UAE school news, 5 to 11 October 2026

Between Monday 5 October and Sunday 11 October 2026, 16 private schools across the UAE announced 19 verifiable developments on their own websites and social channels.

This week in brief: 2 new programmes, 3 leadership changes and 14 awards and competition results. By emirate: Dubai 17, Abu Dhabi 1, Sharjah 1.

Curriculum, programmes and accreditation

Glendale International School (Dubai): Glendale International School has launched the Edsidera Awards for students from Foundation Stage through Year 8. The programme sets age-appropriate challenges to build life skills beyond the classroom, including confidence, independence, resilience and responsibility. (Instagram post, 7 October)
Sunrise English Private School (Abu Dhabi): Sunrise English Private School in Abu Dhabi has launched BOOST, a structured after-school sports training programme. It offers karate for grades 1-9 (boys and girls), judo for grades 1-5 boys and girls plus grades 6-9 boys, and football for grades 2-5 boys. (Instagram post, 6 October)

Leadership changes

American International School (Dubai): American International School announced that Heba Elsayed Saleh, one of its leaders, has been appointed a member of Dubai's First Educators Council, which was established by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA). The school says she will contribute to dialogue on the future of education in Dubai. (Instagram post, 9 October)
GEMS World Academy (Dubai): Gareth Morgan, Vice Principal, Whole School Curriculum at GEMS World Academy Dubai, has been appointed a member of the Dubai Educators Council. The school says his curriculum leadership experience will contribute to the Council's mission of advancing education in Dubai. (Instagram post, 9 October)
American School Dubai (Dubai): Longtime staff member Mark Buschini has taken on the role of Director of Campus Life at American School Dubai. (Instagram post, 7 October)

Awards and competitions

JSS Private School (Dubai): The school's U-17 girls' cricket team finished second among 15 teams at the first-ever CBSE Girls' Cricket Cluster Championship, earning the silver medal. The school calls it a historic milestone for girls' cricket at the school. (Instagram post, 11 October)
Capital School (Dubai): The school received the Excellence Trophy for Arabic Language and the Values Trophy for Islamic Education at the ABT Awards, described by leadership as external validation of student achievement across the whole curriculum. (Instagram post, 11 October)
GEMS Royal Dubai School (Dubai): The school was honoured at the ABT Summit with the Excellence and Leadership Award for Arabic Language benchmark assessments across native and non-native speakers, and the Values Award for Islamic Education benchmark assessments. (Instagram post, 11 October)
The Philippine School (Dubai): The school received the ABT Achieving Schools recognition, earning the Excellence Trophy and the Values Trophy, with credit given to its Arabic Department. (Instagram post, 10 October)
Springdales School (Dubai): The school's Under-19 boys' volleyball team won the third-place trophy at the CBSE UAE Cluster Volleyball Tournament, competing against 18 schools from across the UAE. (Instagram post, 10 October)
JSS Private School (Dubai): Founding Principal Chitra Sharma received the Outstanding Educator of the Year recognition at the AES Achievers Summit & Honours 2026, which the school presents as a testament to her leadership and commitment to educational excellence. (Instagram post, 10 October)
JSS Private School (Dubai): A Grade 11 team won First Place across the GCC at the BITS Pilani Dubai Campus Origami-Inspired Pod Design Challenge 2026, earning a cash prize of AED 2,500 for their Origami-Inspired First-Aid Pod, a deployable emergency shelter inspired by the Yoshimura Fold Cylinder. (Instagram post, 9 October)
Regent International Private School (Dubai): The school celebrates Team SOAR, which was runners-up at the UAE STEM Racing Finals last year, then represented the UAE at the STEM Racing World Finals in Singapore and won the Women in Motorsport Award, described as a proud moment for the school. (Instagram post, 9 October)
Al Kamal American Private NT School (Sharjah): Students of Al Kamal American International Private School, Al Ramtha took second place in a football tournament hosted by Al Ebdaa Schools. (Instagram post, 8 October)
Al Mawakeb School Al Barsha (Dubai): The school's Grade 12 students won first place in the Pre-Med Competition at the American University of Sharjah (AUS). (Instagram post, 7 October)
The Indian International School (Dso Branch) (Dubai): The school's U-19 boys' handball team finished third at the CBSE UAE Cluster Handball Championship 2026-27, held over three days at The Royal Academy Private School in Ajman, with eleven players earning the podium finish. (Instagram post, 7 October)
JSS Private School (Dubai): JSS Private School Dubai won the Overall Trophy at a Hindi competition organised by ACT Universal. The school congratulated all participants, teachers and its wider community for the achievement. (Instagram post, 6 October)
Delhi Private School (Dubai): The girls' swimming team won 17 medals, 4 gold, 4 silver and 9 bronze, at the CBSE UAE Cluster Girls Swimming Championships 2026-27 across U-14, U-17 and U-19 categories. The U-17 relay team took gold in both the 4×100m freestyle and 4×100m medley relays, and five swimmers qualified for the national championship. (Instagram post, 6 October)
Jumeira Baccalaureate School (Dubai): JBS entered U12, U14 and U16 girls' teams in the Taaleem Football Tournament, hosted at Greenfield International School against fellow Taaleem schools. The U16 girls' team delivered an outstanding performance to finish in 1st place and bring the trophy home to JBS. (Instagram post, 6 October)

Previous edition: UAE school news, 28 September to 4 October 2026.