GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS AT ABU DHABI’S FIRST BRITISH SCHOOL
▶ Now 50, the British School Al Khubairat was built on land donated by Sheikh Zayed
An Abu Dhabi school set up with Royal approval and visited by a queen is celebrating its golden jubilee.
The British School Al Khubairat started to shape young minds in 1968 after the Founding Father, Sheikh Zayed, donated a plot of land for it.
The emirate’s first British school is now marking its milestone 50th anniversary with many golden memories, while staff look forward to an even brighter future.
Al Khubairat Community School was set up for the children of foreign engineers working on oil projects.
The school grounds has photographs of Sheikh Zayed with the first class of 1968, and of Queen Elizabeth II when she visited the school in 1979.
Fifty years on, the thriving school has 300 staff serve the needs of 1,900 pupils, of whom 14 per cent are Emirati.
Yesterday, the school started a series of celebrations that will run all year, bringing together the UK and UAE influences of the previous decades.
Pupils from years three to six waved UAE and UK flags as the school band played musical compositions such as the James Bond theme.
The location and name of the school have changed since it opened but the ethos remains the same.
“Certainly, some things haven’t changed, like the importance of our community and the desire of the pupils and teachers to do their best,” head teacher Mark Leppard said.
The school’s opening was a landmark moment for generations of teachers and pupils, and for events abroad
“Fifty years ago, a spaceship called Apollo 8 went all around the Moon and the original London Bridge was sold to America, being broken down and shipped to Arizona where it was rebuilt,” Mr Leppard said.
Among the boys in kanduras in an old photo on the walls is Faris Al Nasrawi, whose son has now started at the school.
Second-generation pupils at the school are common, as the school continues to invest in building generations.
“Sheikh Zayed’s vision was to create a school that was inclusive, so we are not for profit,” Mr Leppard said. “Every penny made here goes back into the school to develop it for the future.
“We have a wonderful future programme and we just received accreditation from the Future Academy.”
British Ambassador to the UAE, Patrick Moody, attended the celebrations and cut the jubilee ribbon.
Mr Moody said the school was a good example of collaboration between the two countries in “education, sharing the skills and working together to build the kind of future we would like for our children”.
“We can look back at the past 50 years as a foundation, and look forward for the next 50 years,” he said.
“We have watched the Emirates grow from a small country to a very successful global hub by investing in education, especially with British academic institutes.”
Mr Moody said there were more education campuses in the UAE from Britain than any other country.
He also inaugurated a branch of the University of South Wales this week.
“This is another example of sharing education and skills,” he said.
The school’s year-long celebrations will include a production of Billy Elliot in December, the launch of a book about the school’s history at the British Embassy in January, a gala musical in May and the Golden Oldies, a team of former pupils who will compete at the Dubai Sevens rugby tournament.
The celebrations will be preserved for the pupils of 2043 to also enjoy in a sealed time capsule to be opened in 25 years, hopefully with more success than the last one. A capsule buried in 1993 went missing during building work.
This year’s treasure will be safely locked away and many more happy memories will be stored over the next year.
Sheikh Zayed’s vision was to create a school that was inclusive, so we are not for profit MARK LEPPARD Head teacher,
British School Al Khubairat