Schooling dilemma

I live by the Gulf English School. i know they have a mixture of nationalities in the school, mostly locals but they do have some expat students.

Good Luck!

Stay away from ISL. worst school ever.

Siblings takes priority for almost all of the schools. So if one of your son gets a place, the other one automatically follows.

Thank you everyone for your comments and advice. It looks as though we will have to accept the place that we have at Compass for our younger son and keep our fingers crossed that our elder son gets a place too.

I'm very nervous that they can request fees for the year up front with no refund option, as we have to pay school fees ourselves, but I guess this deters people from jumping ship during the academic year. It is after all a profit making enterprise.

I doubt so for DESS as they don't even bother to ask which company you are from. They don't take you application if you are not British passport holders.

I would not say that Compass is twice as good as DESS or Doha College, but I know a number of people at compass and they are all generally happy with it. The facilities are not nearly as good as DESS, but the teaching and curriculum are both solid. The reason for the difference in costs is twofold:

1. DESS is nonprofit, while Compass is for profit.

2. Tuition has to be approved by the government here. Compass is a new school trying to raise funds to purchase land, build purpose-built school buildings, etc. and so it is allowed to charge substantially more.

3. Many expats' companies (particularly American ones and the oils companies) pay tuition regardless of the cost, and so Compas and schools like it have tapped in to that group allowing them to charge quite a bit.

Waiting lists are substantial at all the better schools, and it will be near impossible to land a space for your children at DESS for next fall (from what others have posted they probably aren't even adding people to the waiting lists). So my advice at this point in the year is that if ANY of the better schools (I include Compas in this) is to take any place you can find and then put your names on the waiting lists for your first choices. Based on what people have posted here before, you'll likely have to wait an academic year for a place at DESS, but because it preferences siblings that my be shorter as you have two children. IMO DESS is worth the effort of finding out when the application process opens up (usually in October) and going through the hassle of the waiting list. I cannot speak personally to Doha College.

Hi

Perhaps the number of sponsored seats have been filled, so those folks unlucky enough not to get one then have to go on the normal waiting list. DESS and Qatar Academy definitely have some sponsored seats, i don't know how many, but always worth asking an employer if they do sponsor any places.

Bon chance!

;-)

I doubt Qp has any special seats as I know a lot of Qp staff also have to be on the same waiting list as everyone else.

Hi there. Sounds like you are after a British curriculum school. I am not sure what curriculum Compass follow but make sure you know what you are getting in to.

As for places and waiting lists, DESS are normally quite responsive, but you have to press them hard. They are worth pushing as they are regularly one of the best schools for results each year. Not too sure about the other schools - IMHO stay clear of Qatar Academy.

Depending on who your husband works for, a lot of employers over here have sponsored places in many schools. That means, that the school can only give that place to an employee of the company. I know QP and the other O&G companies sponsor thousands of school and Uni places every year, so worth checking with your husband's employer. Even if they don't have any sponsored school places, they might well just have a director on the Board of one of the schools, or have a close relationship with a Board member.

Don't give up, and best of luck.

Yes TJH, I have already accepted my places at Compass that, to be honest, I have not visited yet but I like and need to plan ahead of my movements.

I think it is not going to be the best in term of facilities, even if they told me they are improving the situation building new infrastructures, but I do prefer my kids will be followed by a professional and serious team of teachers rather than having new super modern swimming pools and stuff like this.

Not saying that they are the best or that others are not as serious as Compass but, again, as an average of all what I have red through the web it appears that they have a very solid reputation.

Good luck to us !

Try the newly opened ACS Doha International School. They are mow accepting enrollees for Sept. class opening. Good luck!

Heard compass is not a bad school. Paying the whole year's fees upfront is indeed a challege and if you are not happy with the school, you'll probably need to be stuck there for a year to make your $$ worth it. Nevertheless looks like you do not have much of a choice if you are really moving here. It's true that siblings has priority over the newcomers. Major movements will happened during the summer hols & people may not want to come back so the other kid will have a higher chance to secure a place at that time.

Doha college has conducted their year 7 entrance axam for sept intake recently & my kids also have been called for assesment last month for sept intake. Looks like schools are already filling up for the coming sept . Since you still have 1 more week, suggest you call up the schools which you have submitted your apps & ask for status. If you don't hear any good news, I suggest you to take up compass to secure a place.

I know all schools may vary in tuition fees but please remember and be assured by the fact all teachers require the same teaching qualifications, and whether or not a teacher is in a gleeming purpose built school or a run down basic school, they will apply the same teaching skills they have gained through their training. Good luck!

Compass is a really good school IMHO. I know of lots of savvy, educated international parents who send their kids there, and the comments I've heard have all been positive.

ISL, on the other hand, had a rocky start in 2008, and though it is getting better from what I have heard, I'd still choose Compass over ISL.

Two other good schools I'd recommend (although I am sure they both probably have really long waiting lists) are the American School of Doha and Qatar Academy. I doubt you'd want the American curriculum, but Qatar Academy is IB (not British) so maybe that would be okay for you. Though I am not British, over the years most Brits I have known have sent their kids to Doha English Speaking School (DESS).

Sherbourne is similar to ISL: more recently started up, lots of staff turnover, still needs more time to become a good school if that is their goal.

Generally speaking, if you get one kid in, any siblings will take priority over another newcomer. So even if you don't get your second child into Compass right away, it'd be worth the gamble I think if you've got one a secure spot there.

You should try to negotiate that school fees for your children be included in the job contract for you or your husband (if not entirely than at least partially/ a lump sum amount). As you've found out, it's very pricey in Doha, and paying out of pocket means you're going to take a huge financial hit.

For what it is worth, I would avoid any place without a proven track record of several years. Many new schools have popped up in recent years to try and fill the void, but most are for-profit. Many have high turnover of staff, which is a red flag for any school (if your staff aren't happy, then the students can't be getting a solid education).

Good luck!

try asian intergrated school. all nationalities accepted. with a very minimal tuition fee and good teachers. www.aisqatar.com

I'd go with expatwoman forum for good advice.

Mandi

Schooling for expats is a major problem here, which employers often don't highlight to people before they arrive. If expats are to be encouraged to come here, they should not be hoodwinked that everything is perfect in this land of milk and honey and address some real concerns of parents who are thinking of coming here to work.

What about Sherborne and ASD?

Hi all ,

YOU CAN FIND SCHOOLS, TUITIONS, COMPANIES, ETC ANY THINK u will get complete information on the site

www.qataryp.com

Thank you TNGSchool for the link and well done in the promotion but I don't think that your school is what we are looking for.

Saxtor, have you accepted your place at Compass already or are you still considering other schools?

I did do research on ISL and definitely on this forum there is a lot of negative comments however on the expatwoman forum there are good comments. It is so hard making an informed decision on any school!

We are coming back to Doha next week to see Compass (not seen the place yet) and also to make the decision then - they have allowed us another week before payment.

Try The Next Generation School

http://www.tngqatar.com

TJH I'm in your same situation and I got my ideas about the schools through the web so what I'm going to pass you is not coming from my direct experience.

If you will keep surfing the webfor more information you will find out that ISL has many people reporting bad experiences with them while I haven't found anybody writing something even slightly denigrating the compass school. My banal assumption is that there will be a reason for it ......

Good Luck though to both of us !

Thank you mir2890, I am looking at their website now and will call them on Sunday.

Try International School of London which is much better than Compass and other schools.

Thank you for the advice the_hipp or Khursheed. I did call Sherborne a few weeks ago and was told that they aren't accepting applications as their waiting list is full.

I wholeheartedly agree with you Khursheed. As parents it is our responsibility to work with our children for results. Also, a school is only as good as its teachers.

It just frightens me that we have to pay for a whole year up front without any knowledge of how 'good' the teachers are and what the school is like.

Guess we will have to swallow the cost and tighten the financial reins in other areas :(

all schools are more or less same, parents must work hard with their kids to get good result. one must say they are business centers make only money not for education...

DESS is a very good school and it is cheaper than Compass. The bad news is that there is also a long waiting list for DESS. I know of one lady who waited three years for her son to be given a place at DESS! Therefore my advice would be to pay up. Compass has a very good reputation and the chances of getting your children into another good school in Doha are just about zero. Of course there are other schools that will have places, but you will find out very quickly that there is a reason why they have vacancies. Sherborne might perhaps have vacancies, but I think that you will find that they are almost as expensive as Compass.