Comparison of British Curriculum Schools

I agree that people arriving in Qatar with a family need to have some guidance with making an informed decision concerning a sound education for their child/ren. However I believe that the people who could give you the best advice, the staff, are (in many cases) gagged by their sponsor/administration or threatened with the cancellation of their contract if they are truely up front with their comments about the school at which they teach. After speaking with some of the current and ex teachers still living in the community, this is the impression I have been lead to form. Sad as it is, it appears that if someone does not like what you have to say about them (as in school), Qataris appear to take offence at what they perceive to be negative comments about their school - when they should listen to them as a valuable guide to improving the system within their specific school. I am sure there are many talented and experienced teachers out there who are frustrated by the inadequacies/shortfalls, etc they see being accepted in their work environment. I get the impression that people in this country are threatened when someone is PROACTIVE in the workplace rather than reactive.

I have been to some of these Schools the curriculum for primary School Children is nothing like the UK and the examinations they take here at 11 do not go to the UK to be marked anymore.
1 Doha College - sponsored by the British Embassy- expensive
2 Q I School - Phone them and ask how many English Children they have in there, staff unfriendly and arrogant, rude even
but they have been here 17 years - they can do and say what they want to
3 Park House - More like it - well done-expensive and will up the rates according to the waiting list they have
4 Qatar Academy - HMMMMMMM Not to the same standard as UK but the facilities are excellent
5 Al Jazeera - no Knowledge of
6 Cambridge School- LOL

try Chouiefat International School In West Bay By far the best Education, not as expensive as some, the children have to work hard - SABIS system

Can anyone please provide feedback about the American School in Doha. We were informed that this was the best school in Doha. Hope someone with experience about this school can provide some much needed info. Our daughter will start in Fall of 2007 and we want her to have the best eduacation available in Doha.

Thank you,

Just found a huge thread on schooling which should answer most of my questions...please offer advice if you have it though!!

Hi Pyderman,

Was your son on waiting list for a long time? I've just been on the DESS website and it looks good, I'll definitely look into it more. Can you apply for the schools whilst still in the UK?

DESS was not mentioned because it is a primary school (till year 6 only). I had mentioned only secondary schools.

My three children are studying in DESS. It is the best british school available in Doha.

Al Jazeera is a big no-no, regardless of which curriculum you are after. Teachers work wonders with the limted resource and absoluetly NO support they receive from senior management. Poor staff are fired willy nilly (in most cases it has nothing to do with the teaching side of things either!!!!!) so chances are your child will have more than one teacher in a year.

No formal assessment whatsoever. How are children assessed? Well, I was a teacher there, and I can tell you from very recent first hand experience, it is purely based on what "I as the teacher thinks" and nothing else - so good thing if your child is a teacher's pet. And let’s just hope that the other teachers and I know what we are doing and can make a good judgement on your child's progress and attainment - god forbid if we get it wrong. (please bare in mind, that I have only been a teacher for 5 years, have very limited experience and am by no means an expert - how the bloody hell am I going to assess your child if I have nothing to assess him/her against???) Management can't even answer that one either, I have asked them and they are a lot older and much more experienced than I am.

NO curriculum for Numeracy or Literacy, its all made up as we go along. Topic based subjects are covered through a programme called International Primary Curriculum. In some units of work, essential subjects like Science aren't even taught. I worked there for 7 months and only taught ONE Science lesson, ZERO music lessons and only TWO art lessons (despite querying how worrying this is, with the Senior Management Team) - not a very balanced curriculum for topic work - I'd be very worried if my child wasn't being taught the range of subjects by the age of 11.

Resources, bwah...don’t make me laugh.....there are 88 children in the year group I taught - we had 23 text books to share between all 88 of them (over 4 classrooms)! My maths tells me: ratio of 4children:1textbook. Facilities are shockingly poor i.e. VERY limited drinking water available, toilets are regularly broken (girls toilets were broken for 3 months!, no outside toilet - so once your child is outside in the boiling hot heat during playtime, he/she may not go inside at all for the duration of play....no toilet or drinking water....the shaded areas provided are also very limited, so I dread to think how these precious children cope in the mid-summer heat, no outside toilets, no water facilities and limited shade - crispy kids I guess!

When you attand an entrance interview,the director is bound to tell you porky-pies, as he wants your money and nothing else. If you look closely, you will probably see the Qatar Riyal signs rolling in his eyes when you talk about enrolling your child. Home-school links are appalling: the newsletter is a joke. Most of it is plagiarised from various websites and not very personal at all. No tissues available in the classrooms so children have to disturb lessons to go to the toilets (which only sometimes work), to fetch loo roll to blow their noses.

Most staff are nervous wrecks as they daren't say boo to management, in fear of being suspended or sacked. Many new staff were warned by present staff that they were to keep their heads down, so yip, that's how the con artist director gets away with it....virtual blackmail.....if you do this, then I'll do that....poor vulnerable staff members who aren’t valued at all.

BTW, staff turn-over is incredibly high every year: some luckier ones manage to escape on their own accord, sadly others just get on with it and live with the axe hanging above their heads.

Don't say you haven't been warned! This school is appauling due to it lazy, narrow-minded snake of a director! I most certainly wouldn't advise anyone to work there strong discourage parents from sending their kids to that pit! Anywhere would be better, just ask those willing to speak up, the will confirm what I've just said if they had half a chance to tell the truth!

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.

My son did his nursery in DESS and now he is in reception. I can't be more happy than this regarding about school. The only thing that stopping us leaving the country because i dont think i can find the school as good as DESS in our next place.

My advice ... if you can secure place in DESS nursery pls take it ... kids from DESS nursery guarantee place in DESS reception. It is harder to get space in reception, because there are 3 class in DESS nursery and 4 classes in reception. Practically they only take 20 new kids from outside.

My son haven't complain even once about the school or his teacher. And typically british school ... they really strict with manner like using pls and thank you :-)

Never! I happen to know not all teachers are well qualified there! they hired a woman married to an English guy, Mr. Dooly who's a teacher in QIS his wife claims she's qualified teacher when my friend happen to know her way back in Kuwait that she's just a maid before she marries her husband!
What sort of education she can give my children?

Talking about maid ... do you know some of the maid here have a degree back home? one of my friend's maid have civil engineering degree in filipin. She ended up here because very hard to get employment back to her hometown

I have been here in Doha now for several months and my two children attend PHES. I have been extremely impressed by the quality of the teaching and the strict adherence to the British Curriculum.

Most of the teachers are British, and the remainder from places such as Australia and South Africa. All appear to be well qualified. The School was established 13 years ago by the Headmistress, Mrs Brennan - who invokes strong moral values and good discipline. It has grown over this time and now goes upto GCSEs, with a sixth form planned for next year to allow A Levels.

School Uniform is very smart and class sizes small. Also a good variety of extra-curricular activities are on offer, as are organised school trips.

I would highly recommend the school for anyone keen to follow the British system.

I would like to add Doha Montessori British School to the list. My kids have been there for 7 years now. I will be glad to share my thoughts on the school.

They are currently doing GCSEs and rolling up to sixth form next year. Doha College would also be fine.

Does anybody know the quality of education in Gulf English school?

Hi y'all - we're about to move over there, and are looking for places for our 7 & 10 y.o. We're Aussies, so native english speakers. DESS, QIS, Doha College & Park house have told us their waiting lists are so long, they have been closed. Compass & American prepared to "consider" our application, Cambridge & Newton didn't answer the phone. What's next? My wife is totally stressed by this, and is now threatening to not come. Any help or suggestions gratefully received...

DESS is a very good British school.

My favorite is the American school ASD, tho.
They are fantastic, can't recommend them enough.

Great teachers, very good atmosphere, very caring.
The curriculum is very good too, the teaching methods the most modern and advanced.
All in all, very impressive.
And I am not American, I am European, and we have always been at bit wary of American Education !

Hi there!
I'm just about to move in Qatar(I'm from Romania) and I'm thinking about my daughter schooling. She's 11 y.o., learning English for the last three years(but still begginer level).
I'm wondering if there is anybody there, who experienced already someting similar or just can give me some advices/guide lines in finding "the best school" for my daughter!
Thanks!

PS.My next location will be most probably Al Khor

well if u get an admission at cambridge u wont have a problem, because my 11 year old daughter's english teacher is also romanian!!!!

hai longindoha

do your kids enjoy doha montessori,bec i have a daughter who is 2.5 years old .do they accept her for nursery ? do they follow montessori teaching methods.please tell me more about your experience with the school.do they charge capitation fee /registration fee even for pre primary.

please tell me.thanks in advance
anu

Hi anu1978...
you can call doha montessori for more information, i can give you the contact number if want, just let me know.

Computers have lots of memory but no imagination.

Hi Grantly
You should give Cedars Tutoring Centre a try. Not only a school but also offers a bridging school programme for children on waiting lists for other schools, hope this leaves your wife less stressed.
Tel: 4688192/5830165
E-mail: cedarstutoring/-a-t-/hotmail.com

Hi guys - thanks for all your comments. I've checked Compass out today, and it's tiny. But I really like the ethos, and my company has stumped up the extra to cover the tuition, so we have run with them.
FYG, they run the IPC program, which was developed and is now sponsored by Shell to facilitate transfers for their staff. EG, if your family was moved from Doha to Oman, your kids would have the same books, lessons and curriculum. It is a bit weak on maths & english, so they use the British curriculum for those subjects. Shell & a sheik are sponsoring Compass, which has facilities and teachers for 150 kids & only 60 enrolled... They are moving to Lusail in 2009, so will still be (sort of) close to our house in Dafna.

The ubiquitous hippo is being pedantic. The International Primary Curriculum is used in plenty of schools in the UK. Have a look at www.internationalpri.... Schools in Doha deliver the IPC in English. At Compass the Maths and English teaching follows the UK curriculum. Is this British enough? The National Curriculum is of course biased towards British history and geography. Is this really appropriate for an international school? If parents want a school with a "British" ethos then they must look at what's on offer and make up their minds. The waiting lists are another matter ...

There are 110 IPC schools in the UK and 4 in Qatar - AJA, Park House, Al Khor and Compass. Of course AJA isn't a "British School", that's why I suggested that parents take a look and make up their minds. What should they think if the school uses the National Curriculum but the language in the playground is arabic?

Any one has a view on Park House English Speaking School Doha and where it’s rated among other schools in Doha in terms of reputation, staff and system. How does it compare with Doha College for example?

Can you help please?

Thanks

Apologies, Squarepeg! You are absolutely right - there is no substitute for actually visiting the school. Of course, talking to parents who already have children at the school is also very helpful.

Hi amn1524

Are you sure ASD has a learning support class. I was on their site and saw that don't accept children with learning difficulties.
I would be interested to know how you got your information.

hai login doha
your kids enjoy doha montessori,bec i have a daughter who is 3 years old .do they accept her for nursery ? do they follow montessori teaching methods.please tell me more about your experience with the school.do they charge capitation fee /registration fee even for pre primary.

anu1978

Iam 11 years old , Iam in CISG . But honestly i don't like it at all .. others may like it but i dont . well first of all ( iam arabic ) but i prefer schools that have english students more than arabic . But CISG actually is full of qatari students . i thought of moving to QIS they say its one of the best schools in qatar . well i applicated they accepted me and my test is on 17/2/2008 , but iam too scared that i won't like as soon as i get there . iv'e heard that all the teatchers there are british . But in CISG they are all south african and mostly indian . please if anyone has there children there please tell me more about it . And if anyone knows is Qatar academy American or British . Thanks alot . ( I know iam too small but iam too interested )

chupa.. rustom.. I think angelz is saying she would like better quality of teaching.. and would like to know if QIS is better than the school she currently goes too.

The british are very reserved people.. and without any knowledge I would think that an arab would very much enjoy and learn from mixing with western kids from different cultures.

perhaps some of the other mothers can comment on the quality of education at QIS. As you seem a very smart girl with extraordinary abilities habeebtee.

ASD is obviously not a British curriculum school (hence AMERICAN School of Doha) so not sure how it fits into this thread, but in terms of student admission, while being an employee of Exxon Mobile would definitely give one an admission ticket, there are many, many children at the school NOT (directly - aren't we all indirectly?) connected to an oil company and NOT American passport holders. During their recent international week celebrations, over 60 flags from different countries were carried in to the opening ceremony by passport holders who are students. The school is expanding with its new construction (over 300 new students this year) and will expand even further next year. You might get put on a waiting list, but it isn't hopeless - and yes, it does offer learning support for mild disabilities, from elementary through high school; furthermore, teachers are trained and expected to differentiate instruction within the classroom to accommodate different learning styles and abilities.

DMBS will move to a new building near Salwa road on the 19th of february. We're very happy with the teaching methods, new accomodation, teachers, principal,.... The only thing that could improve was the accomodation; so that will be okay in a few weeks :-). You can call them at 444 5955 or look at their website: www.doha-montessori....

admission fees= registration 2000QR and refundable deposit 5000QR.
Tuition fees= annual 12720QR for Pre-school, 20820 for reception to year6, 26070 for year 7 to 9; 28650 for year 10. Then they ask a resources levy per child between 650 and 200QR per year.

Please feel free to ask any questions regarding DMBS.

Kind regards,

Oei.

Dearest Angelz I am a mother of 2 children. Alhumdulilah.

May Allah make it easy for you. InshAllah ameen.
My opinion is that working with european children at school will really help open your mind to the world.

Hi

Anyone with experience or reviews on the cambridge school?

Planning to send my daughters there. How are the teachers?

Looking forward to hearing from you folks

Ciao

Malini 

Flee,

I disagree entirely with your comments about Cedars. Cedars provides a fantastic service to students with a wide variety of specific educational needs - including English language services, services to 'out of year group' students, resit programmes and much more, all within the framework of the British National Curriculum.

Flee, I think you will find that these services are not available anywhere else in the State of Qatar. See the website www.cedarstutoring.com for details of the full range of what is available.

I have no idea where you have heard about unstable management. Key management staff have been in place for a number of years. All are experienced and totally dedicated to their jobs.

All teachers at Cedars are highly qualified, over 90% are British and UK trained and all teachers have backgrounds teaching the British National Curriculum.

All I can say good luck finding a place at the ASD, Flee. Cedars will continue to provide high quality education to children whose parents are more than satisfied with the service provided.

attention to all pple...do not put ur child in QIS...i dunno abut the primary bt tchers 4 secondary n senior suck. they promise british tchers...bt wen i started yr8, dey said vll get a lebanese tcher.4 1 term the tcher dint turn up...v hav 3 lessons of science a week n bcauz the tcher dint turn up, v had a different tcher evry day n the tchers sent evry day werent evn qualified science tchers!mr dooley is a math tcher hu got stuck on a probability sum...a student went up to the board n xplained how to do the sum to him.he also got stuck n started counting how much 7.5x6 is.giving up, he asked the students to do it on the calculator.a student in the front row shouted out "isnt that 45 sir?" then he said"wait, let them do it on the calculator!" n he tches yr7,8,9,10 and 11!dont put ur child in QIS.i recommend GES[gulf english school]

hi there,

Why you forget The International School of Choueifat, it has accreditation from the European council for international schools. It is hard but a professional one.

I think there are three layers of the International/ British curriculum schools in Qatar.

The first one includes:

Doha English Spoken School (DESS)

Doha College

Doha Montessori & British School

The second one includes:

Park House English School

Qatar International School

The International School of Choueifat-Doha

Al Jazeera Academy (AJA)

Qatar Academy

Newton International School

The third one includes:

Al Maha English Schools

Doha Academy

The Cambridge School

English Modern School

Rhesus,

Whilst I am sure Cedars is as well run as you have claimed, you have forgotten to mention one small detail, that you are a part of the management at Cedars.

For anyone else reading this post I would like to point out that Ceders plays an important role in Doha where good schools are over subscribed. Ceders offers schooling for those who are on waiting lists at other schools. They also offer tuition for those who are not fortunate enough to get into a good school.

Cedars has a greater percentage of UK qualified teachers than most of these so called British Curriculum Schools. Shame on the "British Curriculum Schools" that a tuition centre can have a greater proportion of UK trained teachers than themselves. They should know that simply having European looking teachers from English speaking countries is not enough. The Curriculum in England and Wales is quite distinct from those in Australia or South Africa. I'm not sure how well teachers from other educational systems, can teach the UK curriculum. As a UK trained teacher I must confess, teaching in the UK is challenging at the best of times.

My advice to parents approaching a British-curriculum-school is to ask what proportion of the teachers are UK qualified.

Sorry, just wondering since it seems difficult to find info about how good they are in comparison, as well as availability. 

Anybody know about filipino schools there as well?  Any info would help, pls pls pls.