Sherbourne and Compass school

Pleasure!

Your info has been very helpful, thank you!

Forgot to say... Yes all the teachers are trained and qualified in UK. QTS or PGCE. Ref the time, we just have the one week off. I think they are a little more strict on time and Hols. One of our half terms last year was a day on either side of the weekend! I think compass finish at 1.20and I think Sherbourne is 2.15, or school club runs to 3.30. So definitely longer days.... Again depends what you want I guess.

Hi there. We live in Al Waab. The Journey is not great to be honest. Class starts at 7.20, we like to get him there for 7 so we leave home at 6.20. My wife is probably doing 3 hours a day in the car. But it can take 30 minutes to get around the corner as I am sure you know by now. When we arrived Sherbourne was the the only one with availability. My plan was to keep him their (reception) then move him on to another school when one became available. Unfortunately my wife had another plan entirely. Both she and my son are so happy there. She won't consider a move now, so I'm stuck with the school and the fees! But they say happy kids make for happy wives! For most of the year he had 15 in his class, (now 18) and their was a full time teaching assistant and a reading women. The kids are from a mixed background in my sons class there are probably 3 other Brits, a few Irish, New Zealand, few other European, probably 4 Qatari kids and 3 or 4 other GCC kids. One thing they consider in the admission is the balance of the class. It's very similar to an English school in lots of ways. I think it all comes down to the class teacher. In our case he has had two excellent very experienced teachers. That's not to say that every parent will have our experience. The facilities are definitely not as good as school with pools and playing fields and all that, but I think the quality of the education and staff is excellent so I guess you have to think about what you want. One thing I do notice is that on the occasions I go and pick him up, the other parents always seem very happy... Unless the teacher asks for a quiet word with you at the end of the class, which they are certainly not afraid to do. My sons been there two years now. If you are interested I can put you in contact with my wife (working on the assumption that you are not the dad!) and she could give you a much better run down I am sure. Hope this helps.

thanks both, I heard Compass had 3 weeks off, do the other schools not? We are British, are all staff Brits at Sherborne do you know? is there a mixed nationality? I've been to view both, both looked good, Odboy- which compound do you stay at, how far is the commute? thanks

Everyone I know is very unhappy with compass, and I am surrounded by Dutch expats! It's a Dutch school. Did you know they are off for 3 weeks this feb.?? Many unhappy parents and an unorganised school.

Our son is at Sherbourne. It's excellent and we are really pleased with virtually every aspects. That's not to say that you won't find sound people who are not. Compass has a good rep as well. It's less selective and can have more children who don't speak English fluently, some classes have children who don't speak English at all when they first enrol. That said we have friends on the compound with 3 children in compass and love it as much as we do at Sherbourne.