Bilkis Maniar

Teaching is something I fell into in my last term of university. Having played rugby at Loughborough and enjoyed the coaching, teaching seemed like a natural progression. Teaching and rugby have taken me all over the world allowing me to play alongside internationals and learn from high performing coaches. The idea of “skills before drills” is something I constantly look to embed in my teaching with students asked to think rather than just regurgitate. I have been in Dubai since 2015 and joined DBS as the Head of Science in 2019. I am an avid Audible fan, with my library mostly filled with books on coaching and psychology. Aside from continuing to play touch rugby and the occasional Vet’s appearance in the Dubai 7s, I love photography and videography #teamcanon. Best Moment In Teaching I have been fortunate enough to experience a lot of highs in teaching. I have toured South Africa, worked with a rugby 1st XV all the way through the Daily Mail Final at Twickenham. Got all 15 medical applicants onto medicine in one year; one at Cambridge! but my best moment is seeing the influence we have firsthand, when a student declares that they want to teach because of me. It’s amazing to know we inspire and that someone wants to follow my path. I can still remember my inspirational teacher at school and to know I have been that for someone else is without doubt my best moment in teaching.

Moving into career and university guidance from the role of head of faculty has reawakened my passion for education because it has reminded me that what we teach students in school is only part of their journey; I am inspired by hearing about their aspirations and the feeling that I might be able to provide information and develop skills that will help them beyond the confines of their school campus. In my spare time I love to swim, cycle and run....someone should think of a name for that. Best Moment In Teaching Waking up on the first day of the holidays! But seriously, chatting to students who left DBS 3,4,5 years ago and hearing about what they have become....hoping that I was part of that growth.

I joined DBS in 2019 after spending around a dozen years teaching in and around Manchester - hence the need to relocate to a place with some reliable sunshine so moved to Dubai with my wife and two children.

After completing my Ph.D. I really wanted to pursue a career in teaching Higher / Further Education. I joined DBS in 2015 having a wealth of teaching experience after having taught a wide range of courses including GCSE, A Level, IB/MYP and Foundation Degree programs. I completed my PGCE from University College London and then spent 7 years teaching at City of Westminster College, London. Moving closer to home at North Hertfordshire College, I was part of the of the program management team for the Foundation Degree in Bioscience; an affiliated course to the University of Bedfordshire and Extended Degree in Bioscience linked to the University of Hertfordshire. I relocated from the UK to Dubai in 2013 to join an IB school in Dubai. In my spare time I am an avid reader and play badminton having been a team captain and former league champion in previous years. Best Moment In Teaching My first set of student results day while teaching at City of Westminster College, London. As a teacher you spend all year planning, marking, providing feedback as well as all the other tasks associated with the role as a teacher. Sometimes this makes you wonder what you let yourself in for! I got the answer on my first student results day! Seeing the elation all over my students faces as to what they had achieved, and all so pumped up about the future they were creating for themselves. It was an amazing feeling! This made me realize that there were only a few professions where you could feel like this and teaching is without any shadow of doubt one of them. One of the most poignant moments was of a student in that cohort who was a refugee and after completing his A Levels went on to study Chemistry and further completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Reading University. He stays in touch with me to inform me of his academic triumphs. A simply outstanding achievement.