Swiss International School Dubai, the emirate’s first bilingual International Baccalaureate School - and one of only two boarding schools in the UAE - holds sustainability as one of its core values - a value that has now been lauded by the international teaching community with a Talk Education Innovation in Education award for Environmental Achievement.

Swiss International School Dubai celebrating the win

The online good school guide recognises innovation in education in its inaugural annual awards, and SISD beat off a number of top international school to receive the award.

Delighted School Principal, Ruth Burke, says, “At Swiss International School its our mission to prepare our pupils to be fully-rounded 21st century citizens - and key to that is ensuring we instil the necessity for good planetary stewardship and sustainability. Our team and pupils have fully embraced some wonderful initiatives, from saving water to our eco-friendly mud garden, and it’s fantastic news that we have achieved such an award - especially against stiff international competition, and in the very first edition of these annual awards.”

The school is one of the only educational establishments globally to include recycled vegan shoes from a sustainable local producer in its uniform. It also introduced water dispensers, saving more than 30,000 plastic water bottles a month.

The pupils enjoy bee and bug houses, a mud garden and there is weekly composting at the busy Al Jadaf school.

A Talk Education spokesperson says, “Our awards are different. They are designed to celebrate the schools who are changing the face of independent education by forging ahead with really new, revolutionary ideas. We’ve heard from schools adapting their menus to boost brainpower, rewilding farmland to offset their carbon footprint, and offering holiday courses and transformative bursaries to refugee children.” 

SISD now stands among some of the UK’s top boarding schools in the award recipient list, which includes the likes of Gordonstoun, Tonbridge School and Godolphin & Latymer School.

“Environmental initiatives are embedded across the school for all our students, from the tender age of three right up to our 18-year-olds. We will continue working together with our pupils and stakeholders to ensure we are vigilant and mindful of maintaining awareness of sustainability in every aspect of school life,” adds the Principal, Ms Burke.