Trampdave
18th Apr 2012, 17:46
Hello everyone that is living or has lived in Doha,
I am moving to this city from Europe this summer, have two kids aged 4 and 7 and I am trying to get oriented in the school system (among all of the other million things to do to be reasonably prepared :rolleyes:).
My kids have only very basic knowledge of english. Any tips for schools that welcome non-english speaking children and that wont bust the familly budget, like the ASD :eek:? Thanks for any insights.
miss controller
20th Apr 2012, 10:32
Hi
I can only comment on a limited number of schools. It depends on what you are looking for in a school, as our plans are to eventually go back to the UK we wanted a school which follows the British curriculum.
We looked at two schools, both had excellent reputations. DESS (Doha English Speaking School) gives preference to British passport holders, they had a long waiting list too, although I am not sure what it is like now. They are very popular and the fees are about 25000. Not sure how they would be with limited English.
We settled on Doha British School and we are extremely happy with it. The fees are also around 25000 per year in primary. They have many many different nationalities and so am sure are able to cope with children with limited English. They also teach Arabic, which I wanted as we might as well make the most of being here!
Other popular schools but expensive...Sherbourne, Compass, Doha College and ASD.
The only other school I can think of would be the American Community School I think it is called, they obviously follow the American curriculum, they are a new school and I have a friend who sent her son there and is very happy, but I am not sure what the fees are like.
The only other thing I would say is get in as early as you can, getting school places here can be difficult. Good luck.