Interview: Alan Williamson, Kings' Education

It's been an eventful few months for Kings' Education. After Kevin Steadman stepped down as CEO after health complications, the Dubai-based school operator appointed Dr Pablo Fetter to lead its portfolio of three Dubai schools with a view to expand the brand in the UAE.

However, following Dr Fetter's abrupt departure late last year, the education provider promoted Kings' Al Barsha principal Alan Williamson to a new role — director of education. In this role, Williamson now leads strategy across Kings' schools, while retaining his position as principal of Kings' Al Barsha. It's only natural then, that during a visit to Kings' Al Barsha, we address the shakeup with Williamson, who says: "The chairman (Emirati businessman Tayeb Al Baker), who has 28 successful companies, is really passionate about education. And he felt that perhaps the CEO was looking more at the business side of Kings' and he wanted it to be absolutely about education because Kings' is almost like his charitable cause, his passion — it's what drives him. He therefore decided to put one of the principals in a CEO/director role and keep finance out of it and keep education fundamental to the heart of Kings."

While Kings' Dubai enjoys the reputation of being the only school to be rated Oustanding since school inspections first began in Dubai, the newer schools, however, have not been without their problems — as most new schools tend to do.

"I think when I first arrived, the Dubai rumour mill was that Kings' Dubai was a fantastic school but that the Al Barsha campus was struggling. But there was no evidence for that when I was here. There was a building programme that parents didn't have the inside information to. If you consider the trajectory of this school in a very challenging economic market — with some schools having 300 children in them — we very quickly went from 600 in year one to 1,300 last year to 1,700 in September 2017 in a premium market," Williamson says.

Williamson also notes that while parents might want to see Kings' Dubai's practices replicated at its sister schools, the schools all have their individual culture, strategies, and unique challenges.

"Obviously we have learned huge amounts from Kings' Dubai, we brought leadership in from Kings' Dubai and there was an expectation that Kings' Al Barsha would become Outstanding, but every school has its own culture. It's okay to be the same but different. Al Barsha is going to be different anyway as a secondary school, but I think we were very conscious that in terms of the sports academies and the scholarships and the innovation and music facilities we want here, we wanted it to be different as well. And Kevin Steadman (who is still with Kings' in an advisory role) and Mr Baker gave me that creativity and freedom to think differently about what we were doing here."

Similarly at Kings' Nad Al Sheba, the school has to cope with it's own challenges, most notably the fierce competition it faces in the neighbourhood.

"We're watching the primary grow in a difficult and competitive market, especially out there with Repton, Kent College, Hartland. So I think we're building on our ambitions for our schools while at the same time being knowledgeable about the market conditions," Williamson states.

He credits Kings' Nad Al Sheba headmaster Darren Gale for the "transformational leadership" that has resulted in growing enrolments at the school.

"It's been transformational leadership from Darren Gale. He's a fantastic leader and has really picked up the community. The improvements he made in just one term from September to December 2016 ensured that school was rated Good in the DSIB inspections. The work that he has done at that school around Science and innovation and early years education actually is very impressive," Williamson says.

Kings' is also looking at other ways to bring in more students. To draw more talented students, especially in sport, to Kings', the Al Barsha school is expanding its scholarship programme. The highly selective programme, is open to both current Kings' students and external candidates. Applicants will need to demonstrate excellence in academic subjects such as English, Maths and the Sciences and/or in the fields of Sport, Music or Drama alongside a significant Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) score.

In the future, Williamson says the school will also be involved in the Mohammed Bin Rashid Distinguished Students Programme, which offers scholarships at top Dubai schools for Emirati students. He says: "We've opened up discussions with the government and KHDA to be fully involved in the Emirati scholarship programme. So we will also be opening Kings' doors in terms of affordability of premium fees to local Emirati students. Our owner, again, is very passionate about that."

SIXTH FORM AT KINGS'

Kings' School Al Barsha will open its sixth form from September 2017, offering A Levels and a Kings' Diploma. A Levels qualifications will include subjects such as product design, music technology, physical education, and theatre studies, which will be complemented by more traditional study areas such as business and economics.

Williamson says: "We're dedicating a part of the massive secondary school here to sixth form. We've opened the sixth form for around 40 children — a mix of children who have been with Kings' and a substantial interest from other schools, which we were surprised at. We've really pushed the boat out in terms of our finances and bringing in a huge number of subject areas — psychology, sociology, business studies, economics, photography, politics, music technology, all the known academic subjects. I suppose it shows we're not playing it safe, we're going for sixth form in a very ambitious way with huge investment, lots of top teachers from top schools delivering a really wide variety of subjects."

The school will also introduce the Kings' Diploma, which will involve several wider academic awards, including the EPQ (Extended Project Qualification), Duke of Edinburgh Award (to Gold Level), work experience via Dubai-based business placements, charity work, community support and leadership challenges and qualifications.

Williamson says: "That is a fantastic concept that we are passionate about, and it comes from our knowledge of the UK university system. We now realise that while not everybody gets A*s at A Level, more and more children do, and therefore for a UCAS application, it's actually as much about wider achievement as academic attainment.

"So as part of the Kings' diploma, children will have to do work experience in Dubai, they will have to work for a charity, they will have to undertake Gold Duke of Edinburgh, they will have to set out to gain the Princess Diana Millennium Volunteer Award, and they will also have to study their three or four A Level qualifications. In addition, we are implementing the EPQ, which we feel is a good start to bridging the gap between A Level and IB, where you've got the broader education. What we feel is it ties in with the Kings' philosophy of concept-based learning and interdisciplinary learning, which, if I'm honest, we've taken a lot from the IB, in terms of the lower key stages in the school."

EXPANSION PLANS

With a sixth form launching this year, and the expansion of the scholarship programme, Williamson has his sights set on further growth for the group, but at a pace that won't make existing parents anxious. As enrolment across Kings' schools continues to grow, particularly the secondary phase, the operator will open a dedicated sixth form Kings' College on a plot near its Al Barsha school.

"The capacity at Al Barsha is probably around 2000. But we've actually been granted more land before Dubai Hills and so we have additional land capacity to build Kings' College, which will be a dedicated sixth form college. However, that will come when the huge numbers in primary come through into the secondary," Williamson reveals.
"I think we'll be looking at [opening Kings' College] in 2019 because we're bringing in 174 Year 7s in September to make it 1,700, plus another 164 the year after. I think the existing capacity at Al Barsha can only take another two years of expansion."

And while the Abu Dhabi school Dr Fetter had previously discussed with EJME may be on hold indefinitely, it's not entirely off the table. In addition to new Kings' schools, Williamson reveals the company is also eyeing opportunities for schools that offer another curriculum apart from the National Curriculum of England.

"We do have our eye on other curriculums within Dubai and looking at what's possible there. We actually have enough land at Nad Al Sheba where we could build and share another campus, and we're in talks with the KHDA," he says.

Williamson isn't quite ready to publicly reveal what this other curriculum might be, but it sounds like exciting things are in store for the school.

Williamson says: "We do want to continue to look at the gradual growth of the company because the King's brand is strong and people are interested within the Middle East and beyond the Middle East in our brand. But, we have reflected on our journey so far and we will fundamentally only expand when all three of our schools are fully established and strong, and then look to the future. And I think it will be a really exciting future."