Moving House With Kids in Abu Dhabi: Schools, Moving Day and the First Week

When is the best time to move house with children in Abu Dhabi?

For families with school-age children, the summer break is the easiest time. Children finish one school year and start the next at the new school with everyone else, and nobody has to explain a mid-term arrival.

The trade-off is the heat. July and August moves are hot work, so book the earliest morning start you can and keep the children indoors with the AC on for the loading.

If your lease ends mid-year, you can still move. What changes is the school side: check the new school has a place in the right year group, read your current school's notice terms, and work out the fees before you set a date.

How does changing schools work when you move within Abu Dhabi?

Start with the new school, not the old one. Get a confirmed place first, then give notice.

1. Secure the place: apply to the new school and get the offer in writing.
2. Read your current contract: each private school sets its own notice terms in the parent contract. ADEK does not set one notice period for all schools.
3. Give written notice: to the current school, and settle any outstanding fees. Schools can hold back records or the eSIS transfer over unpaid fees.
4. The transfer: between Abu Dhabi schools, it goes through eSIS, ADEK's student system. The new school will tell you which documents they still need, usually Emirates ID, passport and visa copies, a birth certificate, recent reports and, for young children, the vaccination card.
5. School bus: cancel the old transport, and register for the new school's bus as soon as you have the new address.

What fees do you lose if you leave during the term?

ADEK caps what a private school can keep when a child leaves during a term. According to WhichSchoolAdvisor's summary of the ADEK fee rules:

Transport fees for a service your child no longer uses must be refunded. Your notice period under the contract is separate from these refund rules, so fees may still be due during notice.

Sources: WhichSchoolAdvisor, ADEK rules, refunds and transfers (updated September 2026) and WhichSchoolAdvisor, transferring between schools in Abu Dhabi. Confirm details with both schools and ADEK, as rules are updated.

Children in Grade 9 and above need Ministry of Education approval to change curriculum. A move from an April-start school to a September-start UK, US or IB school is only possible in September, and the child repeats the equivalent year group. If your child is near an exam year, talk to both schools before you sign a new lease.

How do you tell children about moving house?

• Toddlers and preschoolers: tell them a week or two before. Read a picture book about moving, and show them that their bed and toys are coming too.
• Primary school children: tell them early and show them the new home, the new room and the nearest park or play area. Let them choose where their bed goes.
• Teenagers: involve them in the decision where you can. Their worries are about friends and school, so plan how they will stay in touch and visit.

For a move within Abu Dhabi, the old friends are often only a short drive away. Saying that out loud helps more than you might think.

How should you pack children's rooms for a move?

1. Clear out first, with them: outgrown toys and clothes go to a sale, a friend or a charity. Our guide on getting rid of old furniture in Abu Dhabi covers cots and beds they no longer use.
2. Give each child an "open first" box: favourite toys, a blanket, a night light, pyjamas and a book. It travels in the car, not the truck.
3. Let them pack a box: older children can pack and label their own books or toys. It gives them some control.
4. Pack their room last: keep the room normal until the day before the move.
5. Unpack it first: at the new home, the children's rooms are set up before the kitchen or living room.

Bunk beds, cots and loft beds have to be taken apart and put back together correctly, because they carry a child's weight. Our guide to dismantling and reassembling furniture explains how.

How do you manage moving day with young children?

A moving day has heavy furniture going down corridors, an open service lift, a truck backing up and doors propped open. That is the wrong place for a toddler.

• Childcare for the busy hours: grandparents, a friend, a nanny or a play date for the hours when the crew is loading and unloading.
• One safe room: if the children are at home, keep them in one cleared room with the door shut, with an adult, snacks and something to watch.
• Older children get a job: checking every cupboard is empty, carrying their own box to the car, or guarding the "open first" boxes.
• Water and AC: keep drinks and snacks in the car and the car cool, especially in summer.
• Kids' beds first at the new home: ask the crew to reassemble the children's beds first, so bedtime happens on time.

Our house movers in Abu Dhabi pack, move and reassemble every room, so you can spend the day with the children instead of with the boxes.

What should you check for child safety in the new home?

Do this walk-through on the first day, before the children settle in:

• Tall furniture: wardrobes, bookcases and chests of drawers fixed to the wall so they cannot tip. On gypsum walls, this needs the right fixings.
• TVs: mounted on the wall or strapped down, never left standing on a low unit where a child can pull it.
• Balconies and windows: in a flat, check balcony doors and window locks, and move chairs and boxes away from the balcony rail.
• Curtain and blind cords: tied up high, out of reach of cots and beds.
• Villa pools: check the gate and the fence before the children go outside.
• Sockets and cleaning products: covers on low sockets, and cleaning products high up from day one, not when the kitchen is unpacked.

Fixing furniture to the wall, mounting the TV and putting up curtains are all done in one visit by our handyman service.

How do you help children settle in the first week?

• Keep the routine: same mealtimes, same bedtime, same weekend habits, even with boxes around.
• Explore together: find the nearest park, pool and supermarket in the first few days. Abu Dhabi communities like Al Reef, Yas, Al Raha and Khalifa City all have their own parks and play areas.
• Do the school run once before the first day: so the route and the gate are familiar.
• Plan a visit to old friends: in the first couple of weeks, so the move does not feel like a goodbye.