Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Star Education, a bespoke English Curriculum school, has appointed Neal Joseph Oates as the new Principal of Star International School Mirdif, effective for the new school year. Having a vast amount of experience in the education sector, Neal Oates has worked in schools renowned for their academic standards across the region and joined the Star Mirdif team in September 2019.
Boasting a strong and successful background in the field of education, Principal Oates has won multiple awards for work in the STEAM curriculum, including the BETT 2019 leadership awards, the GESS awards, whilst also being the winner of the 2018 Microsoft Global E2 competition held in Singapore. His next steps for the school have stemmed from his previous awards as he comments, “I plan on building on our past successes and developing a world-class education for our school community. We have recently added a STEAM+ curriculum across the school and we are investing in developing our facilities and the technological infrastructure to support the ever-increasing demands which new technology places upon our school.”
Mr Oates joined the school in the midst of the pandemic, simultaneously with Star Mirdif’s expansion, which saw the launch of the secondary phase of the school, allowing for more students of older ages to create new memories at Star Mirdif. Mr. Oates’ strength and determination helped maintain the loyalty of parents throughout COVID-19 by supporting the students with distance learning, whilst maintaining the school’s cohort.
As the newly appointed Principal of Star Mirdif, Neal Oates, has commented, “I am privileged to have been appointed the Principal of Star Mirdif. During the last two years, we have built a strong foundation alongside the growth of the school. I am looking forward to the future successes of all of our students.” Mr Oates is proud to be further building on the work done by Ms Gill Roberts, former principal of Star Mirdif, who was recently promoted to Director of Education across the three Star schools.
Ms Gill Roberts stated, “Mr Oates has worked diligently as Vice Principal over the past two years becoming familiar with children, parents, staff, systems, procedures, values and the family ethos of the school. During the Distance Learning era of lockdown 2020, Mr Oates catapulted the school into the 21st century with huge improvements to technology, digital infrastructure and alternative learning; systems which empowered school, staff and children to achieve success through the pandemic. Rising from this, Star Mirdif, under the leadership of Principal Neal and his team has a vision to become one of the leading British schools in Dubai, well equipped with the resources to tackle the challenges of the 21st Century. I believe there is no holding them back! Star Mirdif is on the journey to becoming a school offering a world class education to all.”
About Star Mirdif:
Star International School Mirdif is a BSME-accredited, co-educational British Curriculum school founded in 2008, situated in the heart of the Mirdif Community. Currently, the school is open to year groups EYFS 1 through to Year 10 with over 800+ children joining from all parts of the globe, representing over 70+ nationalities, 65+ teachers and 130+ school staff under one roof. The school will be offering a wide range of qualifications to suit all interests and capabilities including GCSEs, iGCSEs and BTEC’s, with subjects such as English Literature, Physical Education, Art, History, Geography, Business Studies and many more.
The school is family-oriented, guiding the children through learning with the school’s Pillars for Learning; Learning for Self, Learning for Change, Learning for All. Star Mirdif prides itself on offering affordable education from British trained and qualified teachers, with nominal tuition fees starting at AED 27,000.
Star Mirdif ’s Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) offers an exclusive learning environment situated away from the Primary and Secondary school, which offers plenty of space for inquisitive and energetic learners. The Foundation Stage building at Star Mirdif provides an abundance of outdoor space for lessons and breaks, as well as a beautiful indoor atrium for assemblies, collaborative events such as house music performances and hot weather play time. In addition to this, the school has a purpose-built splash pool to give students a safe introduction to swimming lessons within the younger age groups.
