Dubai International Academy organises first Open House

The Open House received an overwhelming response, and was attended by approximately 300 parents and students.

As part of the Open House, parents accompanied by a personal student guide, were taken on a campus tour of the school, which provided them with an insight into the various facilities on offer at the institution. The school representatives introduced the faculty, curriculum and other aspects to the parents.

Clive Carthew, School Director, DIA and Poonam Bhojani, Business Director, DIA, addressed the gathering.

Talking at the Open House, Clive Carthew said: "We strive to offer our students the 'ABC' of quality in education. This essentially means high Academic standards for each child, a Broad education aimed at personal growth and development and sake of belonging to and contributing to the Community wherever that may be in the world. We aim to achieve and set world-class standards within the framework of the Geneva-based International Baccalaureate Organisation and we are proud to be part of the five per cent of IBO schools worldwide that offer the continuum of the three IB programmes namely -- The Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP) and the Diploma Programme (DP)."

Clive also emphasised the role of staff development and training and confirmed that 91 per cent of the DIA staff had been on IBO training and over 55 per cent of the faculty had attended the IBO workshops.

Poonam Bhojani, who also addressed the gathering, said: "The Open House is a great opportunity for the parents and others to visit and have a first-hand experience of DIA's ideology and its core values of integrity, social responsibility, achievement orientation, innovation, collaboration and appreciation of diversity."

She added: "Our effort remains in delivering optimum value to the student community and constantly raising the BAR -- 'Balanced Academic Rigour' by investing in our faculty, using technology to enable, empower and energise education and most of all by maintaining a 'Can Do' attitude."

DIA believes in hiring, retaining and developing its high quality faculty and in creating a strong benchmark against international standards with best of class partnerships and affiliations and by maintaining a best practices approach overall.

The school looks to instill a sense of multiculturalism in its pupils through a faculty well represented by over 50 highly-qualified and internationally credited teachers representing 18 different nationalities.

The Open House conceptualised by DIA also received a lot of praise from the parents. Rajidas, who recently arrived in the country from India, was visibly impressed by the school and its facilities. She said: "The education standards at the DIA, the perspective of the students I have met here and the facilities on offer are excellent and I can definitely see my children fitting perfectly into this environment."

Another parent, Andre Santog, said: "It is clear that the DIA and its faculty not only believe in having a world-renowned curriculum but a set of strong core values and a comfortable environment for the overall development of the child. My congratulations and best wishes to everyone involved with the institution."

The school admits students of any nationality, who demonstrate that they will successfully cope with the academic programmes and contribute positively to the school. The DIA curriculum, established to reflect the school's commitment to internationalism, aims at creating intercultural awareness and has been tailored to help the students take up leadership roles in a world where change is the only constant.