Melanie Bennett

I joined DBS in 2016. I taught in Newcastle for two years in an outstanding school after I graduated from Newcastle University before I made the exciting decision to move and teach in Dubai. I enjoy reading in my spare time and exploring new places. I remain incredibly close to my immediate and extended family whose love and support have always played a vital role in my decisions and successes. I have made many valuable friendships with colleagues here in Dubai and I am proud to be a part of the DBS family. Best Moment In Teaching There are just too many! I adore teaching and my favourite thing is seeing how much the children progress over the course of the year.

I am Irish but have now lived more of my life overseas than in Ireland. Having changed careers and retrained to become a teacher, I can confidently say that teaching is my true vocation. As a long-term expat, I have had the benefit of experiencing education, as a teacher and as a parent, in several countries, giving me valuable insight into what is effective and what is important to children and their development. I joined the Foundation Stage department at DBS as a teacher in 2012. Over the years, I have taught in both FS1 and FS2 and I have watched proudly as an already Outstanding department continued to develop and evolve, into an exemplary model of how to provide the best early years education for children. I hope you get the opportunity to visit us and see the rich, vibrant and happy space that we have created. I became the Head of Foundation at DBS in 2019 and I strive to ensure the practice of constantly reviewing, learning and growing in our department, to give the best environment in which to teach and learn. When I am not at work, I enjoy playing tennis, cooking (and eating) and travelling to new places or to visit my grown-up children. Best Moment In Teaching My best moments in teaching are the little things that happen every day and are too numerous to mention! However, if I have to pick two that bring me joy they would be: 1) the children who learn to share, speak confidently, read, write and count but tell their parents that they don’t do work at school, they just play! and 2) the emails that I receive every year from parents, whose children clung nervously to their legs in September, telling me that their children now ask why they can’t go to school at the weekend!

I chose a career in teaching after having my own children and helping voluntarily with different weekly activities in their classes and going to support their teachers on school trips when they both started school. I decided to do a B.Ed(Hons) teaching degree at the University of Chichester in 1992. I qualified in 1996 and now have 24 years of teaching experience, 15 years teaching in two Primary schools on the South Coast in the UK, from Reception through to Year 3. I then moved to Dubai in 2011 and have been teaching here in Early Years education since. I joined DBS in 2013 in the Foundation Team. When I'm not teaching I enjoy travelling, walking, yoga, art, photography, socialising with friends and going to art galleries and concerts. I am married to George and have two grown-up children, Daniel who lives and works in the UK and Lauren who lives and works here in Dubai. Best Moment In Teaching When I began teaching in my first Reception Class at Edward Bryant School in the UK and the children finally learnt how to read and write independently...the excited look on their faces and their animated comments "I can read Mrs Burt!" and "Look, I can write…I am writing!" Priceless... I also love listening to the expressive ways in which young children retell traditional stories. I feel so privileged to have taught so many children in their first year at school.

It was in my latter years of high school that I decided I wanted to be a primary school teacher. That decision took me on a 4 year journey through university, completing my Bachelor of Education at Sydney University. After 13 years of teaching in Australia, a job opportunity came up for my husband in Dubai, and so began my teaching adventure here in the UAE. I began working at DBS in January 2014, initially as a supply teacher as I had young children. In September 2017 I accepted a full time role in the Foundation Team, and have been teaching in that department ever since. When I am not teaching I enjoy going to the gym, relaxing at the beach and travelling overseas. I live here with my husband and 2 children who also attend DBS. I am excited to be continuing my teaching at DBS this year. Best Moment In Teaching Every moment is special as a teacher. It is by far one of the most rewarding careers. However, my first appointment at Wattle Grove Public School in Sydney, Australia is definitely a moment I will never forget. Setting up my classroom ready for my first ever class was exciting and daunting at the same time. Then having them come in on their first day, their smiles, their different personalities, likes and dislikes, I just knew that it was going to be a fantastic year. Then on the last day watching them leave my room more confident, more knowledgeable and with a passion for being at school, I just knew that I had made the right decision to become a teacher. 💙