Imagine a family who has found the right home. The villa is lovely, the community is friendly and colleagues speak highly of the area. Only once the lease is signed do they start looking at schools, and they discover that the school which suits their eldest best is on the other side of the city at the busiest time of day.
It is an easy trap to fall into, and a hard one to get out of. In Dubai, where you live and where your children go to school are really one decision.
Why the school run matters so much
The journey to and from school sets the rhythm of family life. It decides what time the children get up, how tired they are by the afternoon, whether after-school clubs are realistic, and how much of a parent’s morning is spent in the car. Distances that look short on a map can take a good deal longer at school-run times, and a school that is perfect in every other way can become a daily strain if it sits on the wrong side of your route.
Many schools run buses, which helps. Routes, journey times and availability vary, though, and a long bus ride isn’t always kinder than a shorter drive.
A sensible order
Where you have the time, it usually works best to start with your child rather than the house. Think first about which kinds of school would genuinely suit them, and which curricula are realistic for their age. From there you can put together a shortlist of schools worth considering and see where they are. Often a handful of areas emerge that make sense for that shortlist. Check which schools have space in the right year groups, and then choose your home with a much clearer picture.
If your home is already fixed, perhaps through a company property or a lease you’ve signed, that is absolutely fine. The question simply changes from “which schools are best?” to “which suitable schools make sense from here, and what are the trade-offs?”
With more than one child, location matters even more. Two schools in opposite directions can make mornings unmanageable. Sometimes one school that suits everyone well enough is the right answer, and sometimes it’s two schools close together.
One last point. School advice and property advice are different things. A school adviser can tell you which areas make sense for which schools and what the journey is likely to involve, but finding and securing the home is a matter for you and your property adviser. The two work best when they talk to each other early.