# moving to Dubai



## joannemorehouse (Mar 16, 2009)

Hi
My husband and I are thinking of looking into Dubai for a new adventure, we have 3 kids ages 13, 11 and 8, boy, boy, girl respectively. How have you found life in Dubai, schools, friends? Would you make the decision to move there again after living there? My daughter is worried about the dress code for young girls "what i can't wear a tank top?"...any info would be appreciated.

thanks,

Jo


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## marc (Mar 10, 2008)

Hi Jo,

Moving with 3 kids seems a lot of work...... Do you have jobs here yet or interviews? - that needs to be sorted first..

Your daughter can wear pretty much what she wants but in malls and other places its a little bit more conservative but i doubt anyone would care as she is only 8......


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## dallan (Oct 24, 2008)

Hi Jo

Welcome to the Forum

I am about to move to Dubai to join my hubby and I have 3 children (14,12,6 boy,girl,boy) so as you can imagine I was a bit concern about my fashionable 12 year old that is about to turn 13!!!! But my concerns were sorted firstly when my hubby and I were out in Nov for a quick visit and then in Feb when we all went to see "daddy" She can still wear more or less what she wears back home!! (except for school - didn't go down too well when she was told her skirt had to go to about her knees!!!) Vest tops,shorts etc are all ok - when we went to the malls she did tend to wear a t shirt rather than strappy tops (but only sometimes) but that was it!! I think it becomes a bit more restrictive when they get older!! But in saying that I was quiet happy in vest tops etc when I was out and about but again when I went to the main malls I would change to a something that covered my shoulders.

With regard to schools - I have been very fortunate and got all 3 in to the one school which is only half a mile away from the villa. You will hear stories of long waiting lists etc and this tends to be the case for younger children but no so much for older - each school I visited had places for my older children but not the youngest at the start!! However my eldest is having to repeat a year so this may be the case with yourself - something for you to consider! Research the schools on the internet and contact admissions and enquire about the possibility of places etc. If you are able to visit then do so. Admin fees are charged when you apply to schools for each child. If you apply to more than 1 school again fees apply each time.

Friends - I have kept in touch with a girl that I met through the forum and she arrived in Dubai a few weeks ago and she had said the children were very friendly as they had all been in the same position at one stage or another!! He daughter even went to the local mall after her first day at school with her new friends!!! Again I am hoping to meet up with a couple of girls that I have met on here and exchanged mail addresses etc!!

My hubby is extremely settled and doesn't see him coming back to the UK in the near future - so hopefully all will go well when we arrive in a few weeks.

I know that in Dubai at the moment things are as unsettled there as everywhere in the world just now especially in certain sectors, I certainly wouldn't be going out if hubby hadn't have a secure position to go to - hence also why we waited 4 months before joining him. In fact when we leave in 4 weeks we are leaving our eldest to complete his school year as he has exams to sit - and he will then join us in September (myself and the children are coming back to the UK for the summer). Again so that his education isn't disrupted if things don't go well when I arrive although I don't see any reason why things won't go according to plan!!

Hope thinks go well for you and any other questions that you have please ask and I am sure people will be more than happy to answer!

Debbie


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## joannemorehouse (Mar 16, 2009)

marc said:


> Hi Jo,
> 
> Moving with 3 kids seems a lot of work...... Do you have jobs here yet or interviews? - that needs to be sorted first..
> 
> Your daughter can wear pretty much what she wants but in malls and other places its a little bit more conservative but i doubt anyone would care as she is only 8......


Hi, 

Thanks for the reply. We are just exploring the option of moving there and beginning to apply for work, we would never move without a secure position...but it is a huge decision to make and I just want to know what we might be getting into before we even start the process.

Thanks,

Jo


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## joannemorehouse (Mar 16, 2009)

*thanks for the info*

Thanks for all the info. We are only just considering the possibility of looking there for employment...starting to apply for jobs...we wouldn't just turn up on spec...not that adventurous, LOL. I am curious as to why some of the kids have to redo an academic year. Is the education system that different or does it have more to do with the timing? I think my kids would freak if they found out they had to do one over...In doing my investigation i seem to notice that many of the schools are british, which would mess us up I think. We are canadian and our schools follow the same system as the US. So i suppose we would only look at schools that offer an international program or the US style. 

good to know about the clothing issue, while only 8 my daughter is quite the inventive dresser and she really likes her clothes. 

I was also a bit concerned about the political situation there. It seems to be fairly stable but it is part of the area where that horrible war is happening so I am a little cautious....I can just hear my parents....ack. 

Thanks again for taking the time to answer my questions.

Jo







dallan said:


> Hi Jo
> 
> Welcome to the Forum
> 
> ...


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## dallan (Oct 24, 2008)

joannemorehouse said:


> Thanks for all the info. We are only just considering the possibility of looking there for employment...starting to apply for jobs...we wouldn't just turn up on spec...not that adventurous, LOL. I am curious as to why some of the kids have to redo an academic year. Is the education system that different or does it have more to do with the timing? I think my kids would freak if they found out they had to do one over...In doing my investigation i seem to notice that many of the schools are british, which would mess us up I think. We are canadian and our schools follow the same system as the US. So i suppose we would only look at schools that offer an international program or the US style.
> 
> good to know about the clothing issue, while only 8 my daughter is quite the inventive dresser and she really likes her clothes.
> 
> ...


Hi Jo

Glad to have been some help to you.

There are plenty of international schools and a few american schools so you should be able to find something that may suit.

With regard to having to re do a year we are from Scotland and have our own education system. However the schools in Dubai (british schools) follow the English system and therefore causes some problems. My son would be due to start their Year 11 and by that time they would have done a year of their GCSE programme. Although my son would have also done a year of his SQA programme. This causes problems as the sylabis that the 2 systems cover differs slightly, also the schools in Dubai don't tend to accept children in to year 11. We were going to push for this as my son is pretty cleaver however when we saw the options of subjects that he would have to choose between it wasn't going to work out. So we have decided that he would repeat a year, choose his subjects again and hopefully have a fairly easy year to settle in. He is certainly not the only child having to do this as it seems to be fairly common because of the differences of education systems in other countries.

Debbie


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## sgilli3 (Mar 23, 2008)

Hi and wekcome to the forum,

For a list of schools that offer US and IB curriculums- these links will help you.

Welcome to DubaiKidz.Biz

Dubai schools


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## munir2pac (Mar 17, 2009)

All I can say Dubai is awesome!!!


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## munir2pac (Mar 17, 2009)

All I can say Dubai is awesome!!! (sorry for double posting, cannot delete)


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## joannemorehouse (Mar 16, 2009)

Could any canadians with kids tell me about their experiences with moving into a new school system? My kids are 13, 11 and 8 so grade 7, 5 and 3 or if we can sucure a position for next year grades 8, 6 and 4...

thanks, 

Jo


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## joannemorehouse (Mar 16, 2009)

thanks again Debbie, I don't get all the acronyms regarding your school system but i get that it is different...how did your son react to having to repeat...I think that would be a deal breaker for my kid...i might just never hear the end of it...


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