Belvedere British School, and Cambridge High School Abu Dhabi, MBZ

Hello uz2020.

Welcome to Expat.com!

Hope you'll soon get some responses from other members.

Thank you,
Aurélie

hi uz2020,

There are heaps of school providing the british education system but like u said theyre a tad expensive.
You can try Choueifat International school. It is one of the strongest schools in the UAE when it comes to education and it not only provides the british system but also the American system as well through their own system which they created called the SABIS system.
Given the reputation it has, its relatively cheaper than other schools.

I can give you  a few more names if u wish but they aren't as cheap as this one. Hope this helps

Hi.

I saw your message on this site and your thread on another blog.

I live in MBZ City on a nice compound about half a mile from Belvedere School. My 7-year old is currently at Cambridge School but I am seriously thinking of removing him. A friend of mine used to be vice-principal there but since he left, I feel things are on the slide. Allied to this, the school were forced to take extra pupils by ADEC a couple of years ago bringing the class numbers up to 30+. I certainly feel that this is too high and results in way too much homework which in turn, equals resentment.

The fees are the same as BBS, both the schools being aimed at middle-income families. Although I have an education allowance allocated, I was attracted by both CHS's location and strong academic record. This has, I feel, been negated by the influx of extra pupils bringing the classes to unmanageable levels. I don't feel comfortable moving my son to a school costing twice as much as his current one so am looking at reasonably priced alternatives.

The student demographic at CHS is predominantly Indian and various Arabic speaking nationalities with a low proportion of British, SA or Antipodean students. To me, the UAE is a multi-cultural melting pot so the pupil demographic is not an issue. I do feel that the cultural contrast in work-ethic and family outlook may lead to some misunderstandings. 

Ultimately, if I had the resources, I would probably send him to Al Yasmina or BSAK, and probably will for secondary education. For now, I will be investigating BBS.

Thanx everyone for your replies.

dcmcg2000, thanx a lot for your detailed reply, specially your experience with CHS, we have opted for BBS, for various reasons a few similar to yours Would love to hear from you further on how your investigations go on BBS, keep me posted please.

MBZ seems like the place for us, people are not too keen on it due to it being dusty, construction work, and of course for being a bit isolated, but so far my husband is pretty keen on it.
Glad to hear someone is living happily there   We have been looking on dubizzle and a few other sites for properties in MBZ, the prices seem decent too.
Since you are there already can you please give me a realistic idea about prices for a four bedroom villa or apartment?  and also is it really as isolated as some people think? I mean do you have to go far for your daily stuff, groceries, eating out etc?

Really appreciate your feedback, thanx a tonne

MBZ....

The Lulu supermarket at Mazyad Mall is a jewel in a sea of mediocrity. The India Palace restaurant in the same place serves excellent food. Get a whole cinema to yourself and watch the latest flick at Dalma Mall (just across the highway).

There are property bargains to be had in MBZ...

uz220......

As I said, we live on a 40 villa compound just across the road from BBS. It has security, a 20m swimming pool and small gym and costs AED 150,000 per year. The best place to look for properties on-line is Dubizzle (dubizzle.com). You will also be able to find used cars and second-hand furniture etc. on this site as well. It takes 20-25 minutes to reach downtown AD from MBZ on a Friday morning and is conveniently located for Dubai and Al Ain highways as well.

As the other poster mentioned, there are two reasonably well-equipped malls nearby: Mazyad and Dalma, with a third one (including a Lulu Hypermarket) opening shortly. There are a variety of shops in both although Dalma is so big that it will be a while until all the units are full. There is both a BHS and M&S outlet there as well as a Carrefour Hypermarket and plethora of coffee shops etc. A new Pottery Barn has just opened but is exceptionally pricey.

Mazyad Mall has a medium-sized Lulu Express as well as several smaller clothes and shoe shops, a pharmacy, medical clinic and several fast food outlets as well as the lauded India Palace.

There are a number of restaurants and delivery outlets servicing MBZ (Arab Udupi near BBS is my Indian of choice).

To sum up, the trend now is to live off Abu Dhabi island. MBZ is better served than KCA and KCB from a mall pespective although they have a Spinneys and Abela (pricey purveyors of UK foodstuffs and pork products). Both are well-placed for reaching the airport and are not too far from Abu Dhabi. Both are also reasonably close to Mafraq Hospital, the major public hospital off AD island. Of course, they can be a little dusty but Abu Dhabi island is stuffed with cars so the air quality is better off island. There is always compromise to be made but I for one quite like MBZ although I could be tempetd by Saa al Nakhil village (very close to the international cricket stadium).

Hope this helps.............

Sorry...........Sas al Nakhl

Hello everybody,

I am new here in Abu Dhabi Emirate, a nice place.

I was reading all comments and school concerm and with respectful, I dont recomment to BBS (Belvedere) because they dont have experience working with expat children and dont have patience, just with arabic children, I have a friend of my community that is spending a very hard time because his son is shouted and discriminated for language. I saw him a couple days ago and he has been sick with nervious caused by the wrong procedures with them. I just my opinion with objetivity and responsability. Dont take risk friends.

dcmcg2000 wrote:

Sorry...........Sas al Nakhl

That place will cook your brains....44Kv on wires above your head