checklist? dont bring too much stuff you dont need half of it anyway. dont blow all your wages on a expensive car or expensive european style furniture, its worthless if you want to/have to try and move home quickly. rent a cheap car when you get here from a local firm, until you get your bearings and have the cash to buy something you have researched. dont get a bank account with ibq (international bank of Qatar) they're useless...lol. embrace the culture, throw yourself into it and enjoy it's a great experience out here. make the effort to make new friends, dont just sit at home. it's hard work and you probably havent made new friends on this level since university. join expat groups etc. they're also crucial because these people will help you everyday, finding a good doctor, a good mechanic, explaining the government systems. it makes life a lot easier having help.

yes its bloody boiling right now, the humidity is the killer rather than sunshine. I can cope in raw heat until the low 40s but when humidity is 60%+ you get so sweaty so quickly. you'll adjust before too long, I was freezing when I went back to the uk in March. good weather will come to Doha in late september. that's when you can start spending longer hours outside and all the bbq season starts

travel wise, you struggle to take much more than 1 hour to go from one side of the city to the other in traffic, so dont worry too much about distances, its probably a lot less than you're used to in the UK.

I know the oryx school is british curriculum. theres a couple of british partner ones like durham school for girls I've heard advertising. I'm not sure what you can do before you get here because you need to go see them. I dont think they have much of a formal report system like ofsted in doha so you cant check up on them. there are lots of British teachers out here