'Bringing an Ellesmere education to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia' - School opens new Middle East site
A county school has opened its second site in the Middle East – with a third to follow soon.
Ellesmere College will see Ellesmere College Riyadh in Saudi Arabia open to its first pupils in September 2024 – one year since the opening of Ellesmere Muscat in the capital city of Oman.
It will be followed this year by a new site in Doha, Qatar, which is nearing completion.
The latest site in the capital of Saudi Arabia caters for local and international students and has opened in partnership with the Glory & Princeton International Schools Group – a group that started in 2003 and now owns and operates 15 schools across the region.
Vicky Pritt-Roberts, acting head of Ellesmere College, said: “Working with a partner like the Glory Group, who understand the Ellesmere philosophy, means that we can deliver academic excellence within an inclusive and nurturing community, that engages in a broad range of extracurricular activities in order to enhance personal growth.
“We should not forget that this growing international portfolio was the vision of our late headmaster, Brendan Wignall, who was determined to see his work in this area flourish.”
Nick Pettingale, director of international development at Ellesmere College, said opening a site in Riyadh is a fantastic addition to Ellesmere College’s growing international portfolio.
He said: “Together Ellesmere College and the Glory Group recognise that education is a shared responsibility between family and school and we highly value the partnership that we build between our staff and our families.
“Alongside Ellesmere College Muscat, our school in Riyadh has recently opened its doors for pupil registration into Kindergarten and Years One and Two.”
The Glory Group was started by Dr Hamdi Abel Razek Ahmed and his wife and in addition to the schools it runs, the group is currently building a university in New Mansoura with eight specialist campuses.
Dr Hamdi said: “Our partnership with Ellesmere College is an exciting addition to the Glory Group, we are delighted to be collaborating with a prestigious British school, with such a long and distinguished history, in order to bring an ‘Ellesmere education’ to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“We trust that the opening of Ellesmere College Riyadh might be the first of many across the region.”
Ellesmere College said it will work in close partnership with EC Riyadh but the Saudi Arabia campus will operate as an independent institution, with its own management teams and governing bodies – in exactly the same way as the Oman campus is run.
Ellesmere College is involved in setting standards and providing governance and oversight for all sites – and is in discussion with several other partners looking to expand the Ellesmere College family of schools into other territories around the world.
