The Kensington Nursery caters to children from 4 months upwards delivering the British Foundation Stage curriculum through the Reggio Emilia Approach. Maha Seddiqi, Nursery Director says, “We are delighted to have the opportunity to share The Kensington experience with the DSO community. We understand that the formative pre-school years are a crucial stage of a child’s personal and social development .Accordingly, the purpose built setting, has been thoughtfully designed to support our objectives of providing a happy, secure and stimulating environment.”

The Nursery offers a rounded pre-school experience, helping children to develop social and emotional skills as well as cognitive and physical skills. The children participate in a variety of activities which include language development, creative expression through arts and crafts, drama and imaginative play and early reading skills. Sand and water play, physical education, cookery and information technology also feature in the weekly schedule.

The Nursery environment includes the Kensington’s signature elements such as the Language Majlis, children’s organic garden, large indoor soft play area and a pet zone featuring rabbits, guinea pigs, tortoise and birds.

The Nursery is also committed to contributing to the wider community, holding open fun days for all families on special occasions such as National day and Halloween. It also works with local charities on fund raising activities. Maha Seddiqi says “Our events programme is central to our philosophy of cooperation and collaboration with our parents and community neighbours and we look forward to joining the Dubai Silicon Oasis community.

Figures released by the Dubai Statistics Centre reveal that the population at the end of the first quarter of 2010 reached 1,803,000.

The data showed that males comprised 77 percent (1.4 million) of the population, a distortion caused by the large number of male expatriate labourers employed in Dubai.

According to a decree issued by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, if the rent for a property in 2009 was at market rate or up to 25 percent lower it cannot be increased

If the rent last year was between 26 and 35 percent less than market rate it can be increased by no more than 5 percent.

The full list of permitted increases is shown in the table below:

The law aims to ensure the stability in the Dubai property market.

Average rents are determined by the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA).

The number of job losses is thought to be around 60.

The paper quotes the company response as, ‘Nakheel continues to evaluate its projects and commitments against market conditions and opportunities. In doing so, the company also evaluates its cost base and efficiencies.’

Nakheel Properties is a state-owned property developer. Major construction projects include the Palm Jumeirah, Palm Deira, Palm Jebel Ali, The World, Jumeirah Islands, Ibn Battuta Mall, Discovery Gardens, International City, and Al Furjan.

The city has been name the 20th most expensive place to live by Mercer, a human resource consulting firm based in New York.

The Worldwide Cost of Living Survey 2009 covered 143 cities and measured the cost of more than 200 items in each, including food, housing, transportation, and entertainment.

The survey was compiled using data for year to March 2009. The most expensive cities were Tokyo, Osaka, Moscow, Geneva, and Hong Kong.

In the 2008 survey Dubai was ranked 52nd.

From June 1 2009 an expatriate owning a property in the UAE will be able to obtain a multiple-entry visa that will be valid for six months.

A visa will cost AED 2000 and can be renewed provided the property owner leaves the UAE for at least one month.

Conditions include:

• The property must be worth at least AED 1 million
• The owner must have a monthly income of at least AED 10,000
• The owner must obtain the title of the property from the registration authority in the relevant emirate.

The visa does not give the holder the right to work.

According to the Dubai House Price Index Q1 2009, published this week by Colliers International, property prices declined 41 percent between Q4 2008 and Q1 2009.

Prices have now dropped to the level experienced in the second quarter of 2007.

The Dubai School Inspection Bureau (DSIB) carried out inspections of 69 public and private schools and published the results on the Knowledge and Human Development Authority’s website yesterday.

In summary:

• All of the public schools inspected were rated good or acceptable.
• Of the private schools inspected, 4 were rated outstanding and 6 unacceptable. Standards at other private schools were either good or acceptable.

The 4 private schools named as outstanding were the Jumeirah College, JESS (Jumeirah), JESS (Arabian Ranches), and Kings Dubai.

The Arabian Canal is a 75 km man-made waterway and series of waterfront developments. It will run from the Dubai Waterfront at Jebel Ali, past the new Dubai World Central International Airport, and back towards the Palm Jumeirah.

The company will continue work on the first phase of the project, excavation of an 8 km stretch of waterway. The whole project is likely to be split into around 10 phases.