Edarabia had the opportunity to interview Matthew Burfield, Principal/CEO of GEMS Founders School, Dubai. In this interview, Mr. Burfield discusses his plans for the school in 2025, his approach to curriculum innovation, the challenges he anticipates in education over the next five years, and his strategies for keeping students engaged in learning. He also shares his insights on how the school ensures all students feel welcome and have the same chances to succeed, how it addresses student stress and bullying, and how it helps students build the skills they need for life after graduation.

1. What are your plans for 2025?

This being our first year without DSIB inspections, we are taking full advantage by pushing forward with our school improvement journey. We are innovating our curriculum and making sure all our systems to drive improvements in pedagogical developments are fit for our journey to Outstanding. That said, we aren’t completely inspection-free this year, as we are reaccrediting with the British Schools Overseas (BSO) programme and looking to once again achieve Outstanding in that inspection.

2. How do you decide what to focus on academically each year, and which new ideas are you pursuing?

We are in the process of renewing our three-year school improvement plan, so we are having discussions with all our stakeholders to ensure the challenging goals we set three years ago have been achieved and that we continue to push forward with a new three-year plan. The engagements and discussions around this are very enjoyable, as this year, we’ve made sure our student leaders are far more involved in the creation of the plan, and we’re seeing a host of innovative ideas come out of the various forums. The key question is, how do we innovate, enrich, and communicate our curriculum to make sure it is ambitious enough for our children?

3. What challenges do you anticipate in the field of education over the next 5 years?

You can’t look ahead at the next five years without mentioning technology and, of course, AI. The transformative and disruptive nature of these makes the next five years both exciting and a little daunting. We know our curriculum has to develop, and we know the required investment in teacher training (both to enter the profession and to upskill current colleagues) is vast. It is an exciting prospect, though, to reimagine the future of education and consider the endless possibilities ahead of us.

4. How do you keep students interested in learning, especially those who struggle or seem unmotivated?

This is where the skill of teachers and the art of the teaching profession are key. Driving our professional understanding of our students is a scientific process, but the beauty of teachers who are truly in ‘flow’ and who genuinely know their children is still something to behold! Ensuring that we drill down into the reasons behind a dip in motivation or the challenges young people may encounter through their formal education is where teachers really shine. So far, no tool, technology, or piece of equipment has been developed that can replace the thoughtful responsibility teachers have for every child in their care.

5. How does the school ensure all students feel welcome and have the same chances to succeed?

Our school is a fully inclusive environment that realises the goal of GEMS Education to ‘see genius in every child’. That starts from the moment children begin their journey with us and we welcome them into our large, diverse community. It can be quite daunting to join a school with over 6,000 students, no matter how confident you may be, so we make sure every child has a buddy who supports them through the early days. Our vision is for everyone in our community to ‘Grow, Flourish, and Succeed.

6. How proactive is the school in matters of student stress and bullying?

We regularly work with students, parents, and staff to identify the challenges young people face in our school. Together with a partner who we started with over seven years ago, we have developed an app called Upstrive. It allows all children (and staff) to check in daily, enabling us to respond very quickly to any concerns that children raise. We also use it to check for trends and patterns so we can deploy our very large student welfare and counselling team. Our trained Mental Health First Aiders have increased over the years, and we believe putting wellbeing first for everyone is an essential part of ensuring our community remains happy.

7. How do you help students build the skills they need for life after graduation?

This is achieved in so many ways, but one area of focus has been developing a broad curriculum offering in Year 12 so students don’t simply focus on their three to five A-level subjects or their BTEC vocational programmes but gain from exposure to so much else. We have called this our ‘Super Curriculum’ and it allows students to access a wide range of courses, classes, and opportunities well beyond the traditional A-level curriculum. It involves engagement in our many sports teams through the DASSA league, Model United Nations engagements, media and creative classes, careers and university awareness sessions, and so much more. We feel this has really supported our students and prepared them for when they leave school.

8. How involved are parents and the community in making the school better?

Our parent association is deeply involved in our school, as well as key parent members on our Local Advisory Board, including the Chair who was a founding parent of GFS. Through these formal engagements, we get lots of feedback, challenges, and guidance to support our school improvement journey. Parents are partners at GFS, and we seek feedback from them regularly. We cannot always fulfil their requests, but through active listening systems and processes, we have a really good idea of what matters most to our families.

9. How do you develop a school culture that attracts and keeps great teachers?

School culture is a delicate balance between high standards and expectations and deep levels of support and guidance. Developing this culture is possible through the input of financial and human resources, but maintaining the culture requires far more strategic planning. It’s essential to uphold high professional standards and expectations when it comes to student learning, safeguarding children, and driving student achievement. This needs to be balanced with bespoke continuous professional development, coaching, and mentoring that allow staff to take risks in a psychologically safe environment.

10. Do teachers at your school have growth opportunities for leadership roles?

All our teachers have growth opportunities. The majority of our leaders have grown from within, and our Founding Founders (those who started at GFS in 2016) have all grown into senior leadership roles within our school.

11. Which after-school activity would you say has the biggest positive impact on a student’s future?

The Model United Nations and Debating competitions have a real correlation with student outcomes. It’s clear that high levels of attainment and progress come from students who have engaged in these programmes regularly throughout their school life.

12. As a principal, what is your definition of success?

Quite simply, creating a school culture that allows all students, parents, and staff to find their own personal pathway to success.

13. If you had the opportunity to inspire the world in one sentence, what would that sentence be?

Teaching is the greatest profession in the world, creating all future pathways and opportunities for children; let’s all hold it in the highest regard.