Transforming Writing Across an International School

At Literacy Counts, we are delighted to shine a spotlight on GEMS Wellington Academy - Al Khail, an International School in Dubai, and its commitment to developing high-quality literacy teaching.

Mariyam Ahmed, Head of Primary English, spoke to us about the school’s journey and the impact of Ready Steady Write. Her enthusiasm and strategic direction for literacy were clear, alongside a strong commitment to supporting staff, engaging pupils and continuing to raise standards in English.

The GEMS Wellington’s experience offers valuable insight into how a clear, consistent and ambitious approach to writing can strengthen teaching and learning across a large and diverse school community. In this spotlight blog, Mariyam shares the school’s journey, the progress made so far and the difference Ready Steady Write has made for teachers and pupils.

Can you tell us more about your role and the school community?

GEMS Wellington Academy is a large (7 form entry) premium British international school. We have over 90 nationalities represented so it's an incredibly diverse community where the vast majority of our students are multilingual learners.

As Head of Primary English my role involves overseeing reading, writing, phonics, and spelling across the primary phase. I support teachers through coaching, professional development, and ensuring we continue to raise standards in English.

What first led the school to choose Ready Steady Write?

My focus was to look for a writing curriculum that was research-informed, ambitious and developed children as genuine writers. It also needed to be practical to implement consistency across our large school. When I came across Ready Steady Write, it immediately stood out because it combines explicit teaching, rich vocabulary and high quality literature. We also wanted to improve teacher confidence and to create that shared approach across every year group so that every child, regardless of which class they were in, was going to experience excellent writing pedagogy every single day.

How has Ready Steady Write affected consistency across the school?

Every year we have new staff joining and so consistency is a big focus. I would say the shared language has really helped. Along with the shared expectations, and the common understanding of what high quality writing looks like, has meant that regardless of whether I'm visiting a Year One class or Year Six, I can see the same structure and routines. When you visit classrooms, the working walls, the children's books, and the teaching itself, you can see that consistency.

How has Ready Steady Write affected pupil’s attitudes to writing?

Implementing Ready Steady Write has transformed the way our children approach writing. From Foundation Stage through to Year 6, we have seen exceptionally high levels of engagement, with pupils demonstrating a genuine enthusiasm for writing and a growing confidence to share and celebrate their work. Classrooms are filled with purposeful discussion, eager writers and pupils who are proud to showcase their learning. It's that genuine motivation. I want to write, I’m proud of my work. I want to show my parents, I want to go into another classroom and read my story.

What has been the biggest change in pupils’ writing since using Ready Steady Write?

One of the most significant strengths of the resource has been the Daily Sentence Accuracy. This consistent routine has had a measurable impact on pupils' transcription skills, strengthening sentence construction, punctuation, spelling and grammatical accuracy. The daily practice has enabled children to develop their fluency, stamina and confidence in writing, allowing them to focus increasingly on the craft of writing rather than the mechanics alone. Another big difference is in the quality of the children’s planning and also their editing skills. I'm seeing students going back, with their purple pen and editing independently.

This year 74% of our students are working at age-related. This is phenomenal progress and an increase of 19% at age-related from last year’s data of 55%.

How has Ready Steady Write supported progression, inclusion and EAL learners?

The carefully sequenced lessons provide a clear purpose and progression, ensuring knowledge is built systematically over time. This thoughtful structure has also empowered our teachers to make effective adaptations for our students without compromising the integrity of the learning journey.

As an international school in Dubai, many of our pupils learn English as an additional language. Therefore, the explicit teaching of vocabulary instruction and oral rehearsal of their sentences along with multiple opportunities for them to hear and discuss language has been invaluable.

Through high-quality teacher modelling, carefully scaffolded lessons and the gradual build-up of knowledge prior to independent writing, our EAL learners have been able to access the curriculum successfully and develop the confidence to write independently while experimenting with increasingly ambitious sentence structures.

How has the programme developed vocabulary, oracy and pupils’ attitudes to writing?

Beyond improvements in the quality of writing itself, we have witnessed significant growth in pupils' vocabulary and oracy. It has been particularly rewarding to hear children naturally applying newly acquired vocabulary in everyday classroom conversations. Our writing assessments consistently identify sophisticated vocabulary as one of our pupils' greatest strengths, demonstrating that the rich language experiences embedded throughout the programme are transferring successfully into independent writing.

Perhaps the greatest endorsement comes from our pupils themselves. Our recent pupil voice survey showed that our pupils enjoy the engaging vehicle texts and the variety of writing outcomes, reflecting the motivation and excitement that Ready Steady Write has brought to our classrooms.

What feedback have teachers shared, and what would you say to another international school?

There has been huge overwhelmingly positive feedback from teachers. They have appreciated the high quality texts, the ambitious vocabulary, and the support with reducing workload as well as feeling more confident. And the engagement, there’s been a lot of feedback from teachers on how students are really excited and immersed in the units and the teachers are so proud of their students’ work.

To other schools, I'd say look at my data, come and see what's happening in the classrooms, come and speak to my students let them tell you how much they have developed in writing.

For our school community, Ready Steady Write has been the right choice. As we continue our journey, we are excited to build on the successes we have already seen and further strengthen literacy across our school. We are proud of the impact Ready Steady Write has had so far and look forward to seeing our pupils continue to flourish as readers, writers and speakers.

Thank you!

We would like to thank Mariyam for kindly sharing her experiences. It has been a privilege to hear about the impact Ready Steady Write is having at GEMS Wellington - Al Khail International School.

Find out more

Is your International school exploring writing solutions for your diverse learners? Ready Steady Write is the leading writing programme designed to support teachers in delivering high-quality writing outcomes in these settings.

Book a free discovery call with one of our expert consultants today and see how Literacy Counts can support your school.