This is the main school that children from the UK attend in Al Ain. (Our children spent a year at the Choueifat School in Al Ain as there were no spaces at AESS in September 2009. Only one other child at that school was from the UK.)

AESS is an excellent school with enthusiastic teachers and a lively community.

(If you have searched the net for information about this school you may have come across some criticism. Most of this is very out of date now.)

Walking round it ‘feels’ like a British school.

I drop my sons off at the school entrance at 7.15am. Our 8-year-old in Year 3 finishes at 2.30pm, so to keep out of the heat we go into the school library for 20 minutes until our 11-year-old in Year 7 finishes at 2.50pm.

A few afternoons a week one or both boys stays after school to play football (soccer) or cricket.

There are lots of out-of-school activities including overseas holidays, trips to museum, trip to an explosive, fun-packed science show called Brainiac in Dubai. Music lessons take place during the day. There’s an orchestra. The football teams compete against other teams in Dubai. There was a Quiz Night for parents at a local golf club at the start of term. The parents evening in October was very well organised and attended. A large book supplier in Abu Dhabi brought thousands of books in October and completely filled the large hall with popular British children’s books, with part of the takings going to school funds.

Here are some photos.

This one shows the left of the main entrance…

…and this shows the main entrance, and what’s to the right of it…

Inside the grounds…

And to the right of the above shot…

A covered play area for younger children…

See a separate article on the Community Library at this school.

The Al Ain English Speaking School Community Library is currently open Fridays, 11am to 1pm, and Sundays 2.30pm-4pm. The library is always open on Fridays, even during holidays.

(The library is generally open most days from 2.30pm to at least 3pm as children pop in after they finish school.)

You don’t have to have children at the school to take out books. The yearly joining fee is about £25 for a family. Contact Asa, one of the librarians, at asalives at hotmail.com for more information.

This is a shot of the building containing the library…

Here are 3 of the 6 tall bookcases containing books for adults…

And there are loads of books for children too…

Books suitable for secondary school age children are in a different library inside the main part of the school and aren’t currently accessible to families who don’t have children at the school.