Primary Teacher

Job Headline

Harrow International School Abu Dhabi is seeking exceptional educators to join the founding team and become part of the legacy.

Job Description

Taaleem is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. We hold ourselves to a high standard of effective practices in relation to child protection and we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. We expect all staff to share this commitment.

All successful applicants must be willing to undergo enhanced child protection screening appropriate to the post, including various background checks including, receipt of high-quality references, proof of relevant qualifications, identification and police checks, including overseas checks. No member of staff will be able to start until these checks are complete and this process takes, on average, a month.

Harrow International School Abu Dhabi is seeking exceptional educators to join the founding team and become part of the legacy.

As part of our founding team, you will play a pivotal role in building a vibrant and inclusive community where the learning of every individual is at the heart of daily life. Guided by the Harrow values, our staff will create an environment in which every pupil is nurtured, challenged, and empowered to achieve their very best.

All Harrow teachers (Beaks) will deliver exemplary teaching and learning within their subject discipline, fostering an environment where every pupil is supported, challenged, and inspired to excel. They will uphold the highest academic standards while embodying the distinctive Harrow values of courage, honour, humility, and fellowship. Beyond the classroom, they will play an active role in the pastoral care of pupils within their House, contribute to the breadth of co-curricular opportunities, and enrich the wider life of the School. In doing so, they will strengthen the traditions of Harrow while shaping an educational experience uniquely aligned with the aspirations of Harrow Abu Dhabi.

Key Responsibilities:

Teaching and Learning

• Plan and deliver lessons of the highest quality, characterised by intellectual rigour, engagement, and creativity, ensuring all pupils are challenged, supported, and inspired to achieve their full potential.
• Differentiate and adapt teaching and learning with precision, enabling each child to flourish academically and personally, in keeping with the Harrow tradition of nurturing individual strengths.
• Establish a purposeful, inclusive, and aspirational classroom culture, setting uncompromising expectations that foster curiosity, independence, and intellectual courage.
• Maintain a stimulating, orderly, and well-resourced learning environment, reflective of Harrow’s standards of excellence, and conducive to scholarship and collaboration.
• Implement robust formative and summative assessment practices, using insight and evidence to recognise achievement, inform planning, and accelerate progress.
• Embrace innovation, technology, and future-focused pedagogies to enrich pupils’ experiences and prepare them for life beyond Harrow Abu Dhabi.

Curriculum and Academic Enrichment

• Contribute to the design, development, and continual refinement of the curriculum, ensuring it embodies academic rigour, coherence, and alignment with both international and national frameworks, while reflecting the distinctive ethos of Harrow Abu Dhabi.
• Prepare pupils with confidence and resilience for assessments and examinations, equipping them with the skills, habits, and intellectual courage required for the next stage of their Harrow journey and beyond.
• Provide incisive, constructive, and timely feedback, maintaining meticulous records of achievement that inform planning and celebrate progress.
• Engage with leading educational research and subject-specific developments, integrating innovative approaches and evidence-based practice into curriculum design and classroom delivery.
• Enrich the academic experience through cross-curricular initiatives, competitions, and cultural encounters, broadening pupils’ perspectives and fostering curiosity beyond subject boundaries.
• Play an active role in the co-curricular life of the School, contributing to electives, academic societies, lectures, and extension opportunities that embody Harrow’s tradition of scholarship and breadth.
• Collaborate purposefully with colleagues, sharing best practice and contributing to the collective advancement of teaching and learning across Harrow Abu Dhabi.

Pastoral Care and Safeguarding

• Provide exemplary pastoral care, nurturing pupils’ personal, social, and emotional development, and ensuring that every child feels known, valued, and supported.
• Uphold the highest standards of safeguarding, child protection, and pupil welfare, maintaining unwavering compliance with Harrow Abu Dhabi policies, UAE regulations, and international best practice.
• Communicate proactively and sensitively with parents, maintaining accurate, timely records of all relevant interactions, and fostering strong partnerships between home and School.
• Model and instill Harrow’s core values of Courage, Honour, Humility, and Fellowship, ensuring they are lived out daily in teaching, pastoral practice, and wider school life.
• Contribute actively to the House system, cultivating pride, belonging, and fellowship, and helping pupils to experience their House as a cornerstone of their Harrow journey.

Skills Description

Essential Requirements:

• Appropriate degree, with UK PGCE or other teaching qualification that gives QTS
• Minimum three years teaching experience and familiarity with the National Curriculum of England and IGCSE/GCSE and/or A Levels as appropriate.
• A clean criminal record check including International Child Protection Check (ICPC) from the UK or appropriate police and other checks from relevant countries of residence/work for applicants who have never worked in the UK and no issues regarding suitability to work with children.
• A proven commitment to the safeguarding of children and an understanding of safeguarding procedure.
• Prior teaching experience essential, preferably in leading independent schools

Desirable Characteristics:

• A genuine passion for working with young people and helping them to flourish.
• The ability to inspire excellence in both academic and pastoral development.
• Empathy, patience, and a caring approach in supporting pupils.
• Adaptability, creativity, and a forward-thinking outlook.
• Strong cultural sensitivity and global awareness.
• A collaborative mindset, working positively with colleagues, pupils, and parents.
• A drive to develop and innovate, embracing professional learning with a mindset of continual improvement.

WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

• Our Beaks embody the highest standards of professional and personal excellence. We seek to appoint individuals who are not only outstanding educators, but also mentors and role models who inspire pupils to achieve their very best, both in scholarship and in character. At Harrow Abu Dhabi, teachers play a pivotal role in shaping confident, compassionate young people, contributing fully to the intellectual, pastoral, and co-curricular life of the School.
• We seek teachers who combine intellectual rigour with a genuine love of working with young people.
• Teaching, for us, is not simply a profession; it is a vocation, and we welcome colleagues who see their role as both a privilege and a responsibility.

• We value teachers who bring passion, integrity, and humility to their work, modelling the values of Courage, Honour, Humility, and Fellowship in all they do.

• A Harrow teacher embraces challenge with resilience and creativity, demonstrating adaptability in a dynamic global context.

• Our Beaks work closely with colleagues, pupils, and families to create an environment where every child can flourish with demonstrated success in stretching the most able and supporting those who need additional guidance.

• Beyond the classroom, they contribute enthusiastically to co-curricular activities, pastoral life, and the wider school community, recognising that a Harrow education is distinguished by its breadth as well as its depth, and that its impact extends far beyond academic achievement.

WHAT ELSE CAN YOU BRING?

• At Harrow we seek educators who contribute far more thanacademic excellence. Individuals who enrich our pupils’ educational journey through their diverse talents and passions. Whether you are a pianist, ballet teacher, rugby player, or possess another distinctive skill, we value those who inspire creativity, nurture character, and develop our pupils’ abilities beyond the classroom.
• We warmly invite applicants to share the unique qualities they can bring to our distinguished and well-rounded school community. At Harrow, we value teachers who extend learning beyond traditional boundaries, those who inspire curiosity, foster a love of learning, and broaden our pupils’ horizons through music, sport, the arts, or other exceptional pursuits.

School Values and Behaviours

All staff are expected to conduct themselves in line with the school’s values which are: Courage, Honour, Humility and Fellowship. While the School’s values set out what matters most to us, the behaviours below are intended as a shared set of expectations to refer to, and standards to aspire to, in our dealings with others. They are the practical application of our values.

COURAGE

• We remain optimistic and purposeful in a disrupted world.
• We take responsibility for our decisions, even the hard ones.
• We always challenge poor behaviour in ourselves and others.
• We are open to new ideas, and seek fresh challenges.

HONOUR

• We keep our promises.
• We act with integrity – doing the right thing, even when it is difficult or when no one is watching.
• We respect and value our traditions whilst setting them in the context of today.

HUMILITY

• We work hard to serve others within the School and across our wider communities where possible putting their interests before our own.
• We give and seek honest and appropriate feedback, reflect on our failures and learn from them.
• We support each other through challenges and whatever the outcome, we celebrate those that took part.

FELLOWSHIP

• We respect each other and value our differences, knowing that we are more effective and more resilient working together.
• We are kind and inclusive; we value the contribution that each of us makes.
• We role model the behaviours that we would like to see in others; we ask only of others what we would be prepared to do ourselves.

Equality, diversity and inclusion are values that are important to us at Taaleem. We believe in diversity of thought and actively welcome everyone regardless of their background to bring their valuable and relevant skills to our community.

Note: It is an offence to apply for the role if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children.

This advertisement is posted on behalf of Harrow International School Abu Dhabi which is part of the group owned by Taaleem Holdings PJSC and independently operated under a licence to use the Harrow School brand. For further details of the relationship, please see the relationship statement on the harrowdubai.ae website. Accordingly, applicants should be aware that the employer will be part of Taaleem Holdings PJSC’s group and under its control and not Harrow School.