option to bring their own lunch and snacks to school each day.

We promote healthy eating and therefore encourage non-processed, wholesome food, including fruit and vegetables. We do not allow carbonated / fizzy / caffeine energy drinks, candy / sweets, donuts, or chocolate.

Fast Food (e.g. Burger King, KFC, McDonald’s) is also not permitted.

We ask that students and parents do not order food for delivery to school. Should this ever occur, any fast food or delivery would be confiscated.

Nuts are not permitted as we have children with nut allergies.

Chewing gum is not permitted.

Please make sure your child has a large bottle of water for each day in school. Bottles can be refilled at water stations across the school campus.

Welcome to Tuck Shop Catering at Dwight School Dubai.docx.pdf

School Bus

Dwight School Dubai encourages students to take the bus to school, for convenience, improvements to traffic flow and to help the environment.

Our partner Arab Falcon Bus Rental LLC, ensures safe, secure and punctual transportation for students with modern, well-equipped buses, operated by friendly and professional drivers and assistants. Each vehicle is fitted with advanced safety features, including GPS tracking, seatbelts and CCTV monitoring.

For registration and further details kindly visit their website or contact Shivani at csr.dsd@arabfalcondubai.ae. Shivani is also available at school regularly for registrations and queries.

Parent ID / Car Park ID

For new Dwight families, we will be issuing new parent / guardian lanyards and car stickers during the first weeks of school.

To help us prepare, we are requesting that this form is completed: Parent/Guardian ID Form.

Curriculum & Home Learning

Dwight School Dubai is proud to be an authorised International Baccalaureate (IB) World School for all four programme areas – the Primary Years Programme (PYP Guide), the Middle Years Programme (MYP Guide), the Diploma Programme (DP Guide), and the Career-related Programme (CP Guide).

At the start of next term we'll share updated curriculum guides with you, in all subjects, from PreK to Grade 12.

Home learning is purposeful work that can be completed at home each week. Home learning is focused on the introduction, reinforcement, or practice of skills learned, in addition to strengthening a student’s self-management skills.

For Lower School:

Home learning tasks will be assigned each week, for example, reading, spelling and mathematics. Home learning for Lower School students may also consist of continued work on long-term projects, unfinished assignments, and / or enrichment activities.

For Upper School:

Grades 6 to 8: Students will follow a structured home learning timetable that designates specific days for homework assignments in each subject area.

Grades 9 to 12: Students will transition to a more autonomous approach, developing essential time management and independent learning skills. This progressive framework prepares students to effectively manage multiple deadlines, including external assessments such as E-Portfolios, Internal Assessments (IA), Personal Projects, and Extended Essays. This scaffolded approach ensures students develop the necessary organisational competencies required for academic success at higher levels while fostering self-directed learning habits essential for post-secondary education.

As a school, we recognise the importance of winter, spring and summer breaks for family vacation and religious celebrations, however, there are times when work must be completed at weekends and holiday time, such as:

Grade 5 PYP Exhibition
Grade 10 Personal Project and eAssessment / ePortfolio preparation
Grade 11 and 12 Internal Assessment and DP examination preparation, including the Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge.
Grade 11 & 12 BTEC Business assignments and the CP Reflective Project.

New Student Course Selection (Upper School)

For new students that join after the end of this academic term, we are pleased to share our course and language selection options for the upcoming academic year. Please click the form for your child’s respective Grade to confirm your child’s selection.

School Equipment

Students should carry a sturdy book bag or backpack and arrive at school equipped with the necessary items as described below.

A limited number of lockers will be available at the start of next term for Upper School. The pastoral team will send separate details to students and parents.

All personal items, including clothing, should be clearly named (labelled).

Homeroom teachers and specialist teachers will provide the necessary stationery and equipment for PYP (Lower School) children. However, children may wish to bring their own basic stationery items (for example, pencils, crayons, ruler, eraser, etc) in a labelled pencil case.

For MYP and DP/CP (Upper School) every student is expected to provide the following basic items of equipment (in a labelled pencil case):

Pens (black)
Pencils
1 x 30 cm ruler
Eraser
Sharpener
Mini stapler
Mathematics set
Basic scientific calculator
French / English; Spanish / English; Mandarin / English (M1) dictionary (Recommended: Collins Easy Learning).
For online assessments students require corded headphones.

Students in Grades 10 to 12 are required to bring a suitable graphing calculator for use in mathematics and science classes to school every day. Students following DP courses will need calculators which can carry out calculus operations and solve equations. All students are required to have the TI-84 calculators. Some models, such as the TI-92, cannot be used in the International Baccalaureate examination because they have functions that are too powerful.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

At the start of the term, students from Grades 1 to 12 are expected to bring a device that meets the hardware and software recommendations specified in the Bring your own Device (BYOD) handbook. This handbook outlines the policies and includes an FAQ section that addresses common questions.

We ask that students bring the device to school each day fully charged and in its protective case.

Children in PreK to KG2 will have access to iPads in the classroom.

The current version of the BYOD handbook is linked here. It is also available on the iSAMS Parent Portal.

IT Support for New Joiners in Grades 1-12

As we prepare for the new school year, we want to ensure a smooth and successful start for your child. To facilitate a seamless integration into our digital learning environment, we expect all students to have a fully configured and ready-to-use device on the first day of school.

To assist you with this, our IT Department is hosting dedicated onboarding sessions for new joiners. Parents are required to book a convenient appointment to set up student devices, install necessary software, and configure school accounts.

Please use the link below to select a date and time slot that works best for your schedule.

Dates: Monday, August 24th to Thursday, August 27th, 2026 - Click Here to Book

Thank you for your cooperation and partnership in preparing our students for a successful year ahead. If you have any immediate questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to our IT support team at servicedesk@dwight.ae.

New UAE Regulations on Children's Social Media Use

You may have heard recently about the UAE's new regulations on children's access to social media. These introduce a minimum age of 15 for creating and using personal social media accounts and are designed to strengthen online safety while supporting young people in developing healthier digital habits.

For teenagers aged 15 and 16, social media platforms will be expected to introduce additional safeguards, including age verification and stronger parental controls. These requirements will be rolled out gradually over the next 12 months as platforms update their systems.

Although these new regulations are a positive step, nothing replaces the guidance children receive at home. Taking an interest in the apps your child uses, talking openly about their online experiences, and helping them make safe choices all play an important role in building healthy digital habits.

We've included a summary of the key changes to help families understand what these new regulations mean in practice.

Teacher Biographies

Here, you will find the teacher biographies, also introducing the new members of our faculty.

We hope you enjoy learning more about our faculty and the experience and expertise they will bring to our community.

Student Placement Guidelines

The Knowledge & Human Development Authority (KHDA) are pleased to share their new Student Placement Guidelines, developed to ensure clarity, consistency, and fairness in how students are placed from Pre-KG through Grade 9 (FS1 to Year 10) across all curricula in Dubai.

Please find the guidelines and FAQs linked here in both Arabic and English.

These guidelines align with UAE Federal Law and international best practices, reflecting their commitment to supporting student wellbeing and success.

Key objectives of the Student Placement Guidelines:

Consistency: Provide clear, standardised placement rules for all schools and curricula.
Compliance: Ensure alignment with UAE law on school entry ages and compulsory education.
Student-first approach: Ensure placement decisions prioritise the child’s developmental needs.
Transparency: Help parents, schools, and KHDA work together with a shared understanding of placement policies.

The KHDA thank you for your cooperation in making this transition smooth for schools, parents, and most importantly, for our students.

School Improvement Plan (SIP)

We are happy to share a link to the parent version of our school improvement plan (SIP) which is a working document outlining key strategic priorities for school improvement. The SIP is subject to continual review and evaluation throughout the academic year.