Waiting for school places
Can anybody advise on:
1. whether they took a punt and just arrived in Doha with the kids without securing school places
2. how long did you have to wait to get a place at the schools of your choice i.e. weeks, months or 6 months & longer?
3. what did you do with the kids while you were waiting for places
4. I have been told there are waiting lists for good schools and bad schools - did anybody just decide to accept anything in the end and hope for the best - or did you hold out for specific schools?
Thanks in advance.
I take offence to being told it is hard for everyone regardless of where you are from. The fact remains that you are obviously a UK passport holder and I am presuming you have finally got your kids into the school of your choice. I have been told that the chances of getting my children into my school of choice are zilch because British Passport holders take priority.
I hold a UK passport, and take offence to being called a POM.
We could not get our 3 into any school when we came here, and in fact many schools such as Parkhouse did not even put us on their waiting list because we held UK passports, and told us to apply to the British schools!!
It is hard for everyone regardless of where you are from.
Depends on how old they are. Spaces for the littlies are generally full now but there are some new kindergartens open that will take them till 6y.o. or until you find a spot older ones not sure about but your right about one thing even though QE2 as your head of state means absolutly nothing to a lot of the british schools here. Maybe some one should start up an Aus/NZ school just so we can have the pleasure of refusing the poms
My husband came in February 2006. He said there were spots for our two kids in a school and they had to take placement tests. In the US, a placement test means a test to place you in the correct level-honor level, basic level, etc. Our residency visas were finalized in late July, we arrived in mid-August. Well, apparently it turns out that in Britain a placement test is an entrance test. Neither of our kids passed the exam and were told to shove off. So there we sat, thinking everything was all set up only to find ourselves on the curb. After a desperate week of phone calls, we got them into a school but only by the grace of God.
The search for schools must really begin in earnest by February.
Can I ask - are you British? I suspect that even though QEII is the Head of State in our country, we don't get any 'perks' for that and we would unfortunately not be as fortunate. Thanks though.
We took a punt and just turned up in Doha only to be told no places available for our kids....
Contacted Cedars school got the kids in and 2 weeks later got the kids into DESS.
Cedars will take your kids in untill you get a place in a school.
Good luck...