The British School Al Khubairat Abu Dhabi and The Dubai British School Jumeirah Park are celebrating their success at becoming the first ever, international schools to be awarded the full accreditation of the British Council’s International School Award (ISA).

Both schools in UAE were recognised for bringing a global dimension to school life with projects such as: impressive language learning; working with partner schools across the globe; development of cultural awareness and global citizenship; and developing better global and environmental awareness.

The ISA was established by the British Council 18 years ago to recognise UK schools that demonstrate a truly international perspective across their curriculum and embed internationalism into their culture and school life, so that young people gain the cultural understanding and skills they need for life and work in today’s global world. This year for the first time the British Council piloted opening up the award to English curriculum international schools around the world, with only 4 schools worldwide being successful, and only the two UAE schools achieving the Full ISA – the top level of the award.

Gavin Anderson, Country Director of the British Council in UAE, said “I am delighted that both schools have achieved this recognition. The International School Award is all about celebrating the international dimension in education, and both the British School Al Khubairat and Dubai British School Jumeirah Park truly represent that attitude and approach. All of their teachers and students should be proud of how they have brought the UAE and the rest of the world into the life of their schools.”

The British School Al Khubairat is Abu Dhabi’s leading British, not-for-profit, co-educational day school, with 1,880 students from ages 3 – 18.  Headmaster Mark Leppard MBE said that "As Headmaster I am delighted that BSAK is one of only 2 schools outside of the UK to be awarded the British Council International School Award. We pride ourselves on our global awareness and for this to be identified is superb. The internationalism of our students is impressive and can be seen on a daily basis in all they do. The British Council has recognized this in our school and we are delighted to receive an award acknowledging this."

The Dubai British School Jumeirah Park is a high performing, international school at the heart of the Jumeirah Park community. The school has seen substantial growth since opening in 2015-2016 and currently has 873 students from Year 1 to Year 9.  Principal Heather Mann said "At DBSJP we are proud to be recognised for our work in preparing our students for work and life in a global society where boundaries, borders and geographic distance will matter less and less. Our focus on cultural understanding, empathy and collaborative problem solving skills we know will be vital to our students' future success.

We firmly believe that the British Council's International School Award gives us a framework that is both supportive and motivational in which young people can acquire the skills and attitudes that will make them successful world citizens ready to play their part in solving the planets future dilemmas and problems."

The British Council International School Award started in 1999 to recognise UK schools leading the way in instilling and developing a global dimension into the learning experience of all children and young people. More details at http://schoolsonline.britishcouncil.org

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We work with over 100 countries in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. We make a positive contribution to the countries we work with, changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.