Thank You

MoE Team:

Thank you to everyone in the MoE team for bearing with me over the past two years with the changes and requests I have asked of you. You have shown great flexibility, resilience, and grit to keep moving forward even though it seemed so hard at times. You are such a special group of teachers, and I appreciate each and every one of you for everything you have done and put in to make the teaching and learning experience for our students better.

Our parents, students and teachers were so amazed to see the great job you did in training the students to perform on National Day, and the time and effort you put in to set up and run the extremely successful Family Iftar.

I must also make special mention of the MoE leadership, Manal and Mohammed, who have worked extremely hard to implement our change management and improvement plan for the MoE department. The teachers and I really respect your work ethic and knowledge that has helped the team to grow.

 Teachers, Inclusion and Fellow Leaders:

The amount of hard work and effort everyone has put in from planning, teaching, CPDs, observations, SEFs, SDPs, quality assurance, book looks and everything else has all been worth while as we are now stronger and closer than ever before.

The countless hours put in by the leadership team across the school has been nothing short of superhuman. Well done everyone!

Our inclusion team is second to none. The hard work and effort that goes into to making our students of determination make progress and feel happy is amazing to see. The great leadership and wonderful LSAs make for an absolute dream team. 

TA team/Bus operations:

For our lovely TAs: On top of all of the hard work you do in the classrooms, you take even more time from your day to support the school on the buses, making sure our students are safely transported back to their families. Waking up at the crack of dawn for the morning pickups and going back home late in the afternoon every day must be so tiring, but you always conduct yourselves with pride and professionalism. I love greeting you all every day seeing your beautiful smiles and well wishes for the day certainly makes it a joy to work with you all.

Thank you also to Mary and the BBT team of drivers who are always so kind, courteous and professional when dealing with my suggestions of route changes and addition of extra students throughout the year.

Admin / IT:

Thank you to everyone in the admin team who help to keep the school running, our parents happy and our staff employed and paid.

We have such a fantastic team in, our receptionists, HR, PRE, finance team and registrar. Thank you all for everything you do, we couldn’t do it without you.

Thank you to Naseem and Muzammil for your endless support on anything IT related. You are both amazing, thank you.

Thank you to Monica for working so patiently with me on data, GL assessments, reports, timetables, and everything else you do. It’s always a pleasure to sit with you to discuss and work on formulas, spreadsheets, and wonderful E-SIS.

Facilities, Procurement, Maintenance, Housekeeping, Health and Safety, Cleaners, Nurses, Social workers, PC&W, HR, and Security:

This has been by far the most dedicated school operations team I have ever had the pleasure of working with. You have all been exemplary, and it is evidenced by the amazing results we have achieved in all our National Framework and Academic Compliance, H&S, Irtiqa, NOC, and Covid Compliance inspections over the last two years. There is a reason why we have regularly been told that “Your school is an example to all other schools in Abu Dhabi” by many of the visiting inspectors time and again. We were only able to achieve this due to the hard work and massive efforts to meet every inspection criterion and the organisation of all the necessary paperwork. They are always impressed that everything is in place. Well done!

The building is always safe, clean and ready no matter if it’s a normal school day or a special event to welcome our families. I cannot express enough grateful I am for the herculean effort you all put in to work in such a large school building.

None of this could have been possible without the support and leadership of Dario Poliquit, who is, without hyperbole, the very best facilities manager in the UAE, if not the world. Your dedication, extra hours, foresight, organisation, negotiations, knowledge and experience make it all seem so effortless. However, working with you every day, I know that you are without a shadow of a doubt the hardest working person I know. Nothing is too big or too small for you. Thank you.

A huge thank you also for the two gentlemen in the background that help keep everything running and the parents happy. Thank you, Aziz and Allen, you are both truly outstanding.

Thank you to Mohammed Awwad, for helping keep everyone at the school safe and protected. Time and again you have shown that you get results for everything standard 5 related. Also, the late nights and early mornings you’ve had to endure to organise the regular PCR test results and follow up with SEHA, ADEK, parents, students and staff. No matter what I have asked of you, you have always delivered.

Thank you to Rene, the superstar procurement lady, without whom none of the above could be possible. Not only do you make sure everything is ready on time, but you also come and support by rolling up your sleeves and getting stuck in to setting up and organising any events we every have. Thank you!

And finally…

A massive thank you to our amazing ADEK liaison officer Rasha for dealing with the untold number of requests, questions, and emails that I send your way. You really are an unsung hero of ARA, as we couldn’t run the school without out. I know all the effort you put in, and I highly appreciate it and you. Thank you so much!